Hello readers,

I wanted to share with you the experience of making a playhouse. During these past weeks there have been a lot of things gone wrong like cutting wood in the wrong place at the wrong angle, using screws that weren’t long enough, and walls coming off because of bad nails. But none of these are worse than wrong measurements.

While making the frame of our beautiful house we always had some prices of wood that were a little under an inch short. We always said it was fine and never paid much attention to it. Until something terrible happened!

We measured the top of the house and started to cut wood for the roof. We never really double checked the measurements which is something I really regretted at the time. We started to put the roof together and it was done!! We were so happy because it took so long to put together! But as soon as we put it on the house, we noticed it did not fit! It was too small.

I looked at everyone and they all looked like they could cry. But there was a solution, it was to cut the part where the roof hooks on to the house with a jigsaw. That would make it fit in nicer. The problem was that we were all too scared to cut it since we would have to do it in the air without the support of the table. But thanks to the wonderful Prisila, it got done. And the roof fits in perfectly now!

So just remember, check your measurements or you’ll have to do everything all over again.

Catalina Gonzalez 8th Period

by: Jazmin M.

Do you know what the worst thing you can do in life is? It’s giving up. If you give up your just throwing away all those amazing ideas and skills away in the trash. You’ll never be as successful as you could be if you give up. Do you know how skateboarders become so good. The become good because they fail. Not because they fail once and give up, but because they fail so many times but try and try and try until they don’t get it wrong. That’s how they become so good and that’s what we need to do in life basically.

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There was this one module where my team mates and I wanted to give up so bad because the module wasn’t coming out right. But guess what, we didn’t give up. We just kept trying and trying and trying. Re-doing the things that didn’t work out the first time and trying it again until we finally got a decent picture. Yeah a decent picture. I’m talking about the photography module where we had to build a pin-hole camera from scratch. We were so stressed because all of the pictures came out to dark or to light (meaning we let too much light in or left it open for too much time or too little time)

Throughout the year in PLTW I’ve had an amazing experience working on all of these little modules and the big Maker Project. They’ve all been so much fun and I’ve learned so much from them as well. So remember, if things aren’t going so well like you planned (plan A) there is 25 more letters to the alphabet. Don’t give up.

   Thanks for reading 🙂

Being able to work in a maker-space is so cool. You get inspired, you get ideas, and then you start building. This space is so incredible to do anything. you can do anything especially since we have both technology and amazing machines that you can do anything. From simply designing a simple little doodle to building that little doodle on a 3D Printer. This place is built with so many cool things. But not all things can work out perfectly.

A time that I persevered was when I was frustrated with one of the modules, Media Tech.  After this experience I realized that I wasn’t going to be doing much of media tech anymore.

So here is the story. Me and my partner (Andrea) were working on a module that had to relate with videotaping and customizing it and etc. So we ended up videotaping but throughout the whole process I was so tired. I didn’t really understand this module and I was just so tired of it. But then. Andrea ended up helping me and just letting me know how this module works and she was very helpful throughout the module. She was what helped me back up.

You Failed. But so did everyone else. 

By Avery R. 

And here we are. The school year’s almost over, but this blog post isn’t. And this blog post? It’s about FAILURE.

FAILURE is a thing we deal with every day. FAILURE is all around us. We constantly fail, every single day, and though that may upset us, we shouldn’t stop going. We just fall, pick ourselves up, check to see if we’re bleeding, and keep going.

Our project this last few weeks is designing and building skateboards. I have my own skateboard at home, which I practice on (almost) every day. I’m going to tell a story about the first time I fell.

I was riding around the neighborhood on my cool new skateboard Tuna (note that he looks way more scuffed up now). It was probably the second day of riding, and I was putting everything I learned from a single WikiHow to the test. And then I came upon a driveway full of leaves and sticks. The next thing I knew, I hit the ground.

Of course, this was an unfortunate accident. I fell. I failed. But then I made sure nothing was broken, and picked myself up. If I stopped here, I wouldn’t get any better. I got up and kept riding. I didn’t let this get me down.

I think this is an example of someone (me!) being resilient, even when they’re bleeding a little and have just fallen down on some concrete.

In other words, you’re going to fail at some point (okay, multiple points) in your life. But like I did, you just have to pick yourself up, brush the dirt off, and keep riding.

