"Why we need vocational education"...

School starts again tomorrow after a nice long (frigid) Christmas break.  Not really looking forward to waking up to the alarm clock tomorrow a.m., so I thought I'd do a little perusing on education to see if I couldn't maybe lessen the blow.  Came across this article in the Washington Post entitled "Why we need vocational education".  It's got all kinds of great ideas in it and several other links that I'd like to check out later, so I'm parking this link here for now until I have some time to chase it down in more detail.

Quickly though, I like the take on blue collar vs. white collar jobs and some of the perceptions and misconceptions about the two.  This trimester, I'm having my students do a little writing project once a week for bell work where they get to ponder one of Mike Rowe's points from his SWEAT Pledge, do some analyzing, and then synthesize some thoughts on the topic (take that, Mr. Bloom).   One example I like to use when talking about some of the points is my best friend.  He is a plumber.  He's very good at what he does, and has taken the time to become certified and currently owns and operates his own business.  He's got other things going on the side all the time and has become very talented at making money.  The kicker?  If I had to guess I would say he probably makes TRIPLE what I do as a teacher- with zero(?) college experience.

From the article:

I’m sure that most of you who teach high school have had some students confide that what they enjoyed doing most was working with their hands, whether on car engines, electrical circuits in the house, hair, or doing therapeutic massage. I bet that many of these students also confided that there is no way they could tell their parents that they’d rather pursue one of these occupations than go to college to prepare for a professional or business career.

 We live in a society that places a high value on the professions and white-collar jobs, and that still considers blue-collar work lower status. It’s no surprise that parents want their children to pursue careers that will maintain or increase their status. In high socio-economic communities this is even more evident. And for most teachers, if a student is academically successful, this will be seen as a “waste of talent.”

I've experienced this-  students have told me they want to be welders or something similar.  There is darn good money to be made, but it's also darn hard work.  It'll be interesting to see if I hear back from any of them in the next few years as my first group of students are just starting to graduate.  My biggest hope is that they can find something that they truly enjoy doing- not just something that pays the bills.

Five and a half years in, and I sure don't regret choosing something that puts a smile on my face most days!

Flattered or Worried?

So we started a new trimester a few weeks ago.  Since I teach several different classes sometimes I have the, uh, pleasure? of having a few students 2 or even 3 times a day.  This tri was no exception, and as is usually the case the first day or two can be pretty boring since we are doing safety in all of the classes, all day long.  I warn these students that they will need to bring something to do like homework or a book to read.  The other alternative is to study their safety notes in preparation for the test.

This tri, however, I had a student whose mind was elsewhere while I was explaining this.  Surprised?  Me neither.  When he came into his second class for the day, I asked him if he had brought a book.  Blank look. 

"Book?"

"Yes, book.  Unless you want to do more safety stuff?"

Deer in headlights look.

"I know!  Can I write an essay?!"

"Ummmm.... sure.  What are you going to write it about?"

"YOU!"

Rolleyes...

Again, surprisingly, he wrote.  He wrote for pretty much the entire class.  He was quiet and engaged, and at the end of the class he turned this in:



I think his English teachers would be impressed!  I sure was.  He offered me some very interesting insights too.

This from the same kid I'm guessing is going to take issue about having to write a research paper in engines class.  Who knows?  They never cease to amaze me- part of the reason I love my job so much.  Usually end up learning three or four new things a day from 'em too!

Parent Night.

For some reason we aren't doing "Parent Teacher Conferences" this year.  Instead, we are trying out a "Parent Night".  Seems to have worked out pretty well.  Instead of parents picking up a report card, then standing in line waiting to visit with teachers in the gym, there was an opening ceremony with a welcome and some performances by the band and choir.  Then parents were invited to wander around the school, having thier students show them their classrooms / projects / meet the teachers.  While I didn't get to see as many parents as I normally did at a Parent Teacher Conference, the overall effect I think was pretty darn good- very positive vibe.  Also, in most cases, got to meet most of the family instead of just one parent.

All cleaned up and ready to go.





Tech and Design:



Engines:


 

And of course, Metals.



Overall the turnout was great too. Mighta had something to do with the Chili and Cinnamon roles, but I'd like to think they all came just to see me!

From the Teachers Desk.

The never ending cycle- completing 1 project means you can now start working on the next 2 related projects, meanwhile you are already 3 projects behind somewhere else.  *Sigh*.

