Secondary TWO 2015 Students' Reflection | Semester 2 | MechanicalBoatToy

Time waits for no man and we have come to the end of our second semester (2015) with a second batch of students doing lower secondary D&T. 

In this  semester, all Secondary 2 students design (well sort of) and make a mechanical (CAM Mechanism) boat toy. I planned the overall schedule and deliverables. In the Design Journal component, students researched various boat patterns, learnt to select, refine and make the chosen boat pattern to be installed on top of their mechanical toy structure. In the workshop component, everyone follows the steps I planned to make an identical main structure.

Students learn how to copy selected boat profile research line drawings into their Patterns Generation section. They learn how to copy a drawing from their sketchbook using techniques like identifying major shapes and use of negative space. Students then vote for each other the best fitting boat profile for refinement and development.

I could not be any more glad that almost every student learned to apply the drawing techniques and tips I taught them to finish up just 6 initial boat patterns for later considerations.

Fast forward to making. 2E3 students just collected their materials to make their mechanical toy boat box carcase. Here they do a dry fit and make sure all their marking on each piece of wood are in the correct orientation relative to each other. VERY IMPORTANT. What happens after this is we move to the back of the classroom to the workshop where I demonstrate how to fix a wooden carcase.

Snippet of some instructions I put up on the whiteboard. This little offset 12 mm diameter hole is a tip we learned from a design and technology website that suggested the follower is preferably not directly above the axle of the cam. And so we learned to apply this idea. The final product does worked better.

Everybody looked forward to bringing their mechanical boat toy product home except one with a thumb down. He didn't like his own workmanship. I say more practice and you'll be better next time. Anyways finally the students bring home their creation.  

Above: 2N2.

Above: 2E3.

For the BEST D&T Student from my class.

I made two toy cars out of leftover parts. Lovingly waxed to be given to two top students of each class I teach. Presented to each of them on the second day of script checking on 12 October 2015. Hope they liked it.

Reflections from 2E3 and their experiences with me.

Reflections from 2N2 and their experiences with me.

This is our second and last day (12/10/15) for checking examination scripts and 2N2 had two periods with me. I gathered all the leftover scrap pieces from the mechanical toy project and we made mini wooden toy cars out of them. I can tell you they are a bunch of happy lots. 

Secondary 1 Semester 1 Boat Pen/Pencil Holder Project students' reflection HERE.

A note from a student. Semester 2 (2015) D&T

A note by a semester 2 (2015) D&T student:

'mr lim has thought us much valuable lessons fr our character development. firstly, he taught us to put in our best effort and focus in what ever we do. he was patient with us. if we dont understand his instructions and he would willingly repeat it to us in a more detailed manner. he thought us to take initiative to do our works and also make sure that we did it to the best of our ability.

secondly, he thought us to look at things in a different manner and step out of our comfort zone. we usually try to do things in the way we feel most comfortable at, but mr lim enabled us to be daring and try to do things in a different way. he thought us that, thr are many ways of doing things. overall, mr lim is a great teacher!

-(name taken out, class taken out)'

~ Thanks student. mrdanielsos ~

An Appreciation Letter From an Educator from Cape Town (2015)

~ This email came in early 2015.~

"Dear Mr Daniels

I am a Visual Arts teacher with decades of experience....It is extremely difficult to get resources or help, so I wish to thank you for your amazing web site / blog!  I have just discovered it and you have saved me :)))

I will be making my own videos and will share them with you if you re interested.  I am also an ICT integration specialist and believe strongly in acknowledging copyright and sources. I can assure you that I shall include your URL if I am inspired by your work.

A BIG thank you!

Kind regards

...

Visual Arts Educator

Design & Technology Educator

ICT Integrator

"Apple Distinguished Educator"

A Thank You Letter from a student from Mauritius.

~ This email came in on 15 February 2015. I've decided to share this nice letter to everyone. To encourage those who think you do not have good support or lacked resources to do well, there are always avenues you can excel and produce quality work. However at the end of the day, your decision matter. A decision to give yourself a chance to produce work to the best you can. This student signed off as 'NSF Dev' did not have the privilege of have me in person to explain to him concepts or to guide him in his coursework. But nevertheless he helped himself and was happy with his efforts.~

"dear mr.daniel,
 

i was not actually a design and technology student, instead i was studying design and communication(o-level). it's like a derivative of design and technology, i don't know if you know the syllabus, but it was quite similar. i am from mauritius.

almost every student took private tuitions especially for coursework. but i did not. lawl.

there was a lot of peer pressure but i still did not.

fortunately, approximately 2 months until submission, i found your blog. your blog was like my tuition but online. getting tips and all that. i had to fork some things due to the different syllabus but it was still very very very helpful. i read nearly all related posts and files related to things i was looking for. thanks to you, i went back and edited all previous segments of my coursework with your tips and suggestions(we can do our coursework on pc here btw). i realized all the missing critical parts i did not know of thanks to you.(especially on research and analysis, and ideas.).

guess what...i scored an A. an A!! not being mean but that's better than 80%  of the dudes who took tuitions. lawl. there were 3 who scored an A* though. who cares. ok maybe you will since you're a teacher. shoot.

i'm now 17, doing my last two years at school(a-level). although now i dropped design and technology(it becomes d&t for a-level). now, i'm studying computer science since i love computers and there is no coursework and it's less bulky. yes i'm lazy.

anyway, i guess i won't be visiting your blog now. and i guess you won't be reading this pointless e-mail. and knowing how you indirectly made a student score an A.

THANKING YOU,

ex-design and communication student from mauritius who just remembered you from looking at his "design stuff" folder on google drive."

~ Dear NSF Dev, I am very encouraged by your letter and more excited about your achievements.You did a great job. mrdanielsos ~

General Testimony from Class Level D&T and Project Work Experience with Mr Daniel Lim

I facilitated this class for Project Work in the first semester of 2015. Teaching and coaching the class using design thinking processes for their group project had been quite an experience. Approaching project work systematically in broad design steps reduces the entire project task to clear and manageable bite sizes. Groups were given full autonomy when it comes to decision making to ensure authenticity in the final product. In the second semester, half the class ended up with me for their Design & Technology subject. 

Cannot run away from being assigned another two project work classes in the second semester 2015. This 1E3 class is bright, bubbly but cannot stop talking. I am humbled they learned something from the facilitation especially in the generation of possible practical ideas and fine-tuning of their milk carton boat design. What I liked best was the decision to get every group to work on a single sheet of mahjong paper from the initial design stage to the subsequent stages of modification and improvements. The interaction, iterations and discussions generated through and fro from the recordings on paper and their physical prototype is phenomenon. I have photos of them but wait till I find them I'll post it here. Watch this space.

I'm happy and also humbled that my students get amazed when I teach them. I believe in staying true, honest and steadfast in the facilitation of the Design & Technology Coursework.