Coming back to school from break to find a flooded woodshop was not the best way to start 2015. With some heavy rains the night before, the shop had about 2 inches of water. I was left without my tools and materials but what I still had was a full day of classes scheduled. Time to be flexible.
I went into the classrooms and worked with the kids on principles of structure and design using the equipment available in each class. This improvisation lead to building bridges with blocks and exploring simple machines using littleBits. New Year’s Resolution to be more open minded: check.
What I noticed about the kids’ workflow was that the change in location resulted in a different kind of focus. Having them work with me but outside the woodshop and without the usual tools reset the way they were thinking about the subject matter. Artists will change venues to focus on new projects. Companies will send employees on retreats to separate them from their typical office surroundings. I get it now.
It also got me thinking about ways to challenge my students. Perhaps I could limit their use of a certain fastener. I could challenge them to find different ways to join pieces of wood without nails or screws. Or maybe find a way across a river that isn’t a bridge? It would definitely be more interesting than looking at 20 different bridges.
If a time comes when I need to recharge the energy in my woodshop, I can keep this newfound knowledge in my back pocket. I just hope I can choose to take advantage of this instead of also having to clean up a flooded shop.
Far Brook's Shop 