Curriculum?

[JNewhart]

Has anyone written or is there any good curriculum for cnc routers? I just heavily incorporate cnc assignments into projects. Students catch on really quick and don't have a shortage of things they want to make. An international company has contacted me wanting to meet with me and my administration to see the curriculum we are using! I am a little concerned since I have none.

[myxpykalix]

There are more then a few teachers on the forum. Kyle Stapleton is one you might contact for some ideas possibly. Look in their "signatures" at the bottom of their posts, many times they list that they are teachers and you could possibly contact them for info.
There was a document floating around several years ago that an educator put together...here it is...Weise lesson plans from 2007, how relevant it is to todays programs i'm not sure but it might be helpful as a outline. If you want it let me know i'll email it to you but i think there is more recent material out there.

[Tom Bachman]

Jack, I'd like a copy of that!

[dlcw]

Has anyone written or is there any good curriculum for cnc routers? I just heavily incorporate cnc assignments into projects. Students catch on really quick and don't have a shortage of things they want to make. An international company has contacted me wanting to meet with me and my administration to see the curriculum we are using! I am a little concerned since I have none.

Justin,

I worked with the local high school vocational teacher along with the curriculum advisory council for the high school to develop a 4 year program for those students interested in obtaining national certification through the Woodworking Career Alliance program. The thinking is to combine not only technical skills but business skills as well. Each semester has skills mastering classes (along with small projects to build) and there will be a final project that incorporated technical and some project management skills. The idea is to take year 3 and 4 students and put them into "project management rolls" to help the 1st and 2nd year students. This gives the older students some real world experience in running projects. The 4th year final project is to lead a team of 1st, 2nd and 3rd year students in the business and technical aspects of a large scale project. That might be a dining room set, a bedroom set, a large outdoor shed, or other project that can be put up for sale if the students agree to sell it when it's done. We are still working on coordinating efforts between the business and marketing classes to work with the vocational classes to help research markets for the shop projects as well as research what shop project would be marketable. Real world experience for a lot of students.

Technical skills list including learning how to use and demonstrate proper use of (1st and 2nd year):

SAFETY!!!!!
Large Power tools operation and maintenance (planers, jointers, sanders, lathes, etc.)
Small power tools operation and maintenance (ROS, drills, biscuit joiners, etc.)
Hand tools operation and maintenance (planes, chisels, screw drivers, etc.)
CNC theory, operations and maintenance (hands on is a 2nd year project)
Basic vector design using Partworks (laying out vectors, node editing, etc)
Tool path development taking into account efficiency
Wood characteristics (movement, strength, inside and outside woods, etc.)

Business skills (1st and 2nd year):

SAFETY!!!!!!
Create drawings to be used in the shop
Creating a bill of materials for a project
Create a basic project schedule (task sequencing is very important. Kids need to know how to sequence work to make it as efficient as possible).

In 3rd and 4th year, those students will be working on more specialized tools (CNC for instance) and working to mentor and teach 1st and 2nd year students. In addition, they will be creating their own projects that are due at semester and end of year tests. The idea is to put more and more responsibility on the older students (at least those who can handle it) and give them some real world knowledge and skills that they can present to a potential employer when they graduate.

It seems current school indoctrination programs are not preparing kids for real life. They are taught all kinds of theory but it is hard to find a junior or senior that knows how to deposit a check, balance a checkbook, know what taxes are, how to change a light bulb, how to check the oil in a car, how to change a flat tire, how to fix a leaky faucet, etc. These students are coming out theory rich and common sense poor. Not all kids can or want to go to college (for further indoctrination). These kids need some vocational and common sense training that will give them a leg up when they go out on their own so they can be productive members of society instead of more societal leaches.

That is what the new program at our local high school is all about.

I spend several days a month volunteer teaching at the school woodshop class. I also spend time on the phone and in meetings with the teacher to help him with challenges and projects he is working on with the kids. It helps me transfer my knowledge and experience to others (before I kick the bucket) and gets the teacher and students going in a productive direction and being able to utilize, the most efficient way, the limited 45 minutes they have in class each day.

Sorry for the long winded response.....

[myxpykalix]

Not all kids can or want to go to college (for further indoctrination). These kids need some vocational and common sense training that will give them a leg up when they go out on their own so they can be productive members of society instead of more societal leaches.

