Wood Projects in the Classroom 2: Teacher DIY

Unskilled labour

My worst subjects in junior high school were Woodwork, Music, and Social Studies.  If you know me, this is deeply, deeply ironic when you think of me now.  To explain, because of getting involved with Japanese Canadian history, I am known for my work in Social Studies, but my early teen self was pretty clueless and apathetic about Social Studies.  Though my teen self (and my present self) thought about or played music during almost every waking second of my existence, the trumpet was not my friend back then, so didn't do well in Band.  And with Woodwork class, I was unskilled, I could not follow a plan, and I was so slow that my projects were late or incomplete.  But now, you can find me in the garage cobbling something together with wood.  

I joke about my well-deserved C grade in woodworking because I enjoy it so much now as an adult.  Honestly, my skills have not really advanced that much, now in my garage workshop.  My projects are still wobbly, the paint and finish on them are non-existent or sloppy, and I am still glacially slow.  So why do I still do it?  I think of myself as a tinkerer, a designer, a scientist, and a problem solver.  Woodworking (woodplaying?) lets me explore all those sides of me.  The risers, lapdesks, and the students' storage bins (from the previous post) are examples of my wood tinkering.  

What do you need?

A while back, I was visiting a school where they were investigating self-regulation, and in one class a young teacher, Sarah, made her own storage crates and a big rolling table made out of a tree stump.  I was really impressed because I think she made all of her stuff in her apartment!  If you wanted to build some items for your class, this goes to show that you don't need a lot of tools or room.  

You basically need two things: 

1. Something to cut your wood to the length you want.
2. Something to fasten it back together in the shape you want it.  

For cutting, Sarah had the place where she bought the wood cut the wood for her.  I'm not that organized so I cut as I go, plus I am usually using leftover pieces of wood.  I use a miter saw to cut long skinny boards into short boards and a table saw or a circular saw with a guide for breaking down wide materials like plywood or reused Ikea cabinets.  For my first home projects (shoe shelves), I used a hand saw.

For fastening, I use nails, glue, screws, or a combination of the three depending on what I need the finished product to do or how it is going to hold up.  Because of my poor skills, I am not great at keeping things square, so one product that has really helped me lately is a pocket hole jig.  With it, things are usually square and they make relatively strong joints.  (There are lots of useful Youtube videos to explain how to use pockethole jigs).

[As an aside, one tool I would recommend is a cordless drill.  My whole woodworking rebirth came from the cordless drill.  It was the first tool I bought when my wife and I bought our house.  It was love at first use. I hung pictures with it. I assembled furniture with it. I reinforced mouldings with it. I drilled pilot holes with it.  Heck, I would have brushed my teeth with it if I could fit my toothbrush in the chuck.  I thought it was just me, but other friends who bought first houses and first drills felt the same.  Bonnie said excitedly, "Did you know there is a magnetic thing so the pointing things don't fall off?!"  Dave said, "Sometimes I  find myself walking around with it in my hand, just looking for things to drill."  Had I known that drilling was going to be this satisfying, I would have become a dentist.  Cordless drills are the gateway tool.]

Easy but useful projects

Here are some things I made that solved a few classroom problems.  (For both projects I used a pocket hole jig to make things square and strong, but you don't have to.)  

1. Classroom library book bins

For our classroom library, we arrange every book by genre and place the books in different bins based on those genres.  Students or teams of students adopt a genre bin and become the librarian for that bin, making sure books are returned to the proper bins.  

Some bins have lots of heavy books that would destroy the usual ugly plastic bins.  I had some nice dark wood bins that I bought at a liquidation place, but I did not have enough bins for every genre, so I had to make some sturdy bins using the pocket hole jig and (what else?) an unused Ikea shelf.  

bins with genre card and the librarian's name

2. Accessible teacher storage

The built-in teacher storage in my room is behind the sliding whiteboards and then there are swinging lockable doors.  I have this little rolling cart where my laptop and mic are, but the cart is around the corner from the teacher cabinets.  That means every time I wanted to grab a teacher book during a lesson, I'd have to walk around the cart, slide the whiteboards to the side, open the swinging doors, get the book, close the swinging doors, slide the whiteboards back, go back around to where the mic, camera, and laptop are, and then try to remember why I needed the book in the first place.  I needed a little bit of on-the-fly teacher storage.

