every tool leaves it mark, every material has substance

Today in the Clear Spring School wood shop, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade students continued work on toy cars for holiday distribution. When they arrive at the woodshop, they always ask, "can we have a creative day?" which in their parlance means, "can we do anything we want?" They love to let their imaginations and creative inclinations run wild.

Every day is creative day in the wood shop. Kids don't really just get to do what they want, as the tools and materials have qualities that must be learned, and that impose limitations on what the mind can conceive, and that provide the real foundation of creativity. Real tools, real materials, direct the creative effort into real challenges and failures and ultimate success. One of the things that can  be hard for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade students is the idea of generosity. Some get it easily, and some find it more challenging. First grader Alena told me, "I have lots of toys at home. I want to give all that I make to children who don't have so many toys."

Yesterday Richard Bazeley  in response to Emily Pilloton's Ted talk commented on the teaching of design, which is often taught independent of teaching of skill, and knowledgeable use of tools. It is easy to design things on paper, and to bring fine lines to perfect intersections, but in the real world, things have thickness and take shape from the tools we have available to give them that shape. On the lathe, the skew gives one shape, the bowl gouge another, unless of course you are so skilled, attentive and steady in the use of the skew or gouge, that you can do what you want with it. And then of course there is sanding for the rest of us. But hours of sanding surfaces to submission to eliminate tools marks is senseless agony when skill and proper tools could be put to work instead, and the results are never the same.

So how can one possibly teach design, without students having experience in the use of tools? It is what we face now in engineering schools, and what was faced by Calvin Woodward at Washington University and John Runkle at MIT when manual arts were first introduced as a necessary precursor to any form of engineering or design. There is always a greater perception of value in"design" because it is perceived as a higher point in an egotistical pecking order. But design without the understanding that hands-on making imparts to it, is lacking important ingredients.

Last night I went to a presentation on the new Crystal Bridges Museum which is being built in Bentonville, Arkansas about 50 miles from Eureka Springs.  It started as architectural renderings of lines laid on a landscape, and in reality a great architectural design is one that presents challenges for craftsmen to resolve. It can be seen more as a question than as an answer, and designers often get all the credit for posing the right questions. In the case of Crystal Bridges some of the questions have been an immense challenge.

There is a hope amongst locals that the emphasis on the arts in Arkansas brought by Crystal Bridges will have direct economic effect on our community. What it has done most so far, has been to help the local business people to finally get their hands on the value of our own relationship to the arts... that arts and artists are immense resources to a community. We are a long neglected economic engine that brings prosperity. And yet it is all framed in the very personal relationship we have with our tools, and the materials that take their shape within our own hands.

today at CSS wood shop

Today in the Clear Spring School wood shop, the 7th, 8th and 9th grade students began work on the lathe to make wood candle stick holders. I have given them a very specific shape to work towards, that of the classic candle stick shape made famous by American turner, Rude Osolnik. It is amazing that such a simple shape could be so challenging to attain. You have to first overcome all your internal willingness to accept whatever happens in the effort to control wood and tool. The skirmish  for attention is the first challenge, for when the mind wanders for a moment, the battle is lost.

Wyatt told me that beginning to turn on the lathe was nearly the best fun he'd ever had in school.

Examples of Rude's candle stick holders are shown at left.

"after school social and emotional learning"

Here is  a program of "after school social and emotional learning" in North Carolina. The important thing here is that schools are becoming aware that children have needs for growth and development beyond academics. The crazy thing is  that social and emotional learning are being addressed as an after school afterthought when they should be the first thought.

Ask a corporate CEO what he is looking for in the employees he would hire, and he will likely mention teamwork, creative problem solving, and personal responsibility (all aspects of social and emotional learning) long before he mentions standardized test scores.  The push for standardized testing often has very little to do with kids. It is a means for taxpayers to apply pressure for maximum effective delivery of content from teachers without regard to children's social and emotional needs. Standardized testing is used as a lever (or club) to hold schools and teachers accountable. In many schools, bullying and other social development obstructions are pushed aside during academic time because the teachers are too busy to address these issues immediately as they arise. That tells the kids what things are important and what not, and of course much of the problem has to do with class size. A teacher with 25 kids in a class can hardly know them, let alone take an interest in the social and emotional issues they face and stick to the script for the delivery of academic content at the same time.

