[Woodcarver] wood shop

[Ivan Whillock]

Sandie makes an important point.  If the administration is just dumping 25-30 5th graders into a shop class, that is a huge disservice to the students and to the teacher. Fifth graders have short attention spans and should be kept busy on specific, approachable goals.  However,  given a manageable number of students and the proper resources, the shop teacher has an opportunity to teach the students not only some basic manual skills in handling tools, but also to reinforce their other learning in language (reading and following directions), math (measuring and calculating), and teamwork (pairs of students working on a project together).  He can take theory learned in the other classes and put it to practical use in the shop.  He can be the one person in their school experience who demonstrates practical application of theory.  And when the student is done, there is a tangible product to show for the effort, not just a mark on a report card.  The shop teacher is a lucky guy, not a victim.

I'm a fan of getting students of all levels to DO!  

That's what carving is all about, isn't it? DOING!  

And having something to show for our efforts.


Ivan Whillock Studio
122 NE 1st Avenue
Faribault, MN  55021
Visit my website at
http://www.whillock.com
Visit my Picture Trail album at
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?username=ivancarve

Kings of Swing:  http://whillock.com/swing/
  From: SANDIE BURGDORF 
  Sent: Saturday, October 24, 2009 1:39 PM
  To: woodcarver at carverscompanion.com 
  Subject: [Woodcarver] wood shop


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  Hi Merrilee,

  Thought I would add my 2 cents worth - that's probably all it is worth. I hope your school district realizes that they can't put the typical class size of 28 students into a shop class. Our Middle School tried to have no more than 16 in a class and that was 7th and 8th graders. After retiring I taught carving in an afterschool program. I found that 5th grade boys were all over the place and found it very difficult to sit and control the use of the knife. 6th graders were slightly better and 7th graders were fine. I limited the group to 10 and made them sit in a circle where I could see all of them at all times. I can just see a large class of 5th graders with saws and hammers in their hands. If the teacher really wants the students to be hands on and supervised, he will need small class sizes and assistants to keep an eye out.

  You can have the best plans in the world but you need a pair of eyes on all students at all times. And I agree that Ivan has the best suggestions for plans.

  Sandie


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