There was this little corner (and I mean little, like less than 50 cm) where I could fit a shelf.  Because it was so skinny, I would need to go tall to get enough space for everything I needed there: read alouds, math materials, spelling resources, a place for my lunch, etc.  I left a little gap so there was room for my guitar and a place to hand my jacket.  

Like any of these teacher projects, by making it myself, I was able to create custom things that fit my needs (and constraints) perfectly.  

Wood Projects in the Classroom 1: Students' Storage during COVID

The Problem: Individual Storage

One of the many problems I had with COVID was storage.  Because we didn't know what was going to transfer the virus, I had students keep a minimum of supplies with them, but because some students were in desks and some were at tables, this meant that each student had to have individual, self-contained storage.  

At first, this was not a problem because I had enough white sliding bins so each student could have their pencil boxes, a duotang, a writing folder, a couple of notebooks, a whiteboard, and some individual supplies. Unfortunately, because these bins were flat, shallow, and horizontal, they easily overflowed or spill materials when students would try to dig out their whiteboards which they kept on the bottom.  Also, the white bins took up a lot of space, especially when students put them on the floor to give them more table space.  With the bins and scattered debris, it was like an obstacle course.

The Prototype

Using some materials I had left over from a kitchen remodel, I designed a prototype for a better bin.  These new bins were great because:

• they took up a third of the foot print of the white plastic ones.
• they were heavy on the bottom and slightly deep so they could be stood on end. Similarly, the students' materials could be stood on end so they were easy to find, instead of digging to the bottom.  
• they were rugged and could stand up to the day to day wear and tear. 
• the glossy white materials could be used as a dry-erase surface which students used to draw a picture or write a message to personalize their bins.
• they looked okay.
• they were cheap and easy to make.

I made a few prototypes and tried them out with a few students.  Like when I first introduced the risers, only trying them with a few students built a lot of cache with these new projects, and eventually every student was begging me for one.  

But I also was able to see how students used them and what I would change for the "production model".  One part I deleted was the hook for hanging the bin off the side of the desk or table.  I got the idea from this collapsible hook my mom would bring to restaurants so she would not have to place her purse on the floor.  "The Hook" was great in theory and allowed for more available space on the floor and on the work surface, but the test students kept knocking the hooks off the top or they would kick the bins unconsciously like a swinging pendulum.  Each time the bin would fall, their would be a big bang, so the hook got the hook.  

Production

When the design was finalized, some students helped assemble a few of the new bins.

Then every student went outside and sanded down their own bin to bond with their bin and to make sure there were no rough edges.  

Result

These new bins are vast improvement over what we were using them before.  They accomplished what they were meant for: creating accessible, safe, tidy storage.  They are so good, I can see using them post COVID.  Even if I don't, using re-purposed materials is better for the environment, (and freed up some space in my cramped garage).   Though I did the designing, I shared the process with the students, and it was good for them to see me work through the process of trying to solve the storage/obstacle course/safety problem, prototype, test, adjust, evaluate, and build.

Total cost: less than $10 for screws, glue, and sandpaper (for a set of 22).

The Voice

This post came to me after a conversation with SEL guru Miriam Miller.

What is my number 1 tool for SEL?

If I told you the one thing that helps me set the my classroom the environment the most, you might be surprised.  No, it's not my risers (though they would be what you might notice first when visiting my pre-COVID classroom).  No, it's not the muted lighting.  No, it not the barstools nor the view.  It's not the minimal decoration.   It's not a program or a set of curriculum. 

