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ED Tech 336 Blog

Hand Planing the Slab

“Hand” Planing the Slab

As you can see I put quotation marks around the “hand” in the title, this is because I used an electronic hand planer, not an original hand planer which would take much longer than the method I used. Unfortunately the slab I have is too big to run through the thickness planer at my brothers shop, that would be the easiest method, however, that is out of the question. Before I do anything I want to get rid of the band saw marks that have carved up the slab (First Image), the band saw marks are quite deep and obviously make it hard to create a flat surface. This process took a few hours to really make sure all the marks are removed.

The Saw Marks on the Left and the First Pass with the Hand Planer on the Right

This is a Quick Video of Myself Planing the Slab

The Surface of the Slab After Being Planed

Now that the slab is relatively smooth I can begin to create a level surface on both sides of the slab.  In order to make a level table I need to start with a perfectly flat table-top. I have given this quite a bit of thought as to how I can do this, I am thinking that I may have to create a stand that I can place the slab on. The stand will include rails on either side of the slab, these rails will act as glides for the jig I will build to run a router over the slab to really ensure the slab is flat. This is just a possible solution I may have to use if I cannot think of anything else. Here is a picture of a similar setup that I would have to build:

 

 

My Digital Footprint and Trello

My Digital Footprint

This week our readings, videos, and weekly meeting on Zoom were about online citizenship. I had not given this concept much thought, I use the Internet every single day for social media, school work, and leisure, yet, I had never given thought to my presence online. I mean my morals I believe are in a good place and I do not post things that may be perceived in a bad manner but I still never thought about it. I see some people on my Facebook feeds posting inappropriate content on the regular and often ignore or even delete those people from the application.

Photo by Rochel Maday

After listening to our guest speaker Jesse miller and the conversation that took place after the keystone I had to reevaluate my thoughts on my digital footprint and my online citizenship. Are the things I share or the photos I post or are in are something I want for everyone to see? The short answer is no. After watching Jesse Miller’s TEDTalk I started to realize the power I had by using the internet and social media, the power I had over my own identity, how do I portray myself on the internet. After class, I went to all of my social media accounts and deleted photos I did not want future employers and students to see and I changed my privacy settings. The video and discussion really changed my perspective of my online citizenship and my digital footprint that I was leaving.

Trello

This week we were also introduced to Trello. This application allows us to create boards and lists to keep track of our blogs as well as our free and guided inquiry projects. The Trello board allows you to grab and move pins from one list to another, for example I moved this week’s blog posts from the “To Do” list to the “Completed” list, I can then create a Week 4 Blogs pin and place that in the “To Do” list for this upcoming weeks tasks.

Photo From: Trello – My Trello Board

I quite like the layout and this application also allows for Rich to view what we have to do and what we have completed, this is a nice feature because he can hold us accountable to the tasks we have set for ourselves.

First Steps of the Free Inquiry

On October 1, 2020, I found the slab of wood that I will use to build the table. I have a friend that works at West Wind Hardwood in Sidney, B.C., I messaged him and asked if they had any nice slabs of maple or cedar in the price range I had allowed for myself. He told me they had a six-foot-long, twenty-one inch wide and three inch thick piece of maple that I would be able to purchase. So I called West Wind to place the order so the piece of wood could be pulled from the inventory, however, when I called the slab I was calling about did not actually exist. The person on the phone informed me that the dimensions I was describing to him were for a piece of elm not maple. I told him I would call back in a bit after I did a bit of research on elm wood for inspiration and to research about the workability of the wood. After my brief research I decided that based on the price, the time crunch, and the inspiration I saw I would buy the piece despite it not being any of the species of wood I wanted.

Here are the pictures I took of the slab when I brought it home:

Over the next week I will be taking the slab to a work shop to flatten both sides. I would use a hand planer but feel that if I have the access to a shop I should use that resource instead of making it more difficult for myself. After the slab is flattened I will begin to sand it and map out the cribbage board area using a stencil to ensure accuracy of the holes that will be drilled. I am really looking forward to working on this project. I will also provide a link to West Wind Hardwood where you can purchase unique woods for your own projects.

Link to the West Wind Hardwood Inc. Website: https://www.westwindhardwood.com/

This is what the website should look like:

Most Likely to Succeed and Free Inquiry

 

