Last year, in an effort to “walk the walk”, I reviewed the LEGO Robie House. I find myself teaching the LEGO FSEM again this fall, and figured: well, let’s walk again. This time, I picked a set I was super excited about, the CITY Fun in the Park set. It’s a pretty small set, considering … Read moreLEGO Critique Deux: CITY Fun in the Park Set (This time it’s PERSONAL!)
Last year I developed and taught a new LEGO-themed freshman seminar. Turns out I’ll be teaching it again this coming fall, so I have added motivation to take a critical look at successes and failures of my new course. While I don’t want to dwell on failures, fact is I made a big gamble in … Read moreLEGO FSEM redux
I generally am a big believer in “walking the walk”, so if I’m going to make students do something, I try to do something similar. Right now, I’m teaching a LEGO freshman seminar (as I’m reminded of daily whenever I navigate to the UMW site. It’s kind of disturbing to see myself staring back at … Read moreLEGO Robie House Review
It’s summer break, which means that while I want to be productive, I also want to have fun. This last week, I managed to bring together work and leisure and thought I’d share. I’m currently working on developing assignments for the new LEGO FSEM, and this last week I also moved into my new office … Read moreLearning by Making
Over the past 18 months or so I’ve methodically worked up to my new LEGO FSEM. I started with just the idea and then went forward with everything I’ve mentioned in the “building a syllabus” series: figuring out topics, researching literature, developing assignments… The added wrinkle this time around was making sure I had the … Read moreAnd sometimes you have to be willing to Godzilla the city to the ground.
November is finally really here, with cold temps and all, but I find myself short of blogging inspiration. I was just at the NTHP conference, but was stuck in meetings the entire time, and I’ve already discussed my note-taking preferences. Technology for conference programs has sadly not budged since last year. And grading is a … Read moreA small LEGO win
In the five months since the acquisition of the LEGO collection, rechristened the MBL (mobile build lab), I’ve been pretty busy with a number of projects. Still, I’ve started putting those LEGO to work, with multiple plans coming up this fall and into the future. First, back in May, the MBL was put through its … Read moreGetting the LEGO collection to work
My mom has instilled in me the need to sit down before every trip to make a wish. We’ve been doing it since my earliest memories, and I’ve started doing the same with my kid. This is coming to mind because today is move-in day at UMW and the academic year is about to start. … Read moreHere we go…