Thread: Inspiration

Getting back to the original question about inspiration.

Why not ask them what they like about wood? What it feels like to do something? What it feels like if someone else did it?

Only problem when asking questions is that one speaks and others follow.

Originally Posted by Andy Mac

Sorry mate, I don't think that is the attitude we are trying to express here. Yeah could be funny in the right place, but insulting to those tradies who do work, and dismissive of the the efforts of educators to instil a sense of pride and passion in their students. And to give someone who fu*ked up no chance of redemption.

I wrote a whole response but am not going to hijack this thread.
Peter

Originally Posted by Lumber Bunker

Hi guys,

My year 10 class at the school that i'm teaching at the moment are struggling with inspiration, passion, care, wanting to do a good job etc etc, they are just going through the motions.

How do get 15-16 year old kids to want to do a good job?
sure I have a few great kids that are enthusiastic, but how do i lift the middle of the road kids to want to do better?

I'm putting together a inspirational slide show of high quality work (hand or otherwise) and some nice music. as an visual guide...
Any other ideas?

I've read / skimmed most of the posts in this thread.

It's obvious that most of us have a passion for working with wooden sticks of different shapes and dimensions and have been inspired by some great designer/makers

but 15-16 year olds... maybe what they want from your class is:
a skate board,
a BMX/scooter ramp/rail
a gift for mum -- carved spoons come to mind (maybe too many possibilities for non PC shapes)
a utility object (like a pencil case) that they can legitimately take to class and use as a weapon


What does the Board of Studies curiculm statement for your subject say is the required outcome?

Maybe set an off beat research / design task.
Say design a $200 note featuring two different bits of furniture and deliver a 5 minute presentation saying why you selected them

Originally Posted by _fly_

I wrote a whole response but am not going to hijack this thread.
Peter

Hijacking the thread shouldnt be a problem. We are all having our say and you are entitled to yours. But if you are concerned about it, why not start another? I, for one, would like to read a more detailed comment.

Originally Posted by _fly_

Ask them what they want to make. Then let them find the plan and /or design and make it.

...

A japanese puzzle box to hide smokes and condoms in.

...

Carve a wooden knife that a metal detector won't find.

I haven't read through this entire thread, so I apologise if I am repeating something already said (hey, it's Friday, cut me some slack), but I agree with what Fly has written. The project has to relate to the kid in question. Whether directly or if there is some pay off from it. I took Tech Studies all through high school and ended up doing my Year 12 project in Year 11. I still ended up in the Tech room with my class the next year to potter around and lend a hand - one of the two reasons I bothered going to school. My project was a hand forged hunting knife - I liked knives and liked the processes but because I was given a pretty well blank slate to take my project where I wanted I was able to keep interested in it. It was amazing to see how interested some of the normally lethargic green-spiky-leaf enthusiasts got when they were able to make a project that related to their hobby (a bowl on the lathe for certain uses etc). I can understand though that a freeform path for all of the kids is a workload beyond belief for the staff come assessment time, but as far as I can see it is the only genuine way to separate the men from the boys. Those that still can't perk an interest shouldn't be there at all. Unfortunately it's a subject area that a lot of kids will take to get an easy mark.

Cheers.
Tom.

Originally Posted by Lumber Bunker

Hi guys,

My year 10 class at the school that i'm teaching at the moment are struggling with inspiration, passion, care, wanting to do a good job etc etc, they are just going through the motions.

How do get 15-16 year old kids to want to do a good job?
sure I have a few great kids that are enthusiastic, but how do i lift the middle of the road kids to want to do better?

I'm putting together a inspirational slide show of high quality work (hand or otherwise) and some nice music. as an visual guide...
Any other ideas?

Maybe the teacher is uninspiring.

The stuff in bold will send them to sleep.

Pull your head in Daniel, I see myself as just about the most insirational teacher I know.
I could just focus on the 4 awesome students I have yell at the 15 good students for messing up their first ever dovetails and ignore the others whilst they they use our tenon saws as swords or files as hammers, to drive pins into the work bench tops.
Noobe indeed.

The question was, how do you get 15 year olds to want to do a good job? Anything positive and constructive?

Not just woodworkers, but designers and artists. I was started off by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, then William Morris, then the Bauhaus, then Shaker furniture, then Chippendale, Hepplewhite etc.
Craft is one thing, expressing yourself in materials is another.

Good luck with them. At least they're not throwing chisels at each other (yes, it happened to me).

Just a thought - do the students know what a 'good job' looks like? Looking at some of my first wood projects from school, the joints look dreadful when I once thought I did quite a good job! In that regard some pics of quality work might give them some perspective. If their major projects are coming up you might like to spin it off as "to give you some ideas". Only if you brand it as an inspirational slide show they might try and switch off

Also since we have torn the tree down I've always felt it necessary to do it justice. But don't know if that would necessarily spur them on to do a good job.

