Teaching woodwork to school kids

[woodbloke]

My honest feeling is that the OP is on to a hiding to nothing, and should as someone else said, run a mile.

Agreed...as I said earlier **** - Rob

 

[Paul Chapman]

back to the original question - any suggestions for simple tasks or projects to get them started on?

Well, I'd teach it the way it used to be done. How to plane a piece of wood; how to mark out; how to saw; how to chisel. Then start to put all those skills into practice and make a few joints. Then use that to make a few basic objects.

One of the excellent things we used to have in my woodworking classroom back in the 1950s was examples of all the different joints on the wall and examples of things made using those joints. It gave us all something to aspire to. And it gave the teacher something to refer to when he was explaining things - you need to make it visual so that the kids know what you are talking about.

Without teaching the kids the basics, there's not much point.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

That's appropriate for a Carpentry and Joinery course in KS4, but these kids are 10. The school won't have the equipment or expertise to mainatin it if they have - if they had anyone half-way decent at DT they wouldn't be asking for volunteers. These kids need to learn about planning and evaluation, choosing the right tools and materials. Remember, they'll have a couple of hours and then nothing for what - half a term? 2 kids at a time, class of 25, helper sees the kids every 12 weeks or so.

All sounds a bit of a waste of time then. I suppose, eventually, some of them (when they grow up) will find this forum and then ask us how to plane a piece of wood........

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[big soft moose]

BSM - your point is sensible, but only if you bear in mind the circumstances. If this is the first experience these kids have of working with wood - or any resistant materials - and there is no real equipment, no workshop and no history of proper DT - how are they going to be engaged by making something?
Better to get them making something out of balsa and gluing it which they can enjoy than making them practice something they find difficult, but not for long enough to feel they have made progress. And at the end have something that they won't really care about.

you are right - but if i recall correctly and it was quite a while ago, the total tools and equipment required for the teapot stand was a hammer, some sand paper,some glue, and the varnish and brush - the square backboard and the mitres were ready cut by Mr Bush, though two lucky lads got to "help" him with that ( for help read passing him the wood while he did the sawing). and we did it at the little desks in our gclassroom on some newspaper

that was our first experience of resistant materials and i can still recall being dead dead proud of myself when i took it home to give to mummy (and insisting we took it with us to show my grandad when we went to visit) - that experience, which as i said was my first of working with wood has stayed with me for 29 years and is directly linked to the culmination of setting up my own shop with saw tables, lathes and who knows what else

My honest feeling is that the OP is on to a hiding to nothing, and should as someone else said, run a mile. If he continues he needs to look at the National Curriculum, some DT schemes of work for KS2 and prepare some proper plans, discuss them with the treacher/head and then set out. That isn't going to happen by Monday. DT teachers are trained for years before they are allowed to maim children professionally, and a good one is quite a find.

I totally agree about this - mr bush was a tech teacher from the "big" school who came down to work with us one friday a week - expecting an unqualified volunteer to do this work is a different kettle of fish. I have done it in my days as a ranger doing stuff like building bird boxes to put up in the school grounds ( IIRC we ready cut all the parts and pilot drilled the holes before hand and the kids nailed them together) but again in this capacity I was a proffesional and crucially covered by my employers insurance.

The OP absolutely must get the insurance issue clarified and stated in writing by the head - the teacher just wanting you to get stuck in without this is just not good enough (especially when you consider that in the worst case an uninsured law suit could cost you your house and make your family homeless)

 

[trumpetmonkey]

Ha ha, thanks for the discouragement! Some fair points but we'll see how it goes. I'm not a proper teacher and not pretending to be but my teacher friend seems to think I will be a helpful influence on the kids.

My hope is that I will see a spark of genuine interest/aptitude in a minority of the kids which we can then find ways to build on - hopefully some of the kids that are 'difficult' in the more academic context. There is no way I can give any serious training to the whole class with such limited time, I realise that.

 

[woodsworth]

Stack animals!

They are fun to make and because it is with a scroll saw it is difficult for them to cut themselves. I used to teach woodworking to mostly single mums and teenagers in a facility that rented out bench space and tool use by the hour or by membership. When they brought in even smaller children i amused them with stack animals. They loved sitting at the scroll saw cutting out the shapes and then gluing them together. They had an animal quick enough that it kept them interested enough.

I can't seem to find any pictures on google but have some that I did all those years ago with my son. I'll take some pictures when i get home from work.

 

[Aled Dafis]

Trumpet Monkey, do you have a scroll saw? This is about as safe as it gets in a school situation. I usually show the kids that it can't hurt them by holding my finger against the (moving) blade, yes it gets a few screetch's from some kids, but most are OK with using the machine after this. I find that they can do more damage with a coping saw.

We do a nice little project with year 7 where they cut out a face from 6mm mdf/ply and then use a silple push/pull "Y" shaped mechanism to move the ears/horns/hair up and down. Mechanisms feature strongly in the KS3 curriculum, but I'm not sure how aplicable this is to KS2, lots of fun though, and at that age that's what's most important.

I'll try and sketch up how it's assembled.

Cheers

Aled

 

[mrfixit]

Sad thing is, the kids will be the least of your problems and see it for what it is. They'll hang on your every word and have fun making things while learning new skills at the same time.

It's the parents, teachers groups, insurance Co's and local government nabobs that will be having the vapors.

 

[toolsntat]

Trumpet Monkey, do you have a scroll saw? This is about as safe as it gets in a school situation. I usually show the kids that it can't hurt them by holding my finger against the (moving) blade, yes it gets a few screetch's from some kids, but most are OK with using the machine after this. I find that they can do more damage with a coping saw.

