3D Design in Language Arts #MakerEd

One of the questions I get about 3D printing and design is, "How do you do this in a Literature class?"

On the surface, 3D design in ELA does not seem to make sense, but it is all about a teacher's approach to assessment. I am a supporter of Project Based Learning. I set my students up in a way that allows them to demonstrate understanding of concepts that are meaningful to them. Part of that is introducing them to various tools that can help them demonstrate that understanding. 3D design is just another tool for students to use.

We were wrapping up our unit on To Kill a Mockingbird and I asked my students to demonstrate understanding of a symbol and how it is connected to a theme we discussed in class. For this unit, I showed students how they could use Tinkercad to design and the Dremel Printer to print their project. I gave them a few days in the Makerspace with the Chromebooks so they could get used to the program and brainstorm ideas for their project. Not all students chose to use 3D design for their project, but many did.

For those that did, many of them came up with these amazing designs and wonderful explanations as to why they chose them. They were able to go into detail on how they designed their symbol and how it related to one of the themes covered in class. They were all very proud of their designs and loved showing them off to others. It was also great watching students figure out the different parts of Tinkercad and then helping other students along the way.

One student put in tremendous effort to create something that was awesome and wonderfully detailed.

She wanted to talk about the good and evil conflict in the story and created an angel and devil on the shoulder of a person. The details made it very difficult to print the way it was designed and I'm still trying to figure out the best way to print it. I might help her deconstruct it and print in in pieces. Anyway, this was the first 3D design this student every created. When I told her that she could do this at home for dun and print at school, her face lit up. She just discovered a new passion she did not know existed. 

Here is the chifforobe that Tom was asked to chop by Mayella. 

 

Another intricate design from a first time designer. 

This design is taking symbols and creating something brand new that had meaning to them based on their reading of the book. 

A student created a gavel to represent the justice system in the story and wanted to make it as real as possible. 

I told him I would print it using the wood filament I have at home so he could stain and paint it. Here is what it looks like after he took it home. 

It broke while he was painting and staining, but he said that it could be a symbol of the broken justice system found in Maycomb that led to Tom's death. 

There are so many other great projects that students spent time on to show they understood To Kill a Mockingbird and some even found out they had a skill for 3D design. 

In the end, the questions is not, "How do you do this in a Literature class?" The real question is, "How are you giving students the opportunity to demonstrate understanding beyond a poster board, power point, or multiple choice test?"

Solving Everyday Problems #MakerEd #Make52

I have often been asked about the "need" for 3D printers in school. Most people think that it would just be better to just order what you need instead of trying to make it. That is where I disagree.

I like to challenge my students with projects that force them to consider everyday problems. In my technology class last year, my favorite assignment was asking students to identify an issue in their life and design a solution. This project allowed for students to work on something meaningful to them and to create a viable solution. It gives them the drive to really tackle the problem.

Here is my example:

Swinging Baby-Gate Problem

Here is a baby gate door we installed on the second floor to keep my little guy from going down the stairs. It also keeps the two little dogs from going up and getting stuck behind the gate trying to get back down. It has been a minor annoyance, but one that I wanted to address. 

I could have went out and purchased a door stop, but I thought it would be the perfect project for me to design something and print it using my Dremel 3D40.

Took my measurements and started designing on Tinkercad.

    

I spent some time getting the measurements just right and tweaking it over and over again as I learned to become more proficient using the program. It was a decent amount of work to get the angle just right on the triangle. My high school Geometry teacher would be proud.  Once I got the shape just right, I wanted to personalize it.

 I thought adding my initials to the doorstop would be a simple way to personalize it. I used the letter features and was able to use them to carve out my initials on the doorstop. Once I had it in place, I was ready to print.

It was not good. Not long enough and just didn't look like right. So, back to the drawing board.

Thinner and longer was the key. A couple of measurement adjustments and I was back in business. 

After a short print of about 35 minutes, the doorstop was ready for action.

I added a little tack to the bottom of the doorstop to keep it in place and place on the wall when not in use. This was a fun project that would be perfect for the classroom or Makerspace.

Step 1: Ask students to identify a problem that could be solved with the proper design.

Step 2: Have students work on the design.

Step 3: Print a prototype.

Step 4: Solve the problem.

I can't wait to see what you and your students can come up with to solve your problems.