Everywhere we go, we breath, eat and see the “giving up” of someone either direct and or indirect. All products made, there is a wish of someone to change it up a bit, for improvement. Many of us don’t tend to accept failure, which affects us all in different ways.

When it comes to failure and or giving up, some people cry until they can’t breath. Others start labeling themselves as useless, dumb, overthinkers, etc. Most people stress about the overall product, thus including grades, point of view of others, etc. The one thing we all share in common is guilt, and that is human.

Many of us tend to worry about disappointing our team, teachers, parents, others, but never worry about ourselves. We worry so much about others concerns that ours become as small as a our own living cells.

Recently, for our maker project, my group and I decided to build a mini maglev train. A maglev train is a train that levitates due to the magnetic field around produced from the  magnets. Like everyone, we assume that everything will be easy. One piece of wood, a few magnets glued to the train (box) and the track, how hard could that be? Well, not at all easy.

When we first started, we thought we would glue the magnets in a pattern; north south, north south. Same for the box. When we first tested it out, the results were beyond disappointing. My heart broke, the rest of my group shattered. We continued our  research and we tried only about 384683 different methods until I finally acknowledged the fact that it was impossible. After watching a few different videos from YouTube, I recommended using nitrogen. All you would have to do is dip the train in nitrogen and done. Zero to no stress, quick, easy, and just overall, smart. My group immediately rejected my idea. “No! That’s no fun!” was what I got yelled at. Whatever, right? We continued all kinds of methods and each method was just adding to my limit level.

After weeks of anger and stress, we finally found our long lost match. We were at a point in which neatness and extra glue, neatness to say, meant nothing. We placed in our magnets and it actually worked, until the train reached the end of track. We all just dropped everything and wanted to scream. We picked up where we had left off and continued, exhausted, but continued. After a few rearranges, we finally got our maglev train to work.

When we finally finished, I was just shocked. I never guessed we would actually finish. Towards the end, my group and I were starting to doubt that we would actually finish. We were thinking of backup plans to at least have something to present at the make-o-rama (maker faire).

After we realized that we weren’t dreaming and that our train was actually levitating, we kind of just took a deep breath. Finally. With our powerpoint completed and our explanation of what we had done, for the first time since we had started, we took things easy.

Frustration, anger, even a few tears, can lead to the most amazing things ever. Our maglev train did not turn out like we had first planned, but it was something. Yes, it was quite simple and small, but just seeing it levitate made me, us, all so happy. We all smiled and with our eye contact with one another, we knew we had made it.

This experience by far has taught me a lot. I am the person that once something fails the first time, I accept that the world suck and it’s time to give up. Because of that idea constantly on my mind, this project was not easy, but I am thankful that I had the group members I had because they pushed me past my limits. They made me mad half of the time, but the one thing they did not let me do, other than yelling, was giving up. They broke the idea that I had on my mind.

After all that, I now see everything differently. I no longer see everything as impossible, I see stuff as a puzzle with an eraser, puzzle and scissors. Sometimes you just have to get the scissors and cut pieces that need to be cut, get the pencil and eraser and adjust as you go, but nothing is impossible.

A common thing in life is giving up, its always the easiest thing to do, just drop everything and move on with life It will maybe affect your grade; but not really your life. I honestly have felt like this several times and there always is a little voice in my head telling me to not give up, and most of the times I’m that I glad didn’t.
Not too long ago I was about to give up and forget it all, but I didnt. I was working on a group project in science class, we were creating a car out of recycled materials. My group members and I wanted to add some wings to our car so that way our car wouldn’t fall. Which would be a difficult task. We had our car and at first, we wanted pointing wings. We made them and tried them on and you could probably tell that it wasn’t going to work, which it didn’t. and for our luck we only had about 30 minutes to work in the car. I got really frustrated and wanted to quit and give up, and I did for 5 minutes. I sat down and told myself that we couldn’t do this and we should just give up but sadly, that wasnt an option. You would think that it would have been easier for me to get a bad grade and let the car fall. But thanks to the help of my teammates I was able to keep on going and I didn’t give up and at the end of the day we came up with some really rad wings.
From this experience, I learned that you can’t give up easily. That just because you think the first time it doesn’t come out as you wish, that doesn’t mean that will happen with your other tries. Keep on trying till you are happy with your result.