I don't think that was very useful, but I've said it anyway

Be off the wall and different; ditch the nice music (unless your tastes in nice happen to run to something like Deadmau5) and show them that it can be about having stuff that no-one else has:

For the more mechanically minded, there's marble machines:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26EE3jG5thM]Marble machine 1 in action - YouTube[/ame]

For the computer nerds, there's steampunk dressing for a PC:
Old Time Computer

For the skaters, there's the option of building a laminated deck:
How to Make a Skateboard Deck - Fine Woodworking Article

Originally Posted by Lumber Bunker

The question was, how do you get 15 year olds to want to do a good job? Anything positive and constructive

being a little analytical here

how do you define a "good job"?
how do the 15 year olds define a "good job"?

how close to each other are the two definitions?

studies of motivation that I know of seem to come down to
the more of your personal self that you invest in something, the harder you will try to make that thing "perfect" -- note however that the definition of "perfect" can be very broad. I know of instances where, in a team sport, the "perfect" game meant the final score was only a 0–9 loss.

accepting that some of your students want to be there, some tolerate being in your class and some want to be anywhere but in your class or at school, I think the answer to your question about motivation comes down to how do you make all the kids, even the "drop kicks", want to be in your class?

I don't think a slide show/powerpoint presentation will do it. Too much risk of engaging the engaged, boring teh partially engaged and really turning off the others

Originally Posted by Lumber Bunker

Pull your head in Daniel, I see myself as just about the most insirational teacher I know.
I could just focus on the 4 awesome students I have yell at the 15 good students for messing up their first ever dovetails and ignore the others whilst they they use our tenon saws as swords or files as hammers, to drive pins into the work bench tops.
Noobe indeed.

The question was, how do you get 15 year olds to want to do a good job? Anything positive and constructive?

Have to agree with you LB.

Daniel, this forum is a place to get & give help to a group of people with a common interest, not a place to slag off at some one & offer up nothing in return

Maybe you are in or around the age group that LB is trying to help. Maybe you are correct & LB's ideas are uninspiring & sleep worthy. If this is the case, then share the benefit of your wisdom & tell us all why, & more important, tell us what your ideas are to inspire these students.

As a Dad of 4 ranging from 28 to 14, I have had to deal with teachers for a very long time, & like wood workers, some are a lot better than others.

I Don't know LB, but the simple fact that he is not sitting on his ass getting paid the same amount whether his students lean anything or not makes him a better teacher than some I have met.

___________________________________________________


LB, What about a class project. I was thinking of a wooden clock.

All those gears & levers to make. Parts for every skill level & the ones that are a little disinterested at first may soon start to feel a bit left out if they don't join in.

Hat's off to you LB for taking on more that just the pay packet.

Steve

Originally Posted by Lumber Bunker

Pull your head in Daniel, I see myself as just about the most insirational teacher I know.
I could just focus on the 4 awesome students I have yell at the 15 good students for messing up their first ever dovetails and ignore the others whilst they they use our tenon saws as swords or files as hammers, to drive pins into the work bench tops.
Noobe indeed.

The question was, how do you get 15 year olds to want to do a good job? Anything positive and constructive?

Well, poor old Daniel really got the what for. When you stop and think about it, he's not out of line at all. Boring is like beauty, it is very much in the eye of the beholder.
To say you are the most inspirational teacher you know is all well and good, then again, self praise is no recommendation. One of the greatest problems one faces getting through to young folk is the generation gap. What inspires us is nothing short of boring to them. Its a maturity thing, an acquired taste, old head on young shoulders and all that stuff. I know its frustrating and the first thing you want to do is jump down someone's neck but there is more than one way to skin a cat. I have had the privilege of training quite a few apprentices and have enjoyed every moment (almost.) The best part was the friendships and the fact they kept me young. I found it crucial to be in touch, one of them, but still hold the authority. I asked their opinion, how they felt about things, what p**sed them off. Kids like that, they want to be heard, they have opinions and ideas and respect the fact you are prepaired to listen. Now telling them to pull their head in isnt going to advance the cause, Im sure you'll agree. What Im saying is, in Daniel's case, it would have been better to ask if he had anything constructive in mind and then,upon receiving a negative response, telling him to retract his cranium. Kids are like race horses, every now and again one comes along thats a gem. But to find that gem, you must treat them all with
care. When I was at school, I could count the teachers on one hand that I felt were worth their salt and out of those few, there were only a couple I felt you could confide in. The rest I would rate as also-rans. Could confide in, thats the key. That to me is the basis of a good teacher pupil relationship. Talk to the kids, see what they have in mind. "From the mouths of babes."

Our class (some 35 years ago) was inspired by the idea of producing a product for sale at the school fete. 50% of the profit went to the student the rest to the school. Produced my best work for this.

Something that might attract them today could be a phone charger cradle.