DIY Book Scanner Visits St. Anne’s School.
My nephew asked me to be his show-and-tell a few weeks ago. I finally made time to visit him today. The visit was a total success. I presented the DIY Book Scanner project to kindergarteners, 4th graders, and 5th graders.
I kept the scanner in its bag, and asked the class for help unpacking it.
The response was pretty enthusiastic. 
Every student got to scan a page from a book. This was Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are.
The 4th graders were super-attentive. They got the idea of book freedom and scanner utility immediately. They asked great questions, including my favorite (“Have you ever made any stuff that was a mistake or didn’t work?”) — I answered, explaining that I was actually showing them the three or four successes I’ve had among hundreds of failures. They got it, immediately.
More. Look at those smiles.
The best thing was having them help handle and assemble the machine. They were totally fascinated with the laser-cut wood, understood that the camera control was something special, and were able to operate the scanner immediately.
Hands-on. The only way to show the scanner.
And Ben in front of the scanner. Thanks for inviting me, Ben. I had a great time. Can’t wait to go to Surplus with you this afternoon.
And thanks to Sarah, for having me, and for taking these pictures.
Ok, Harvard, UND, NYLS, all very cool, don’t get me wrong. But this is freaking. bomb. ! Awesome!
Awesome!! Love the “Have you ever made any stuff that was a mistake or didn’t work?” question:) Thanks for the pictures.
CUTE!
that makes me totally want a ben hug.
That is a day that will be talked about for years to come. Thanks for adding my humble classroom to the DIY book scanner tour! Love you
I can’t believe I was in the same building and didn’t know you were there!! I would give anything (almost!) to experience your book scanner!! The photos are great; if you are in town again, I’ll have Sarah invite me too.
GG
i have a feeling my response wouldnt have been much different from a 4th graders. however, i bet i could have kicked down some serious little kid butt in the race to unpack the scanner.
Sewww, did Mr. Sendak sayyy you could scan his most excellent book, hmmm?
Your uptight librarian friend.
PS Interface between kids and inventor is very serious stuff. Good work.
SCAN! SCAN! SCAN!
Your wily librarian friend.
I see Ben has his collar popped–coolest cat in the kid garden, speshly post show-n-tell rad uncle. Well done!
That’s fantastic! I love how open, intuitive and understanding kids can be. Book freedom? heck yes they understand. A revolution for the next generation?
Dan, I like you. Cuz you are a good guy. And I’m just going to invent this cool recorder cleaner/fishing rod. And thanks for coming to my class. The kids liked it a lot. And I liked it a lot too. And I hope the flood goes away today. And I know that if there is anything cool you will leave me a message and have a good time. Bye.
If there is anything cool, Ben, I’ll call you and we’ll work on it together.
“Have you ever made any stuff that was a mistake or didn’t work?”
That is the most insightful question ever. Kids need to know the “10% inspiration, 90% perspiration” rule.
I couldn’t agree more. I also think they need to understand that it isn’t as much about hard work as having a lot of experiences, or having tried a lot of things.
It was so awesome to walk through the school doors and see you standing there that day! You are such a great uncle to make the time to come to Ben’s class. and how cool to show the scanner to the 4th and 5th graders too. You rock!
love,
andy