The Technology Lab, a buzzing, whirling and active place where students take ideas from concept to product using a variety of tools and equipment. You would find some tools in the house hold to make minor repairs, while others you would find on a construction job site with long cords running from wherever electricity is available that require eye protection. You would find some tools in a manufacturing plant that require hearing protection. You would find some newer prototyping tools right in the middle of the design lab that can print and extrude prototypes within hours. You would find some in design labs and shops that cut materials in minutes. Despite where they are used or who is using them, safety precautions are a must.

The teacher who uses these tools in their classroom, studio or lab, must train all who use the tools and maintain the tools for use. Technology, Engineering and Design teachers typically come with that training from their teacher prep establishment. This knowledge is part of the 30 + credits within the major. With others, such as alternate route candidates, it is up to the local district to ensure that the teacher has the appropriate qualifications to use tools that are related to the curricula the individual is assigned to teach.

When I was a student at TCNJ (at the time it was Trenton State College), we would have a lawyer come in every year to discuss liability with us. This included the do's and don'ts of teaching tool safety and allowing students to use the tools and equipment in the classroom, studio or lab. We would walk away with some fear in our hearts hoping we would never have to deal with such incidents, but also a sense of confidence that what we were learning at the college would have us well prepared.

After all these years, my worst student injury was an awl in a finger, which resulted in a trip to the emergency ward for stitches. I'm sure you have all written up an accident report or two, maybe for a utility knife cut or hot glue gun burn. They happen. Hopefully, you have not had to write up anything worse.

But as tools and equipment become more user friendly and less scary, we still need to remain vigilant about the mishaps that can occur. Although these new tools and equipment were a part of our training in college, they are still tools and equipment to respect and heed caution when allowing students to use them. Proper training is a must for each piece of equipment that a teacher and student uses. Additionally, as we protect our equipment with surge protectors, tell your students to avoid using those as additional power sources because an accidental switch of the reset button and you have lost a 20+ hour plastic print or laser cutting/etching! Been there, had that happen to me.

So if you are accustomed to giving safety tests for older equipment, add these new technologies to your test bank and don't overlook adding in additional safety precautions such and staying away from equipment in motion so that the machine doesn't get interrupted unnecessarily.
Below you can see the language for the Technology Education major as well as alternate route candidates related to coursework. Note that safety is equally important.

Current regulations for certification require that applicants complete a 30 credit coherent sequence of study in courses that align to the Standards for Technological Literacy (STL). A coherent sequence requires that at least 12 credits are completed at the advanced level of study (junior, senior or graduate level). Within the 30 credits, the candidate shall complete study in:

1.      The nature of technology or technology and society
2.      Technological design
   
3.      The use of tools and materials and safety related to using tools and materials; and
   
4.      Three of the following seven areas:

                 i. Medical technologies
               ii. Agricultural and related biotechnologies
             iii. Energy and power technologies
             iv. Information and communication technologies
              v. Transportation technologies
            vi. Manufacturing technologies and/or
          vii. Construction technologies

If you are not a teacher prepared in Technology Education or Industrial Arts (as I was), then check with an administrator to see if you are eligible to teach students to use certain tools and equipment or if you need further training of some sort. Never be shy to request appropriate training in writing if not offered or provided. ~ Wendy Green, NJTEEA Past President

Thanks to Donna Falk for hosting this event!

 For each class, two volunteers acted as the project and facility managers and worked from a plan of procedures to set up the manufacturing run. I explained that this was a start up company and we had very limited resources and funding. They got 90 stick to start the process and had to make as many sleds as possible. They set up the manufacturing line and put classmates in each of the production steps. They soon discovered that they had people idle for quite a while as others struggled to produce parts and move them down the line. They moved the idle people to the places that were "bottle necking" to help and them moved them back to finish the later steps of the production or assembly line.

Some of the jig failed during the process and students had to make due. One class didn't bother to do the math and cut 17 sticks into four equal parts for the bracing under the seat not thinking that they would get four braces from each stick, therefore needing a fourth of what they actually cut. This mistake cost them some sleds because they didn't have enough full sticks to make some of the other parts. Even though each class didn't make this mistake, I still discussed the issue with each class to make them aware of what could go wrong when planning is overlooked.

During the manufacturing run, students alter a few of the steps to save time. After the manufacturing run, they expressed areas of improvement to the procedures. Both of these elements were the key to the activity, making sleds had nothing to do with the learning taking place. Soon the students will make their own plan of procedures with the goal of doing a better and more complete job with theirs.

The managers were very different from class to class and the more hyper ones got the whole job done by the end of class. If the managers were not very planners, encouraging or task masters, then they fell short in production. They all had the same amount of time to prepare, set up and run the activity. This was a very interesting phenomenon to watch unfold.  if not this activity, try to set up a manufacturing run for something else and give your students this leadership experience. They quickly see what a teacher deals with on a daily basis. ;o) Wendy

If you have done anything like this, send me a write up and some pictures to post here! wgreen@njteea.org

I generally use simple design items to teach harder concepts. In this case, I will be using a sled made from craft sticks to teach some hand tools, manufacturing and quality control. This simple jigs I will use are simple and get the job done, but I want to use the activity to also have the students reflect on how they could improve the jigs or have more or multi-use jigs for tasks. I want them to reflect on the process and determine if a different set of steps would have been better. The students will be given a set of procedures and a bill of materials for one sled. They will have to determine how many sleds they need for their class to each have one and determine how many parts they need to make.

A jig could be used to cut the yarn to the correct size, but I want them to figure that out later. 

The assembly directions use no jigs. I hope to have the students reflect on that process and determine how a few jigs would have make the process easier or provide better control for the various steps.

My goal is for this to take place in a 73 minute class period. Students can then write the year or their name on the sled ornament. I will try to post some photos of the run. ~Wendy Green

Register today for this limited seating (5 people) event. Learn how to run a forensics unit with your middle school students. Please share with your science faculty too! Registration is free to members, but you must provide your own lunch. Lunch can be purchased on site.

Go to http://www.njteea.org/events.html to register and click on
Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School Forensics Event.

Thanks Tom Stinson for hosting us at Cranbury School to learn about how you implement EV3 Legos and Sea Perch! Mike, Matt and John enjoyed the session.

Jim Kennedy's students at Pascack Valley High School share their experiences with the engineering course that has dual enrollment with University of Texas. Thanks Jim!

Thank you to all of the presenters, vendors and attendees of the 2017 Fall conference and Expo.  We hope that you enjoyed the event and were able to take a few elements back to your classroom. We look forward to seeing you in the Spring. Be sure to check out the list of upcoming professional development at http://www.njteea.org/.