Woodshop and Maker Space Safety

I teach at a continuation high school where students join my class throughout the year. This has made safety a difficult issue for our class since students will be at many different levels and points in my curriculum as the year progresses. Through trial and error, I have found a method that works VERY well for me.

Supplies

• Video camera if you want to make your own videos. I recommend this, students will be much more engaged.
• EdPuzzle account (free accounts available but with less functionality)

Step 1: Google Quizzes

Before making my videos I like to start with making my quizzes so I cover all my bases in the video.

Here are my woodshop google quizzes if you would like to steal them.

• General
• Scroll saw
• Drill press
• Miter saw
• Belt/disc sander
• Band saw
• LatheRouter
• Table saw
• What period are you in? (not safety just how I have students self-select into a class)

Step 2: Make Safety Videos

I like to make my own videos. I have found that with other videos the disengage. I think they can see that I care enough to go through the effort. With other peoples videos it comes across as me being lazy I think. For the initial effort of making these, it has been a HUGE payoff.

I don't do anything fancy. Several of them were shot on my cellphone. Editing has been best with iMovie but I have tried other free software when I did not have a mac. They are then uploaded to youtube so they can be used in the next step.

Step 3: EdPuzzle

Edpuzzle has a free and paid version. For I have this set up you can get away with the free version. The paid version has more features that let you track student scores better.

I have embedded questions in the videos. These are almost the exact questions that are in the final quiz. By the time they get to the final quiz, they will have seen every question before.

Step 4: THE BEST PART!!!

Of all the things that I have tried this was the step that was the biggest game-changer for me. I have this spreadsheet projected at all times. Students and I are able to see what tools they are allowed to use. This has eliminated all debates about, "why can't I..." and other wining.

This link is to a blank version of the spreadsheet. You will need to make this the destination for all your quizzes. Then change the name of the sheet in each column to correspond to the name of the quizzes you have.

Next step: Eventually I want to have a separate flatscreen running a Raspberry Pi that will run this and be timed with our bell schedule to switch between classes!

Comments

[Kink Jarfold]

I still shudder at how easy it is to have an accident. I was in construction for many years and have a host of "accident" stories to tell. It only takes a second of lost concentration as my 36 stitches from a router accident can attest. Great that you addressed this as you did.

[TeacherMike]

This is awesome! I've been meaning to try and figure something like this out for my shop classes but never could fully wrap my head around how. Good work, thank you!

[kDeter]

This is HUGE!!!!! Wow, what a share you have given here! You don't just get my vote, but I'm passing this on to our 'technology' teacher, that's what they are calling shop class in my middle school. I'm also going to forward it to some of the FIRST Robotics teams I know who might be interested. This is really a terrific gift of the documentation for safety, but your project is just what is needed.

[WeTeachThemSTEM]

This is great! Thanks for including the different resources you use. I love that you have all the quizzes tracked and displayed using Google Sheets. Such a good idea!