During a job interview one of the typical questions I'm asked by a
director or principal is" "what do I effectively do in my
classroom?" I usually start answering one or two ways:
A1: I create problems for my students and they have to
solve them.
A2: I teach kids how to make something from
nothing.
One of major failings of 21st century education is the
lack of hands-on life-long skills. I was chatting with a fellow educator a
couple of weeks ago about opening up our own school where we will teach our
students skills like cooking, basics to plumbing, car mechanics, carpentry,
electricity...you know, solutions to real world problems. Academics are important,
but there is a major imbalance in that most schools are slaves to passive
learning. I will argue that students need to be more physical in the
classroom-be it labs or project based.
The light Box project below is truly made from the
abstract:
1. The box is mat board that has been die cut, taped, and
painted
2. The wires from the light had to be screwed into the
plug
3. The glue from the hot glue gun holds the light in place
4. A pointillist style image is painted on Plexiglas
5. Silicone was placed on the ledge of the box to hold
the Plexiglas
6. Plug it in
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| A shell (finished box) |
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| Parts of the light |
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| Don't touch the hot tip! |
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| Design of the side of the box |
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| Light inside the box |
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| Plugs |
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| Making the plug. Students were scared during this part because once it was pieced together they had to plug it in to see if it worked. Most thought there were going to get shocked...hardly. |
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| Painting |
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| Chalking |
Adding tissue paper under the image was an option.
