We all enjoy some variety in our learning, but this is where I will always come back to. A guy can learn a lot about himself while changing a transmission-brake or rebuilding a hydraulic pump.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Burnin' Metal!
Welding is something I really enjoy doing, and have had a lot of fun teaching in some local high schools this semester. Recently, my own learning has been focussed on welding joints in the vertical and overhead positions.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Diesel Intricacies
-Close tolerances are crucial in the proper operation of a diesel engine. I believe that another aspect of being reliable to all of those groups of people, is maintaining safety and order with uniform tolerances that don't impede performance, but promote power and precision.
"Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There's plenty of movement, but you never know if it's going to be forward, backwards, or sideways."
— H. Jackson Brown, Jr.Author
-From a garden tractor to a submarine, the principles that each diesel engine is designed from have very little variation. To say that I am a religious person doesn't seem accurate, because it denotes a separation of "my life" and "religion" in a type of calculated ratio, like mixing fuel and oil. What I'd rather people see when they look at me, at work, school, play, sports, or anywhere else- is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is upon the principles of the Gospel that I am me, no matter the venue. This will not change in my classroom shop.
Great philosophers like Thomas Aquinas and John Comenius firmly believed that having faith in a Greater Power was key in all types of learning. To this I also agree. Though rules and guidelines may dictate strictly against directly preaching in the classroom, my principles will not be hidden in my prayerful preparation or interaction with students, and I will follow the exhortation of Elder Perry to be faithful and humble in my teaching.
-Something that sets a diesel engine apart from a gasoline engine, is the extremely high pressure that the fuel is brought to before being injected into the combustion chamber. So the plan is to pressurise the students to the point of vapourisation? Not quite, but I believe that with the right amount and type of pressure, students will find in themselves a great amount of knowledge that they have attained but never been forced to use. Johann Pestallozi taught many things on this subject, always stressing that humans are constantly gathering information subconsciously, and it is the role of the teacher to help them to convert that information into "clear, cut, and usable" information. I think Jean Jacques Rousseau made a good point that can go right along with Pestallozi, when he stressed the how powerfully our experiences can instantly change and form our passions. By adding the proper pressure to help the student to draw from within, reaching into their subconscious and their past experiences, they will have a more personal and lasting learning experience.
-Everyone needs one! High up on the list of things that I desire for everyone to have in their life, is a Cummins Turbo Diesel. If you can keep a secret from my friends, I'll also tell you that I hold very high on that list, even a little higher than that Cummins TD, is an education. In the past, men devoted their lives to bringing education to more people. Thomas Jefferson knew that receiving an education was a privilege, and campaigned for that privilege to be extended to more. W.E.B Du Bois fought tirelessly for his race to be able to have many rights, especially the right to an education. He saw education as a way to break a people out of a cycle of entrapment and poverty. Horace Mann wasn't fighting for racial rights, but rather the rights on a societal class. Through a system that would educate the masses, he knew that society would be lifted to a higher level and standard of living. My fight is different. Education is extremely accessible in my homeland, no matter your colour or class, but it doesn't automatically mean students are getting what they need. My fight is to bring a variety and a flexibility that can encompass a group often loss, build their passion, and help them find a path and pattern of success. Wolk wrote an article titled, "Why Go To School," and if my students can give him that last sentence as their answer- smiles all around!
-From a garden tractor to a submarine, the principles that each diesel engine is designed from have very little variation. To say that I am a religious person doesn't seem accurate, because it denotes a separation of "my life" and "religion" in a type of calculated ratio, like mixing fuel and oil. What I'd rather people see when they look at me, at work, school, play, sports, or anywhere else- is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is upon the principles of the Gospel that I am me, no matter the venue. This will not change in my classroom shop.
Great philosophers like Thomas Aquinas and John Comenius firmly believed that having faith in a Greater Power was key in all types of learning. To this I also agree. Though rules and guidelines may dictate strictly against directly preaching in the classroom, my principles will not be hidden in my prayerful preparation or interaction with students, and I will follow the exhortation of Elder Perry to be faithful and humble in my teaching.
