Now The Real Teaching Starts and I Begin to Think About Electric Cars.

OK, the first month of school is over and Homecoming is a fond memory. Now, we have to start learning.

I have already started with the 1st Period Technology I class. We did a brief review of the different skills that they have learned so far and then we had a surprise quiz (I called it a "Categorized Recapitulation of Acquired Skill Sets," they didn't get it). The kids weren't expecting it, but, for the most part, they did pretty well. Nothing on the test was all that tough, it was all techniques that they have already learned. We will start doing in-class problems each day and a quiz each week for the next month or so, until the kids have some AutoCAD skills and can start doing more interesting things like projects.

At the Homecoming Parade, one of the kids was driving this cool little electric car, with a large placard on it that said that it was built by the Tech II class at Highland High School in 2004-2005. There was supposed to be a Tech II class this year, but not enough kids signed up for it. I talked with Randy Ward, my principal, about this before the homecoming game. He says that I can run a Tech II class and build another Electric Car, if I would like.

I would like!

I have the perfect group of kids to do it, too! The "advanced" kids in my 5th Period class, who are teaching themselves AutoCAD while I struggle with their less ambitious classmates, would be excellent candidates for this project, I feel. I will talk with them about it today during class and see what they think.