Rejected Delivery: Not Everyone Gets an A+ in Shop

We have been receiving lumber (Appalachian Oak #1 Common surfaced to 25/64 straight line ripped one side) for nine years. We receive about 2,000 board feet each year and have turned it into over 1,000 tables among many other projects. Today a delivery of 700 board feet came and the students started to carry it in like students have done for years. And I, like always, began to stack the wood and evaluate the quality of my purchase. The first two boards were less than acceptable, but there is a truck load more being carried in. But, by the fifth and sixth boards I began to wonder about the entire load. I had the students stop bringing in the lumber and went to talk to the driver. After looking through a good part of the load on the truck I finally did what I had threatened to do for years. I sent the entire load of oak back as unacceptable and called my rep at the company. I apologized but the rep agreed we had been getting the same order for nine years and this load was not the quality that we needed.

It was a real life experience for the students to see their teacher reject the work of a delivery man and the lumber company. I guess after all is said and done, not everyone gets an A+ in shop.

Mr. Wiemers
http://mrwiemersshop.com

Chess Board Production (part two)

The walnut/birch chess board with initial trim of Yellow Heart from Brazil and Paduak from West Africa.








The chess board clamping in clamps attaching the Paduak wood trim.








Mr. Wiemers
http://mrwiemersshop.com

Chess Board Production

Two inch strips of walnut and birch.














Glue together.


















Cut across grain. Flip every other one over.













Glue and clamp to make the chess board.












Chess pieces turned on a CNC lathe in the shop.







Trimming the chess board with 18" strips of Yellow Heart wood from Brazil










Cutting strips of Paduak from West Africa to trim the chess board

Mr. Wiemers
http://mrwiemersshop.com

Madison Wins State CC Championship

Mr. Wiemers
http://mrwiemersshop.com

Ten Tips for Writing a Blog

These tips taken from Mr. McClung's post at this link. I found this very useful for a variety of reasons. Mr. McClung is doing this as a class project. I will use this for my own students who are blogging, but also personally and at school.

1. Make your opinion known
People like blogs, they like blogs because they are written by people and not corporations. People want to know what people think, crazy as it sounds they want to know what you think. Tell them exactly what you think using the least amount of words possible.

2. Link like crazy.
Support your post with links to other web pages that are contextual to your post.

3. Write Less
Give the maximum amount of information with the least amount of words. Time is finite and people are infinitely busy. Blast your knowledge into the reader at the speed of sound.

4. 250 is enough
A long post is easier to forget and harder to get into. A short post is the opposite.

5. Make Headlines snappy
Contain your whole argument in your headline. Check out National newspapers to see how they do it.

6. Include bullet point lists
We all love lists, it structures the info in an easily digestible format.

7. Make your posts easy to scan
Every few paragraphs insert a sub heading. Make sentences and headlines short and to the point.

8. Be consistent with your style
People like to know what to expect, once you have settled on a style for your audience stick to it.

9. Litter the post with Keywords.
Think about what keywords people would use to search for your post and include them in the body text and headers. make sure the keyword placement is natural and does not seem out of place.

10. Edit your post
Good writing is in the editing. Before you hit the submit button, re-read your post and cut out the stuff that you don’t need.

Mr. Wiemers
http://mrwiemersshop.com

Mr. Wiemers' Mad BB Skills

Mr. Wiemers
http://mrwiemersshop.com

Luke's Half-Pipe

When Luke came into the shop as a sixth grader he asked several times if he could ever build a small half-pipe for his tech-decks. Today Luke and I put one together quick for him before his seventh grade year comes to a close this week.


Mr. Wiemers
http://mrwiemersshop.com

7th Grade Shop Video

These are some of the twenty modules we have set up for the seventh graders. In this video you will see them working and producing projects in the DCG MS shop.



Mr. Wiemers
http://mrwiemersshop.com

First Quarter of Seventh Grade Shop

During the first quarter the seventh grade middle school students had the opportunity to work on twenty various modules, or stations, in the middle school shop. Mr. Wiemers has set up these three-day modules over the last few years. Each module includes the production of a project and involves skills that have connections to a career field. The modules include assembly of a lawn mower engine, assembly of an electric motor, project design and cutting on a CNC mill, forming acrylic plastic, residential wiring, design and production of a wooden race car, bending and riveting metal to form a hook, soldering copper pipe, cutting and threading galvanized pipe, soldering components on a functioning circuit board, plastic injection molding, vacuum forming plastic, assembly of a small model residential wall, house design with CAD, video production and upload, podcast production and upload, design and cut an acrylic chess piece with CNC lathe, measuring with a variety of instruments, writing and uploading a blog and small wooden projects. These areas of introduction to technology and industry are followed up in the high school shop program. Each year the class size grows and more projects, modules and opportunities are added. The students develop skills that can be incorporated into other class projects and have an opportunity to apply their reading, writing and math skills in a shop environment. Students are also being introduced to principles of science and math that will be developed in other classes.

