This site is a class blog space for new Career and Technical Specializations and Heathcare Science teachers enrolled in the New Teacher Institute (NTI) at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Monday, October 21, 2013
What Would I Change?
I suppose if I were to change something it would be to resort back to my old curriculum. What I was hired to teach. The new standards that have been recently pushed down for my program are a bit to advanced for some of my students and to be quite honest there is very little of it that relates to my fields of expertise. I teach Manufacturing, which put simply is taking a resource or material and transforming it into a usable product. Well in the older curriculum I taught material science, Computer Aided Design, CNC (automated machine tool), Material handling, measurements, hand tools, power tools, equipment, basic electricity, pneumatics, and hydraulics. All of which I could easily focus students towards projects and hands on learning. Now my curriculum is consumed with electronics, electrical theory, and logic control systems. Nothing pertaining to the basics of how to measure, how to design, how to build. I am struggling teaching this new class due to my lack of knowledge in the field of electronics. I am literally learning what I am teaching a day or two prior to presenting it, which leads to a number of problems as you could imagine. I am not even sure if this curriculum would aid them in job placement for our area. Many people have told me to teach them what they need to be successful in the workforce, just be sure to hit the standards. But, hitting 15 standards and teaching them the other components is nearly impossible. It will be some time before I can find that happy medium.
Hey Trenton. That is a challenge. Do you have an end-of-pathway exam the students are required to take? I'm by no way saying you should "teach to the test" but it may be a good guide for which components you really need to hit the hardest. Also, enlist guest speakers!!! Folks are usually really happy to talk about their areas of expertise.
ReplyDeleteI have run into similar issues. The standards are valuable, but are they applicable in the “real world”? Maybe you could try to combine the standards provided by the state with the “Trenton standards”. Any combination of the two that might be able to be grouped and taught together would allow you to hit both of the important aspects of the class, the standards and the applicables.
ReplyDeleteI think that Jama and Terry both have some excellent suggestions for you Trenton. As you have more experience I think you will become comfortable in "customizing" your program. I have some standards that I maybe say two sentences about during NTI and others that I hit stronger. Then I also have the things I teach because I believe they are important. You'll get there in time . . .Dr. J.
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