Career Pathways to Prosperity

Which pathway is right for you?

As the debate around public education continues, Harvard University has released their Pathways To Prosperity Project, an insightful report that focuses attention on the benefits of vocational education. If Career and Technical Education needs anything, validation from one of the top universities in the world comes pretty close.
The empirical evidence in the project has been culled from several European countries with strong public education systems that place far more emphasis on vocational education than we do.
While the U.S. has over 15 million students currently in CTE secondary programs, a stigma still exists, yet enrollment has gone up-perhaps due a realization that college isn’t for everyone, and for those who are poor, can bear a heavy financial burden, even with the support of federal aide.
As we continue to tout the benefits of Career and Technical Education, we must create specific pathways that start with strong career counseling at both the middle and high school levels and provide students with viable pathways that lead to industry-reconognized certifications, internships, technology skills and dual college credits.
Here’s the link to the report:

http://www.agi.harvard.edu/

I Heart iPad

Oh Yeah, iPad

For a Christmas present this year,  I recieved the ultimate gift-an iPad, and I love it!  As a life long learner and one who just loves to find out about stuff, I embrace my inner geek, google and go!  As an educator, it’s a great tool for the classroom, and I am always looking for cool apps to reinforce what students are learning about in  just about any subject area.  So I found a site that put together a list of awesome apps just for teachers, below is the link and happy iPading!

http://palmbeachschooltalk.com/groups/ipadpilot

CTE Rocks!

Check out the great link below regarding CTE programming as featured on the Today Show, finally some respect, GO CTE!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39154226/ns/education_nation/?ns=education_nation#39401351

The Final Countdown

Good Luck Seniors!

As we prepare for the end of our school year, I thought I’d post a CTE link about engaging students in our classrooms, especially now, with the weather heating up, graduation dates growing closer and students gettting ready to check out!  I hope you can not only use it for getting through the end of this year, but also as a reflection of what we aim to do every day….Enjoy!

http://www.acteonline.org/tech_may10.html

Free! Higher Ed

Hey kids!  Wanna brush up on that AP physics exam coming up?  Or perhaps you’d rather sit back, relax and learn more about the American Revolution?  Find a good on-line GED program or finish some high school credits?  Well, all of this is possible and, even better, it’s free!  Open CourseWare, or OCW, is becoming quite popular at universities such as MIT, Yale, Michigan State and several others across the country.  These programs are designed to give students access to on-line courses that are actually taught in university classrooms. If you are a self-learner or prefer to learn on your own time, this a great resource to assist in preparing you for post-secondary coursework.  There is no registration and no fees to pay, however, students do not earn credits or get the opportunity to interact with a professor.  Still, OCW to me is another way to make technology work for you.  To find out more, check out the following link:    https://www.indianacareerconnect.com/learning.asp and happy learning!

Cool Math

For a really cool teacher site, check this one out for Math and Science.

http://www.khanacademy.org/

Autism

Learn more about autism and how you can help the cause:

The Cyber Generation

R u using this?

I love technology.  I love it becasue it makes me more efficient, helps me remember stuff and is kinda fun to play around with-’ there’s an app for that,’ right?  As a GenXer, technology has been there for me, but not in the capacity as it is today, with the current ‘cyber generation.’   I had a TRS 80, Atari and a ’bag phone’ at one point-nothing too engaging even at their prime.  Current kids can text, talk, surf the web, play video games, download music, watch TV shows and virtually connect with thousands on just one device.   

So, since it takes center stage in their lives, shouldn’t it have a bigger role in how students learn?   Pencils, papers, and textbooks, in my opinion are not cutting it anymore, these tools are just not relevant to the average high school student.  Notebooks and binders?  They refuse to buy them, even when required.   So, how then, can teachers facilitate learning and shore up their own learning curve when it comes to technology and make learning happen for Generation 2001?   There is no simple answer to this, but technology should be a part of it.  Everybody has their own comfort level with technology, my suggestion is have no fear and embrace it!  You may end up liking the end result even better than your current reality.

The link below is from a website to help teachers incorporate very simple technology ideas into their curriculum.  Check it out and see if any of the user-friendly techy-tools will work for you, I hope so!

http://www.4teachers.org/

Choosy Donors Choose DonorsChoose

About a year ago, I wrote a grant and submitted it to DonorsChoose, a website dedicated to helping educators get supplies for their students.  My grant, A Heart For Hearing, requested  auditory stethoscopes for students with hearing losses who were enrolled in our Health Occupations program where I work.  This would enable them to hear heart ausculations and blood pressure sounds much better than with a regular stethoscope.

When the grant was funded, I was elated!  A few organizations stepped forward to donate, including the foundation at my school district, as well as individuals who felt passionately about the health care field and students wanting to help others.   I cannot say enough about DonorsChoose.  I will use it again for my next grant.  It is a wonderful way for teachers to get what they need for their students and for individuals to donate to a cause they can choose and feel good about.   Consider donating sometime!

Common Standards

A few weeks ago, I wrote about an initiative taking place regarding the common standards effort.  The movement is gaining ground, as many of the states (I think it is up to 48 now) have signed on to be a part of this redesign of our public schools. 

Below is a link to another article that supports this effort.  I would love commentary on this;  my state is moving in this direction and I’m still trying to understand how it will affect what we are currently doing.   Check it out!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-rex/american-schools-need-com_b_215550.html