Cheers

Aled

Scary stuff :shock: :shock:

Lets hope they don`t try the same with a bandsaw one day :roll: :roll:

Andy

 

[Aled Dafis]

Here's a quick (and I do mean quick) sketch of the prject we do with Year 7.

You could prepare the linkages in advance, so that's all the kids need to do is to draw out the outlines of the face, cut them out on the scroll saw, drill the holes and assemble. They could even paint the faces in their "art" class.

I would advise that you cut the dowels a little longer than I've shown on the sketch in order to glue on a small retaining block so that the linkages don't fall off when they play with them.

Cheers

Aled

 

[woodsworth]

A bit cold for floor leveling today. So here are a few examples of stack animals that can be made on the scroll saw.

So much fun and they can paint them in art class after.

 

[Richard D]

I have a horrible feeling that what is taught in schools these days as Design & Technology is a world away from the woodwork I learned at school 30 years ago. By the age of 12 we were up to our elbows in a red hot forge in metalwork classes, and had pretty free reign with all of the hand tools in woodwork. Shame, really. My woodworking skills are *nothing* to shout about, but at least I know how to saw straight, plane square and cut a halfway passable joint. None of which you can learn by writing out a set of Learning Obectives or listing design criteria. Perhaps that was why the chap who sold me a marking gauge at a car boot sale expressed surprise that anyone under 50 knew what it actually was.

 

[jlawrence]

Nowadays I'd start with a couple of vids of what can happen if you get it wrong with tools - there's bound to be plenty on the net. Then show them that it is possible to use them safely.
With regards to a scroll saw, I'd never show them that you can touch the blade - imagine is they then go home and try it with daddy's chop saw.
enhanced CRB, insurance, lesson plan. Then crack on. Yes, always ask before touching - but that's no different in schools to any other environment with kids. It's not difficult to ask, it just takes getting used to a different way of doing things - make it a habit and it becomes easy.

 

[nanscombe]

... enhanced CRB, insurance, lesson plan. Then crack on. Yes, always ask before touching - but that's no different in schools to any other environment with kids...

Would you need to also register with the ISA?


Registration seems to be for volunteers but it is over, and above, CRB's etc.



Aaaaaarrgghh - Just trying to post URL to the Independant Safeguarding Authority.

 

[jimi43]

So I take it a tablesaw is out?



I remember when I was a kid going to a lecture at a local comprehensive by a guy whose name was something like "Bomber Harris" where we were shown the benefits of different types of explosive materials...

My mum's garden shed had a huge hole in it after that lecture...I made some gunpowder...took a Bunsen burner apart and made a cannon....Jetex fuses...AH! Those were the days....

I suppose times have changed a tad!



Jim

 

[nanscombe]

...Jetex fuses...AH! Those were the days....
...

Ho, ho. Jetex I haven't heard that name for a long while. I'm not old enough to have used them but my dad showed me his old motor and told me a few stories about it. :twisted:

Funny, you can't seem to have any harmless fun like that these days without half a dozen armed coppers breaking your door down. :?


On a previous note, I should have said that I believe that ISA registration is on a one off basis and is free for volunteers. If you work, or volunteer, with children or vulnerable adults on a regular basis you may need to register.

 

[Modernist]

You don't have to be at school. This was the result of my daughter throwing an "empty" can of hairspray into the rubbish in the incinerator. The can ended up concertina'd against the house wall and must have been near supersonic on the way :shock: :shock:

 

[trumpetmonkey]

Modernist that hairspray incident is very cool and reminds me of a reckless but memorable incident in the scouts.

Jimi43 a favourite in my chemistry classes was to make water cannons out of the bunsen burners by filling them from the taps before turning the gas full on. I also remember a classmate covering a sink bottom with ethanol and lighting it. Our chemistry teacher pretty much turned a blind eye to these things!!

Hmm, I should probably emphasise that am a bit more mature now, honest. :roll:

Thanks for all the comments all appreciated.

Nanscombe, looks like the ISA thing is not fully in force til July 2010. To some extent I'm relying on the school to be in charge of those things, having made my concerns about insurance etc pretty clear. And I am CRB checked for this school.

Trumpet Monkey, do you have a scroll saw? This is about as safe as it gets in a school situation. I usually show the kids that it can't hurt them by holding my finger against the (moving) blade

Well now, a scroll saw of that type with a very small up and down movement is about the first tool I invested in, as a school kid myself, after getting very excited about it at a woodworking show. I think it worked via some sort of magnetic vibrating plate. And I could hold my finger against it, if I wanted to give elderly relatives a heart attack. It remained in my parent's house for many years while I was on my various travels, but wanting to reclaim it again recently we cannot remember what happened to it. So I bought a cheapo Clarke one as i needed one quick, and it works in a different way with a big up and down stroke on an arm. I am assuming it would not be safe to touch?!

Thankyouvery much Aled and Woodsworth for the visuals, they are good ideas that I may use down the line.

Today i am going with a simple hammer and nails exercise. Oops, it's getting late, need to get going...

 

[Mr T]

Ignore the Jeremiahs, kids of that age like making bird boxes. Have fun.

Chris

 

[woodbloke]

Ignore the Jeremiahs, kids of that age like making bird boxes. Have fun.

Chris

Indeed Chris, but I take it you've never been in front of a class of children in a workshop environment?.. (never mind just two) Whilst the idea is for them to enjoy themselves and do something which is now clearly beyond normal expectations, in my view the OP is well advised to ensure that all bases are covered :wink:...hence the advice from someone that knows - Rob

 

[Smudger]

Ignore the Jeremiahs, kids of that age like making bird boxes. Have fun.

Chris

You've had about a hundred years of teaching experience applied to this thread.

Glad to see professionals written off so glibly...