Week 10 Blog

Well, I bought in.

This is my first year teaching industrial arts. When I began, I had project plans created in SketchUp from the previous teacher. As someone who is unfamiliar with SketchUp, I felt deterred from using those plans. Instead, I created plans in AutoCAD because I was a lot more familiar with the program. After I was forced to learn SketchUp and understand the software for this class, I feel much more confident in creating projects.

Right now, my drafting program utilizes AutoCAD and Revit, two programs in the Autodesk suite, which are free under student licensing.  They are fairly complicating to learn, especially for my PAA 8 and PAA 9 students who haven't grasped the concepts of orthographic and isometric views yet.  I found that SketchUp is easier to use and even easier to create presentation drawings for students, compared to AutoCAD and Revit.  I cannot wait to implement it next semester.

Accessibility is huge as well.  As Kyleigh had said in her blog, SketchUp is cross platform.  This is beneficial to education, especially in my school division because we are "buying in" to chrome books.   They are a third of the price of laptops, the batteries last ten-fold and students sign directly into their GAFE account without storing crap directly on the hard drives.  SketchUp can be accessed from anywhere at anytime, which is beneficial for kids that want to work on projects at home.  You can't do that with AutoCAD (well, you can, but I'm not going to get into that).

Enough blabbering about that.

My project began as a painstaking endeavour; John can attest.  I found a trailer in the 3D Warehouse that matched the dimensions of the Flaman trailer.  From there, I researched the legal height of trailers in Saskatchewan without needing a permit.  I then measured from the bottom of the tire to the top of the roof and made sure that it was no more than 13' 6".  I went with a flat roof because that allowed me to maximize the internal space of my tiny home and allow the feeling of "openness" inside.  

I began to feel nostalgic because SketchUp reminded me of the Sims.  Most objects in my project are from the 3D Warehouse, however everything is modified.  The cabinets in the kitchen were the first thing to be modified.  From there, my modification grew.  I went from changing paint colours to manipulating objects.  I took away stairs from the TV cabinet and added shelving; I cut down the ladders and adjusted the colours;  I built the dresser in the bedroom from one small set of cabinets.  I feel that the background is the icing on the cake.  It provides a beautiful environment for my tiny home.  I did not create the background.  Instead, I found a house in the 3D Warehouse and deleted everything that I did not need.

With a project like this, you never feel finished.  When you understand the tools of the program, the possibilities are endless.