"Make Mistakes and Learn From Them"

This is one of our four Tinkering School SF Day Camp goals and we work hard to create a failure-positive learning environment at camp. When a tinkerer makes a mistake, often their first reaction is shame, embarrassment, or frustration. In these moments we make a point to pause and celebrate the mistake! We take photos and examine what happened. Then we talk about what we can learn from the mistake. During our closing circle, we often talk about the mistakes we made and what we learned to share the knowledge with others and to create a community where making mistakes is an emotionally safe and joyful thing.

Today for our blog we want to highlight and celebrate some of the mistakes that have been made this week and share what the tinkerers have learned...

Mistake: The drill won't go into the wood.   Learned: Make sure the drill is not in reverse! — Mistake: The drill won't go into the wood.
Learned: Make sure the drill is not in reverse!

Mistake: The screw became stripped.       Learned: With use over time some screws get stripped. Put pressure on the drill to avoid stripping a screw. Don't try to use stripped screws! — Mistake: The screw became stripped.
Learned: With use over time some screws get stripped. Put pressure on the drill to avoid stripping a screw. Don't try to use stripped screws!

(Click, swipe, or tap the above photo to see another view)

Mistake: The chop saw blade hit a knot, split off a chunk of wood and tossed it off the saw!

Learned: Wood strength is different around knots and can sometimes be unpredictable. This is why we wear safety goggles always at Tinkering School! (Also, Stella is very brave and luckily Kevin didn't get hurt!)