Preach Brother Preach!! Amen!:D I have been saying this for years. Not everyone is equipped to go to college...I never was. I took several vocational training courses right out of high school, car repair and i paid for a internship with a national home builder.
If you teach someone a trade he can go almost anywhere in this country and get a job.
Good for you Don:D

[myxpykalix]

Tom Bachman your email address you sent me in the PM bounced back to me

[Kyle Stapleton]

Don, where can I get a PDF or paper version of the classes you helped make?

[JNewhart]

I want to thank you guys for all the info! I need to check in here more often. I am new to forums and I forget to check in. I didn't receive any email about the curriculum. Am I missing it somewhere? Thanks again.

[JNewhart]

Couldn't agree with you more Don! We need to stop pushing every kid into college. The great thing that have noticed, after having a Shopbot for two years, is that college bound students as well as workforce bound kids find a common ground with CNC. They work together better doing cnc projects than traditional woodwork alone.
I tell my students the benefits and job opportunities of learning a trade. Many times it is the first time they have heard the message of NOT going to college. I place students in apprenticeship programs, but usually after they have dropped out of college.
Apprenticeship for cnc routing and machining is what the meeting with the motor company is going to be about.
Thanks again all you guys.

[scottp55]

Justin, Top left of screen "user CP", go to "edit options" check boxes you want for e-mail options. Don't forget "instant notification" if it's a time sensitive problem you're having.:)

[dlcw]

One of things we have found with students and this new program is that it doesn't really matter what the subject is. If they are taught how to problem solve, work with and lead people, follow directions, have a good work ethic and high morals, those simple skills will apply to ANY trade or profession along with all areas of life and will provide them some discipline.

It is important that the kids have something to focus on other then video games, drugs, alcohol and street life. If they are given challenges, many will pony up and do what they can to meet those challenges. The important thing is that they are lead and mentored by someone, with high ethics and morals, who can pass on to them the tools and life skills they need to tackle the challenges in a constructive and productive way. Without the tools, they will simply flop around in the breeze until another breeze comes from a different direction and blows them somewhere else.

With no keel (firm moral and ethical foundation) to help keep them on course and no rudder (a true mentor and leader) to steer them from foul weather and bad situations (drugs, street violence and gangs) they will become another statistic in our ever degrading, unethical and immoral society.

It is unreal how many fly-by-night "contractors" go to a big box store, purchase tools for a project and then return them for a full refund when the project is done. Or the ongoing problem of the number of people who go to Costco to purchase camping equipment before the 4th of July holiday, go camping and then return the equipment after the holiday.

That is where our society is going at a fast pace. The current generation of kids is our hope of stemming this tide or reversing it because the current and past generations who are committing these unethical and immoral acts are, in my opinion, a lost cause because they are victims of the public "education" system - and I use that term "education" very loosely.

[waterwheelman]

Don I agree with you about society today and how we have to train our youth to lead moral and productive lives. The education system is not doing justice to those students who don't want to go to college. A trade school is a perfectly acceptable option for learning instead of the academic college path. Our society in general looks down on student who don't go to college. Learning to work with ones hands and mind to be creative and solve problems is very rewarding.

[Tom Bachman]

You guys are right, most schools push kids into the "college" bound arena. I use to push college myself. But as I got older, more experienced, I tell my students that I can't, in good conscience, push college any longer. I have been pushing my students toward "Technical schools" and "Vocational schools" instead. I probably don't make any points with my administration, but I don't care. The kids I get out in my classes, generally, aren't college material, but certainly need some sort of post high school training.

[Tom Bachman]

In reality, my biggest problem has been with the parents of my students. They need to be educated as much as the students in their acceptance on "non-college" schools.

[andracke]

Since we got our shopbot last school year, I have been working to create some activities/lessons for kids. I have been using the Aspire tutorials a lot because they offer a great approach to teach HS students. Furthermore, they can customize the project to their own if they want.

Currently we have about 16 kids in my manufacturing courses.

[JNewhart]

Hey Eric I have used those also and the online training that TJ does. They both are great training tools. I am going to take some student work with me to the meeting and lots of pictures! They are wanting to hire some of my students right out of high school and let them apprentice while taking classes at the junior college. The OJT would be a very valuable asset for these young people. This could be a great opportunity for my students!