Resource Center

by Gary Juren
Cluster Specialist
Architecture & Construction

Students, Parents, Teachers, and Counselors, please let me introduce you to O*NET OnLine  www.onetonline.org.  The Occupational Information Network (O*NET) is a free digital database for exploring and searching occupations that exist within the United States economy. This program is developed under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration through a grant to the North Carolina Department of Commerce. O*NET OnLine is the electronic replacement of a seventy year old Federal publication known as Dictionary of Occupational Titles.

The O*NET system describes the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for various occupations, both in the Public and Private sector. Additionally, education requirements, wages, and employment trends are listed. You can browse 900+ occupations through a variety of search tools including Career Clusters. Exploring occupations by Career Clusters enables you to gain insight into occupations within the same field of work that would require similar skills. Both the Skills Search and Interests Search will also generate a list of occupations you might want to explore further. Counselors will want to use the career exploration/assessment tools to help students plan career options, preparation, and the transition from school to work. This useful information will help a student focus on achieving the necessary knowledge and training for a successful career pathway. Give this site a look. I think you will like it.

As an added bonus, there is a Spanish language version of the O*NET Database. ¡Qué bueno! Let me know what you think.

Engaging Students in the CTE Classroom

By Jerry Wircenski

CTE Project Director

Getting students focused and on task at the beginning of a class is a challenge for all instructors.  Equally challenging is having students eager to begin the class.  However, unless instructors are able to capture and keep students focused, learning is not going to take place. 

De Frondeville identifies 10 rules of engagement for instructors: 

1.      Start class with a mind warm-up

a.     Ask students to find the mistakes planted in material written on the board

b.    Have students solve a curriculum-related problem with a partner

c.     Use a puzzle or question to gain student attention

2.     Use movement to get students focused

a.     Ask all students to stand and stretch or walk to the other side of the room

b.    Offer a “seventh inning stretch”

3.     Teach students how to collaborate before expecting success

a.     Doing project learning and other team-based activities without providing students with appropriate skills can lead to lots of dead time and problems.

b.    Teach collaboration skills before projects are assigned

c.     Use debriefing to focus on positive team-building skills

4.     Use “quickwrites” when you want quiet time and student reflection

a.     When interest seems to be decreasing, or when you want to settle students down after a busy teamwork activity, ask them to do a “quickwrite”, or short journal-writing assignment

5.     Run a “tight ship” when giving instructions

a.     Preventing dead time is essential when giving instructions

b.    Before you begin speaking ask for total silence and complete attention before going on

c.     Utilize the pattern of ”Sit up, Listen, Ask, Nod when you understand”

6.     Use a “fairness cup” to keep students thinking

a.     Write each student’s name on a Popsicle stick and put the sticks in a cup.  To keep students on their toes, pull a random stick to choose someone to speak or answer a question.

7.     Use “signaling” to allow everyone to answer your question

a.     Regularly ask questions to which everyone must prepare at least one answer

8.     Use minimal supervision tasks to squeeze dead time out of regular routines

a.     Tasks that require minimal supervision should be used when the instructor is doing something to create “dead time” (e.g., passing back papers, collecting homework, working with a small group of students)

9.     Mix up your teaching styles

a.     To keep students involved , try to move from teacher-centered learning to student-centered active learning

10.  Create teamwork tactics that emphasize accountability

a.     Insist that students “ask three before the instructor” so that they learn to seek assistance from all members of their team before they turn to the instructor

De Frondeville, T.  How to Keep Kids Engaged in Class.  http://www.edutopia.org/classroom-student-participation-tips