It is something kind of boring, but greatly effective: voice amplification.  See?  I told you you'd be surprised.  Okay maybe not you, Geoffery. 

Louder! But don't use that tone with me!

When I was doing my teacher training, my supervisors would tell me that I needed to be way louder.  I tend to mumble and my voice is on the lower side of the register, so I came off as a distant ambiguous fog horn.  This was great if any students were approaching an ice berg, but not so good if I was trying to give them instructions or teach them something.  I was not naturally blessed by a big, teacher voice.

Early in my teaching career, I learned to raise my voice in volume and in pitch.  I noticed that my students paid more attention, but it came at a price.  If I had a noisy class, my throat would be really sore by the end of the day.  I also think the relationship with students suffered because with my new higher tone, I sounded like I was yelling at them.  To put it in recording terms, this new register was clearer "in the mix" but it sounded like I was singing an angry song.  Think punk or death metal, all day.

It wasn't until my time at Birchland (20 years in) that each classroom was equipped with a wireless voice amplification system.  At first, I didn't like it.  The headgear squeezed my big melon and messed up my hair.  I'd forget to turn the transmitter off when talking to a colleague in the hall, and a couple of times I almost broadcast live from the bathroom.  As I got used to it though, voice amplification really saved my throat and my students were able to hear me without me having to shout at them.  I could be heard and use a calm, soothing, non-straining voice.  Ahhh, everyone benefits.  

The MacGyver Version

When I went to my new school, Leigh, I didn't have a supplied amplification system, and I really needed one.  The school was built in the 1960s so it had hard tile floors, hard reflective walls, and a hard reflective varnished wood ceiling.  My quiet group of kids seemed really loud and my droney voice was no match for this echo chamber.  In consultation with the custodians and the fire marshal, I brought in big rugs for the floors and strategically put up drapery on the walls and parts of the ceiling to reduce the noise reflection.  

It helped but it wasn't until I hooked up a mic with a long cord attached to a big, boxy keyboard amp I had that the noise problem was solved.  You know me, I did this all fairly cheaply.  I already had the amplifier, I bought a cheap mic and xlr cord set from Long and McQuade.  The part that was relatively expensive was the xlr to 1/4 in adapter/impedance converter that at the time was over $30 but is now less than $20.  This part was essential because it was clearer and gave a slight boost in volume. 

Was this makeshift version as good as the professional voice tower?  No and yes.  No because it wasn't as streamlined, the cord of my version had limitations, and the lack of a headset did not allow for handsfree operation (which was tricky when I was using my make-shift interactive whiteboard - but more on that another time).  But there were many benefits that made the makeshift version better (and I still use a similar set up today):

• The microphone gives students a focus point.  Whoever is holding the mic is where your attention should be.  When I was holding the mic, students knew to look and listen to me, but the same was true for when students were holding the mic.  It literally and figuratively was the "talking stick."
• My wife started this morning routine in her class called, The News, where every student can say one sentence about anything such as how they are doing.  I stole this idea and my students still do this every day.  It is an excellent way to check in.  They like using the mic and even the shyest kids get up and talk at the mic because it is fun and unimposing.  Guests remark how poised my students are at talking in front of the class, and it is because of this 4 second daily practice.  
• The sound is better than the tower.  Because of the decent speaker and being able to adjust treble and bass separately, I can dial in the right eq.
• The cord advantageously prevents me from broadcasting hallway conversations or accidental bathroom podcasts.  

Any questions?

