I have a very holistic philosophy of education that currently includes the goals of authenticity, project based learning, just in time instruction, and student buy-in. Reorganizing a discombobulated shop creates an ideal environment to implement the above educational objectives.
Each pair of high school students received a tool category and the design challenge of creating a place for all of the tools in the category.
Student designed projects can be very tough to run. One must be very open to giving students autonomy and settling on the ideas of their students, even if they are different from your own. I must advise all teachers to proceed in the challenge with caution, by taking small bites.
If a teacher is interested in creating a mostly student designed work environment, I recommend first assigning the build of a teacher designed project. Thus, modeling good design. Then, assign the design challenge.
Reasons to assign students the task of designing their own work environment are mainly student ownership in work environment and authenticity. However, don't believe that these two things alone will maintain motivation. Each day will require some sort of story or reminder to keep students off of the "good-enough" thought train.
Since, I'm short on content to speak of, I must include extra pictures today.
You can see there is still some work to do, but, hey, it's a start. To help us out with our upgrade campaign please click "Click here to see our 2017/2018 shop overhaul campaign." at the bottom of the page.
New posts every Sunday and Wednesday. Comment or PM for content you'd like to see published.
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Write a comment
Amanda (Wednesday, 15 February 2017 18:58)
I like that pvc pipe storage. Of course, I would spray paint it. Pink. With sparkles. ...... Took it too far didn't I?
Matthew (Thursday, 16 February 2017 10:14)
Ha! Hey, to each their own.
Grandma Cleta (Wednesday, 10 May 2017 08:46)
All my life (I'm 82), even as a child I have loved tools, especially hand tools. There is a spirit in them from the hands that touch them. How proud your students should be of the wonderful display they have created...it takes my breathe away. Handle the tools with pride and care. Good luck on all your projects. Continue the excellent job.