Most Likely to Succeed (2015) - IMDb

Image From: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4267108/

In the past week we watched the film Most Likely to Succeed, I found the film quite interesting as it shows a school in the United States that is based entirely on free or guided inquiry learning. In most of the classes in the education program there is a large emphasis on free inquiry projects, this is something I had never really experienced until now. The concept is quite fascinating, by allowing students free inquiry to guide their own learning experience they grasp concepts that are much more complex beyond their years. At least that’s my take on the outcome. For example the one boy in the film was working in a group on a project, some of the other kids in his group were interviewed and were saying that he kept making the plans more and more elaborate and complicated. His approach was too ambitious for the project, he admittedly said this during his individual interview, he also admits to procrastination and how that negatively affects his group members. I think for a young teenager to realize these characteristics is beneficial to their learning and growth as a person. Another example I saw in the film was a girl that was put in charge to organize a play for the teachers and parents at the end of the term, throughout the term she was in charge of the entire play and managing the other students. At the beginning of the film she was shy and quiet, by working with others and managing the students she came out of her shell and became a leader, although still quiet they play was put on, and she had become a leader. An interesting part of the film was when students and parents expressed their concern about the learning process. Some students and parents were concerned that they were not being taught in a way to succeed in the current educational system, these students and parents are concerned about the kids making it into university and being able to do well on the standardized tests. This is a tough concept because you want your child to be successful in school but you also want your child to be happy and successful in life. Being successful in school does not equate to being successful in life, but, learning how to work with others and explore concepts yourself through inquiry is something that might actually equate to success in life. In our Zoom meeting some interesting critiques on the film came up in our conversations, one of the most fascinating critiques was that the film was simply advocating for the privatization of education. What was meant by this is that the free inquiry model was portrayed as only being suitable in private schools. When I watched the movie that was not the thought that popped into my head, However, after having discussions with other students who viewed the film much more critically than I it made sense. Overall I do believe that the inquiry based model of learning can be used in the public education system and perhaps this film was meant to be a means to promote the privatization of education. But for me the main point I took away is that free and guided inquiry is a means to have students create deeper meaning and connection to the material as well other students.

 

 

 

 

Free Inquiry Plan

For my free inquiry project I have decided to make a side table out of a live edge slab of wood. For the wood type I am contemplating using Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Red Cedar (Thuja plicata), Yellow Cedar (Cupressus nootkatensis), or possibly Western Maple (Acer macrophyllum). I have many options because I am concerned about the availability and price point of the actual slab, I left myself open to options, so I can find the best price point for the piece I will purchase. This will not be a regular side table. My family and I are avid cribbage players, the first time I played crib was with my grandfather, he taught me the ins and outs of the game. My grandfather is in his 80s currently and I wanted to pay a tribute to my grandfather for introducing me to the great game of cribbage. So, I have decided for this side table I will create a large cribbage board that is the size of a large side table. The small cribbage boards that you can purchase at many stores are nice for travelling and playing on a table-top but I want to build something that is stationary and will be a centerpiece on our outdoor patio.

The Plan: 

  1. Procure the piece of wood
  2. Hand plane
  3. Sand
  4. Drill holes for the cribbage board
  5. Some personal touches (for my grandfather)
  6. Potentially epoxy the piece to make it rectangular (still thinking on this one)
  7. Sand again
  8. Finish with stain or clear coat

For this piece I want to finish the top and see what the finished product looks like before I decide on the base of the project. I am thinking either a nice stump or some drift wood pieces made into legs for the supports on the bottom. I could also go a different route with a nicely welded metal base or perhaps copper piping would look nice for a nice steam punk look. That decision will be made closer to when the top is finished, so I can match the bottom to the top.

Ideas: 

Live Edge Top

Image From: https://imgur.com/gallery/JcdL9rX#I9cu6t0 (mikeytreno)

Copper Piping Legs

Small table, oak worktop offcut

Image From: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/508343876694060692/ (Pete Whelan)

Drift Wood or Stump for Legs

Double Stump Rustic REAL Wood Dining Table

Image From: https://logfurnitureplace.com/cedar-lake-solid-wood-double-stump-

Getting to Know WordPress and Blog as a Pedagogy

WordPress

Today I am writing about my experience setting up my WordPress blog and getting to know the interface. During class on September 15, 2020, we were guided through creating our own blog via WordPress by Rich. I had set up a blog on WordPress previously, however, I had not done it through https://opened.ca/. This added a new dimension to the process of creating my blog, I found it slightly more difficult than creating the blog through WordPress directly. I understand that there is a need to use the opened technology to allow easy access to classmate’s blogs and for ease of access to my blog. Rich did a fantastic job of guiding the class through the process and made it significantly easier than attempting to do it myself. I guess ‘difficult’ is not really the correct word to use but perhaps tedious is a more suitable word.

Blogging as a Pedagogy

Truthfully I had never thought of blogging as a pedagogy on its own, I thought of it as a tool to be used within a separate pedagogy. I had used blogging in several classes at university but never had the knowledge to understand that it was being used as a pedagogy. After reading articles and poking around a little I found multiple sources explaining how blogging is effective in being its very own pedagogy. This semester for the Education program multiple classes are requiring blogs as a major component of the course work, in the past, I would have scoffed at the syllabus and been frustrated by the blogging component. But after reading Sylvia Rosenthal Tolisano’s short post Blogging as a Pedagogy: Facilitate Learning I was convinced that blogging can be used effectively to teach and learn, I am now committing to blogging as a way of facilitating my own learning. Tolisano’s post states that:

Blogging can support the strategies, techniques and approaches to facilitate the learning in your classroom no matter what grade level, age group and subject area. Blogging supports four primary areas:

      1. Reading
      2. Writing
      3. Reflecting
      4. Sharing

To expand on this while blogging the student is required to read, write, reflect, and share their ideas on a wide variety of topics. By using blogs students must read and write but do so by sharing multimedia, reflecting on their own material and other student’s blogs. Having the ability to share and reflect ideas creates constant improvement in student’s thoughts and ideas, this can change a student’s ideas or improve upon them by having feedback from classmates. As the semester moves on I plan on keeping this idea in mind and striving to create insightful blogs and replying to classmates posts.

blogging as pedagogy

Picture Taken From http://langwitches.org/blog/2014/06/03/blogging-as-pedagogy-facilitate-learning/

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