Oh the Places We Go – identify the locations where our swag has been found on google maps
Identify a work of architecture, architect, year built, location and write a brief summary of why it is important. Here is an example, click HERE
Architectural Bingo
Vocabulary Challenge
Want to challenge your student with new vocabulary? Here is a list of Green Terms Defined.
Architectural Shapes
Have a young one learning shapes – get them to find the shapes in these architectural photos: Architectural Shapes
15 Week Architecture Construction and Engineering Course
When I was in Charlottesville I taught a 15 week course to introduce high school students to the construction industry. Here is the syllabus for the program. ACE Mentor Program Design Challenge
Class Activity – Draw this room to scale
Gather supplies of a ruler (or any straight edge), graph paper (paper with squares on it) and a pencil, or a pen if you are desperate.
With the paper on the table, use your FEET and measure out the length and width of the room where you are located by walking from one wall across the room to the other side of the room.
Using the squares on the paper, where one square equals one footstep, mark the paper, and use the ruler to make straight lines. This is NOT easy for some people, so make sure that you are using the straight edge to make straight lines and ask for help if it keeps getting messed up.
Origami House
Build and decorate a quick house. Make a few and you can have a small village full of Origami Houses
Our friends at NEED.org always have cool resources. Here is a list of Distance Learning Resources that are hands on. NEED.org
If you know of links I should include, let me know by adding to the comments below.
New home construction and remodels are some of the biggest and most intensive projects homeowners undertake. Construction and remodeling trends change rapidly, and now that 2020 has kicked off a new decade, people are looking to update their homes now more than ever. Today’s homes look nothing like they did 20 years ago.
Gaines Group Architects participated in the survey as one of the most prominent experts in the Home Construction Industry in 2020. Fixr also asked other experts to weigh in on what they think the latest trends in home construction and remodeling are. Their insights can help homeowners and designers alike to strike balance in their home designs and stay ahead of the curve for the years to come.
Some of the key findings include:
Open floor plan and two story homes represent the most popular layouts
Smart homes rank first among the most popular design choices
Most homeowners make accessibility modifications to their home for future personal use
Low energy homes are among the top designs for green construction
Outdoor kitchens are the most popular outdoor living addition to a home
Married couples with children are most likely to both build and invest in outdoor living spaces
Contemporary and modern will be the most common styles used in modular construction
Tight building envelopes will be the most common way to prevent energy transfer on home exteriors
The results were compiled based on 51 subject matter experts’ responses to a series of multiple choice and open-ended questions. To help you better understand the data, our team has organized the answers and edited them for clarity.
Each of the survey participants was selected based on their standing in the home construction industry, their previous professional achievements, their social media reach and influence, and prior industry awards and recognition. The experts all appear on Fixr’s 2020 Home Construction Expert List, and they represent a wide range of expertise in the industry, including construction, design, manufacturing, and publishing.
Gaines Group Architects is a small firm with a big idea – design can build a better community, enhance livability, reduce construction and operation costs, and protect our environment. Design matters. We work hard to understand the best practices in the industry so we can provide our clients with functional, affordable, and beautiful design solutions. We do this through a focus on quality, value, building science, and timeless beauty. Gaines Group Architects is located in Harrisonburg and Charlottesville, Virginia. We serve a wide range of clients from custom homes, renovations, additions, commercial, retail, industrial, ecclesiastical, and non-profits.
Mission statement: Through design we want to build a stronger more vibrant community. We want to design solutions that make positive changes for everyone in our community.
Why we do it: Because we want a better future for our clients, community, and world.
About Fixr:
Fixr is a home improvement resource with the mission of helping consumers make the best remodeling decisions. Fixr provides unbiased, thorough and updated cost guides, price comparisons, and cheat sheets for hundreds of remodeling, installation, and repair projects. When the homeowner is equipped with the necessary knowledge, Fixr helps connect homeowners with the best matching pros in their area to begin their home improvement projects.
Architectural Resources for Primary School Teachers
As you look for new and fun things to do while kids are out of school, here are some resources. These were created a few years ago, but I think it is still relevant.
Here are several architectural coloring books with houses. Just download the pdf and print out the pages you want to color. Click the link here: Architectural Coloring books
Want to challenge your student with new vocabulary? Here is a list of Green Terms Defined.
Have a young one learning shapes – get them to find the shapes in these architectural photos: Architectural Shapes
15 Week Architecture Construction and Engineering Course
When I was in Charlottesville I taught a 15 week course to introduce high school students to the construction industry. Here is the syllabus for the program. ACE Mentor Program Design Challenge
Class Activity – Draw this room to scale
Gather supplies of a ruler (or any straight edge), graph paper (paper with squares on it) and a pencil, or a pen if you are desperate.
With the paper on the table, use your
FEET and measure out the length and width of the room where you are located by
walking from one wall across the room to the other side of the room.
Using the squares on the paper, where one square equals one footstep, mark the paper, and use the ruler to make straight lines. This is NOT easy for some people, so make sure that you are using the straight edge to make straight lines and ask for help if it keeps getting messed up.
Origami House
Build and decorate a quick house. Make a few and you can have a small village full of Origami Houses
Our friends at NEED.org always have cool resources. Here is a list of Distance Learning Resources that are hands on. NEED.org
If you know of links I should include, let me know by adding to the comments below.
