Author: acte

Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, Arizona recently expanded its Project Lead the Way (PTLW) Certified Biomedical Sciences Program.>#0160; This innovative program provides students with opportunities to experience real-world medical challenges before they graduate from high school. Working with the same tools used by professionals in hospitals and labs, students engage in compelling hands-on activities and collaborate to find solutions to various problems. Because of the coursework, students graduate with in-demand knowledge and skills they will use long after high school and can apply what they have learned to any career path they pursue. Kim Rodgers, the class instructor, stated “This is our fifth year of the program and it is continuing to grow. We now have 150 students enrolled, which incorporates all grade levels. I would like to see more students complete the full four year program and have the opportunity to develop more community partnerships. Hopefully, this will aide in the offering of internships for students so they can better prepare for college and more competitive professions.”

In the introductory course of the PLTW Biomedical Sciences program, students explore concepts of biology and medicine as a way to determine the factors that led to the death of a fictional person. While investigating and processing the case, students examine autopsy reports, investigate medical history and explore medical treatments that might have prolonged the person’s life.>#0160; The activities and projects introduce students to human physiology, basic anatomy, medicine, and research processes while simultaneously allowing them to design their own experiments to solve problems.

Rodgers works with personnel from the Glendale Police Department, specifically the school resource officer (SRO) Sargent Scott Waite and Detective Mark Coyle. Both Sargent Waite and Detective Coyle spoke to her students about the procedures involved when assessing a crime scene. Following these presentations, students gained hands-on experience by rotating through stations where they analyzed various pieces of evidence from the crime scene. Students collected blood and hair samples, ran fingerprint comparisons, analyzed DNA, and ran field tests to determine if drugs were involved in the crime.

Senior student, Aaron Combs, is in his fourth year of the program. Combs stated, “Each year has a different focus and because of this I am now very interested in the field. The biomedical program allows someone to experience the field even if they are not initially interested, but once in the program they will gain something out of it. Mountain Ridge High School is the only school in the Deer Valley Unified School District that offers this program.”

By allowing students the opportunity to use project-based learning, collaborate with peers, integrate technology, and apply coursework to real-world situations, Mountain Ridge High School students are better prepared to excel in a competitive global arena after they graduate. The school is located at 22800 N. 67^th Avenue in Glendale.>#0160; To find out more about this extraordinary school, visit the website at http://www.dvusd.org/Domain/41

By Debbie Moore CTE, Career and Technical Education Marketing Educator/Teacher on Assignment Mountain Ridge High School, Glendale, AZ

“Make. Just make. This is the key. The world is a better place as a participatory sport. Being creative, the act of creating and making, is actually fundamental to what it means to be human.” >#0160;>#0160;>#0160;

~ Maker-Movement Manifesto

This quote is one that always seems to resonate with my CTE beliefs. It is in CTE that students are presented an opportunity to actively engage with their teachers, peers and community to ‘make’ business and industry practices, procedures, processes, and conceptual understandings clearer for present and future sustainability.>#0160; This sustainability impacts the global economy, so just ‘make’.

A recent graduate from CTE shared a story about his experience and his ability to create (make) things he never imagined or believed he could. The student started CTE in 10^th grade; he had no true ambitions or interest in the CTE pathway in which he was enrolled. Then one day, he was required to pitch his business plan and in that moment his life changed forever. His imagination and creativity allowed him to create a gaming app for autistic students to calm their anxiety of test taking. See, he wanted his brother to enjoy and find passion in learning as well.>#0160; He said, “Why ‘make’ learning or even test-taking such a uncomfortable experience? I am okay with hard work but why did school always feel like if I didn’t do it the prescribed way, I failed or wouldn’t ‘make’ it?” As I listened, I didn’t have the answer but what I did have was inspiration and hope.

This is just one student in CTE but as they share their stories with us, collectively we have thousands who were able to take the skills and concepts learned, make business plans or inventions, and turn them into ‘their’ reality. He was able to visualize what he could do and become. This student now has a “choice-filled life” where he is able to ‘make’ critical decisions about his business and future, but more importantly how he will impact the world.

We have an intentional and purposeful commitment in CTE. >#0160;Allow CTE students to dream, build, create (make) and explore being innovators, problem-solvers and entrepreneurs. The global workforce is waiting on them, which is a CTE MATTER!