-Something that sets a diesel engine apart from a gasoline engine, is the extremely high pressure that the fuel is brought to before being injected into the combustion chamber. So the plan is to pressurise the students to the point of vapourisation? Not quite, but I believe that with the right amount and type of pressure, students will find in themselves a great amount of knowledge that they have attained but never been forced to use. Johann Pestallozi taught many things on this subject, always stressing that humans are constantly gathering information subconsciously, and it is the role of the teacher to help them to convert that information into "clear, cut, and usable" information. I think Jean Jacques Rousseau made a good point that can go right along with Pestallozi, when he stressed the how powerfully our experiences can instantly change and form our passions. By adding the proper pressure to help the student to draw from within, reaching into their subconscious and their past experiences, they will have a more personal and lasting learning experience.
-Everyone needs one! High up on the list of things that I desire for everyone to have in their life, is a Cummins Turbo Diesel. If you can keep a secret from my friends, I'll also tell you that I hold very high on that list, even a little higher than that Cummins TD, is an education. In the past, men devoted their lives to bringing education to more people. Thomas Jefferson knew that receiving an education was a privilege, and campaigned for that privilege to be extended to more. W.E.B Du Bois fought tirelessly for his race to be able to have many rights, especially the right to an education. He saw education as a way to break a people out of a cycle of entrapment and poverty. Horace Mann wasn't fighting for racial rights, but rather the rights on a societal class. Through a system that would educate the masses, he knew that society would be lifted to a higher level and standard of living. My fight is different. Education is extremely accessible in my homeland, no matter your colour or class, but it doesn't automatically mean students are getting what they need. My fight is to bring a variety and a flexibility that can encompass a group often loss, build their passion, and help them find a path and pattern of success. Wolk wrote an article titled, "Why Go To School," and if my students can give him that last sentence as their answer- smiles all around!
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Questions Questions Questions
Who am I and what motivates me to teach?
I am a dreamer and a doer, that uses what God has given me to maximum capacity.
Do past challenges motivate me? Sometimes. Is it a desire to prove something that fuels me? Nope. It's for the money then, isn't it? Doesn't last long enough. Then what the heck motivates me?
Great big fluffy dreams, is the answer.
As a child I dreamed about firefighting, running every piece of farm and construction equipment that exists, and driving big semi trucks. Now I do it. LTD
In teaching, I dream of coming to a rural school and building a program that reaches out to students who have huge potential for success, but won't find it in a math class. I dream of offering engine overhaul, welding, construction, electrical, and agricultural classes in a school that has been ever so limited. I dream of creating a shop-classroom, with my students, that they like to be in and that pumps them up to turn some wrenches and burn some metal.
How do I view those I teach?
Eye to eye. The best I can say, is that with my viewpoint I strive to understand and feel what the learner is experiencing, and teach from that. Each student is unique, but I believe that I have common ground with each and everyone of them, and so I teach with that in my sight.
What is my work as learner and teacher?
Keep the fire hot. I believe a large part of my work is keeping enthusiastic! If I am bored with the curriculum, the students are even more bored with it. Likewise if I am passionate and excited about the lessons, the students will be more likely to be excited and passionate to learn it. Something I was told by a teacher whose class I taught a welding lesson to was, "The kids were asking, is he always this happy?" It may be a small thing, but I think that is part of my work as a learner and teacher, to come with a cheerful attitude and hope it is infectious. I realise teenagers can be stubborn and perhaps even too cool to catch that bug, but at least they will learn that not every adult has to hate their job, not even them.
What is worth teaching?
Confidence. Every trade and subject has its importance, but teaching confidence in those trades and subjects gives students power. I believe that principle can apply to any subject, if the teacher is willing and humble enough to do some building. When did I really begin to gain confidence and power from education? University. I learned it when my teacher would say something like, "The electrical system on this tractor doesn't work. The lights have all blown up and nothing else works either. Good luck." He had taught me the basics and then put his confidence in me, can you imagine what that did for my confidence? Where would I be now, if I had been given that lesson in Grade 9? The point I am trying to make, is that by building the person whilst filling their brain, education will succeed because its' users are.
