Woodshop in the Time of Distanced Learning
(I just couldn’t paraphrase Marquez more directly)
There is an amazing new woodshop at Grant High School that I am eager to get students and myself back into. However, I have a vision for teaching woodworking & carpentry until that time comes.
My goal is to identify what skills, tools, and materials students currently have available and to facilitate them making, building, and creating from there. The district has committed to getting tools and materials home to students, but as of yet, I've no commitment for delivery of what I've asked for, or when.
That being said, my goal is to present students problems to solve (e.g. something to carry tools in; a toy; a way to hold coats or mugs, or magazines; etc.) and a systematic approach to how to plan for success in making, and then to coach students through making that thing. It's kind of a Liberal Arts approach to learning carpentry.
In fancier terms, and a perhaps more in depth explanation of combining Liberal Arts conceptual learning with the skills, interests, and materials available to students: take the concept of the force known as “Compression.” Some students will stack their old blocks, others may bake a layer cake ... A concrete block wall held together by mortar is in effect the same set of forces that occur in wooden blocks held together by two sided tape (or chewing gum) or a layer cake with frosting. We'll work from what students have and know, and make stuff from there. Students will be expected to take the broad concept of compression (and tension, etc.) and connect those with ways we build to distribute load (e.g. a truss, etc.) to create projects that meet a preset goal.
Grant High School and I are committed to ensuring that every student has access to tools and materials that will allow them to learn the skills of carpentry.
Additionally, the course will include more academic work focused on Career Exploration and Readiness; Materials Science; Tool Skills; Architecture & Design.
The fundamental class expectations remain: “On Time; On Budget; According to Plan; Safely; Together.”
Our motto is: “Carpenters Build Communities.” Please bear with us, as we build a distanced learning program together.
Jamie Zartler September 2020
