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Game techniques for use in classes

Warming up, knowledge revision and other examples to help get some group interaction (a build trust between class members) in class. The Mind This is a card game where you work in a group of 2,3 or 4 to put down your cards in the correct order. You can see the original card game here. Here’s…

March 14, 2022

The Best Double Sided Tape for Woodworking

FOR THOSE IN A HURRY: Personally, id screw my piece to my workbed whenever possible. It’s cheaper and stronger. But in the cases where you need double sided tape for woodworking, this is my pick Last year the school where I work bought a CNC machine. It’s great although the practicalities mean I needed to…

February 23, 2022

The Other Side of Planning

If you plan out your whole year or semester, are you limiting the quality of your classes before you even begin? It appears to be a ‘fish in a barrel’ decision for management/leadership at a school to ask for planning documents. The thinking is that if teachers hand over the planning documents, they have at…

February 23, 2022

How to Tell Grain Direction – 3 Quick Ways

Being a natural building material, its important to work with timber rather than against it. Telling grain direction is one part of that. Here are three ways I use to tell the direction of grain 1 – Look at the Face Pros: Accurate and can do on all timber Cons: Can be a slow process,…

November 7, 2021

Hand Planes for Beginners – A Working Guide

If one tool symbolizes the craft best it’s the Hand Plane Where skill meets finish And where a woodworkers knowledge of wood really shows In my high school woodwork classroom we have a set of planes But before I tell you about mine (and why), let’s look at a few hand plane basics… Choosing a…

October 10, 2021