We are putting together a video of these modules and will post it later.

Mr. Wiemers
http://mrwiemersshop.com

"Pop-the-Balloon-on-the-Pin-in-the-Hat" Game

Yesterday in Advisory we played the pop the balloon game. It was fun, it built teamwork, and we made a lot of noise. The balloon is popped on a straight pin taped onto the bill of a baseball hat. Watch and enjoy this video:


Mr. Wiemers
http://mrwiemersshop.com

Links to 1st Qt. 7th Grade Shop

Here are some links to some of the seventh grader's videos, blogs and podcasts from the first quarter. Some of these links provide an insight into the 20 seventh grade modules that we have set up for them.

Seventh Grade Student Videos processed and uploaded to schooltube from the first quarter:
http://www.schooltube.com/videosearch.php?q=dcgms7

Seventh Grade Student Blogs from the first quarter:
http://7thshop.blogspot.com/

Seventh Grade Student Podcasts from the first quarter:
http://web.mac.com/wiemers/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html

Here are some videos that I have posted on schooltube:
http://www.schooltube.com/videosearch.php?q=wiemers

Mrs. Phillips' Principal Blog "Life in the Middle":
http://lphillipsdcg.blogspot.com/



Mr. Wiemers
http://mrwiemersshop.com

A Leader

Here is a poem written this weekend by my 16 year old son concerning the road to becoming a leader:

A Leader

There are life lessons
that you really need.
Things you must know
in order to lead.

Learn to listen
so that others will listen to you.

Learn to speak
so that others might speak to you.

Learn to love
so that someone might love you.

Learn to die
so others will die along side you.

Learn to forgive
so others will forgive you.

Learn to please
so others will try to please you.

Learn to follow
so boys will follow you.

Learn to be teachable
so you will be able to teach.

Learn to laugh
so people will laugh with you.

Learn to work
so they will work for you.

Learn to live
so people can live with you.

You can't show what you can't do.
You can't teach what you don't know.
So learn to learn
so these men can learn from you.

- Zac Wiemers, Junior, age 16

Mr. Wiemers
http://mrwiemersshop.com

"Education Week"

Occasionally I will read something in "Education Week" that strikes a harmonic cord with me philosophically. This week (August 26, 2009) Daniel Wolff made some comments and included some quotes that quickened the spirit of education for me in his article "The President's Laugh Line." While addressing the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce the President suggested that we "rethink the school day to incorporate more time." Wolff goes on to quote or summarize comments by Franklin, Lincoln, Ford, and Kennedy to redirect the conversation from "longer school days" to "better use of schools." Wolff writes:

Ben Franklin, writing as Poor Richard, declared: 'A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one.' His Autobiography basically argued that he had become a great American, scientist, and political thinker by spending less time in school, not more.

Abraham Lincoln read Franklin, and when he ran for office made sure to portray himself as a largely uneducated backwoodsman. Henry Ford believed too much schooling could ruin a mind. And John F. Kennedy, for all his presidential rhetoric about the importance of education, thought his time in prep schools and then Harvard mostly silly: The socializing was fun, the learning of little to no consequence."

Wolff then comments what would be lost if our students were forced to spend longer days in school: time with parents working two jobs, responsibility and money from after school jobs, time spent supervising siblings, relaxation, time to do homework. I could add many things more that would be lost with a longer school day. I would suggest reducing the things we try to cram into a school day before we make the school day longer. But, that was not the point of this article.

Wolff ends with suggesting a more flexible, alternative solution. A school building, he says, is a major community resource with computers, cafeterias, libraries and sport facilities. "Why not institute a program that transforms our public schools into community centers?" They could be a place for students to do their evening research and homework. I would ask, why are school libraries and school computer labs shut down after school? Why aren't night classes added to assist students who need more help. I say we should reduce the socialistic load placed on schools during the day, restore the vision of education and, instead of lengthening the school day, simply extend the hours the school is opened and equip with man power to teach and assist in the learning process. Men like Franklin, Ford, Lincoln and Kennedy realized that school does not have a monopoly on education. If schools continue to think they have a monopoly on education and that they control the educational process they will continue to deteriorate as an educational institution.

Mr. Wiemers
http://mrwiemersshop.com

New Blog for 7th Grade Students

Check out our second addition of the week to the seventh grade shop modules: the Seventh Grade Student Shop Blog. Visit and bookmark this site at

http://7thshop.blogspot.com/

Mr. Wiemers
http://mrwiemersshop.com

i-Movie and Schooltube Video Demonstration

The last couple of days we have been setting up and demonstrating how to take video, process video and upload video. This is one of our new seventh grade modules. Our shop program continues to expand and the school continues to grow. Below is one of the videos we made, edited and uploaded during second period today. There are also a few photos the students took.






Mr. Wiemers
http://mrwiemersshop.com