Kids are instructed as to what values are important, by what we give time to and take time for in schools. After school is an afterthought, but better late than never?

the sloyd record

Some of my readers may be interested in the Sloyd Record, volumes 1-20 available from Google Books. It was edited by Gustaf Larsson from the Sloyd Teacher Training School in Boston, 39 North Bennet St. It provides insight into the early days of Sloyd training in the US and offers a bit of the philosophy behind it.

transform the world in shop class

Of course most of us know the value of shop class already. But it is well past time for the message to be getting out to others. One interesting thing you will note on this project is that they really haven't rally accomplished much yet. Lots and lots of talk, and it is best to cut to the last 4 minutes where it starts to get good. But with the publicity that comes from being featured on CNN, perhaps the message will get through.

Since I'm still not bored with my latest box creation,  have given it a final coat of finish and additional attention, including lining and felt pads, I share it again below.

Eureka!

As you may know, I live in the small town of Eureka Springs, which is doubly blessed. First the name Eureka proclaims discovery, the Greek, "I have found it!" made famous by Archimedes naked dash through the streets direct from his discovery of the means to measure displacement as he observed water spilling from his bath. I say doubly blessed because the name Springs, implies water springing forth unrestrained from the earth, just as human creativity springs unrestrained from the heart. And so, we here in Eureka Springs are a community of artists. People come here to walk the streets, breathe some fresh 0xygen and rediscover themselves. Nancy Gibbs in her Time Magazine essay, Eureka! tells that we are pressured to be more productive than ever, and that unstructured creative time is in short supply. My own view is that unstructured creative time gives greatest meaning to our lives by providing a sense of joy that enables us to cope with the rest of it. According Ms. Gibbs,

It seems we're on the verge of getting our jet packs--but no one has yet managed the time machine. Or better yet, the time expander. So we've got to play tricks on ourselves; schedule free time, however counter-intuitive that may seem. Deep immersion in a task--no distractions, no interruptions--can give the illusion that time itself is receding. We feel lighter, braver, our brains more nimble; we free ourselves to try and fail and try again.

We too often miss those Eureka moments in our modern lives, when creativity springs forth unrestrained from the heart/body/mind/hand/soul human complex. When was the last time you discovered something so compelling that you felt inclined to run naked through the streets overcoming all usual inhibitions? It can happen. Those moments allow us to feel fully alive, whole, contributory to the success of all. They could happen in schools if we were to let them, but we don't.

With the Eureka Springs School of the arts, I have been proposing a strategy to enlist corporate support. We have what they and their employees need. A way to buy time, refresh, and re-engage creativity. Being engaged creatively through the use of the hands is fundamental to human health, well being and efficiency. Eureka! It is a simple thing. Make, fix, create, plant, harvest, become whole. No need to run naked through the streets like Archimedes to proclaim what you have discovered. The beauty you have created will speak for itself.

making pulls...

Today will be a quiet day in the wood shop as I attend to writing instead. You can see the pulls for the Greene and Greene styled boxes with the parts cut to interlock. After sanding, they were glued and doweled in place as you can see in the photo below. With signature, Danish oil and lining, the boxes will be complete.

For today's reading on the hands, creativity, and what we are doing and not doing in modern culture, read Nancy Gibb's aptly named Time Magazine essay, Eureka!

looking like a box

I have assembled my Greene and Greene style boxes and they are complete except for the addition of a pull as shown and a Danish oil finish. And, as you can see, my SketchUp skills are improving, too.

testing, testing

On the subject of Education, Shop Teacher Bob sent the following quote:

"Education research demonstrates that hands-on, project-based learning founded on constructivist principles is one of the most effective ways to learn. It leads to better ability to perform at a higher level earlier in their professional careers and thus to benefit the enterprise sooner and at higher levels than those who do not have such a capstone experience."

These are of course the same points made by Calvin Woodward and John Runkle when they first started manual arts training at Washington University and MIT in the late 1870's.

I have been asked by Fine Woodworking to do a small box to demonstrate the use of the tiny router bits, so I am making a small Greene and Greene styled box with box joint corners. First (after resawing and planing the stock to an appropriate thickness) comes the use of the table saw sled to cut the parts to exacting lengths. This requires two settings of the stop block.

Two settings of the stop block gives material for two boxes.

Next, I use a sled on the table saw with a guide pin to cut the finger joints. as shown in the images below. Now the box parts are ready to test router bits.