Eboni Camille Chillis, PhD
Coordinator of Career, Technical >amp; Agricultural Education
Clayton County Public Schools

The assignment was for the students to find a problem on campus and design a solution for it. I have always been an advocate of inquiry-based learning and this assignment was completely aligned with that. When students started reporting what problems they wanted to solve on campus, I noticed many of the same ideas. The need for more sidewalks on campus, moving the student parking closer to the school, and adding a stoplight at the closest intersection to the back of the school were among the most cited. Then Steven asked if he could redesign the baseball field, if you could call it that, to address a few issues and seek a grant for the redesign. I was all ears.

Steven went on to explain how the field had no accessible water – potable or otherwise – bleachers, canopies for shade, dugouts or way to bring equipment to the field other than by foot. I told him that his group would have their work cut out for them, and they began their research. His team originally consisted of 3 other classmates, but in the 2 weeks they had to develop their solutions, the group dwindled to just Steven and one other student, who was added to the class the day before the presentation.

Steven and his partner had created a detailed design that included all of the following: old pallet materials to make a roof structure that would be fastened to the existing fenced-in benches, a rain collection system that included roof drains into barrels and a water runoff collection point with a perforated pipe running along the sloped visitor side with a small cistern with a manual pump, and an entrance to the field created by using old playground rubber chips that would be wide enough for a car to drive on to move some donated bleachers to the field.

His presentation included: a budget for materials and labor, a construction timeline, both a virtual 3D model and a 3D printed model and the start of an application for a grant through a local non-profit. After Steven finished his presentation, which was the first one of the day, the other teams asked for more time to work on theirs. He had not only succeeded in solving this problem in an ingenuous way but he also raised the bar for the rest of the students in the class.

I later used Steven’s presentation as a marketing tool for middle schoolers choosing what school they want to attend. So, in a way, he is still solving problems many years after his graduation because his creative designs are laying a path for future students to follow.

By Adam Guidry, Lead Teacher, Academy of Environmental and Urban Planning, Glencliff High School, Nashville, TN

Everywhere you look on teacher oriented websites and journals, you see the maker movement. This year, I decided to create a makerspace in my own classroom. Here is how it worked.

I started by asking questions:

1. What would my students make? I teach marketing, not science. It seems that every website or article focuses on STEM ideas.
2. What would I put in the space? What type of resources would my students want or need?
3. How would my students react?

I decided to create cards with ideas for the students to look over and choose a project theme. For instance, a student could choose a card saying “make a gift” or “make a cellphone case” and that would be the theme of the project. From these two examples, you can see that some themes were more specific and some were very general. The end result of the project will be to create a product, along with a written document answering questions directly related to our marketing concepts. Students can work as individuals or in pairs (they must try both ways) and complete four projects per quarter. I implemented this project with second year students first and plan to introduce first year students during the second semester.

Because I teach marketing, the students have to describe the rationale as to why someone would buy their “product” and how they would market it. Students must create a feature and benefit chart and marketing mix. I created a rubric and set of guidelines so students had an idea what I expected from the written portion of the project, but the product portion is free for them to design as they wish. However, the written portion requires some explanation of the product and encourages students to stay on track.

After I created the note cards with themes, I gathered random materials that I thought might be useful. I also told the students to make a list if they needed additional items, or to bring items from home. I saved plastic containers, toilet paper rolls, and bottle caps. I found people to donate ribbon, pipe cleaner, and various size wooden blocks and rods. I added glues, markers, and colored paper. It was hard to anticipate what they might want.

After the completion of our first project day, I consider the space a huge success. All students chose to work in pairs. They worked diligently, discussing ideas and took the rubric into account making decisions. They were excited, they talked about all the concepts we have worked on in the past and I was impressed with both the products and the written reports. The students were happy to be out of their seats and using their creativity. They have already asked when they get to use the space again.

Wendy Robichaud, Ed.D., Marketing Instructor, Oxford Hills Technical School, Maine

Best practices to CTE are like Fish to Water…they are a necessity for survival! Best practices of any kind are tested, tried and true, meaning they are sound and grounded in research. They are practices that impact positive change, growth and intellectual tenacity. TechTarget defines “best practices” as a technique or methodology that, through experience and research, has proven to reliably lead to a desired result. In CTE, the desired results are best accomplished through an intentional and purposeful commitment. Be willing to delve into the>#0160;best practices>#0160;based on business, industry and educational trends using all the knowledge and technology available to ensure success, which is our survival. A promising best practice (technology tool) to be integrated in CTE pathways such as Programming, Automotive, and Healthcare Science is Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) applications.

