I am so proud of all of my students, especially when they tackle and conquer difficult projects, like one of my students did recently when she completed a prototype of her Mini Robotic Table.
… A Robotic Table?! Heck yes!! It is just as hilarious and awesome as you are imagining.
But like most projects, the build process was challenging and frustrating, but also delightful and oh-so-rewarding.
This young lady started this project at the age of 10 years old. Initially, she wanted to build a full-size table. After building a real table from scratch and adding wheels, together we discovered that adding remote control to this heavy object would be very challenging and expensive.
So, we revisited her concept and she decided to scale the table down to American Girl doll size. *swoon* SO CUTE.
For the next few months, my student took what she learned from building the large table, and created a miniature version that perfectly fits the height of her adorable American Girl dolls. She successfully built the table, added wheels, and build a remote control system to drive the table around.
I guided her throughout the process and assisted where necessary, but the concept and all of the build was done by her hands. Further proof that kids and young folks are capable of so much when we provide them with opportunities and just a lil’ bit of guidance. If you have children of your own, or if you are an educator, trust that they are so much more capable than we think! Challenge them, give them tools and supplies and let them freely create the things they want to — I promise, they will learn so much more than if we force them to learn the things, and in the ways, that we think we should, simply because “that is the way that we have learned.”
Remember Grace Hopper’s brilliant advice: The most dangerous phrase in the language is, “We’ve always done it this way.”