• What are you doing for amplification now? Instead of the big keyboard amplifier, I use a small, inobtrusive, corded powered speaker that has a much smaller footprint in my crowded classroom.  I have a boom mic holder so I can go hands free when I am showing a book or something on my computer.
• Why is it so crowded right now?  COVID!  I had to get rid of my space efficient risers and bring in some spaced out desks.  (See my previous post about classroom design during COVID.)  
• Is voice amplification needed in a COVID situation?  Definitely.  I pulled my carpet out, so there is more echo from the bare floor, and more individual desks and chairs that move and scrape (as opposed to quieter tables and risers that are shared and stationary) mean more ambient reflected noise.  Wearing a mask muffles my voice so the mic helps to be heard.  Plus, I can be heard over all of the handwashing, and without having to you my shouting voice.  I'm sure my students appreciate my loud, calm voice instead of an angry, unsettling voice, especially during a tense pandemic.  
• Are you still doing The News?  Yes, but I am masked and the students are distanced.  
• Do you use voice amplification outside of the classroom?  Whenever I do a presentation or a workshop for longer than about 20 minutes, I will bring an amp, cable, and mic with me to save my voice, to be heard, and to demonstrate the benefits of voice amplification.  

Speaker on top of whiteboards

Mic in boom stand

 

Your voice might be fine in a classroom situation, but for me, voice amplification has been a game changer and is my best tool for creating a calm, classroom environment.  And though I have not done it yet, it does lend itself to a  spontaneous karaoke party.  Islands in the Stream anyone?  Maybe post Covid.

The Photoshoot

A while back, I attended a reunion for Governor General history teaching award winners in Ottawa.  They asked if anyone wanted to be interviewed about anything new they were working on.  I volunteered and talked about this new project I am part of called Landscapes of Injustice.  The project is a massive 7 year multidisciplinary research project through UVic that is investigating the dispossession of Japanese Canadians during the 1940s, and they wanted some teaching resources for elementary and secondary schools.  I am in charge of the elementary part.  I chatted with the journalist who was doing the interviews, and we talked for about 20 minutes. 

I didn't think much about what was going to happen to the interview; I just thought it would go on Canada's History website somewhere.  The history society who sponsored the conference/reunion contacted me and told me that they were interested in running some of the interviews in their magazine.  They asked me to send them some recent photos.  I didn't have any so I got my mom to take a few, but they must not have been any good because the society rejected them.  Alternatively, they arranged for a professional photographer to take some shots of me on Powell Street because the work I am doing focuses on this area.

photo by Rebecca Blissett

I met the photographer outside the washrooms in Oppenheimer Park deep in the heart of the DTES.  Of course that day there was a massive soup line, so it was kind of hard to maintain a low profile.  The photographer was Rebecca Blissett.  I checked her out online before we met and she did some great portrait and photojournalism work, but I was really impressed with her rock concert work.  (She has this great shot of Bono splashing around a water bottle during a show).  We chatted for about ten minutes about what kind of work I was doing, and she picked up the context quickly.  We decided to take some pictures outside of some of the buildings that the students were working with in the dispossession activity.  

photo by Rebecca Blissett

We worked for about 40 minutes in the 300 block of Powell Street.  It was really cool that day so I slipped on a jean jacket I had in my trunk.  I was going to take it off, but Rebecca like the way it photographed.  She'd get me to do different poses outside some of the key buildings, and she'd stand out in the street to get the best angle.  Or she'd pull out a collapsible flash tree and umbrella, and we'd have to wait for people or traffic to go by.  It was interesting to watch her work.  When she was finished, we shook hands, and she hopped on her little gas scooter and scooted away.  Cool.

A bit later, she sent me some sample shots and told me to only use the shots for personal (not professional nor promotional) uses, but I haven't done much with them.  I posted one on Facebook, and Canada's History published them with a brief article in a pull out supplement to the magazine, (excerpted here with Canada's History's permission). 

We teachers don't get treated like rock stars very often, so it was a fun experience.

"Counter" Intuitive: Design and Coffee Makers

Hey Teacher Friends, 

I don't know about you, but one thing that is helping me with getting through the teaching in this unusual COVID context is coffee. If you know me, you probably know that I have to be really careful about how much caffeine I ingest. Too much or too late, and I don't sleep. (I still keep chocolate and tea to a minimum, and I haven't had a cola in years.) 

