[ ] Task 1: Design and cut a sticker (or heat transfer) for your classroom/context that reflects your understanding of the maker mindset /maker movement in education.
I have considered a standing problem with students during project workdays, where multiple hands might go up at once to ask for specific help. I have started asking folks to approach the board and write their names, but that is dependent on the availability of a marker, and also takes time, consumes resources, and requires additional maintenance (one has to erase names, then of course names must be rewritten as students re-enter the queue at later points).
My concept will use the vinyl cutter to make a quick set of nametags which can be attached to magnets and stuck to the board as needed. The notion limits the need to write and rewrite, such tokens can be easily repositioned as the list shifts, and since the tags would be reusable, reduces consumption of marker ink and the inevitable board cleaning solution.
I started with a choice of a stenciled typeface, laying out each name in Adobe Illustrator. I recognize that data-merge features might allow me to automate and scale this part of the design, so that I could replicate and scale across all 6 of my classes. So Far it was also easy enough to copy paste, and modify from there.
I set each name on its own line, but did not split them into distinct text objects. I did incorporate enough leading to allow for the following
I used the Rectangle tool to create a border around each line of text. Modularity was key here, so I selected a size that seemed to fit MOST of the names, and stretched it for the one that seemed considerably longer.
At the point of design, it’s important to note that while I was starting to constrain dimensions, such as 1” high letters, and a 1/4” space between letters and border, I had not yet chosen materials.
I loaded the vinyl cutter with white adhesive vinyl, mostly because it was accessible.
This encouraged some selectivity of color in a the piece to which the labels would be attached. On a white dry erase board, contrast would be important.
I left the rectangles in the cutting file, which guarantees that all of the parts are useable. The outer portions could be pulled for easy weeding, but then are also useful themselves.
Before I weeded, I took the same file to the laser cutter, and used that to cut the boundary rectangles only, out of some felt scraps I found in my scrap bin.
Considering color, each of the students had included in their profile a designation a bit like Hogwarts houses, labeling them as members of the “blue team” or “red team.” I incorporated this by cutting the rectangles out of blue and red material, So I could add each students name to a material that reflected their team color.
Those outer portions for easy weeding? I weeded them and simply attached them directly to the rectangles of felt. I’d originally intended to use the letters directly, but using the weeded material proved to be 2 steps less of a process. That said, those letters remain as a potential for a later project.
Final stage, attaching the felt to some magnetic tape, for use on the whiteboard.
Photos / screenshots of key stages
Challenges and solutions
This project didn’t present significant challenges, but there ARE problems with this design.
The adhesive vinyl doesn’t stick terribly well to felt. The felt is not a terribly sturdy adherant to the magnet.
Better balance between materials would certainly make this a more long-lasting product. My goal durability was one semester, so we shall see.
I recognized that the same students who were unlikely to want to get up and write their name on the board were only marginally more likely to use the tag. However, providing them with it shows that I care enough to empower them, and made it much easier to have the conversations challenging how much a student is willing to invest in their own learning.
How it applies to your teaching / context
Every opportunity to put a handmade piece of tech is one to teach students about the self-reliant capacity of any person, including themselves. I enjoy having something so simple that also shows how easy it can be to create something for one’s own needs.
Next steps or improvements
Making this activity more student-facing would invite the students to design their own label tags, perhaps with ways to recycle it as a simple nametag that could be worn on clothing after they are done with class.