Final Blog Subject (Required Synthesis of Course)

Synthesis – the ability to combine parts or elements together to form a whole such as the communication of an idea or experience.

Final Blog Subject (Required Synthesis of Course)

Being critically literate means that students have developed and mastered the ability to read, analyze, critique, and question the messages inherently present within any form of text. I will integrate a form of critical literacy in my discipline by doing more hands on projects.  I am a very hands-on person.  For me the most important and most effective learning takes place when I am asking questions.  I like to dive into projects blindly see all the parts and pieces then try to fit them together and make sense out it.  It is at that point I begin to ask the right questions or the really good ones.  If I introduce design projects early on and get students thinking of all possibilities for solving a problem they will be more creative.  Then when I introduce concepts for solving those problems they will be more attentive.  In the right environment the answers will mean a lot more if they are answers to questions they are asking, instead of me giving answers in lectures to questions they don’t care about.  I plan to give some ill structured problems with many outcomes, let the students struggle and think a little then help them make sense of it by finding ways to solve the problem.  I feel the important lessons in life are learned by getting involved in what you are doing.  I want to teach my students how to find answers to any problem they face. 

By having students work in diverse groups they can learn from each other and learn to work out their problems together.  They will better learn to use oral language in working together.

Reading and writing in engineering technology serves many purposes.  Writing can help a student to synthesize what they have learned. Also if you keep a journal of what you have done and what you are trying to do, the answers will be more readily available because you will know what you are looking for and recognize it when it comes.  I will use engineering journals and reports for all engineering related projects. 

Everybody has weakness some are more obvious than others.  By working in groups to solve problems students can learn to use their strengths and over look the weaknesses.

Vocabulary is an important part of any technology program.  By introducing vocabulary a little at a time and integrating it into lessons, questions, and projects, vocabulary will be natural and make sense.

Once I know my students differentiation with problem solving in groups should work well.  Not every group needs to solve the same problem or solve it in the same way.  This will make it easier to let some advanced groups take on bigger more complex projects while others work on smaller problems.  The whole class could still be working together and all would contribute equally.

Today in this digital world, technology has added to the understanding of literacy.  Students need to sufficiently learn technology related skills, or they will be unable to decode any information they are presented with in their future.  By integrating digital literacy skills students can keep pace with an ever changing world.

Noah

Blog #4 Affective Dimensions of Writing

Affective Dimensions of Writing

Do you think of yourself as a writer?

o   I have never really thought of myself as a writer.  Because most of my writing has not been because I wanted to do it.  That being said I have written a lot of things in many ways.  Working as a design draftsmen I communicated with technical drawings, notation, and symbols.  Though these are not usual considered literary masterpieces but they communicate very specific things.  Also I have written many pages of engineering journals for record of what research I have done.  These also served as a guide when the company I worked for applied for patents and copy-write.  Quite often my engineering notes were to remind me from day to day what I had done that day and what I was going to do the next. 

·        What kinds of writing did you do recreationally as a child?

o   When I was younger I use to draw pictures of what I was thinking about.  Mostly pictures of trucks.

·        What kinds of writing do you do recreationally now (texts, Facebook status updates, emails to friends, journals, etc.)?

o   Now most of my writing is for school assignments and occasionally in my personal journal.  I also like to write and read cowboy poetry.

·        What kinds of writing assignments did you have in school that you particularly enjoyed, and why did you enjoy them?

o   Most of my writing assignments in school I did not enjoy.  I did take a class in creative writing when I was in Junior High and I liked creating my own stories.

·        What kinds of writing assignments did you have in school that you disliked, and why did you dislike them?

o   Most school assignments are writing what the professor wants.  You are never able to give your own opinion because you need a grade.  So you give the professors opinion like it was your own and hope nobody you know ever reads it.

·        How will your answers from the previous questions influence how you structure opportunities for your students to write (or otherwise express their understandings) in your discipline?

o   I feel it is much more important for students to express what they think not what I want them to think.  I will always strive for students to be creative and express their own feelings about what ever topic I assign.

Headed for Taiwan

We are picking up our son Noah in Tainan, Taiwan on the 20th of December we will be home on the 23rd just in time for Christmas.  Just what I wanted for Christmas.

Blog post #3 Affective Dimensions of Reading

The last blog post I wrote I tried to cover all the information in the assignment.  I’m not sure it turned out very well.  This one I just answered the questions.  Right or wrong I like this one better than the last one.  The questions have to do with my reflections on my experiences as a reader.  

1.       Do you think of yourself as a "good reader"? Why or why not?

a.       I don’t feel as if I am a good reader, I don’t seem to comprehend things nearly as well as others and never as fast as others.  I need time to think about it.  I cannot read well under pressure.  If I have enough time I can do real well.

