Wednesday, December 18, 2019
I'm presenting at ISTE 2020!
Received word this week that two of my proposals to present at ISTE 2020 have been accepted! I am thrilled to be able to share the good work that our teachers and students have accomplished at school. We'll have a small group travelling so after the break we'll be busy planning and organizing travel.
Thursday, December 12, 2019
12 Days Of
The leadup to the holidays has meant lots of deadlines and work at school. One consistent project is 3D printing. Right now our primary STEM teacher is printing cookie cutters the students designed in either Tinkercad or Blox3D. They're turning out great and it's forced me to get our fourth Monoprice printer up and running.
It had developed a bad clog which meant I had to disassemble the hotend and clean it all out. While doing that the PTFE bowden tube that carries the filament slipped out of it's coupling. It's a non-standard part since it's a cheap printer so I had to 3D print a part that fastened to the housing -- I then looped a ziptie through it clamping down the bowden tube so it didn't slip out of it's coupling again. It's moved a bit since then but I just push it back in and hope the friction fitting holds it.
The demand on the 3D printers has also prompted me to complete the build on our Creality Ender 3 printer. We had gotten it with the Monoprice ones for larger prints (it has a bed size of 220 mm x 220mm x 250mm). I'm going to load it with ABS and use it for more durable/large prints. Unfortunately I've noticed a slight inconsistency of the bed level; it's a bit higher in the center. I'm not sure if it's the actual bed or the Buildtak surface that gets clamped on top.
It had developed a bad clog which meant I had to disassemble the hotend and clean it all out. While doing that the PTFE bowden tube that carries the filament slipped out of it's coupling. It's a non-standard part since it's a cheap printer so I had to 3D print a part that fastened to the housing -- I then looped a ziptie through it clamping down the bowden tube so it didn't slip out of it's coupling again. It's moved a bit since then but I just push it back in and hope the friction fitting holds it.
The demand on the 3D printers has also prompted me to complete the build on our Creality Ender 3 printer. We had gotten it with the Monoprice ones for larger prints (it has a bed size of 220 mm x 220mm x 250mm). I'm going to load it with ABS and use it for more durable/large prints. Unfortunately I've noticed a slight inconsistency of the bed level; it's a bit higher in the center. I'm not sure if it's the actual bed or the Buildtak surface that gets clamped on top.
Thursday, December 5, 2019
UBC Teacher Education Conference
Charlotte and I have just returned from UBC where we did a presentation on Practical ADST tips for the STEAMy classroom. We aimed to show them lots of STEAM activities they could run in their classes, but to also give them the "real story" on successes and failures we've discovered in our own classes.
We had 30+ enthusiastic teacher candidates in our session and I really enjoyed our time. I think for me it's a great opportunity to help prepare the next generation of teachers and also keeps me on my toes in terms of content.
We had 30+ enthusiastic teacher candidates in our session and I really enjoyed our time. I think for me it's a great opportunity to help prepare the next generation of teachers and also keeps me on my toes in terms of content.
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
In for an inch
One of the fun things about our laser cutter is that it's a hobbyist machine; it's designed to be accessible instead of the Trotecs and Epiglogs out there that are meant for industrial shops. Unfortunately, this also means tempering expectations. We are creating some Christmas decorations for school staff and it's a constant reminder that just because the laser cutter can do it doesn't mean it should. Sometimes it's cheaper, faster and just plain easier to buy them wholesale!
