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
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.
This post is the third in my “how to build a course” series. Today I’m going to discuss thematic concepts, and to do so I’m going to switch up my metaphor from the puzzle to tv shows. It’ll make sense, I promise. Some shows find incredible success with an episodic format. Others are all about … Read moreArc and Episode
This post is the second in my syllabus/course development series. The intro is here. Creating a course from scratch is paralyzing. There’s just so much to figure out: readings, assignments, format, and it all interconnects. A good course setup is a balancing act that takes years to really master. One mistake I think is widespread … Read moreThe cart before the horse
Winter break is over, the semester is underway, and the winter doldrums have set in. It’s long past time I get back to this blog. I’ve been mulling ideas of what to discuss but much of it is too depressing (the news) too self-aggrandizing (I replaced the screen on my iPhone all by myself!) or … Read moreSyllabus (de)constructed
Serial just ended. Like most people, I listened to the entire series, and looked forward to each new podcast on Thursdays. Like most people, I also have an opinion about the series. The main critique I’ve heard about it is that it’s racist. Personally, I think that’s a counterproductive accusation. Let me explain with an … Read moreLong uncomfortable silence
A few weeks ago, I got an email saying the Simpson Library will be culling its art-related collection (everything in the Ns), and went there to see which books I thought should stay. When I got there, I saw many more books with the “marked for culling” white slips than I had expected. I madly … Read moreHunting and gathering in the stacks
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
Pictures are worth a thousand words Also: tl;dr Also also: videos I’m all for a good read, but let’s be honest: pretty often, you just need to learn a skill or follow steps or something. And then, the instructions being written isn’t actually a good thing. It’s boring, and doesn’t necessarily emphasize the important parts. … Read moreSome ‘splaining tools explained
Playing for work, it turns out, is both rewarding and completely exhausting. I found this out first-hand after a double dose of games workshops this week. First, I attended the “level up” workshop which focused on Aris, an open-source iOS game generator. I got to develop a game in a team with other profs. Our … Read moreGames Games Games