2.       What texts do you like to read (comics, online texts, visual texts, specific genres of books)?

a.       Most of the books I have enjoyed reading have been humorous story writers like Tom Bodett, Paul Harvey, and Patrick Mcmanus.  I also read a lot of cowboy poetry.  I enjoyed these because I wanted to read them, not because I had to read them. The only thing I needed to understand was the joke or the punch line.  I can always see the punch line coming so it’s fun.  Most everything I had to read I was worried I would have to answer questions about some dumb thing the teacher saw and I didn’t.  Then I would have to feel stupid for not knowing what was going on.

3.       On what occasions in your life did you really enjoy reading (either within school or outside of school) and why did you enjoy reading?  

a.       I read several books by John Maxwell on leadership and some books by Og Mandino.  My wife was reading the same books and when we had both finished a book we could talk about it.  This was about 6 years ago I did more reading in those few years than I have done my entire life.  Four years ago when I broke my pelvis I quit most of my reading for enjoyment.  It was hard to concentrate with all the pain pills I was on. 

4.       What times in your life did you really dislike reading (either within school or outside of school) and why did you dislike it?  

a.       I don’t think I ever enjoyed reading in school.  Many times in grade school the teacher would do timed reading tests.  I never had enough time to read the whole text so I never really knew the answers to the questions.  It was much less frustrating to not try and get all the questions wrong than it was to try real hard and get all the questions wrong especially when everyone around me seemed to be getting it.  Work hard for nothing or do nothing and get nothing.  I just couldn’t see any incentive in reading.  I felt dumb either way.

5.       Did any sort of social networks (families, church groups, or friends) encourage you to read as a child?  

a.       My grandma bought books for me that had stories about me.  Each month I got a new book that had a story about me and my brother and sister on a different adventure.  I loved these books if somebody would read them to me but it only happened a few times.  I still have them and I have read a few of them to my kids there is 15 books I’ve never read them all.

6.       Did any social networks (e.g., friends who thought reading was nerdy) discourage you from reading?  

a.       I never saw any of my family reading when I was young.  My Mom started to read a lot when I got into Jr. High about the time I finished college the first time I saw my Dad start to read a little bit.  I never felt in was a necessity.

7.       Based on your answers from the above questions, how can you foster a climate in your class where your students are interested in reading texts about your discipline?  

a.       If I talk about the reading before they read and get them excited about learning the subject matter I think they will do it.  I’m still searching for the excitement in reading text books myself.  This might be a trial and error thing on my part till I find the sweet spot.

8.       How can you build up your students' self-perceptions of themselves as readers?

a.       I hope I can give them a chance to succeed at reading.  I never felt like I got anything out of reading so I didn’t do it.  

Blog Post #2 Discipline Specific Reading

Blog Post #2 Discipline Specific Reading

Standard text books are the typical texts in Technology Education.  Not much has been done in any of my classes to stray from the textbook.  When we do read something else it has always been technical journals or magazines.  I remember an article for a statistical process control (SPC) class that had to do with quality manufacturing in diesel engines.  This article helped the understanding of how the entire company needed to be SPC literate and totally onboard for the company to progress.  The best article I read was for one of my CNC programming classes about The Harley Davidson Corporation.  This article explained how using quality control took Harley Davidson from financial ruin and one of the worst motorcycle producers on the planet to one of the top five.  This was done bit by bit, until each person was trained and had become totally SPC literate and every department was working together toward a common goal. Today Harley Davidson is able to compete with Japan’s quality standards and is more financially secure. 

One class I struggled in was VAX Pascal Programming.  The teacher went very fast and the textbook was very hard for me and most of the class to understand.  I got behind and when I went to the teacher for help he said the same things the same way as he had in class and I was no better off.  The really good teachers in my discipline were able to state things in my terms and build on knowledge I already had.  That I believe is the key to being a good teacher.  Knowing who your students are and being able to build on what they know.

In helping my students to understand and enjoy texts in technology.   The best thing I can do is speak of the texts and reading in a positive manner as well as the usefulness of the texts.  This way they will want to know the information that is in it.

I am Todd Andrus, I am in Engineering Technology Education,  I would like to teach a class in manufacturing, machine, welding, fabrication, or applied engineering.  Engineering and designing and building machines is something that I am always thinking about.  I can't go through the day with out redesigning everything I see in my head to be better in someway.  I like to build things, mostly out of metal, I like small machines, wind power, and robots. I think I am mostly inspired to be a teacher not by the really good ones I had, but by the ones who called me a lazy day-dreamer who is not willing to try.  I know I can do better. As far as hobbies go I like to fix anything that is broken, I like small engines. I like to ride motorcycles with my wife. (not on the same one she rides her own bike) I do cowboy poetry, I do leather work, and I sing in a barbershop quartet.  I have been married to my wife Tani, for 15 years. I have two daughters, Sophi is 6 and in first grade, Jacki is 11 and in 7th grade.  They all love to read and are much more skilled in it than I am.  Sometime in the next few months I will be going to Taiwan to adopt a son, his name is Noah, he is 5 months old and is in an orphanage in Tainan in the southern part of the country.  We have been working on the adoption for about 18 months much longer than he has been alive.