Finally got around to this little endeavor.  Ever since I relocated my desk (3 years ago, remember that never ending cycle?) I haven't had a bulletin board.  Had a great big sheet of glass that I wanted to lay over the desk to put stuff under.  Well, I finally found my glass cutter and hauled the sheet of glass into school.  Of course, my glass cutter was utter garbage, so I bought a cheap oil filled cutter off of ebay and tried it again.  Turned out okay, although as you can see there were a few issues from trying to use the old cutter.  Not pretty.  What an amazing difference having a "good" tool makes.

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And another fun bonus is now I can write notes to myself on my desk with permanent marker.  They're right there in my face where it's pretty hard to miss, and the marker comes off easier than dry erase markers do- but only if you give it a little squirt of Windex first.

Another "project" I've been working on is trying to make some type of clamp to hold our Roper-Whitney style metal punches.  Kids were having to strain awful hard to punch holes and that's never save.  To prevent smashed fingers here's what I came up with as a temporary fix:


So far it's working great.  Has the added bonus of not tying up valuable bench space when we don't need them- just stow them in the cabinet.  What's that in the back?  Oh, just another project- a hot chocolate machine I scored from a gas station.  Need to build a small cabinet for it to sit on, get it cleaned up, and put to work.

Sensing a theme yet?  Here's one more.  Picked up a scroll saw to play with thinking I could have students try it out as well.

 



I've got a couple of students coming in for "FLEX" to build custom Hot Wheels, and this may come in to play there.  Not sure how much patience the average 7th grader will be able to expend on a project like this but we'll give it a go anyways!

And just for fun- and Idaho sunrise, as seen from out my shop door at school.



Now, if we could JUST GET PAST ELECTION DAY, life would be pretty darn good!

How to keep a 10 yr. old busy for hours...

Drag home an old pile of junk, park it in front of the garage, and wait for said boy to wander by.

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Scrounged up this bike with the intent to have my students play with it, but son-one took an interest in it- spent an hour trying to "get it started".  When I finished mowing the lawn we had a quick lesson in troubleshooting- checked spark, compression, and squirted some gas down the carb and by golly it popped.

Did a little more work and got it running half decent and had a short lesson on clutches. He only killed it once (keep in mind, its a TL and 1st gear tops out at something like 3/4ths of a mile an hour...).



He road it down the street, turned it around, and stopped and started a few times in the process. Its a little tall and plenty too heavy for him, and he said he was done after that one pass. Once we start changing gears so he can go faster, he might like it more. Next issues to address- leaking petcock, bent gear shifter, and busted brake lever.  We also discovered that the swingarm slopped around like it was connected with a rubber bolt.  Found a used one on ebay, gave it to him, and turned him loose.

He's had very minimal help from me. Helped him crack a few bolts loose that were too tight and showed him some nuts he forgot to take off, but he's figuring it out mostly by himself.  The swingarm fixed our wobble issues-

Now time to keep DAD busy for hours!!!





























Still have to do some finish work up- inside still needs a redkote. New petcock on the way. Trying to decide if this should be a Christmas present or if I should ride it...

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Custom Fire Truck.

So "The Workshop" hosted another build-off last month.  This time the theme was Fire Trucks!  Here's my entry for the build.  Turned out nice and I learned some new tricks in the process.  Getting more comfortable in this "medium" and the cool part is I'm learning some neat things I can apply in my metals classes.  I leave bits and pieces of builds on my desk at school during the week and I've had a couple of students ask about them- some are interested in trying their own builds and it gives me an opportunity to not only show hands on working skills but also a LOT of different problem solving ideas.

My starter pic.  Wasn't really sure where I was going at this point so I kept my options open.



Eventually I decided I had to go with the Ford.  First step was to drop the front as low as it could go.



Then try and figure out how to make it loooonnngg.





Ended up combining a base with the overall body of the truck. 







Fenders.  This was tricky but they turned out pretty nice.  Wanted to completely enclose them- old fashioned skirt style- but that didn't work out.







"Water Tank".  Again, something new.  Forming the curve was a challenge.







Ladder time!  Most expensive part of the truck.  Had to buy a whole roll of wire.







Ladder mount and some more cleanup.  We added a friendly competition halfway through the build to see whose ladder was longest / tallest.  Mine missed by 1/4"...

Bolt is attached to the ladder pivot, the nut is attached to the base, allowing the ladder to swivel and raise.








Time to clean up the cab!







Paint and assembly.  Should have used some better paint, but this deeper red made me feel more "vintage" so I went with it.






Custom skirts made with chrome pin stripping tape.



Test fitting.



Details.

Ladder tilt.



Hose reel.







Cab detailing. Windshield wipers were a booger to do.





Single stack.


Ladder assembly.







Stock vs. Lowered.


Decals and more assembly.










Few more pics of it, then we can move on to the next project.









And there you have it, "ENGINE" 7.