This technique of cutting box joints becomes easier with practice. Knowing just how tight to hold the stock against the guidepin helps. If you apply a lot of pressure one time, but simply just touch lightly the next, the distance between cuts can be distorted leading to a poor fit between parts. Practice, practice, and practice.

Use a  5/16 in. box joint blade and 5/16 in. drill bit as guide pin.

Trial fitted finger joints... a tight, but near perfect fit.

A Greene and Greene styled box joint

Today, sort of in the wood shop...

SketchUp is a challenging but powerful 3-D modeling program and I am making progress in learning it. Like many things, it is not just a matter of the mind knowing how it works, but also of the hands knowing how it works. Scrolling images through the illusion of 3 dimensions on a flat screen is a bit different from working in 2-D. At this point, I've learned to create objects and then fine tune and edit them so they fit together just like parts cut from real wood. Sorry, however. It is not as much fun as making things from real wood. My editor thinks it is a great way to check and confirm measurements. I will agree. But it is also less forgiving than working with real wood and the finished product is not a finished product. No tactile response rewards in working with keyboard and mouse.

 Today I met with the class from the Clinton School of Public Service to talk about the hands, community, craftsmanship, education and democracy. We will had lunch at Clear Spring School, I got to play tour guide and then wood shop instructor. My students from the Clinton School are shown in my pickup truck and got some time in the wood shop making sloyd trivets and flip cars.

My visitors were surprised by how small and personal Clear Spring School is, and that it is not at all representative of the general trend in education. In Arkansas public schools have been pushed into consolidation to squeeze more kids into larger schools, with more class offerings having less value, and in which students, and their personal inclinations and love of learning are squelched.


Some important points to remember about education are as follows:

Begin with the interests of each child.
Move from the known to the unknown,
From the simple to the complex,
From the easy to more difficult,
And from the concrete to the abstract.

One thing educators seem to have forgotten is the circular relationship between the concrete and abstract which I have illustrated in the drawing below.

craftsmanship and community

I have a teacher and grad students coming tomorrow from the Clinton School of Public Service to get acquainted with the Wisdom of the Hands program and to visit the Clear Spring School.

These are the points we will be discussing.

1. Purpose and power of hands on pedagogy?  Tools and busting the myth(s) of academic vs. non-academic learning.
2. Does CS School provide an image of possibility for our emerging work? What about this school?
3. Relationships with community?
4. Specifics of the pedagogy of the hand?
5. What should we be reflecting on in these times in which our reach for innovation, creativity is discouraged by the instrumentalism of standards-based learning, testing and the pedagogy it commands?
6. Suggestions for program design for marginalized children in Little Rock through a new kind of learning space?

The first part of the Clinton School  list of query points is easy. As described by Frank Wilson, the brain and hands co-evolved as a behavioral system. Or as expressed by Jacob Bronowski, the hand is the cutting edge of the mind. Isolate the hands from the brain, and you have mindless work. Isolate the brain from the hands, and you have very little real intelligence available to you, as all new intellectual terrain is built through the use of metaphor. Even the capacity to sort and arrange lists of questions like the one above is derived from the functional capacity of the hands. It is a secret we will not keep to ourselves.

In the meantime, and today in the CSS wood shop, 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade students will be making toy cars for our annual holiday distribution. The photo at left is of this morning's class. The photo below is of bandsawn boxes being made by the 7th, 8th and 9th grade students.

tool test...

Every tool has its ancestry, its history, its tradition, its legacy, and its use. Tools have given shape to every facet of human existence, whether by human intent or thoughtless use. Each tool will also evolve into new forms. Some tools will occupy important places in our lives for generations, some will have their own brief generation, capturing our total attention for a brief spurt, and then be displaced by newer, flashier iterations of similar device. With all the bells and whistles of complex modern toolery, it can be hard to sort wheat from chaff. What tools will have lasting impact and which not? Land fills are filling up with discarded bells and whistles, but I have never heard of a landfill for hammers.

It seems nearly every iteration in tool design is intended to do one of two things. Open doors to new functionality, or make certain things easier to do. Who needs to become a master at anything with the world pushing relentlessly toward ever easier ease of use?

The router bits shown in the photo above, are from Amana Tool Co. and as you can see in the photo, the bearings on the 1/4 in. bits are remarkably tiny compared to a conventional router bit and are designed to go where larger bearings will not allow. For instance, in sign making, to rout the insides of letters with a conventionally sized bit would be a difficult task. These make that job easy. Fine Woodworking sent me these bits for review with the idea that they might be useful in box making. Like every new tool, ideas come calling. One I've thought of is making Greene and Greene inspired boxes with overlarge box joints. The tiny roundover bit would be perfect for routing between the fingers, something that would have been done in the Craftsman era with hand tools and sanding strips.

