Posted on 05/12/2015 4:46:26 PM PDT by Hojczyk
May 12, 2015echnology class in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Instead, one of his students will turn off whatever machine she's working on, introduce herself, and escort the visitor safely past the rows of lathes, milling machines, and drill presses on the shop floor. "That used to be the teacher's job," Sands said. "That's now the students' job."
Employers in West Virginia don't just want workers with technical skills. They want workers who'll show up on time, work in teams, and pass a drug test. So to teach both technical and so-called 'soft' skills, the state has redesigned career and technical education classes. By the 2016-2017 academic year, every CTE class in the state will operate, like Sands' course, as a student-run, simulated business.
In Sands' class, students clock in and clock out, just like they would on a factory floor. They rotate through assigned positions—shop foremen, safety coordinators, tool room attendants—all of which have different responsibilities. They fill out performance reviews. They wear uniforms. They run meetings.
"Instead of me telling the students every day what they're going to do, the day begins with a five- to 10-minute safety meeting and production meeting that the students do," Sands said. He gives his classes a packet every six weeks, and the students figure out how to complete all their assignments. These days, he only lectures when he has to introduce a concept.
Simulated Workplace classes follow protocols the state developed with industry input, such as conducting random drug tests and taking attendance. The model can work for any subject: A journalism class might turn into a newspaper, while a practical nursing class might turn into a clinic. The businesses earn simulated money, or points, based on a rubric that the state developed, again with industry input.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationaljournal.com ...
I thought the article was about intercity schools..
We need less college and more trade schools.
John Ratzenberger speaks about having made sure that his kids know how to properly erect a wall in their home. He says it isn’t the direction they’ve taken in their lives but they’ll never go hungry even if they have to hang out in the parking lot of home depot.
College is a waste of time and money for most students…in the old days it was for doctors ,, lawyers and engineers….we need 90% less lawyers and 90% more engineers
I thought the article was going to be about “little sh*ts” who inform me that because I am disciplining “them” for disrupting my class, I am “sexist,” ‘cause I only “call out the boys.”
Bingo.
College should be reserved for the best of the best where they can be on the cutting edge of technology, science, and medicine. Instead those students are forced to slog upstream against an endless flow of mediocre students who would be better served in trade school. To make matters worse, today’s colleges are full of required courses in social engineering.
Very good.
I knew someone who taught at jobs corps, almost all black kids. While they were not bad kids, and did learn how to do certain jobs, they had
NO IDEA what an alarm clock was and NO IDEA that being on time meant anything to anyone.
The HR officer in a large company where I worked was a black fellow. Nicest guy in the world. He told me the problem with hiring blacks: they operate on CPT: colored people’s time.
Sounds like like “unschooling”.
ROTFL! Only black people are allowed to say that. (I'm probably not allowed to laugh.)
Down here in L.A. the boiler makers union is cleaning up. My daughter’s fiance is in the apprenticeship program and there is so much work for welders that he is working 12 hour shifts. He can work 14 days in a row if he wants. The boiler makers will even take older guys. The shortage of welders is that bad.
CPT? Is that like A.F.T.? Air Force time?
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