Musings of a Middle School Shop Teacher #1: Introduction
There are days that I’m happy that, despite the majority of my school’s curriculum switching to engineering fundamentals, that I’m a shop teacher. There are other days that I’m really happy that I get to teach my “Manufacturing Technology” a.k.a. wood shop classes. You see, what I see happening to the world of education is a tragic spiral of suppression. We are being made to teach every student the same content, to expect the same measure of success, to prepare each and every child that comes through our doors that not only are they being pressured to go to college, but we imply that to not go to a four year university is a travesty, an abomination...