The Nerdy Designer? #EdChat #MakerEd

Side Note: This is the 6th anniversary of this blog and it is crazy to think how much has happened since I started. I've really grown as a teacher and I love that I can share that with others. Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to read, comment, and share. I'm very lucky to be part of a great community of educators dedicated to being better and sharing their knowledge with everyone.

I took the past two weeks off to get away from the grind of social media and school. I just needed some time away from the noise. I did not have to spend time checking for @ mentions or respond to others. It was about getting me back to center. It was the best thing I could have done.

I was not sure how I was going to get back to center, so I just took it easy and let the ideas come to me. One of the first things I did was just play around with Tinkercad.com. I wanted to get better at using it, so I I thought it would be fun to design some things. I looked around and saw some cool designs others had created for bow ties and I thought it might be cool to try making a bow tie I could wear on Tie Tuesday when school starts in the New Year. Here is what I was able to create on my Dremel Idea Builder.

I liked it, but it was very thin and I had a hard time getting the clip to fit just right. I was frustrated, but determined to give it another go. Even though I could have tossed and spent the rest of the break playing Fallout 4, I really liked that I was being challenged by myself to complete this task. That was the best motivation I could ever need. After doing some more measuring and tinkering, I came up with my final print that was a bit more complex, but fits great and I will be wearing it on Tuesday. Here I am with it.

I was so excited to have this completed and be able to wear it to school. It is like a badge of honor that I can say I designed it and I printed it at home. It is very Nerdy and it is very me. 

The entire design process was so invigorating. I've never been much of a drawer, so I just assumed I could never design anything. I have been so excited to spend more time using digital design tools to shape ideas that have been running in my head. It's something I never thought I would do, or even need to do as an English teacher, but it really has given me an exciting new energy that I can really apply in the classroom. I've realized that being a Maker or a designer has nothing to do with what subject you teach. All teachers are Makers. All teachers are designers. 

The design process takes time and needs to be carefully done. I had almost forgotten how much trial and error had gone into many of my lessons that are strong and only require a tweak here and there. I have been almost spoiled by how easy it is to teach the lessons that have worked for years. It has not always been that way though. Designing these bow ties, and other items to be featured in other posts, brought me back to the first few years of teaching. I'm going to make things that look good in my head and on paper, but end up terribly in practice and execution. As teachers, we are all designers and we need to remember that in our first few years and our 15th year. 

Bringing these ideas to the students is going to be the focus of my next post. 

If you are a Making Teacher and have made cool things, leave a link below so others can check them out. 

Hugs and High Fives, 

Nick

It's More Than Just Printing in 3D

I'm a relative newbie to the 3D printing world. It has always fascinated me, but my first hands-on experience did not come until my school got a printer for our Makerspace. I played with it on a regular basis and fell in love with the things it could do. It was magical to me. I never thought I would see something like this in my lifetime. It was too Sci-Fi in my mind.

I was able to have a 3D printer in my home the past month and I printed like a mad man. After a while, my wonderful wife asked me what I'm going to do with this printer. I can't just keep printing nerdy things to clutter the house. She is 100% correct here. After the thrill of printing things has worn off, what do I have left?

My House

I designed this house using Tinkercad. My students use this at school and I'm working on getting better at it. It's not perfect, but I'm so proud of this house I built.

I have watched my students work on fun and crazy projects over the past few weeks and the things they are creating are amazing. Here are some images of topographical maps of mythical landscapes from works of Fiction. This is so cool. The students needed to do some research and design these maps using 3D design tools. This has the students taking literature to a level I did not think possible or practical. I think about this for social studies and other classes that needs students to visualize projects for class.

Printing is just the end result of hours of design. It's not the printed object that matters most, the skills attained during the design process matter the most. I never thought in 3D. Looking at designs I'm working on at the moment, I need to think about the crazy way physics will work. I wanted to see if I could design a ball trapped in a square. This doesn't seem super crazy, but, for me, it was a difficult concept to wrap my head around because I needed to think differently. Here is the design I came up with for my idea.

I did print it and it worked! I posed a problem for myself and I set out to solve it. These are the types of things we need to offer to our students. Find a problem and design a solution. I struggled with my solution, but since I wanted to solve the problem I chose, I worked my butt of to do it. Once I did, I felt like a rockstar.

