Welcome To The County Fair - Day 1 - Week 2 (Mark Day School)

We had a busy and productive first day today. After introductions and some time to develop some group agreements for the week, we talked about the goals for Tinkering School: Collaborate and make new friends, Try harder than usual, Build something bigger than ourselves and Make mistakes and learn from them. As the week progresses we’ll keep coming back to these things as our guiding principles and it will help us keep perspective and stay focused on what matters as we go.

After that, we dove right in to tool training on the three most important tools in camp: the chop saw, the cordless drill and the clamps. There really is nothing like the sense of empowerment you feel after learning to use these tools effectively. Anything is possible!

The much anticipated project unveiling came right after lunch with the unveiling of the theme, a nod to the Marin County event this week:

Tatian shared a custom Mad Libs story incorporating words selected by the tinkerers:

We’ll be building two rides this week. One will roll ('“an epic rolly ride”) and the other will spin (“an epic spinny ride”). The students finished their day sketching and prototyping ideas so we can refine our designs and come to consensus tomorrow. This process is never easy, but it is always exciting to see the final design come together.

How big is a rollercoaster car? How many people should it hold?

For more photos from today, click through the gallery below. To see even more photos from the entire week, visit our Flickr page.