Yeeee-Hah!!!

[Dave in Fairfax]

I don't think that you have to assume the worst in people, just a litigious society and a terrified school board. In other words, standard operating conditions.

Dave in Fairfax

[Kiwanda]

"Walt Cheever" wrote in news:S3LRd.11355 $kS6.5703@attbi_s52:

are "concept

I think you're painting with a pretty broad brush here. I know at least three people who I took woodshop with who have Ph.D.s and are college faculty (including me). We took took woodshop because we wanted to build stuff...even in junior high we turned bowls, made inlaid chessboards, and other cool stuff in addition to the requisite carved salad spoons and birdfeeders. I also took metal shop and a course on electricity that I learned a lot from. Several of my friends-- all of whom went to college --took mechanical drawing, including one guy who went to BU and is now an engineer.

I think the OP has gotten the most important info of all from those who are urging him to keep things interesting for the kids. I haven't ever taught junior high, but I know this lesson applies to my college students just as much.

-Kiwanda

[Chris Ross]

Congrats!!

You are DAMN LUCKY! I avoided going into teaching because of the lack of such opportunities. In my area, they are phasing industrial arts out of schools. It started before I graduated HS 10 years ago. I guess it's easier to stick kids in front of computers instead of teaching them how to make a living.

[Norman D. Crow]

Not wanting to start a flame war here, but I think the "broad brush" may be right on. Most of the public schools here concentrate on the academic & intellectual teaching, but we also have the Board Of Cooperative Educational Services, which are primarily occupational schools(Beautician, auto/truck mechanics, etc.). A large percentage of the students who go to "Bo-seas" are in that conceptually or educationally challenged people who by default need to learn a "trade" to get on with life.

Times have changed from when I attended school. Most of the guys took wood and metal shop, as well as mechanical drawing. These were the normal optional courses not "required" for graduation, but taken to add to the required courses. Today many of our schools no longer offer these(as has been discussed here on the wRECk more than once), and if they are offered, it is just as the OP said, through the "Regional Occupation Program". It is a shame these have been relegated to the "gray area" for students who are challenged in other areas.

'Nuff said, I'll get down off my soap box now.

[firstjois]

Everything said already above and remember some of these kids won't use tools like this again for 5-10 years but they will remember what you taught them about safety and what you showed them about safety, too. That will help them keep their fingers and they'll (eventually) thank you for it!

Josie

[firstjois]

Maybe to everything you said, but college bound students here are still offered the chance to take woodworking courses and some kids get themselves into summer school to take "required classes" so they will have a chance to take the "optional" woodworking classes only offered during the regular school year.

I have a couple of trucks and blinking wooden boxes* to prove it. The* blinking wooded boxes had an electrical component to it. I never figured out why the box was supposed to blink but the teenager who gave me this gift was thrilled to bits because it did.

Josie

[loutent]

Hi John,

You've got a lot of responses here and a lot of them say a lot of good things.

I taught 7th through 9th grade for 30 years before retiring (not shop, but math & science).

FWIW:

1. Be *VERY* prepared every day - for twice as much material as you think that you would need.

**1a. Be *VERY* prepared every day - for twice as much material as you think that you would need.

**Intentionally printed twice!!!!

1. Respect the kids - watch your "tone" and be

*VERY* evenhanded. You will not teach anyone anything until you have respect & discipline.

1. Respect yourself - don't accept any behavior which you consider "abnormal" as normal just because you have not taught before or think that you are too "OLD". Kids will love that flannel shirt if they learn to respect what it stands for. (I know - it's a preposition.)

2. Use common sense - if you do not have a disciplined class, no teaching will take place. You will only be a "good guy" for a few days, then teaching will become impossible and you will be very discouraged. Trying to be "liked" is a *BIG* mistake. Instead, try to earn respect - keep trying, because you never finish.

1. You will have problems with parents. Keep cool & be professional. Have your grades very organized and your method of grading spelled out precisely - have parents read it at "open house" and explain why you do it. If it does not make sense, change it. Don't be afraid to admit you are wrong - especially as a new teacher.

This will get you through your first few months. As you go along, you will learn from your colleagues.

Teaching is about change, so get used to it & try to embrace it. Eventually, you will actually be able to show your love of the subject you teach. Just remember that at first, this is the least important thing you need show. The kids need to get to know you first.

Best of luck to you!

Lou (Enjoying retirement in my shop!)

[Rick Cook]

You have _no_ idea how torqued the cops get when you use your trebuchet to loft a watermelon over a building and onto the hood of a passing police car.

DAMHIKT.

--RC

[Nova]

They don't much care for apples with glass imbedded in them either.

-- Jack Novak Buffalo, NY - USA (Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)

[Dave Balderstone]

Many congratulations, John!

