In the spirit of this week, I have a number of reasons to be thankful about this class. I was given the opportunity this year to put a course into the schedule that was unlike anything done before. While we strive, as a school community, to provide learning environments that are more student driven, active, and creative, it is not without challenges nor without taking a bit of risk. So I am thankful for the opportunity to serve as a prototype "maker" classroom.

Additional thanks must go to my colleagues here at St. Matthew's who came to our aid this week. As we near the end of the trimester, students are racing to the finish line to complete their projects. I knew the week would be the most difficult in regard to supporting each individual project. I called upon my friends here at school to see if there were any available adults that could visit us on Monday and Tuesday. As is the nature of the work ethic here, responses flooded in. From the Athletic Director, to math and science teachers, technology teachers, the librarian's husband, Middle School Principal and even the Head of School, the cavalry arrived.

These were two of the most productive days I have experienced in Creator's Studio. It didn't matter if people knew how to code or use a soldering iron, what mattered was that each student felt supported. A student designing a model could bounce an idea off of an adult in the room, a teacher could take some students out to the meadow to test out their trebuchets, and I could focus on two projects that needed the extra bump. It is truly a luxury to have this level of cooperative learning in the classroom, and while it is not possible every day, it was essential this week. 

Thank you to Alex C., Andy, Bruce, Gabi, John, Manny, Michelle, Ross, and Stu!

Final thanks go to my colleagues outside of St. Matthew's. As I mentioned in my previous post, one student was stuck in the coding part of his RC Car. Neither he, nor I, had enough knowledge to take the next steps forward. I called upon the K-12 fablab group to see if there were any takers. Within minutes I had responses coming through, with suggestions to changes in the code, and verification of accurate hardware platforms. My student and I are happy to relay that the code adjustments worked! There are still refinements necessary but we are over the hump. In fact, at this stage, he can now focus on looking at the code to see how subtle changes will affect the output.

Thank you to Angi, Jaymes, Trevor, Harlan and all the folks in the k-12 Fablab group.

Below is a short take of the Arduino controlled RC car in action. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I've reached a point in the class, with one particular student project, where I just don't know enough to help him move forward. The project is an Arduino controlled RC Car, using an Adafruit motor shield (v2), DC motors and car chassis and a basic IR remote and receiver. The goal is to control the car with the remote for simple navigation (forward, backward, left and right). His ultimate goal is to attach a camera, but we aren't there yet. ;-)

After testing out the great sketches that come from Adafruit for the motor shield, and IR sketches from around the web, we are able to get motors to respond in one sketch, and to get the IR receiver to read the codes from the remote in another sketch. However, we are struggling with getting the two to work together. This is one project where I have stepped in a bit more than others because of its complex nature. However, it has moved beyond my current knowledge level as well.

Enter one of my favorite professional learning networks, k-12 fablabs. I have been a part of this group for the past six months or so, learning something new with every post. Educators from across the globe contribute their knowledge, share experiences, and seek assistance from one another. I turned to the group for help on Friday and within minutes I received a number of responses and suggestions. I will test new sketches of code on Monday and am sure to continue the conversation with my colleagues moving forward. Thank you to Angi, Jaymes and Trevor for your help thus far!

In related news, another contributor to the k-12 fablabs group submitted a new resource from the Smithsonian for 3D printing historical artifacts. The site is called Smithsonian X 3D, and it includes downloadable models that anyone can print on their own 3D printer. What an incredible way for students to study history, to hold and work with accurate replicas of objects from our past. While there are a limited number of objects available now, I look forward to the growing collection.

Here is a sample that I tested out this week. It's a 3D scan of Abraham Lincoln's Life Mask. I printed it on our Cube then painted with water-based acrylics.

It's hard to believe that the Thanksgiving break is coming so quickly, as it represents the end of this inaugural session. While some students have begun work on their second projects, others are still hammering through their first. We will work diligently to make sure that everyone completes at least one project.

During these most busy times, I can't emphasize enough how helpful it is to have other adults present in the room. Over the past few weeks a number of my colleagues, teachers and administrators, have paid a visit to Creator's Studio. If even for a few minutes, having another adult assisting is tremendous, and I am so grateful. When students are working on such varied topics simultaneously, my greatest challenge is to support all of them. Extra hands come in handy.

The pictures below depict how divergent our projects have become. From soldering kits like digital watches, to laser cut prototypes of model boats, to Arduino controlled RC cars, students are deep into their work.

To help students externalize their thinking process, and to hold all of us accountable during class, I created these task boards out of shower board left over from our mobile dry erase Z-Racks. The left overs allowed me to make 2' x 3' sheets (approx.), one for each student. Each day we meet, they take a few moments at the beginning to update their boards. Often, I will review these prior to class, and if there is something I know they will need to take on but haven't listed, I will comment on their board. The entire process helps us to sustain a solid workflow mindset.

As a last tidbit of news, I finally had time to research how to engrave and cut on a single laser cutter job. I haven't had any students create works like this yet (I hope the boat projects will do this), but will make time for it before the end of the session. We still have 3D printing to cover! 

Here's a quick project showing engrave and cut.

This week, more projects either finished or are very near completion. It is a strange transitional period, where some students brainstorm their new projects, while others continue work on existing ones. I struggle a bit to support everyone at these various stages. It is akin to when we first started out with individual projects a few weeks back, and possibly even more challenging, as in-depth project work and new project idea development require different modes of thinking. 

I briefly introduced TinkerCAD so that students needing 3D printed parts for their projects might consider using this tool. I recently heard about 3DTin from a colleague, and may offer this as an alternative 3D modeling tool. Like TinkerCAD, it is web-based, and since it uses existing google accounts for logins, is quick to get up and running. 

More students have created laser cut prototypes for their projects. This tool will get a lot of use. Because of its ability to print quickly, and to use a variety of materials (wood, acrylic, felt, even metal engraving) it is extremely versatile and immediately gratifying. Students can use the results of their digital work within a class period.

Here are recent photos, and a video of a completed light cube project. This one uses an Arduino Uno and RGB LEDs to produce a color changing effect. More details are available on Flora's blog.