Charles Hendricks was named a top home construction expert in 2020. This is the fourth year in a row that Mr. Hendricks has been included on this list.
The annual Top 200 Home Construction Experts, presented by Fixr, is a prestigious list that recognizes excellence and innovation in the home remodeling and construction industry. Fixr employs a rigorous methodology to assemble this exclusive compilation of industry visionaries, based on innovation, expertise and influence in the industry. Fixr’s methodology analyzes each expert’s social media and online presence, awards and recognition received, and overall industry contributions.
The list includes home remodeling and construction experts in construction, architecture, publishing, and other related fields. “Inclusion in this list is a testament to the professional achievements of each expert,” said Yuka Kato, industry analyst at Fixr. In an industry constantly evolving based on environmental concerns, new smart home technologies, an aging population, and many other outside influences, “these experts have specialized and stayed relevant, and their efforts and accomplishments deserve recognition.”
By earning a spot on this list, Fixr confirms that Charles Hendricks has shown creativity and exceptional prowess in the home remodeling and construction industry, and Charles Hendricks’s professional efforts have advanced the field and shaped industry trends going forward into 2020.
About Fixr
Fixr is a home improvement resource with the mission of helping consumers make the best remodeling decisions. Fixr provides unbiased, thorough and updated cost guides, price comparisons, and cheat sheets for hundreds of remodeling, installation, and repair projects. When the homeowner is equipped with the necessary knowledge, Fixr helps connect homeowners with the best matches in their area to begin their home improvement projects.
For the complete list of the Top 200 Home Construction Experts, visit fixr.com.
Join us for a SWEET Pints for Polio event at the Harmony Square Dairy Queen located at 1755 Virginia Ave. Harrisonburg, Va. This event is a fun way to treat your family and support Rotary in their fight to eradicate Polio worldwide. Just show up and buy dinner and a medium (PINT) blizzard for everyone in your entire family and bring your friends too!
Harmony Square Dairy Queen has generously offered to make a donation based on % of sales between 5pm and 8pm on October 22. Lets fill their restaurant and enjoy doing good in the world together.
Polio is a crippling and potentially infectious disease. It is caused by the poliovirus. The virus spreads from person to person and can invade an infected person’s brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis.
Harmony Square Dairy Queen is located at 1755 Virginia Ave, Harrisonburg, VA 22802.
History of Rotary
Rotary International is an international service organization whose stated purpose is to bring together business professionals in order to provide humanitarian services, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and to advance goodwill and peace around the world. It is non-political and non-sectarian organization open to all people regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender, or political preference.
Blogging and Social Media use for the Construction Industry is an interesting topic for me that continues to evolve in how I see it. Social Media in our industry is brand new to some even today, a waste of time to others, and old hat to many. I used to do presentations on how to do social media in our industry years ago to help builders create an online brand. I was thinking about how I use Social Media this week a few different ways. What is Social Media etiquette? What blogs do I need to write? How personal should I be on my blog that has been in existence for 10 years – can I change direction on content? Am I adding to the noise in life or adding value with my blog and monthly newsletter?
Earlier this week at our Rotary meeting someone mentioned in passing that they followed me on Twitter. They were required to start an account for their job and don’t really use it, but followed me since they know me. He also mentioned that he was impressed that I have so many followers. It was an interesting comment since I don’t have many followers on Twitter compared to many that I follow. When I started my Twitter account ten years ago it was a lonely place – not many locals had heard of it or were using it. I basically used it to read the morning news subscribing to specific sources for the stories I wanted to hear. It was a way to filter information for me. Deb Van Horn and I used to have Tweet-Ups locally where we would invite the dozen or so local people we knew on the platform to lunch through the platform. It was a fun way to get to know people that we had only met virtually in some cases. Ten years ago Twitter was for me a calm place with the ability to create groups and build relationships. Now it seems there is simply too much information there to ever feel caught up leaving me not to use it as often or as much. Twitter’s growth locally reduced the usefulness for me somehow.
Facebook for me started as a way to connect to friends from the past. I eventually started a business page and now manage a couple of non-profit pages as well. The platform continues to change the way information is shown reducing the free views for businesses. It is a struggle for me to keep the pages all fresh with interesting content knowing that FB is throttling the views because I am not paying to “boost” them. However, it seems you must have a Facebook account as much as you need to have a website to be in business.
The amount of information that is available through blogs and social media can be or IS overwhelming. How you use those pages to benefit your business continues to evolve. For me there are questions that need to be asked on a regular basis to understand your audience and stay relevant. Where do you look for trusted and manageable amounts of information in the Construction Industry? How can you digest and share the right amount of information to stay relevant? How much should you share from your experience?
I have been doing online marketing for 10 years now. I have worked hard to stay authentic, build trust, and to stay relevant. My blog posts range from projects to building science to personal life stories. I have built a brand that people recognize in our community. I have readers and supporters of my work across the country. It is gratifying to see the work pay off. However, I continue to wonder how to improve. What should I write about next? How can I get better? Is there a better way of doing this online work? Am I being a good citizen online, in the construction industry?