The Quest for Caffeine 

For a little bit, I was having a small shot of espresso from my sad little Braun espesso machine. It didn't taste great, but it got me through the day. I did it for fuel not taste, and it did the trick. I kind of knew I was missing out on true espresso, and I wasn't keen on the aluminum leeching through the Braun basket or the boiler.

Fast forward to the time we stayed at a nice hotel downtown for my daughter's birthday. The rooms came equipped not with the weird, ubiquitous pillow packs of hotel coffee, but with Nespresso. Fast, easy, delicious.  Later, when the Nespresso machines went on sale, I jumped.  With the Aeroccino milk frother, I was having a delicious latte every morning.  BUT, it was kind of expensive for each of the capsules, and those little capsules were made of aluminum, that same stuff I was trying to avoid with the Braun.  The deciding event for when I started looking for alternatives to the Nespresso was when I found some important papers I misplaced four months earlier; those important papers were in the paper feed of my seldom-used printer.

After a little research, I went with a trusty old system.  My sister gave me a gift card and I bought a stylish looking Moka Pot-style stainless steel stove-top brewer.  With fresh beans from a local roaster, I was able to make a delicious coffee shot in the morning cheaply and quickly.  Sooo good, so stylish, no memory-robbing aluminum leeching.  This had the makings of the perfect coffee maker relationship.  We are talking love for life.

And yet...

I recently picked up an Aeropress, and it makes the yummiest, smoothest cup of coffee I've ever had.  You're probably asking why I jumped ship from my Moka Pot if I loved it so much and it checked the boxes of: taste, ease, time, and cost?  The answer lies with the real love of my life, my wife.  During the Nespresso phase, I started making my wife coffee in the morning.  She likes a HOT Americano while I like a latte, so by the time I got both of our coffees made using two different systems, I was starting to be late for work.  (Did I mention the caffeine helps my morning brain function?)  The solution: 2 Aeropresses!  The whole process can be done in a matter of minutes once the kettle boils (essential for the HOT Americano).  So the Aeropress saved my job and my morning brain, and was a tasty bonus to my marriage.

Looks Count (in coffee makers)

Okay, Greg, you've sort of connected this to education (caffeine as jet fuel), but what does this have to do with design?  As much as I love my Aeropress, once I wash it, I do put it away in the cupboard.  (In fact, today I bought a basket to store all the materials away quickly).  Why?  Because it is so ugly.  I still have the Nespresso sitting on my counter, even though I don't use it.  The Nespresso has a high-design James Bond quality to it.  It is no coincidence that George Clooney is the spokesperson for Nespresso: cool, smooth, modern, expensive-looking.  Similarly, I proudly displayed my Moka Pot on the counter between uses.  My more modern version Moka Pot, like the Nespresso, was sleek, shiny, and high design.  Think good looking Italian barista.  

The Aeropress is really the ugly cousin.  It does the job better, faster, and cheaper than any of my previous coffee makers, but it looks like it was designed by a scientist.  Which in fact, it was.  The same aeronautics engineer who designed the Aerobie flying disc also designed the Aeropress.  The guy is a  genius but not an artist.  The Aeropress looks like it belongs in a science lab.  

If the Nespresso is the George Clooney of coffee makers, the Aeropress is the Breaking Bad of coffee makers.  Think what kind of coffee maker Walter White would endorse.

The Clooney (Nespresso)

 The Paolo (Moka Pot)

Walter (Aeropress)

   

In my classroom, I will probably have something in the open if I am going to use it often (function over form), but there is a lot to be said for having something in the open or on display that is going to do the job but not be a distracting eye-sore.  I still don't think the job of classroom design is just to "make things pretty," but function and design are important factors of how the odd collection of materials in learning environments work to help students learn best.  Otherwise, really effective and accessible storage is going to be crucial to managing the multitude of things we use in classrooms.