The arc of this set of four lessons is to teach students the importance of communicating clearly, listening, working quickly and accurately to produce high quality work, with some cool tips and tricks along the way.

With the rise of "digital culture", the "native skills" of actual, physical construction and fabrication work are less common with students today than in the past. Today, it is not uncommon for a student to not even know the name of a hammer! It’s not because the student is ignorant; far from it! The student simply hasn’t been exposed to any type of woodworking, metalworking, fabrication or construction work. The goal of this lesson group is to teach them “what it is, and how to do it quickly”.

The primary focus of any task is, of course to work safely. The handmaiden of safe work skills is the ability to communicate clearly and accurately, and to be able to fully articulate information so that misunderstandings are minimized. Once those elements have been fully expressed, then we can move on to learning the proper names of things and more of the “fun stuff”.

Additional Lessons in this Module

Lesson 1 of 4” “The Name Game" - Tool and Equipment Names, Function and Safe Use Highlights

Lesson 2 of 4: "Common Sense/Uncommon Craftwork" - How to plan a project/activity most efficiently and using elements of good design in your work.

Lesson 3 of 4: "Shop Tips and Tricks" - A handy assortment of ways to complete your work faster and more accurately. The use of jigs to speed one's work is part of the mix.

Lesson 4 of 4: "Shop and Jobsite Math" - Sometimes the best math is no math at all. Much that seems complicated in layout or design has a "shorthand" method that simply works better.

Distance Learning Adaptations/Lesson Extensions

All the activities and presentations in this lesson group are ready to use for distance learners. They can be included within a Google Classroom lesson, and assigned, viewed, assessed, and scored at the instructor's choosing. It is beyond the scope of this lesson group to provide specific instructions for differing integration methods that can be used with Google Classroom. It is recommended that ALL students have computer access, even for "in-person" and hybrid classes.