So as some of you may or may not know, I am teaching a brand new class this year. For the first time in ten years, I cannot call myself an English Teacher. That decision did not come without difficulty, but I am excited for the new opportunity in front of me. Over the year, I am going to use this blog to track my journey through this brand new class. I am doing this as much for me as for anyone else, but hopefully in the process of organizing my own thoughts and methods, I can get input from others and others can learn from me.
What I am doing now?
This new class is titled Engineering Design and Problem Solving. Sounds fancy right? While the title and basic tenants of the class come from a class in the Texas State Standards, it does not exactly follow that model because I need it to fit the needs of my students. That means being flexible on my part. But the basic idea is this. We will spend the first part of the class making sure that everyone has the proper skill set to be able to solve problems. So we will cover a very basic look at woodworking; soldering and small electronics; sewing; coding; robotics; 3D Design and Printing; and metalworking.
But solving problems is not limited to tactile skills. We will also spend time focusing on helping students understand the Engineering Design Process. By training students to go through this process when presented with a problem, we can better equip them to make a real difference in the world. By teaching them to refuse accept “good enough,” we can inspire the next generation to change the world, one problem at a time. By convincing them that their ideas matter, we can give them the confidence to step into leadership roles that no one else is prepared to fill.
In doing all this, the class will build towards giving my students an opportunity to pick a problem, one that is meaningful to them, to solve. It is my goal for this class to be limited only by the ambition and imagination of the students. After ten years of teaching, I am convinced that they are capable of exceeding even my wildest expectations. It is going to be a fun ride.
How did I get here?
So how does an English teacher become an Engineering teacher? Well the path, for me at least, is not as random as it seems. I will be entering my second year in the position of Director of Educational Technology. This position really came about for me because of the fact that I am a bit of a technophile. But beyond simply liking cool toys, which I do, I firmly believe in the power of technology to change our educational system for the better. Most schools in this country currently use essentially the same system that has been used in this country since the 1800’s. I think it is safe the say that the world has changed significantly since then, so why has our educational system not kept up? It is certainly not for lack of trying. For years we have been trying to find the answer. Common Core and No Child Left Behind are the two most recent major pushes, but there have been many others. I certainly don’t claim to have all the answers, but I do know this. The opportunities that technology presents to our students are absolutely unprecedented in the history of the world. Students have real time access to almost any piece of information they could possibly want. That is a really powerful tool. It is a tool that students have to be taught how to use responsibly.
There is a statement that floats around that today’s students are “Digital Natives” and they just know how to use technology. (I help manage over 250 devices in the hands of students every day, they do not always know what they are doing. I promise.) While I understand the point and premise behind the statement, I think it is misleading. While students may be able to better pick up on the basic use of technology, they have no clue how to use it responsibly. They have to be taught good Digital Citizenship. They have to be taught how to vet online sources and find reliable ones, they have to be taught that the simplest way is not always the best way. In short, they have to be taught to think critically about the world.
And that is where my background comes in. One of the things I always loved about teaching Literature is that it forced students to think. In order to understand what Dostoevsky, or Twain, or Chaucer, or Shakespeare was really trying to say about the world, you have to examine the work and the world closely. To understand Literature from a Biblical Worldview, we have to be able to discern the message and line it up against Scripture. What I am teaching now is really not that different.
In order to solve a problem, you have to examine the problem and the circumstances surrounding it carefully. You have to be willing to look from new angles and find things that others haven’t found. Solving a problem is a lot like analyzing a poem really. There are a lot of ways to get there, but when it all clicks and you find that one thing that makes it all come together, something amazing happens. You accomplish something that no one else ever has. In the case of poetry, you have a connection with that poet, who may have died hundreds of years ago, that no one else ever has. In the case of a problem, you come up with a practical solution that no one else ever has.
My goal is to keep these posts to 1000 words or less, and I am there. But I do want to mention one more relevant thing. Alongside this new challenge in the realm of High School, I have an entirely new challenge as well. I will be heading up an extra-curricular program for 2-5 graders that will focus on these same skills. While elementary is not in my comfort zone, I am incredibly excited to get to watch these kids grow up understanding what it means to be a problem solver. I am excited to see the difference they can make in the world now and in the future.
So stay tuned for more. I am already a week behind so another post will be coming soon with details on the first week.
Cogitate. 