How do I learn?
My favourite way to learn usually involves wrenches, torches, and some very trusting equipment owners. I break things up into systems, and once I understand the smaller systems I can understand the overall much better. Application is also imperative to my learning- my Economics teacher can tell me that MC=MR, but it is internalised is at the point where I see how that applies, "Oh! That is my maximum production level for wheat, before my returns quit covering my fertilizer, fuel, and labour costs!"
Upon what foundation are Canadian public schools founded?
The statistic that 95% of students attend public schools in Canada says a lot about the foundation of the Canadian public school system- it is a solid foundation! They are built upon a foundation of ideas that are to build society, one person at a time, by teaching modes of appropriate thought and behaviour along with the curriculum.
What is the role of school in society?
There are definitely many important facts and abilities that schools must teach in order to prepare its' learners for the future, but I believe another important role of a school is to help students to find their passion that will benefit them and society. Every individual that graduates should graduate with a knowledge that they can succeed at something, and have a love for it. I believe if they had that direction, it would help them and their family greatly, and in turn benefit society (especially considering what other roads they might choose should they graduate in a cloud of confusion without any sense of direction out.) Much of what I have stated infers a need for the educators to help students focus-in on an area where they are passionate. Please do not mistake me and think that I am saying we need to find the one thing the student is good at and help them only get good at that one thing. What I am rather trying to express, is that educators should help students to be informed of where they could go, and once the student shows an interest, come in with strong encouragement.
What changes in the focus of public schooling would I like to see?
When I was in high school, there seemed to be a notion that if I wasn't going to study to be a doctor, lawyer, school teacher, or dentist, I wouldn't have a "real career." There is so much work available in the trades and so many useful skills that people can work hard to gain and succeed at in them, that I would really like to see a greater focus on the trades. I can really envision this benefitting a large group of students and opening a whole new path of success in education and life for them.
How flexible should class projects be, if at all?
In classes focussing on the trades, I believe a certain number of skills should be expected of each student to learn as an outcome of the class. To obtain certain skills, there has to be quite specific projects and assignments that must be fulfilled, but I believe flexibility is extremely important to the growth of the student. The pattern I want to establish in my classes, is that once the students have proven themselves by passing off certain requirements, there should be plenty of time available for them to build and create projects of their own choosing (upon passing my approval). The goal of this flexibility is to promote student's ownership and passion for their learning, while fulfilling the goal of the education system of helping them to become experienced and knowledgable in a variety of trades.
How do I view those I teach?
Eye to eye. The best I can say, is that with my viewpoint I strive to understand and feel what the learner is experiencing, and teach from that. Each student is unique, but I believe that I have common ground with each and everyone of them, and so I teach with that in my sight.
What is my work as learner and teacher?
Keep the fire hot. I believe a large part of my work is keeping enthusiastic! If I am bored with the curriculum, the students are even more bored with it. Likewise if I am passionate and excited about the lessons, the students will be more likely to be excited and passionate to learn it. Something I was told by a teacher whose class I taught a welding lesson to was, "The kids were asking, is he always this happy?" It may be a small thing, but I think that is part of my work as a learner and teacher, to come with a cheerful attitude and hope it is infectious. I realise teenagers can be stubborn and perhaps even too cool to catch that bug, but at least they will learn that not every adult has to hate their job, not even them.
What is worth teaching?
Confidence. Every trade and subject has its importance, but teaching confidence in those trades and subjects gives students power. I believe that principle can apply to any subject, if the teacher is willing and humble enough to do some building. When did I really begin to gain confidence and power from education? University. I learned it when my teacher would say something like, "The electrical system on this tractor doesn't work. The lights have all blown up and nothing else works either. Good luck." He had taught me the basics and then put his confidence in me, can you imagine what that did for my confidence? Where would I be now, if I had been given that lesson in Grade 9? The point I am trying to make, is that by building the person whilst filling their brain, education will succeed because its' users are.