Imagine changing the traditional teacher-student relationships; imagine technology that allows “the teacher to take students to places a school bus could never go, with panaromas and points of interest to make it easy for them to integrate it into existing curriculum and bring lessons to life>quot; (TechEd); and imagine CTE concepts and tasks in an environment>#0160;where a real life>#0160;problem to be solved or investigated is enhanced by virtual elements in real time. Lastly, imagine the profound impact on the way we interact with technology and the way we do our jobs for many years to come (EdTech Trends).

So what is the purpose of VR/AR? >#0160;The research presents us with these ideas: changing the learning environment by enhancing the information we naturally receive through our five senses, by adding superimposed, constructed virtual elements to bring complementary information and meaning that may not be possible to see by natural means. VR/AR creates an interactive environment between computer system and user bringing to life abstract concepts to enhance understanding. While you delve into the>#0160;best practices for VR/AR technologies, resources that will allow you to continue the conversation and possible implementation in your school district or CTE classrooms are EdTech, Virtual Reality Education Pathfinder, Verizon, Unity Software and innovators Dieter Schmalstieg>#0160;and>#0160;

The biggest challenge in life is to be yourself in a world that is trying to make you like everybody else! >quot;We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them,>quot; is a mantra used many times in life. >#0160;

No organization has ever been successful without new and innovative ideas. Innovation, be it in business or education, is all about challenging the status-quo. >#0160;Before an organization can begin to innovate, it must answer a few difficult questions. >#0160;The most important questions are: “What does innovation mean to your institution? >#0160; Does your institution enable or stifle innovation? >#0160;What about your competitors…how innovative are they?” >#0160; >#0160;

Sometimes, colleges and universities have to remind themselves that they don>#39;t have to do what everyone else is doing. >#0160;So, how do you accomplish that task? >#0160;You accomplish innovation by going through 4 stages: generate ideas; refine your ideas; select the specific ideas that you want to try; and lastly, implement the ideas. >#0160;The problem with many institutions is they want the BIG ideas, but never have a plan to see them come to fruition. >#0160;In other words, they may be good at listening to the innovative ideas of their employees, but never research them enough to say, >quot;I think we want to go with that idea and run with it.>quot; >#0160;

Many times, innovators see the biggest enemy as the institution itself, the reason being that institutions are not designed for innovation, they are designed for ongoing operations. >#0160;In education, we serve our stakeholders, who might be students, boards, trustees, taxpayers, or any number of customers or patrons. >#0160;In the end, we strive for productivity and efficiency; therefore, we evolve and deliver what is being sought by them. >#0160;When it comes down to it, educational institutions have to focus on serving their students BETTER than other schools, or stakeholders will spend their hard-earned money somewhere else. >#0160;With that being said, there is continuous pressure to be more efficient and profitable and to continue to advance in new areas. >#0160; When institutions want to be >quot;innovative>quot; there will inevitably be conflict within. ‘Repeatable’ and ‘predictable’ are the stakeholders’ friends.>#0160; Predictability is especially powerful because it serves as a baseline for future expectations and holding people accountable. >#0160;In many organizations, budgets are set based largely on predictable outcomes. >#0160;

Ultimately, when any educational institution decides to pursue innovation, the leadership must have a vision for the future. >#0160;When you think about it, titles or positions don>#39;t really matter though, ideas do! >#0160;If you want people who possess the skills to innovate, they have to be the faculty and staff who remember why you are in business in the first place…for the student. >#0160; They must be open-minded enough to new ideas and resist the urge to say, >quot;We have tried that before and it didn>#39;t work.>quot; >#0160;In the end, when we want innovation…we must THINK DIFFERENTLY!

Rich Flotron, 2016 Region III Leadership Fellow

As the 2016-17 school year begins, I am thinking about what tools I will use to best help my students connect with the material, provide feedback about their understanding, and aid their ability to retain information. There are two tools that I know I will consistently integrate to help make this happen.>#0160; One is a relatively low tech tool, visual note-taking. The other is high tech and called Nearpod.

LOW TECH

I’ll start with low tech. I have tried to use the idea of sketching in my classroom to help students see ideas and connected concepts. However, this May I read the book, Visual Notetaking for Educators: A Teacher’s Guide to Student Creativity by Wendi Pillars. Sure, it mentioned some strategies that I already use, such as using simple graphic organizers that then have some color added, or taking breaks in the lesson to sketch out key ideas. The book also stressed some other important ideas with visual notetaking as well such as “process over pretty” (making the sketch about what you are learning and not worrying about the artistic nature of it), using sketches to predict and then adding to the sketch once further study happens, building on sketches throughout a unit, and even sketching words to help give them connection to the lesson.

