Wednesday, May 31, 2023
push button smart?
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
An opening for one...
Saturday, May 27, 2023
teaching kids to carve...
You cannot whittle a stick without observing and forming simple hypotheses building the kind of understanding of basic reality fundamental to science.
Make, fix and create...
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
loose lid box
This simple prototype is the key. The first time I used this technique was in my book Simply Beautiful Boxes, my second book. The piece of plywood is a stand-in as I finish making the real lid. At this point the box and others are ready to glue up, and lids will be fitted later.
The way this lid works is that as the lid is raised at the front, it is confined by the back edge falls into a deeper groove at the back where it stands in place with no lid support needed. When closed, it simply falls into place where it is confined within the four sides.
I think readers of my new book, Designing Boxes, will like this box.
Make, fix and create.
Berryville Rotary
Schools have become places where students are constantly controlled while being measured in reading and math and the pressure is on. The pressure is on. The pressure is on. And we really need to pull the plug. I told my audience about schools in which play is intentional, as we all learn best when our passions are engaged. When we are at play, doing things for which we feel passion, our whole beings are placed in a state of alert and learning is at its best.
There's a whole lot more going on in education than can be covered in a thirty minute talk, but the answer to the problems of education can be found if we each reflect on those moments that have been most instructive in our own educational experiences. When did we learn best? What were the pivotal moments that gave direction to our own lives?
I told the audience of my own "pivot point" when my friend Jorgy made the suggestion to me that my brains are in my hands. The truth is that the hand-brain connection is there for each of us, and we learn best when our hands and whole beings are doing real things. When we are willing to arrive at our own understanding of our own learning experiences we'll not need educational experts to dictate what schools must become. We'll turn them into laboratories where children (and teachers) learn by doing real things.
As I mentioned to the Rotary members, real learning can be messy and noisy, and the noise and mess are what you see when students are fully engaged. Get over it. Would you rather see kids depressed?
A member of the audience asked a particularly interesting question about gun violence directed toward schools. I can tell you of specific instances when I was bullied at school by both students and adults. The pressures to perform and conform can make schools a hostile environment for teachers and kids alike. Gun nuts will claim that school shootings are due to schools being soft targets. My own urging is that they become softer places, where playfulness expressed through the arts is allowed to come forth and students are allowed greater opportunities for personal growth and deep engagement.
In my wood shop I've been making pattern-veneered lift-lids for boxes as shown. The residue of veneer tape is from holding the pieces together as they were put in the vacuum press.
Make, fix and create...
Monday, May 22, 2023
White oak
I expect to be able to make a number of pieces of fine furniture from this wood harvested in my own woods.
One of my blog readers reminded me of one of my earlier blog posts from March 14, 2016. It is about poet William Carlos Williams and his line, "no ideas but in things." You may find it to be a useful read.
https://wisdomofhands.blogspot.com/2016/03/no-ideas-but-in-things.html
Make, fix and create... Assist others in living likewise.
Thursday, May 18, 2023
Launch of the CSS Flag boat.
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
SS Friendship 2023
Make, fix and create...