Adam Savage's 10 Commandments of Making (the world and your classroom a better place).

While browsing the "Technology" category in the Podcast store, I stumbled upon a pod that includes Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame.  It's called "Still Untitled:The Adam Savage Project".  Adam sits down with two hosts and talks about everything, but one sticks out.  It is a recording of his keynote at the 2014 Bay Area Maker Faire.

It rocked my world in a way that made me think about every decision I make as an educator.

In the keynote, Adam gives the "Ten Commandments" for being a maker.  It could also be the "Ten Commandments to be an Awesome Teacher and Human Being Put on This Earth to Inspire the Kids We See Everyday".  

I can see why he went with the more succinct title.   

I got tingly listening to it, and you will too.  Here is a YouTube of the speech.  The commandments end at the 10:20 mark.  Below are the video is an outline of the commandments and some thoughts and quotes.

Make Something.  Anything.
"Humans do two things that make us unique from all other animals:  We use tools and we tell stories"
"When you make new things, you are joining in the most ancient dialogue humans have ever had."

Make something that improves your life.

Adam goes on to cite the joy you get when you use something you have made in an authentic way.  Would this experience mean more that an 'A' grade on a test for some of our students?

Start now. 
Do the thing you want to do."..."mock it up" 

No excuses.  If you don't have a welder, create a cardboard mock-up of what you want to make.  Get dirty, and get dirty fast.   

Find a project that gets you interested in the thing you want to build 

You won't learn anything for the sake of learning it, you must have an authentic goal in order to learn what you want to learn.  

Ask for advice.  Ask for feedback.

Trust.  In your colleagues and your students.  Do they trust you?     

Share

I gave him a one man standing ovation in my kitchen when I heard this:

"There is nothing that makes me angrier than when somebody does something beautiful and you ask how it's done and they say it's a secret.  No secrets!  What are you protecting?  No one has a monopoly on being you, and if you think that your technique is what makes you interesting you're being ridiculous."

Please recognizing that discouragement and failure are a part of every single make project."

"They are still gonna suck, I'm not going to lie to you.  It sucks to fail it hurts to cut yourself, but they are going to happen in every single project.

Measure Carefully

Are the experiences we are designing for our students planned and precise?

Make things for other people.
"Giving your stuff away does place you in a slightly vulnerable position, but a magical one.

Use more cooling fluid

"Cold metal cuts much better than hot metal."

I think this applies to our students' ability to learn.  Are we priming them so they are ready to learn?
Are we using the best practices to prepare our students brains so they are ready to pick up what we are laying down?

I plan on using this in my first day back with my students.  In the comments below, share how this talk grabbed you and what does it mean to your classroom.