Skills to Rebuild - An Important Resource from the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education

Immediately after the tornados of May 19-20 struck the state of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education launched Skills to Rebuild.

The subsequent tornado on May 31st that also devastated one of our own technology centers, Canadian Vally Technology Center - El Reno campus, made me truly appreciate the people and the resources that this system offers and marvel at how quickly CareerTech can respond to the needs of our customers and stakeholders.

Today, CareerTech system employees are putting their "boots on the ground" in areas hit by tornados to not only help in the cleanup efforts, but to build a mission around training which is what CareerTech does every day.

I hope you will take a look at Skills to Rebuild and understand that these resources aren't just for those affected by tornados in Oklahoma, but these resources can be utilized by anyone in the event of any disaster.

Please read below for the outline for Skills to Rebuild and follow the links for additional resources:

Training and counseling professionals at ODCTE have developed a list of resources that include how to recognize people in distress as they cope with a disaster as well as safety, construction and training fact sheets and links that identify certain hazards and skills associated with cleanup efforts. 

Resources: After the Storm

Keeping people safe during cleanup and recovery efforts is a primary concern in addition to knowing how to recognize the signs of a person in distress and the toll of stress in the people who were directly affected by the storm.

Phase I -

Identifying CareerTech resources that could be quickly deployed to assist with immediate needs. Included are safety training brochures, on-site volunteer safety clinics and creating an official website to provide brief training material on various recovery topics such as counseling children, hiring a contractor, safety and basic repair "how-tos".

• Counseling for Students
• Hiring a Contractor

Phase II -

Putting boots on the ground in impacted areas. Deploying CareerTech System employees to work in affected areas. This effort is designed to embed volunteers to act as safety ambassadors as they work with other volunteers and homeowners in the recovery process. A continuation of safety clinics and supplying those clinics with consumable personal protective equipment and literature support the training effort.

• Safety Training
• Construction Training Handouts

Phase III -

Specific skills training to assist homeowners with training on basic home repair tasks for the longer term recovery effort. This training need will be assessed as recovery continues and resources allocated as required to support there efforts.

• Moving Forward

Best of the Web - A Great FREE Resource for Websites, Apps, and More

CIMC has just completed the eighth edition of their free web book, a resource which has been popular with educators for many years. This edition incorporates many firsts. It is the first edition to include apps for both instructors and students, and the first to be offered on CD as well as in print. As always, CIMC provides a variety of websites to enhance the classroom experience, offers avenues for professional development, and assists instructors with student engagement and enhancement activities. With this version, they have included sections of websites for:

• Common Core
• Teacher Resources
• eLearning
• General Interest
• Careers
• And websites listed by cluster

CIMC is offering the complete Websites, Apps, and More as a FREE DOWNLOAD. Print and CD versions are also available at no cost at many state and national conferences (see CIMC's exhibit schedule).

If you'd like to purchase multiple copies of either the print or CD versions of the web book, contact CIMC's Customer Service Department at 800.654.4502.

Language Arts Activities - A New Product from CIMC

I wanted to let you know that CIMC has created a new CD of printable activities provides practice and reinforcement for one or more of the State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (Common Core). Skills include punctuation, capitalization, parts of speech, correct word choice, sentence structure, and writing. The writing activities require using research techniques as well as writing creatively, and are appropriate for students from middle school age and older.

Free: Language Arts Activities sample

You can order this great new product by contacting CIMC online, by phone, or by fax:

http://www.okcareertech.org/educators/cimc

800.654.4502

405.743.5154 (fax)

Blended Learning and Career and Technical Education

Blended learning is continuing its rapid growth through our educational system. There are numerous articles and reports on how technology has affected or "disrupted" both K-12 and Higher Education, but what about career and technology education? It seems that CTE is almost an afterthought, but I believe this form of education is best suited for a quick adoption to the blended learning approach.

So how do you best define blended learning? 

According to the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, blended learning is a formal education program in which a student learns:

1. at least in part through online learning, with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace;
2. at least in part in a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home;
3. and the modalities along each student’s learning path within a course or subject are connected to provide an integrated learning experience.

The majority of blended-learning programs resemble one of four models: Rotation, Flex, A La Carte, and Enriched Virtual. The Rotation model includes four sub-models: Station Rotation, Lab Rotation, Flipped Classroom, and Individual Rotation. This taxonomy will evolve as the practice of blended learning matures.

I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Horn who coauthored "Disrupting Class" with Clayton Christensen and Curtis Johnson a couple of years ago and I have been intrigued by their work ever since. The four models of blended learning they describe have application within the CTE system which I believe there implementation and use is dependent upon the program area and type of student (i.e. traditional or business and industry services clients).

Blended learning could have a tremendous impact on how CTE students learn and on their success in school, in the workplace and as lifelong learners. I hope you will review the links/resources that I have provided and begin a discussion on the impact and delivery of blended learning in CTE.

Additional resources:

• Classifying K-12 Blended Learning by Heather Staker and Michael B. Horn
• The Rise of K-12 Blended Learning: Profiles of Emerging Models by Heather Staker
• The Clayton Christensen Institute maintains a Blended Learning Universe, a rapidly growing, searchable database of K-12 blended-learning programs. This blended-learning resource and more are available here.

Every Kid Needs A Champion

I thought I would share Rita Pierson's recent TED talk as your semester winds down. A little motivation at the end of a school year is always a good thing, isn't it?

Rita has been a teacher, counselor, testing coordinator and an assistant principal for 40 years. Unbelievably, she once heard a colleague say, "They don't pay me to like the kids." Her response was, "Kids don't learn from people they don’t like.” Her TED talk is an inspiring challenge to educators to believe in their students and to actually connect with them on a real, human, personal level. As she quotes James Comer, "No significant learning can occur without a significant relationship."

Please watch the video below or click HERE: