Techniques October 2012 - 22

Today’s Students—Part 2

The focus is on providing students with industry-standard equipment; academic and technology curricula that address what students need to know and be able to do in a competitive national and international arena; and with the employability skills that will foster responsible citizenship, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking.

its human capital—are the most important. The value of this human resource depends not on size, however, but on the occupational and intellectual skills its members possess. At least in this regard, history is clear: A large “unskilled” population is a detriment to economic national growth and to a high standard of living.7

John Fala, Public Safety Teacher
One of the major keys to success is identifying new ideas, technologies, and teaching methodologies that dovetail with the current and future needs of the student— and not only embracing these new approaches, but also following through with actual implementation. Despite extensive discussions, meetings and professional development for inservices, efforts to propel change often become stalled in the planning phase. Transitioning from the planning stage to the actual implementation stage requires the flexibility to adapt, the courage to persist, the willingness to venture outside the comfort zone, and the support of key departments and committees within the school. High-quality education requires developing curriculum maps and incorporating the Common Core Standards—math, reading and science—into CTE curricula. Furthermore, assessing the individual student’s needs and doing the utmost to motivate and inspire each student is the key to making a difference. After all, inspiration is an essential ingredient for integrating novel ideas and technologies. Igniting the student’s desire to learn and excel sets the stage for an enjoyable and rewarding educational continuum. The more students learn and excel, the more invested and confident they become in the learning experience and the hungrier they become to build on their existing knowledge base. Success lies in the willingness to seek, identify and utilize all available resources and work within a good model. Once the model is in place, the key is to meet the challenges and then implement and

The face of CTE is changing, and it is important that our teachers maintain pace with these changes. “The most successful schools in the country have begun to enhance student learning by replacing teacher-centered didactic instruction with more activity-based, project-oriented methods.”6 It is the responsibility of front-line leadership to mentor, evaluate, coach and professionally develop all teachers so that they can foster all that a teacher should know and be able to do in today’s CTE world. It is crucial for supervisors to be aware of the trends in business and industry, currently and for the future. Throughout the next 10 years, CTE is on track to help fill voids in local industries. Approximately 80 percent of CTE students are going on to some postsecondary experience, and our teachers are forerunners in academic integration and stress the importance of numeracy and literacy skills in today’s workforce. Among all the riches a nation may possess, its people—its human resources,

sustain the strategies and goals outlined in the model, or the only thing you are left with is a good model. You can evaluate the model, you can wait to see what others do about it, you can have a meeting to discuss it, or you can talk about it, but are you willing to implement it? Making it happen involves the commitment, necessary action steps and ongoing follow-up of all key departments within the school. Specific roles and action steps must be communicated clearly to those responsible, and the appropriate systems, processes and advisory committees must be in place to support teachers and others to achieve meeting the needs of the individual student. The journey can be challenging, the process may induce stress, and at times, even fear. It is essential to go beyond the gearing-up phase and put even more effort and resources into the implementation phase than the planning phase. Nevertheless, embracing studenttailored ideas and technologies and ultimately integrating them is not only rewarding, but it also achieves proven, concrete results toward helping students pave their career path.

Christopher Tully, Multimedia Teacher
The multimedia program thrives on implementing the latest technology in the classroom. However, the core standards of 21st-century skills do not directly reflect the use of technology. The standards relate more to the development of skills to assist the students in being independent and learning how to learn with so much information at their fingertips. The technology is just the conduit for the teacher to use to get the students where they need to be. The technology standards, referred to as the ISTE NETS•S, promote this classroom transformation by ensuring that digital-age students are empowered to learn, live and work successfully today and tomorrow.8 The NETS•S standards
www.acteonline.org

Techniques

October 2012

Techniques October 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Techniques October 2012