As I read, I began thinking about ways I could incorporate lessons from this book into my practice. (Note to reader: If you are thinking of investing in the book up, I would encourage getting a print version. I drew in and wrote all over mine to truly embrace the experience.) This summer, I carried a notebook in my purse that I called my “Practice and Play” book where I could jot down ideas for visual notetaking and also toy with sketching ideas myself. This year, I hope to strengthen some of my lessons by more purposefully incorporating the idea of visual notetaking and “edu-sketching.”

>#0160;

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HIGH TECH

For several years, I have been using an interactive learning tool called Nearpod which can be used on smartphones, tablets, ipads, etc. It is something I plan to continue using this school year as well. Although I do not teach with a flipped classroom approach, it could be used for that as students can go through lessons you create at their own pace. It even links to Google Classroom. I use Nearpod as live sessions which I pace in the classroom.

The reasons I like this tool: 1) It can put information right in front of the students 2) There are virtual field trips that I can take students on related to the topic 3) I can give quizzes or administer polls and get immediate feedback on students’ levels of understanding then address misconceptions immediately before they become ingrained 4) There are opportunities for what I call “brain breaks” where I can integrate sketches, concentration style games, and more.

Overall, I try to use multiple means of reaching my students to help them grasp course ideas and engage with course content. What are you favorite classroom tools?

Robin Claire McLean, Ed.D.
2013 Association for Career and Technical Education Teacher of the Year
Agriscience Educator, Northern Burlington County Regional Middle School
National Board of Professional Teaching Standards Certified – Career and Technical Education

When some teachers think about technology, they think of something out of a science fiction movie.>#0160; I view technology as a tool…something to help make my workload easier, faster, and more accessible. And it has to be engaging for students.>#0160;

The most significant technology tool that I use in my class is my website. >#0160;My site, AHSvideo.com started as a free Weebly site about 6 years ago.>#0160; I wanted a way for students to turn in their papers to me so I could see EXACTLY when they turned them in.>#0160; Then I used it as a way to post my lessons so I did not have students saying they never “received” the rubric that they left in class.>#0160; And now it’s a site that hosts our Morning Show (10,000 hits per month), a place to hold our students’ work; a place for students to learn via tutorials; and a place where administrators, colleagues, industry, parents and curious students can go to learn more about what we do.>#0160;

My website is the single most effective teaching tool I use because it allows me to adjust my lessons on the fly from anywhere I have an internet connection…and it’s helped grow my program to over 150 students per year!>#0160; Get your website done today whether you use Weebly or Wix, or even WordPress.

The trend I see as most important in CTE is workplace simulation.>#0160; Part of delivering workplace simulations is keeping pace with changing technology.>#0160;

In video/media our technology has changed so much in the past 5 years that I have very little, if any, of the equipment that I had in 2012. >#0160;>#0160;I think it’s important for teachers to be encouraged to learn more outside of the classroom.>#0160;

I stay current with today’s technology because I stay “in industry” by networking, actually producing media, and maintaining my relationships in industry.>#0160; Whether the CTE teacher teaches video, construction, automotive, digital design or hospitality, the teacher should be encouraged by all levels of administration to network and to learn new technologies outside of class in their industry.>#0160;

When I first started teaching video production in 2009, I was convinced that all the students in my class actually wanted to be there to learn.>#0160; And then I took it personally when some students did not want to learn what I had to teach.>#0160; Then, somewhere in my fourth year teaching, the seniors who had been in my program for 4 years started helping other students in the school with video projects; some of my students even helped out local police producing videos.>#0160;

It was then I learned to just be patient with my students and that education is a process that sometimes takes years to show its true results in students.>#0160; It took me 4 years to learn to be patient.>#0160; Learning how to be patient became instrumental to how I teach because it forced me to look at the student a few years down the road rather than right now.>#0160; It also helped my strategic planning efforts, my relationships with special need students and with students who excel everywhere in school.>#0160;

Rather than focusing on just today’s lesson, I can step back and see the potential in all of my students.

By Tracy Misner

Alpharetta High School

Audio Video Film >amp; Technology

http://www.ahsvideo.com/