"I am done, What do I do now?": The most hated question in tech/engineering class

The question I hate most in my classes is "I am done, What do I do now?". I hate it more than kids who choose to play games on the computers when they are finished (and sometimes before they are finished). I know I am a teacher but I see myself more as a project manager than an entertainer. I know there are some teachers out there that see themselves as a entertainer but that is not me. I know that some presentations & articles I have read equate teaching to entertaining because we have to compete with the likes of sensationalized TV and Games as well as easy access to music. It is hard to complete with the immediate feedback and gratification from these entities as well. However all that being said I do have a tool I use to help combat that question and also help students start to build some of the soft skills employer's look for in a potential future employee. The idea is what I call Leadership Points.

I got this idea from a fellow teacher who used something similar in their class as a way of keeping kids busy if they finished work early. Now I know that some of you will automatically start thinking of these things a just busy work. The idea is that students have a series of tasks to choose from that they can do with minimal to no help from me or others. The tasks fit into 5 areas of Employ-ability skills:

• Professional development
  

• Taking Initiative
  

• Management
  

• Career Prep
  

• Community Service
  

I have run these by employers and most feel these are good soft skills for students to start working on at a middle school level. I know there are more than just these 5 employ-ability skills; I choose these 5 as they are easy for middle school kids to understand and relate to. Within each of these areas are tasks kids can do that earn them a select number of points. Tasks range from easy things like: 

• tracking daily work in planner
• cleaning the classroom
• filling out an application

to harder ones like:

• designing a new job
• reading a book or article relating to subject of class and reporting back on it
• 1 month of community service
• teach the class (with lesson plans and assessment)

The harder the task the more points it is worth. I try and make it easy for them to get the points by just requiring that they show me or an adult over 18 evidence of completing the task. The one catch is if they loose the form before completing the 300 points they loose the points unless they can show evidence of completion. This is probably the biggest issue I haven't found a way to resolve is kids loosing the form but it is a good lesson for them to learn when the stakes are low.

I have heard from both students, parents, and other teachers many issues with this assignment. When I first started out a lot of people saw these as just busy work which yes they kind of are but when coming up with list of tasks I tried to think of ones that not only fit the category but also were relevant to both the class and it's operation which helps add value to them and makes them seem less as busy work. I get 3 big complaints from students and parents when it comes to this assignment. The first one is that there are too many, I require 300 points in a semester. However when I break it down in terms of how long they have to do them, 1 semester or about 4.5 months, that tasks the wind out of that complaint. Also once people see the type of activities and how easy some of them are it also helps to minimize this complaint. The second biggest complaint I get from both parents (although not so much once I explain/remind them when assigned) and students is I didn't get them enough time. This is mainly because students wait till the last minute to do them and find they don't have enough time to complete 300. The third biggest complaint I got was that they had too much of an impact on student's grades. This one took some time to figure out as I wanted the kids to take the assignment seriously but also didn't want it to cause them to fail the class if they didn't do them but did the other work for the class. What I have settled on is making them 20% of the grade in my class and making sure to have points they can get for doing everyday tasks in class.

All in all over the last 4+ years I have been doing Leadership Points I have found them to be beneficial for both me and others. Some of the changes I have made over the last 4 years to make the experience easier and more motivating are to give parents and other teacher the ability to sign off on points, the willingness to let students negotiate what they can to do to get points, and the newest thing creating a Leadership badge students can earn and proudly display if they complete their 300 points before the due date.  I have posted a copy of the form I hand out to students as well as a link to my podcast on this topic. Feel free to make a copy of the form and use it in your classroom. You have my permission to modify and change the form to fit your unique situation. I also welcome your thoughts on the topic and ideas of tasks I can add.

As always:

Go Forth & Do Great Things!
All pictures are in the public domain

Files/Links:

Leadership Point form.
Link to Podcast
Interland by google
Codecombat

Conferences/PD: Flipping the script on excuses not to go

Today as I sit in my home office thinking about an up coming conference and my presentation I will be giving I am reminded of the mixed feelings that I share with my colleagues about said conferences.

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It is nice to get the opportunity to go but the time that is involved especially during the school year can serve as a huge deterrent. The sub plans, the paperwork, the packing, the wondering if it will all be worth it, and for some the obligation to share with staff what you have learned. I know for some the deterrents can be enough to refuse the opportunity. I used to think that way but eventually came around for various reasons, some of which you might not think of from a teaching standpoint.

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I know as teachers we are good at finding excuses to not be gone from the classroom, I know as I am one who hates to be gone if for no other reason than the fact that we have to make sub-plans. Often times being on death's door is not enough to keep us away. That being said the focus of today's post is on conference/PD attendance. I know we all hate being out of our classroom and it is easy to give an excuse or two for why we don't want to go with sub-plans being the number one. I feel the choosing to not go just because you don't want to write up sub-plans is a pretty poor excuse. There are several others that are much better like:

• "I hate being away from the kids"
• "There is nothing I could learn that I don't already know"
• "I just don't know if it would be good" or "They really don't have anything for me"
• "I feel like all these are is a waste of time"
• "I am worried about [insert name here] not behaving"
• "The kids won't learn as much if I am not there"
• "Why can't they do this training over the summer?" (This is my favorite by the say.)

