My school spends a lot of time, energy and financial resources on project-based learning. In my experience, teachers use project-based learning as a catch-all term for anything from make-it-take-it projects which last twenty minutes to inquiry-driven, rubric-graded, long-term explorations. Calling the former project-based learning is lazy and misdirection. Creating incredible experiences for students with theContinue reading “This Week in the Classroom: Pantographs”
Tag Archives: teach
This Week in the Classroom: Rulers & Frames
Applied Math Made Easy, a hands-on, application-heavy curriculum designed by a pair of teachers from Wisconsin, has a number of great math labs and activities. Using worksheets to convey directions and learning, the curriculum utilizes a conversationalist tone and “interactive reading” (their term, not mine) to let students learn middle school to high school level mathematicsContinue reading “This Week in the Classroom: Rulers & Frames”
Why I Do This: Monday Nights
Why I do this is a continuing series of education..er…ahhh…editorials. If you don’t like ’em, check out my projects! I do a lot of woodworking here, but I do more teaching in real-life. Teaching, whether a reader on these blogs, or at TX/RX labs, or at my work, is what I really love. I’m a self-proclaimedContinue reading “Why I Do This: Monday Nights”
Tool Primer: How to Select and Use a Circular Saw
Invented in 1923 by Edmond Michel, the circular saw remains a basic portable tool for any homeowner/woodworker nearly 90 years later. The Model 77 hasn’t changed much, but worm-drive saws such as the 77 have become the realm of framers, carpenters and other tradesmen and women who make a living with the tool. For aContinue reading “Tool Primer: How to Select and Use a Circular Saw”
This Week in the Classroom: The Conversation Bench
Students with autism, people with neurological disorders and people with two eyes and ears and a brain often need a place to talk. For my students with autism, the act of conversation can be harrowing, heartwrenching and terrifying. On a good day. My students often must master sitting in one place, labeling the world withContinue reading “This Week in the Classroom: The Conversation Bench”
This Week in the Classroom: Boomerangs and Chalkboard Slates
Two projects really took off this summer – chalkboard slates and boomerangs. The boomerangs, of course, took off a little bit more. Back in the fall I built a bike barn. It’s more of a third-world shanty, but it housed the bikes and kept them sort of organized. Either way, I picked up a largeContinue reading “This Week in the Classroom: Boomerangs and Chalkboard Slates”
Book Review: One Block of Wood by Nina Tolstrup
This spring, a sweet little book fell into my hands. Nina Tolstrup, an UK designer (she owns studiomama, a design firm). Her projects include lamps, scooters, wall planters, book ends and card holders – all out of One Block of Wood. Ms. Tolstrup’s eye for function and style dovetails nicely with her habits of simplicity. While notContinue reading “Book Review: One Block of Wood by Nina Tolstrup”
This Week in the Classroom: Up-Cycled Shutter Coffee Table
A few shots of the shutter table project. My students & I created these (there were four completed tables) tables using up-cycled window shutters & salvaged fence posts. Finished with spar urethane. Pocket hole joinery throughout.
This Week in the Classroom: 2×4 Xylophone
I ended the year with an exploration of music. I used xylophones, pendulums and windchimes to explore frequency, wavelenght, pitch, volume, etc. I probably should have found a way to incorporate physical waves, but a trip to the beach was out of the question and I met disaster in my attempts at building a waveContinue reading “This Week in the Classroom: 2×4 Xylophone”
Build a Bench This Weekend
My very first class for TX/RX Labs (or any other place non-school) is completed. Six students (adult, this time) built benches with me for two half days. We were a little crunched on time, but we stayed late (or showed up early) and completed our benches. I want to thank my students for coming andContinue reading “Build a Bench This Weekend”
WSC Designs 