Today in the Clear Spring School wood shop, 7th, 8th and 9th grade students will be working on their band sawn boxes.

turning around America

Or is it "Turning America around?" Woodturner Beth Ireland is travelling the US Turning Around America with her van fitted out with tools and sleeping space. She will be in Arkansas for a few days in April, and I am hoping to arrange a visit here to work with kids at Clear Spring School, and with adults at the Eureka Springs School of the Arts (ESSA). So far in her travels she has taught 420 people to turn wood.

Beth says of her work,

"I want to empower people through the act of making objects with their own hands. I will achieve this by teaching woodturning and simple woodworking to as many people as I can, while traveling across the United States in a van that contains a mini workshop and personal living space."

One of the things you will notice is that woodturners "get it" with "it" being the relationship between the hands and learning, and the essential role that skilled creativity fulfills in human life. "It" seems to have been forgotten and neglected by so many in our consumer culture in which things must be easy in order to be accepted or acceptable. Make, fix, create, get smart, be happy, live the tough life, accept challenges. We need them, they make us whole.

sketchup

I am making progress in my use of google sketchup, a free 3-d modeling and design program. It is useful for doing drawings, but has a rather steep learning curve as the tools for 3-d design are remarkably different from 2-d, and because it requires rotation of views to be able to see what you are doing from a variety of angles. The drawing above is of a Clear Spring School flip car, a toy invented and made by students at CSS.
You can download the google sketchup, free version here, and learn it yourself. The functional version of the flip car drawing will be available through a Fine Woodworking blog post which should be available in a couple weeks. You can see the cabinet I've been sketching in SketchUp below.

we think we're alone...

We think that humans and animals are pretty far apart on the evolutionary scale, that God and immortality are invested in one and not the other, and with it, a sense of divine purpose, or special purpose, or at least marginally greater importance. Oh, well. Human egotism has no bounds.

It may seem pretentious to talk about wisdom, which is the subject of this blog, and equally pretentious to talk about mastery as I did in yesterday's post. These terms may raise the question for some, who does he think he is? Let me assure you that besides reading the National Geographic at breakfast, I make enough mistakes to be humbled for decades to come.

This month's National Geographic (November 2010) article about the Mysteries of Great Migrations is about animal migration. It is mystifying to both scientists and the casual observer that small butterflies, large animals and birds can travel nearly the length of North America, and that they do so with such unrelenting sense of purpose.

The pursuit of mastery is very much like the relentless behavior that a pronghorn displays when moving to its winter range. From the article:

What is it that makes animal migration such a magnificent spectacle for the eye and he mind? Is it the sheer abundance of wildlife in motion? Is it the steep odds to be overcome? Is it the amazing feats of precise navigation? The answer is all of the above. But there's another reason why the long-distance journeys of wildebeests, sandhill cranes, monarch butterflies, sea turtles, and so many other species inspire our awe. One biologist has noted the "undistractibility" of migrating animals. A nonscientist, risking anthropomorphism, might say: Yes, they have a sense of larger purpose.

What the natural inclinations of humans toward mastery (once so encouraged) and the relentless behavior of animal migrations have in common is a sense of greater purpose. Engagement of each child in a sense of purpose should be one of the points on the Beaufort Scale of educational assessment. If we allow our children to be distracted toward powerlessness by the mundane, through products guaranteed to be user friendly and easier than ever to use without investment of time or the development of skill we will be alone. While the other animals of the planet are driven by higher purpose, we will have completed our descent.

preparing children for mastery

I have been reading George Leonard's 1991 book Mastery, the keys to success and long-term fulfillment. It was recommended by a reader. Leonard's first point is that American culture appears to be at war against mastery. Our we-want-it-all-now consumer culture does little to convey a sense of what mastery is about nor does it contain a sense of the potential rewards one can draw from it. Our fast pace of life does not allow for the rhythms of it that take place over extended time. In schools, we have the bell to tell when to drop what we're doing and head to other things. We have ends of terms and grades to tell that we are complete, long before any true mastery has arrived in our lives.

And so, what do we do to prepare children for a life in which mastery plays some part? Here are some guidelines.