PLTW Reflection

Failure

By: Rebecca Brackin

 

When thinking about difficult times I have had in PLTW, a few things come to mind. However, two specific events stick out- my maker project, which was making bath bombs, and making a model prosthetic leg earlier in the year. I decided to write about the prosthetic leg, only because I feel I have more to say about it.

 

Earlier in the year, my group was looking at the next module we should complete. We decided we wanted to do something involving the biomedical pathway. The next module that was available for us in that section was to create a prosthetic leg. It didn’t have to be anything super fancy- we weren’t actually creating it for someone to use. Nevertheless, it seemed like a difficult task given the materials we had.

 

In this module, we had to find materials around the makerspace to use on our prosthetic leg. We found big wooden poles, big yogurt tubs, bungee cord, styrofoam, and a few other things. We had a fairly good idea of what we wanted to do, so we started making our design. Let’s just say it was easier said than done.

 

Our module was turning into a disaster. Our general structure was ok, but we were having a lot of trouble attaching it to someone and making them able to walk with it. I was ready to give up. It was very difficult, and no matter how many times we tried, we just couldn’t get it right. I wasn’t really sure what to do. I knew that we had to complete the module, and no matter how much I wanted to give up, I wanted to at least keep trying to fix the prosthetic leg. So that’s what we did. My group and I put extra work into the module. We had a lot of difficulty overcoming many of the challenges, but eventually, we did it. We were having trouble attaching it to the person modeling the leg, so we figured out a more efficient way. We took the bungee cord and put it through the wooden pole (by drilling a hole), and used paper clips, glue, and tape to keep it from falling apart. We attached the leg to my skirt using our bungee cord innovation, and it attached properly like we had hoped. Another obstacle was keeping the leg steadier and easier to walk in, so we added extra poles (which were skinnier than the main pole) to support it better. We finished the prosthetic leg. It wasn’t perfect. I couldn’t walk very well in it, and it wasn’t the prettiest thing in the world, but I was proud that my group and I could still finish it, regardless of the challenges.

Trail and Error to Success

This year in PLTW I have had lots of trial and errors. My biggest one was our maker project, bath bombs. This was also one of my favorite projects even though it was probably the most stressful. We honestly didn’t think we would make it at the beginning of this project. We had all these crazy plans for it and we didn’t think any of it was possible but we pulled through as a team and actually made all of it happen. However, that doesn’t mean it was easy the whole time.

Our first attempt to actually make the bath bombs we didn’t get the recipe right. Our bath bombs fell apart really easily and they didn’t fizz when we put them in water. But we obviously didn’t give up there. We kept making them and every time we got more familiar with the ingredients. Each time after our first failure we made the bath bombs fast and without struggle. We learned how to use the most of our materials since they were really expensive. The first time we made them we ended up using a lot of the essential oils and it ended up being too strong, so we started using less essential oils, and they were the perfect scent and we saved a lot of materials and money.

At the Maker Fair we were planning to have an auction to give away the bath bombs, but that was another one of our failures. The Maker Fair was actually really crazy. There were so many people.  We were doing good at first with people putting their names into the ballet but in the end we kinda just gave the bath bombs away randomly. School was almost over and we had to just get rid of them. It was kinda disappointing because all of our hard work didn’t really end well but we were okay with it because we had such fun with this project and we all really became closer as friends. This project really brought me and my friends together  by working as a team, which is why I think it’s probably my favorite.

Even though our project in the end didn’t go exactly as planned we are all so proud of ourselves. We actually made a business that could get somewhere, since we were so professional and our product actually works. We made a logo for our Bath Bombs (BBMZ) and we had a hand written note in every box talking about stress so that the buyer will feel like they are appreciated and valued. We also made each bath bomb with care. That sounds cheesy, but it’s true. It took us hours but we made sure that every bath bomb worked and would be relaxing for the client.

In the end I am so proud of our hard work on this project and even though we went through a lot of failures we eventually finished with an amazing product.

Have you ever had that day when you are working super hard and all of a sudden, things don’t turn out well for you? Don’t worry, I have had the same experience too. But have you noticed that when you fail you learn a lot from it? Well…. I have.

