Please allow me to take a deep breath after this amazing time at TEAM industries. To sound “cliche” I learned so much during my three week internship. I watched everything from boat motors being created in the beginning stages, all the way to seeing upper-management deal with tough decisions. All throughout my time I brought back countless pieces of information for my classroom, but it is less of what I can interest my students with and less of what I found that hurts industry in the area.
One of the main problems that TEAM faced was finding qualified workers that are willing to come to work on time. Greg mentioned that the two biggest things that a new employee can have is 1) A good work ethic and 2) Come to work on time. This really got my gears turning asking the question “How can I teach these skills in my own classroom?” Curriculum is important, but life skills can carry on for a lifetime. I fell on the classic “lead by example”. This is a good starting point for my students, but this only stretches so far. Then I looked over the complexities of PBL and see that the philosophy behind this can help to enrich these skills even more and can allow for these two skills to develop within the students that I am teaching.
This leads me to my next worry of “HOLY COW THIS WOULD CHANGE EVERYTHING THAT I AM DOING!!!”, but this worry is illogical and not based in anything but fear. I know that the industries around here need this, and the region needs this if it is wanting to survive. For this semester I am teaching a brand-new math course and I have ZERO curriculum for it, but I do have a new philosophy of teaching that can be implemented within it. I have dug through standard after standard and I believe that all the “prep-work” that I have done this summer with TEAM will fit seamlessly with the math course.
So heres to trying something new, but stepping out of my comfort zone to set my one insecurities aside to deliver what my students deserve.