1. Children must be exposed to mastery in order to perceive it as an option in their own lives. Take them to places to see people whose mastery is an important component of their lives. Artist in schools programs can play an important part in exposing kids to mastery. Craft shows, art exhibits, museums, athletic and music performances offer others. Look for signs of mastery as exhibited within your community and share what you find.
2. Set an example with your own life. You need not be a master, but need to be on a path.
3. Schools are set up for dabblers. Engaging in a path toward mastery requires time for dedication outside schooling. Make time outside schooling for your child.
4. Setting a course toward mastery is deeply personal, and personally demanding. Allow the child to choose and give your every ounce of encouragement to what your child has chosen. You may not be a master yourself, but can gain mastery in your encouragement of others.
5. Help your child to understand that mastery is not dependent on aptitude, but on will. Encourage that will.
6. Help your child to understand that mastery is a life-long engagement.

As described by Leonard:

The human individual is equipped to learn and go on learning prodigiously from birth to death, and this is precisely what sets him or her apart from all other known forms of life. Man has at various times been defined as a building animal, a working animal, and a fighting animal, but all these definitions are incomplete and finally false. Man is a learning animal, and the essence of the species is encoded in that simple term.

Today I will be taking snapshots of cabinet projects for the artists at Taunton Press to begin contemplation of the cover of the book. I will also sign a contract to begin blogging on the new Fine Woodworking website, StartWoodworking.com which will come live on my birthday, November 15.

My latest cabinet is shown below.

the death of intelligence?

Howard Gardner's book Frames of Mind, 1983,  proposed that human beings are intelligent in a variety of ways. His theory of multiple intelligences became widely accepted. He won the MacArthur Prize and yet in the last 27 years, schools have become even more deeply rooted in reading, lecture and math to the neglect of other forms of human intelligence. We know without a doubt, that reading and math are important. But do we not yet know the intersections and relationships between the various forms of intelligence? That single types of intelligence do not stand alone, but rather are framed and supported by other forms? Do we not know that bodily/kenesthetic intelligence aids reading and math? Do we not know that kinesthetic and haptic intelligence frame and assist other forms? Do we not know that the movements of the fingers are directly related in the brain to its processing of numbers? Do we not yet know that dance is a form of mathematics, that woodworking is an expression of spatial sense, that football and basketball are tangible expressions of logic and teamwork and more? Howard Gardner came up with 9 distinct forms of intelligence which he isolated and described.  In the meantime, little has been done to develop an effective multiple intelligences approach for classroom learning. Teachers talk about it but most often have little training or time to put multiple intelligences theory into classroom use. And so we teach to the test and rely on standardized testing to measure our children's potential for success which ultimately has little or nothing to do with that which has been measured. To emphasize three basic forms of intelligence to the neglect of the others is to strip the foundation from those basic forms thus denying access to full potential for most students.

To emphasize two or three forms of intelligence in the modern classroom is archaic and presents a false sense of values, leaving most students in doubt of their own worth while depriving our culture of their potential contributions and intelligence.

Just for balance and discussion, I've linked to an article, Teaching to a Different Test, that says, "Teaching to the Test could be a good thing if we were testing for the right things." Unfortunately, it seems that the whole testing movement is not about kids, but about squeezing as much value as we can from teachers, whom we pay little and trust less, whereas in Finland where they have far greater success, they give greater training to their teachers and trust them to do what they are trained to do to greater effect.

Today, I'll be working on small cabinets, doing some prep work at school and working on text and captions for chapter 4.

an open mind

Years ago, my sister Sue came home from school thinking that she had been insulted by her teacher, who said that "she has an open mind." And Sue thought that was just another way of saying "in one ear and out the other." But an "open mind", one willing to explore without preconception is the foundation of human advancement. Last night in my thoughts I was reminded of Walter Russell,  The Man Who Tapped the Secrets of the Universe. He was considered a "polymath" or one who excelled in a number of distinct areas. He explored the periodic table, and physics, while he was also an artist, an equestrian and founded his own university, having influence on a wide range of American intellectuals and scientists as well as those interested in the Occult. Walter Russell explained his own wide ranging contributions as being a matter of applying his mind while it was fresh. He shifted frequently between his various activities keeping fresh enthusiasm for each.