3D Printing is not about the printing at all. It's about the design process. As teachers, just taking another teacher's lesson, making copies, and giving it to students is not good teaching. Taking something somebody has created, tweaking it to make it your own, is a great way to grow as a teacher. Finally, taking a chance to create something brand new to address a problem is a big risk, but the reward of doing it correctly, is worth every hour that goes in.

Leo was just watching the printer with a sense of wonder. He wants to design his own items and print them out as soon as possible. He has a chance to learn about design, shapes, the physics of building items, geometry, measurements, and so much more. He will learn these as part of a the design process and he will do it because he wants to. It will be relevant to him and he will learn because of that fact. As teachers, we need to work hard to make as much of our curriculum matter to our students so we can engage them at the highest level possible. A 3D printer is not the answer to all that ails us, but it is another tool that can help students AND teachers work to be better learners.

I will be looking at my lesson planning through the eyes of a designer and a maker more to really see what I can do differently and I'm going to encourage my students to spend more time designing and less time copying.

Share your thoughts on Making and Design in the comment section below.

Hugs and High Fives,

Nick

Spending Quality Time with the Idea Builder from @Dremel

Dremel, known for making great tools, has created their own 3D printer and I have been lucky to play with it over the past month to see what it can do. For those that follow me on Instagram and Twitter, I'm sure you have seen some of the pictures, but I wanted to recap some of them here.

I always like to start with some of the basic print jobs that come with a machine. Dremel has some simple designs you can print right from the machine without having to connect it to a computer. It also has an SD Card slot, so you could save designs on the disk and upload to the device when you are ready. Here are some of the basic prints that come with the printer.

Frog

This is a simple fun design that was easy to print.

Vase

The pattern on this is beautiful and, while it took a bit to print, it came out beautiful. People always ask how long something took to print and the answer varies on a couple of points. If the print was set to the highest setting, it will take longer. Low, Normal, and High are the three settings and the lower the setting, the faster the printing. Also, the larger the object, the longer it will take. It's important to keep these in mind when setting up a print.

T-Rex Head

Leo loved this, but wanted to know when I was going to print the rest of the body. :-)

I really wanted to dive into other designs from other creators to see how the Idea Builder would handle them. Here are a few that were very nice and easy to print.

Coaster

I printed the coasters for my son and nephew. They loved them and thought they were very cool.

Napkin Holders

I made these for Thanksgiving and it tool about three hours to do all six. It was a nice addition to the Thanksgiving Table.

TARDIS

This took the longest to print, but the color is beautiful and it is very solid. I placed another print job next to it for scale. It's a little attachment to offer support to my lightening cable to prevent stretching and tearing. Dremel has some nice colors that can be bought to go with the printer. It's nice to change up the color filament to get a different look to a design. The change of filament was very easy and the printer never jammed. It makes printing so much easier without the hassle of jamming happening every few hours. Those who make paper copies know exactly what I'm talking about.

For my final print job, I wanted to tackle something very nerdy and in multiple parts. I wanted to see how well the Idea Builder could handle printing non-stop for almost two days and provide the accuracy necessary to assemble various pieces together.

Here is the Sword of Omens from Thundercats.

I loved this show from the 80s and I was sad the that reboot did not stick around because it was very well done. It took me two days of Thanksgiving break to print all of the pieces and about an hour or so to assemble them together. I still plan on sanding and painting this sword to finish the project.

My House

I designed this house using Tinkercad. My students use this at school and I'm working on getting better at it. It's not perfect, but I'm so proud of this house I built. Designing the house forced me to think in 3D. It has me thinking about perspectives I normally would not notice. My son watched me do some of the design and he really wants to design on the computer. He is only 4, but I have let him try and design using the shapes and he thinks it is very cool. He wants to design his own Dragon Claw.

This 3D printer is really great. The print jobs are solid and the quality is there for small and big projects. The price point of $999, might seem high for some people, but it is worth it for a classroom or a home that wants to have students design and print. I had the printer working non-stop for a few days and I did not encounter a single issue. That is huge for me and any other person who does not want to deal with the hassle of printer jams or filament issues.

If you are looking for an entry level 3D printer for your home or classroom, I would highly recommend that you check out the Idea Builder from Dremel. You will not be disappointed.