Update on Makes

Okay--so I finished these mitts!  And I am so happy with them and happy with myself for sticking it out and figuring out how to knit them.  They are by far the most challenging thing I have made.  They are the Maize Mitts  from Tin Can Knits.

I am also involved in an online community (#clmooc--the same one from last summer) of educators who experiment with creative ways to make things, often using digital tools.  The idea is connect, inspire, and experiment.  For me, it's a way to try out digital tools that I could use in the classroom.  I want to try them out first before directing students to use them, so I can guide them in choosing and using these tools.  During the school year there often isn't time for me to experiment with these things.

So, the first challenge was to make something that connected with identity and the changeable-ness of it as a sort of self introduction.  My little video does not introduce me exactly, though anyone who knows me will know I love little animals and woodlands.  My video is just a short half minute of childlike whimsy.  Here it is:

How To . . .

For the past several weeks, I have been involved in an online learning community for educators.  The focus is on making things and reflecting, often using technology.  The first "assignment" was to make a "How To."  I was just starting to make another one of my silly, terrible-on-purpose Winnebago videos, so I thought, why not just make a How To along with it?
Ha!  Easier said than done.

For starters, this third Winnebago video was way more complicated than the two previous ones.  Those first two are super short (like about a minute long) and involve no special effects.  I soon realized that I could not actually lay out the whole processes in a video without it becoming longer than the Winnebago video itself.  And in the end, no one would really be able to follow my process to come up with their own project.
And honestly--who would want to?  These things I make are intentionally so very, very bad!  The joy of making these is in the creative problem solving that comes with winging it, which is why I don't have a precise, professional end product.  The energy is in the process--like spuriously deciding to add the John Cena bit and an explosion.

Cast of characters and the script laid out on a tray

My assistant tediously photographs each frame while I tediously manipulate the props

Making sound effects

Synchronizing the sound with the images

In the end, I scrapped the idea of making the How To about the Winnebago.  I started thinking about other things I could make a How To about.  And in thinking about this, I got to thinking about how often I use How To information. 

Here's some things I have recently looked up:

How to knit continental style

How to fix a dropped stitch in knitting

How to knit a long stitch

How to load string on a weed eater

How to get rid of mice in your garden

How cure yellow/brown spots on tomato plants

How to recolor or replace floor tile grout

How to make a meme

Of course, recipes are How To, and crochet patterns--

And then there are ones I go back to again and again, like How To reset my students' passwords on Edmodo.

I was struck by the men who made the weed eater videos.  How is it they decided to do that?  "Hey, I'll take my camera out to the shop and show everyone how to . . . " So very modern.  So many questions so immediately answered.

I started to wonder what everyday thing I do that other people don't know how to do?

Stick to or start running

Make rice

Keep rabbits

Pump a bike tire

There are whole programs like those Nanny shows that tell people How To take care of their kids.

And that got me thinking about psychological How To's I could do:

How to be patient with teenagers

How to help your child through cancer

How to live in a foreign country

Of course, my job is a full day of How To:

How to find the summer reading list (that just today)

How set up a grade book

How to negotiate parent conferences

How to teach to a student's potential

How to read, to write, to stretch, to see--