You don't really need to be a Ph.D to understand the wisdom of his approach. These days, some would regard Walter Russell as a joke since some of the studies at his university delved into love, sex and reincarnation. Most universities would prefer to keep the studies of the first two less formal and ignore the last completely. However, an open mind and the willingness to keep it continually refreshed by grazing a broad pasture is a philosophy that will carry anyone a good ways, and each of us in time will either be forgotten or make some small difference in the larger scheme of things.

Today, I will be finishing some small cabinets, installing hinges and glass and planning my next projects, while also maintaining an open mind as I too, contemplate the universe.

In the photo at left, you can see the nearly completed cherry display cabinet with lighter wood interior. The glass will be installed tomorrow. I have also been oiling more cabinets which you can see below:

child as...

Mario sent the following quote about US president Jimmy Carter from a Splintered History of Wood

"When I tire of the computer screen, I can walk twenty steps to my woodshop and immerse myself in my current project," Carter says. And why does an octogenarian, financially secure, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Emory University professor, Carter
Center (Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope.) leader, and prolific author continue to make sawdust?

"What we need in our lives is an inventory of factors that never change. I think that skill with one's own hands—whether it's tilling the soil, building a house, making a piece of furniture, playing a violin, or painting a painting—is something that doesn't change with the vicissitudes of life. [Woodworking is] a kind of therapy, but it's also a stabilizing force in my life—a total rest for my mind." -President Jimmy Carter

Today, I have been thinking about the child as craftsman metaphor and what it contributes to our understanding of education. Nearly the same point could be made, through "the child as athlete", or "the child as musician," or "the child as builder," or "the child as farmer," or "the child as dancer," or "the child as..." and here I name all the wonderful human occupations that reflect the full range of serious adult human intelligences that are represented in Howard Gardner's Frames of Mind.

Today I am reading the latest issue of Wooden Boat (Nov/Dec 2010) and it contains an article about the Spaulding Wooden Boat Center in Sausalito, CA. Its founder, Myron Spaulding (1905-2000) designed and built his first wooden boat at the age of 16, and in addition to designing, building and sailing yachts, had a parallel career as a violinist with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. It is typical for healthy full dimensioned human beings to have a wide range of interests, and capabilities. Just as Jimmy Carter's wood shop is only a few feet from his computer on which he corresponds and manages a full range of other important projects, human beings including children must be encouraged in their full dimensions.

I am attempting again to turn my attention to the idea of a Beaufort Scale of educational assessment, and my first point is that it has no similarity to the artificial construct of standardized testing. Rather than only measuring math skills, logic and reading skills, it is concerned with joy of learning and the full range of human intelligences... the child as craftsman and athlete and more. It is a frame through which to bear direct witness to real learning as expressed joy. To see Archimedes sprinting naked in unrestrained enthusiasm for his discovery, is an expression of joy. It represents the top of the scale, and is what parents, teachers and students should be aiming toward in creating an educational model.

In the photo above, you can see the flipping story stick I use in setting up the router table for routing recesses for knife hinges to fit. In the trial fit at above, the hinge still protrudes too far. When I square the end of the routed groove with a chisel, I'll have a perfect fit.

election day

Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 2, 2010 is election day, and millions who have not already voted will be headed for the polls. An equal number, discouraged by politics and bred to complaisance by public education and the sense that they are without power will stay home and not vote.

In the early days of manual training, it was thought that working with your hands in school regardless of your career objectives was preparation for democracy. It helped those who would not work with their hands to have a greater respect for the dignity and intelligence of all labor. It was seen to help those who did work with their hands to do so with greater confidence and intelligence, that would have impact on the full range of their participation in human culture.

Sadly, we abandoned those principles. Without laboratories and work shops in schools, students are confined and constrained without power and their advancement is dependent on their adjusting to it's structure. Belief becomes a matter of what we are told rather than a consequence of personal hands-on investigation.

It is interesting to watch, but presents a discouraging view of humanity as politicians squabble to gain greater power and voters are to easily persuaded to act against their own interests and intelligence.

So, just watch. If we see a major display of idiocy at the polls, I and a few of my readers will understand the cause of it, and mourn the loss of hands-on learning in American education.

Today I am working on my small cherry display cabinet, and as you can see, it has been glued and clamped. Tomorrow I'll fit the hinges in the doors.  Clear Spring School is off this week for fall  break and the ISACS conference.  If you have not voted already, please do so tomorrow! Did you know that the US added more manufacturing sector jobs in the last six months than in the last 10 years combined? Not a hard statistic to reach when you realize the massive loss of manufacturing employment during the Bush administration.