day 3 complete

This was my third day of box making at Marc Adams School of Woodworking. Students are doing well. Today I demonstrated wooden hinges and barbed hinges, making bases and lids, and mitered box joints. I think I covered a few other subjects, but I'm too tired at this point to recall.

Educational Sloyd, as proposed by Otto Salomon, considered class teaching to be ineffective. We learn best when lessons are individualized and geared to our own level of interest, and understanding. When you learn hands-on, individualization is guaranteed, just as when a box is made, lessons are learned, confidence is gained, and each student progresses at his or her own pace.

If you walk up and down the aisle between work benches in my classroom as I did this evening, you will find that each student has made boxes that have involved personal choices, errors, fixes and creative expression. Not all student is doing the same thing, and each is learning things that they will be able to apply in their own woodshops.

It is so much fun to watch so much growth.

Make, fix and create...