In our PLTW class we had to do something called a a Maker Project. A maker project is a project where no one else helps you, it is just yourself (or maybe you and your teammates). You make a design that you think will benefit  you and your community. Afterward, you create it. My group was Yoselin, Karla R, and I. Yoselin had the great idea to build a big spin art machine. A spin art machine is a machine where you put a piece of paper on the bottom and when the machine is ready to go, it would spin. While the machine is spinning, you can put paint on the paper. Once the machine stops on your paper you get a beautiful design.

When we first started this project we were super excited because we thought it was a great idea and easy to build. But we ran into some bumps along the way.Our first complication was what was going to be our motor? How were we going to connect our canvas to the motor? How are we going to make this projectsafe for kids? Do we have all the supplies we need? How are we going to move the machine to the Make-O-Rama? So many questions where floating to our heads.  But an angel came from heaven when Nathan form intell came to visit our class. He gave us great ideas of having a box fan as our motor and also havingwheels on our box. He also had the most brilliant idea of having a piece of cardboard or wood on top so when we put a piece of paper on it, it wouldn’t fly. So far everything was going according to plan.

Everything seemed to be perfect, until the day of the Make-o-Rama. Yoselin and I decided it would be best to come early on that day so we could do the final touches to the project. The next day we came in and tried to get our spin art machine to start spinning but for some reason it wasn’t working. At first we thought it was because the outlet wasn’t working. When we tried a different one it was doing the same thing. Then we thought maybe it was the motor we probably drilled into the motor and now the motor stopped. But when we answered everything the answers hadn’t tough a signal piece of the motor. Then we realized that the night before the make o rama the make o rama it was raining. So probably the dain touched the motor and now it wasn’t working anymore. When we told Ms. Sauter what happened she was totally cool about it and said she was going to buy us a ther motor. That was the first thing that we failed on was that  the motor didn’t work, the solution was that ms. Sauter was going to buy us a motor. Now there was another problem, because none of my team members were in my advisory I had to do it ALL BY MYSELF! That was the worst part. I felt like if I messed up that meant that my team members  wouldn’t trust me anymore and I would basically I would’ve ruined the whole project. But luckily I didn’t. Everything turned out fine. That meant that we solved our problem.

The last problem we had was that during the Make-o-rama the cardboard would come off of the motor which made the drawing fly. We were so worried that we called each other during the Make-o-Rama and came up with a plan to run as fast as we can to get a hot glue gun. Inc we got the hot glue gun we were able to stick the cardboard and the motor back together.

Even though we did experience failing a couple of times we got back up and challenged the problem. I think that’s what we should do if we fail, solve the problem  until you get what you want.

By: Ariela v

I’ve said in other posts that being in pltw is either an easy and enjoyable class, or it’s a  hard and frustrating class. There usually isn’t any in between. There have been many, many, many… classes where I just wanted to give up on the project and starts something else. All though this class can be difficult and makes you want to pull you hair out, it is one of the classes that I feel can be very beneficial to anyone especially the students who are interested in pursuing an Engineering career.

 

Since this can be a challenging class there are many times that you want to “cut corners” just to make your life easier. Something that I’ve noticed is that when you take the short way out of things you might not be satisfied with the end result of that project/task.  There is one clear time that I remember wanting to give up in this class and that was my project for the make-o-rama. People had left the group I was in, we hadn’t finished the application and we still didn’t really know what we were going to do because we kept on changing our ideas. What we started off with was the idea that we would build a robot that would be able to do all these things, but we soon realised that our ideas and what we wanted to accomplish was way out of reach and just not realistic.

 

**Tips to starting your project off on a good start**

1. Don’t be afraid to talk about your ideas and thoughts on something no matter how ridiculous or impossible it may sound.
2. Listen to everyone’s ideas and add on to what they’re saying.
3. When everyone has said all that they wanted to it’s make sure that you and your group pick the best ideas.
4. Make sure it’s realistic and can be achieved in the time frame you have and that you will have everything you need to complete it.

I can’t stress enough how important making sure you can actually complete your project is. When the group I was in was big we never really talked about if we could actually make it and I think that was something we really should have discussed because about 1-2 weeks later when it was time to start working on it, we didn’t really know what to do or what direction to go in.  At the end of the project there was only 3 of us and even though our project wasn’t as much as it could’ve been, it was something that showed that we didn’t give up and stuck with it.

-Bryana S