I get it there is no substitute for being in one's classroom but being out of one's classroom can be good as well; for both you and the kids. Being out of your class helps students apply their problem solving and other soft skills employers so desperately crave. Kids need to the opportunity to be practice these skills in order to develop resiliency.
Yes they might not accomplish all that you want them to get done but in my opinion that is ok as education isn't and shouldn't be a race to get to the finish. It should be more about developing kids and teachers into being life long learners. Which is in the end what will take them farther in this world that if we got through the chapter on how to use functions and variables to launch a rocket into orbit. However conferences/PD during the year accomplishes another thing that I think we miss as teachers but crave.

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I have heard my colleagues in the past and currently wish that we as teachers would be treated like other professionals (doctors, accountants, engineers, etc.). Well one way we are is by being given the opportunity to get out of the office and go to conferences/PD. Most other professionals don't get summers off like teachers do. That is a perk we enjoy due to the agrarian education system we have in the US. However it is interesting that often times teachers will bow out of going to a summer conference/pd session because they don't want to give up their precious time off. I get it, it is time away from family or time that you have earned being on point with kids for 9 months straight. I get it we all need time to relax and recharge. And that my fellow teachers are what conferences/PD can do for us during the school year.

Setting aside all the excuses and allowing ourselves to take advantage of the gift that our district is giving us important not only for our professional growth but also for our mental health. I have found that once I let go of the excuses even the most mundane conference/PD session has its benefits. Here are just a few:

• Being away from one's classroom and immersed into a learning environment similar to kids helps remind me of what it is like for my students. 
• It allows it helps to break the routine of day
• One get's a chance to network with like minded colleagues to share ideas and thoughts with
• You get to do things when you want not when you have time (going to the bathroom, eating)
• Getting to see parts of the country/world you might not get to see
• Learning about new concepts, strategies, lessons, technology

I could go on but I hope you are starting to see my point. That we as educators need to get out of our classrooms and experience the world during the school year.

Companion Podcast

As always go forth and do great things

Rethinking shop class

It has been awhile since between posts & podcasts but I am hoping to get back into it now that FLL (First Lego League), the holiday's and first semester are behind me.  I can now start to focus more on teaching, writing, curriculum development, presenting, and most importantly family.

Today I am going to talk about a book I just recently finished listening too entitled "Shop Class As SoulCraft" by Mathew B. Crawford. I ran across it as I was looking for books on teaching shop classes and CTE classes because I made yet another change to my middle school engineering class this semester. Every year I try

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to change things up to both keep me on my toes but more importantly to keep the kids interested in my classes as an elective. It is a lot of work on my part but I feel it pays off in the long run. I know that some of you are cringing at reading this from a teaching stand point because it is a lot of work and also because if you are like me you get frustrated with change. I have learned to mange my frustration with change as long as I am the one in control of that change. I am lucky to work with a principal who both was a former shop teacher and embraces me changing things up so often as he recognizes that it helps keep me and the kids sharp and up on the latest trends. Really the only change he hasn't let me do is start up a meat smoking class (although I haven't given up yet, sorry Mark).
So you may be wondering how change relates to a book about Shop classes and work ethic. That is a great question which I intend to answer today.

The title of this post has a double meaning to it. On the one had it is about me changing up my class to do something different. the big change I made was to make my engineering class more like my old middle school shop class. One where students are able to select from a list of projects they want to do that relate to engineering. Projects range from electrical engineering, to 2d & 3d design, to wood working, to programming, and beyond. I am still fiddling with what projects are appropriate and are doable in the time span of 2 to 3 months. It is going well but I could use some advice and/or suggestions of projects kids can do that give them the opportunity to apply the engineering process. The second meaning is a little more philosophical in nature.

The second meaning comes directly from the book I mentioned early. The author talks about the importance of shop class and finding work we enjoying doing among other things but it is these that i want to focus in on. In the book the author talks about how shop class in its original form was a way to help prepare kids to be assembly line workers; help them make the transition into factory work where it wasn't about quality so much as quantity. Workers needed to be trained to not focus on the product they created but more on the process. This is an interesting concept that we are still doing today as we transition from a factory/manufacturing economy to a knowledge economy. The author talks about how schools are trying to prep kids to be thinkers and problem solvers by pushing them into more academic college prep type classes and getting rid of shop type classes where kids work with tools on crafts; what I like to call getting their hands dirty. His assertion in the book is that these classes while not for everyone are also having the opposite affect that what is intended. They are making kids less of a thinker/problem solver.  His assertion is that it is actually in shop class where kids work with tools and crafts that they learn to become problem solvers.

In the book he talks about his journey to becoming a motorcycle mechanic. He goes into some of the problems he faced and had to and is still working to overcome in his quest to become a motorcycle mechanic. I can't agree more with the message. In my classes I see kids come in wanting to have things spoon fed to them and not want to think or problem solve. When they encounter a problem their first instinct is to raise their hand (arrgh I hate that) and ask for help. I frustrate them in many ways:

1. By making them use real world strategies of getting help (ask others, look it up on google, email me or submit a trouble ticket)
2. Answering their question with guidance on where they can find potential solutions
3. Only giving them feedback as it relate to how the end product will turn out if it is printed or manufactured as opposed to if it meets spec or "does it look good".
4. Giving them tutorials and project management charts with activities rather than direct instruction

I can say that once kids leave my class they are able to at least know how to start solving a problem in a constructive way. The two best compliments I received from kids in my class are "This class is hard; nothing like I thought it would be." (with a smile on their face) and "This class taught me how to learn and think." These reaffirm what I got out of the book which is that kids need more opportunity to use their knowledge in real world ways as opposed to more knowledge.

In the linked podcast I talk about some of the above and some other points of the book that are important for teachers and parents to know as it relates to "Rethinking shop class".