Earlier this year, I instituted Genius Hour. It has become the students’ favorite time of the week. I blogged about it recently, and you can read it in Why Genius Hour.
One of the biggest successes has come from Isaac. He is a creator by nature – tape and paper are his mediums of choice. In the past (I taught Isaac a few years ago) he would cut, tape, and draw on his creations. Well, he has since discovered Minecraft and Papercraft – the paper version of Minecraft. At first, he would have me print out Papercraft creations he found online. Much like this:
Photo Credit: niksin via Compfight cc
Those are pretty cool and all, but then I showed Isaac Google Draw. That was it for him. His creativity kicked in and he hasn’t asked me to print out a prefab one in a while. Why? Because he now creates his own! At first they were pretty basic as he was getting to know the program. I showed him some simple tricks, like copy and paste, so that he could have congruent figures.
Okay, so the sword is pretty cool, and not so basic. Since this one, he has started putting faces on his creations, and becoming a bit more precise.
I can’t tell you how to put them together, but then again, I’m not into Papercraft. Isaac, however, is thrilled to have his creations brought to life. When I asked him about putting tabs on them and writing instructions for those like me; he says that it’s easier for him without the tabs and never really answered me about directions – I’ll take that as a ‘Not going to happen’.
It has been more than thrilling to watch Isaac’s progress. When I asked him if I could write about him on my blog, and share a few of his creations, his eyes sparkled and a HUGE grin spread across his face. I told him that he would get full credit for all of his work. He then told me that I had to put his full name on his creations. Yeah, after reminding him about Internet safety he was okay with just his first name and my name – so that no other Isaac could take credit.
I can’t wait to see what creations he will have for us in the new year!
Nowa Techie 
Thank you for supporting your student’s exploration of the amazing world of papercraft. You are giving him a gift by doing so.
I’m happy he has found a way to take his creativity to the next level.
So cool!
I have a handful of students who would LOVE this. (Now… if only the East Coast cold snap would go away so we can return to school…) Thanks for sharing!
Would love to see what they come up with! Stay warm.