Ammonite Projects

Way back in the 1980's when it was fashionable for teachers to have big fuzzy hair do's rather than because they own overly powerful hair driers and under powered fashion senses, a new type of school project became available to mainstream schools. Suddenly 'Design' was the new buzzword and many schools, then educational organisations and (very) finally exam boards embraced this new ethic. The projects were revolutionary for the time! A puzzle frame, A box to hold things that were measured FIRST and a PROJECT FOLDER that considered the users needs rather than your dads. It greatly changed DT and with the IT revolution in schools, we got CAD and then EXPLORATION.

I write these words in capitals because they took over the imagination of teachers in their day. In the 1990's we then got innovation and design started to become less about the colour and style and more about the function. Bauhaus started to seem like a cool way of doing things. It was also the age of the quick project. Newspaper bridges, Eggs supported with sphaghetti high in the air, string transport systems. No longer was it neccesary to produce a total product, you could expore the world and find out stuff without needing to varnish it afterwards!

Unfortunately, many schools are stuck in this mode, even some educational organisations that should know better. I recently attended an event for teachers and academics to meet together which started with the 'build a bridge out of newspaper and sellotape' competition. I actually came second from bottom! This was because no'one measured how far apart the tables were we built from, no'one bothered that many were stuck firmly to the tables and that deflection was fine resulting in bridges that only 4x4's could have crawled uphill on. I was not impressed because despite a decade of trying to get teachers and organisations to think strategically and plan effective activities with rules and mark schemes, the person running this one hadn't even thought it through and there was little that made the task educationally applicable. All we really learned was that cheating won as by sticking ever larger amounts of rolled up paper together, eventually one could support an elephant, but not an educational learning experience.

Now budgets are down, teachers workloads are up and the goverment has delayed the implementation of educational reform http://bbc.in/s77zgL that will rot some departmest as schools decide to wait and see which subjects have traction in the new curriculum model. Why invest in training in a department where half the staff may leave in the next 5 years due to subject reduction. I think many schools are in for even more newspaper bridges run without thought, eggs supported without planning or considered outcome, more ideas left behind because investing is diffciult when you dont know what you are investing in..

These dusty bridges and ascending eggs are ammonite projects. Fossilised and slowly becoming tokens of a wider culture rather than a gateway to new learning opportunities. Most museums sell ammonites attached to keyrings, something to remind you as you get on with the real work. Will these ill prepared and ill defined dinosaurs condemn you and your department to a dusty drawer? Change them! Do something new! Lest the chill wind of change dessicates your very creative bones...

Finally I have got the wrinkles out of a set of 8 new free projects for DT and STEM teachers.

www.nelc.net (Nottingham e-Learning Centre) have commissioned me over the past 24 months to write a set of 8 different projects. These are totally new to education and all have Teachers notes, presentations, worksheets and loads of specialist files. many also have e-Learning films, Sketchup models and one has Circuit Wizard files

They are all on a dedicated website I have written at www.notadesktidy.org (Remember the www bit at the front, its essential)

There are Vacuum Bazookas, Chicken Shaped Catapults and Quantum Tunelling Compound Operated Bracelets to name just a few of the 8 separate projects for free download there

Please tell everybody!

Boiling it down STEM and education

Here in the UK there has been an unprecedented shrinkage of the education ' market' for goods and services in the last 18 months. Large numbers of companies have folded or drastically reduced. Many training establishments have laid off staff to the point where some buildings are mostly empty for most of the time because there are few calls for their services now. For those who choose to look, there is evidence of a generation of consultants, advisors and content developers retiring. This is unsurprising given many have already been teachers, HOF and then staff at an educationally linked company for many decades. This is starting to affect the abilities of teachers to take on new projects. Often stripped of funds to attend outside training courses, and with the now unsubsidised training agencies asking for full fees, the market for their services is slowing and likely to stagnate further from April 2012.

Does this mean I am packing it all in? Not at all! I saw the changes in the

market some time ago and have been working towards a different consultancy model, one in tune with the growing STEM agenda in schools.

Last week I launched www.stemday.co.uk , a site packed full of new educational projects I have developed that you can buy in class sets of 25.

All the support files, presentations, worksheets etc, teachers notes and learning films are free to buyers.

At a time when teachers cannot get out of the classroom for training, StemDay projects come to you. You can hire my modestly priced and extensively recommended services by the day (£350 + VAT + travel), or you can buy all that concentrated educational goodness in a highly professional package by purchasing kits and downloading the extensive FREE delivery and training resources. For example, a set of 25 GraviCars, powered by a bottle of water, costs just £135 + VAT, including delivery to anywhere on mainland UK.

StemDay project resources make a great INSET activity, guiding you stage by stage through building, tuning and testing the practical activity. Obviously they are also a fantastic focus for faculties working together to deliver STEM

So whether you're new to STEM, looking to run further STEM projects or want to try something new that will transform your teaching, try my kits!