Welcome to my Blog!

Hi Everyone,

This is my first official blog entry. I've had blogs before (back in the days of myspace - remember myspace?), but this is the first one dedicated to my profession. I am a technology educator and I currently teach at the Red Bank Middle School in Red Bank, NJ. I teach 2 courses - one is called Project Lead The Way (PLTW) and the other is called AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination). Both are challenging and rewarding in their own regard for me as an instructor (and hopefully for my students as well!).

AVID is a course that focuses on preparing students for college and turning "students in the middle" into academic superstars. For the purpose of this blog, most of my posts will usually refer to what I am instructing in PLTW, which is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) curriculum that our district just adopted this year and I was fortunate enough to be asked to teach it. At the moment, I teach students in grades 4 through 8 the finer points of mechanical drawing, the basics of robotics and spend a great deal of time exploring alternative energy. I love the course because it is predominantly hands-on, project-based learning.

If your interest is piqued, you can learn more about PLTW here: http://www.pltw.org/

Meanwhile, I thought I would share something that I have been somwhat obsessed with lately. It's a 4-part series airing on PBS called, "Making Stuff." It's all about materials science and each episode is fascinating, covering topics like carbon nanotubes, hydrogen powered vehicles and genetic engineering. I especially enjoyed the latest installment, "Making Stuff Cleaner," as it ties in nicely with my alternative energy unit. Full episodes are available online. Here's the link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/making-stuff.html

Enjoy!