It's been a long while since I did the interview/wait for the call gig, but I do remember how goood that "when can you start" call feels!

djb

[Robert Bonomi]

You wouldn't think high-school *KITE*FLYING* contest would get the cops upset, either, would you?

Well, except for the fact that some of the kids were building *BIG* kites. e.g. an 8 _foot_ tall 'tetrahedron' kite. They found out that that kite had more lift than they expected. They'd been flying for half an hour, or so -- kite was out at the end of several _hundred_ yards of heavy-duty kite string, Then the wind picked up a bit. *and* a gust came by. This turned out to be more than that poor kite-string could bear. And it *broke*. Somewhere up close to the kite itself.

Down comes like a -third_of_a_mile_ of string. Over trees, houses, streets, power lines, and anything else underneath it's path.

The -kite- on the other hand, is drifting away, down-wind, _and_ slowly falling out of the sky. Does a bullseye right in the _middle_ of the intersection of two *busy* streets, almost 2 miles away from the school. By some miracle, it didn't hit any cars -- there were a couple of _very_ close calls however, when the driver flinched as this thing 'materialized' beside and/or in front of their car.

OH boy, does traffic get snarled! There's only about 1 lane open "around" the obstruction; not to mention the "gapers block" with everybody going through the scene at about 2 MPH, as thy speculate on "what in the h*ll" this contraption is.

"Of course", the police get notified. but when the 1st officer shows up at the scene, _he_ hasn't got the faintest idea what this thing is, _either_, nor what to do about it. Is it 'safe' to move it, or not? *who*knows*?!!

Disclaimer: this was *NOT* _my_ kite, although, I was, in a way, partly to blame, having been one of the instigators of the 'bigger kites', one-upmanship; _and_ introduced the first 'unconventional' designs into the contest. That year, I was flying a 'winged corvette kite' (aka a "French war kite") -- a 6 foot tall one, with *bolted*together* 2x2s as the structural members, and flown on 400lb(!!) test braided nylon cord. That kite wasn't big enough to be considered as 'man carrying'. Quite.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

You listed this a number four, but it should be number ONE.

Thinking back to the teacher that taught me the most and I liked the best, it was the tougher, fair, and demanding discipline ones. They started out by letting us know "I'm here to teach, you are her to learn, and if we do our jobs we will get along just fine". Of course, this we long before the days of having an ACLU lawyer in every classroom.

There will always be one student that will test your limits. How you handle him will set the tone for the rest of the year. Be form, be fair.

Good luck John, it will be tough but can be very rewarding.

[TeamCasa]

All the below is sage advise. I'll only add, challenge them. Get them all involved.

When I was teaching at a local JC, I once moved all of the students from the back rows to the front. They did not care for this but the students now seated in the front rows involved themselves more. Fro the rest of the semester, they never really knew where they would be sitting!

Dave

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[Silvan]

Reminds me of the last time I went to traffic court. "You're a TRUCK DRIVER?" I guess he thought I was a lawyer, and I guess I look better in a suit than you do, but I'm still far more likely to be spotted clad in flannel.

(You know, actually, that *wasn't* the last time I was in traffic court. It was just the only time I got the ticket expunged. The other two times, they reduced the fine. After that initial experience, I figured out that I was the only one in the world who went to traffic court in a suit. Maybe I should have stuck with the suit, neh?)

You're going to be teaching at the BORG?

Oh, and congratulations!

[Tim]

Everybody who shows up and makes sawdust gets and A or a B A "B" is the same as an ""A" except they cut themselfs and had to go to the nurse sometime during the year. The lower grade reflects the paperwork you had to do to explain the accident.

Any way thats how it was 25 years ago in my woodshop class.

"John Moorhead" wrote:

[Larry Jaques]

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 04:08:49 -0000, the inscrutable [e-mail] (Robert Bonomi) spake:

--megasnip--

But it was big enough to take out a pedestrian, huh? Next thing ya know, ol' Shrubby will be outlawing kite flying in the name of (you guessed it) National Security.

[snowdog]

Congrats John,

I teach medical equipment repair for the military, the only advise I will impart (since everything else was already covered) is this: the three most important topics you will be teaching in this (any) "industrial" environment are safety, safety and safety. The woodshop teacher at my HS (21 years ago) lost a finger to the band saw - TWICE. He got more concerned with looking at the class while lecturing on how to properly push a piece of wood thru the saw, instead of paying attention to what he was doing. Just be careful not to scare them away from the equipment, just a healthy respect will do.

Have fun with it. It is classes like these that will restore your faith in the younger generations.

PS: I like the idea (mentioned earlier) about incorporating some of the math lessons into your class. Just be sure to use it the same way the math teacher does, and that your students have actually been taught the math you will be using (or it could wind up as an exercise in frustration for them). But, it will show how math is used in the "real" world.

Congrats again.

John C