How do I learn?
My favourite way to learn usually involves wrenches, torches, and some very trusting equipment owners. I break things up into systems, and once I understand the smaller systems I can understand the overall much better. Application is also imperative to my learning- my Economics teacher can tell me that MC=MR, but it is internalised is at the point where I see how that applies, "Oh! That is my maximum production level for wheat, before my returns quit covering my fertilizer, fuel, and labour costs!"
Upon what foundation are Canadian public schools founded?
The statistic that 95% of students attend public schools in Canada says a lot about the foundation of the Canadian public school system- it is a solid foundation! They are built upon a foundation of ideas that are to build society, one person at a time, by teaching modes of appropriate thought and behaviour along with the curriculum.
What is the role of school in society?
There are definitely many important facts and abilities that schools must teach in order to prepare its' learners for the future, but I believe another important role of a school is to help students to find their passion that will benefit them and society. Every individual that graduates should graduate with a knowledge that they can succeed at something, and have a love for it. I believe if they had that direction, it would help them and their family greatly, and in turn benefit society (especially considering what other roads they might choose should they graduate in a cloud of confusion without any sense of direction out.) Much of what I have stated infers a need for the educators to help students focus-in on an area where they are passionate. Please do not mistake me and think that I am saying we need to find the one thing the student is good at and help them only get good at that one thing. What I am rather trying to express, is that educators should help students to be informed of where they could go, and once the student shows an interest, come in with strong encouragement.
What changes in the focus of public schooling would I like to see?
When I was in high school, there seemed to be a notion that if I wasn't going to study to be a doctor, lawyer, school teacher, or dentist, I wouldn't have a "real career." There is so much work available in the trades and so many useful skills that people can work hard to gain and succeed at in them, that I would really like to see a greater focus on the trades. I can really envision this benefitting a large group of students and opening a whole new path of success in education and life for them.
How flexible should class projects be, if at all?
In classes focussing on the trades, I believe a certain number of skills should be expected of each student to learn as an outcome of the class. To obtain certain skills, there has to be quite specific projects and assignments that must be fulfilled, but I believe flexibility is extremely important to the growth of the student. The pattern I want to establish in my classes, is that once the students have proven themselves by passing off certain requirements, there should be plenty of time available for them to build and create projects of their own choosing (upon passing my approval). The goal of this flexibility is to promote student's ownership and passion for their learning, while fulfilling the goal of the education system of helping them to become experienced and knowledgable in a variety of trades.
Cornerstone
Explanation
Jesus Christ is the Master Teacher. My cornerstone banner represents this in a
way personal to me.
- At the top is my surname, a name that many great men have born and that I always want to represent well. It means "dweller by the woods," denoting the industriousness of the family.
- The Holt Family motto is then shown, "Exaltavit Humiles", which translates to, "He (God) hath exalted the humble." The Saviour always taught powerfully, in utmost humility.
- The Holt Family crest shows boldly our stand in Christianity (Cross and bars). The colour (blue) represents loyalty to God and country. The helmet I believe represents the readiness and ability to be called into action. Atop the helmet sits a squirrel, which goes along with the name to show a closeness to nature and use of its' resources.
- Beneath the crest is a favourite quote for my Dad and me, from President Spencer W. Kimball. I believe Christ followed that admonition in His life, and like Him I want to be quick to action, do the task right, and get the job done without procrastination.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Diesel Power
From the smell, to the chatter of the pistons, to the unstoppable power- I love diesel engines. Whether they be in generators, ocean-liners, tractors, or thousands of other applications, diesel engines provide a reliable, efficient, brute-force power that benefits every life on earth.
I want to be a Diesel in my shop classroom.
Reliable- I want students, parents, faculty, and my community to have confidence that I will be able to run at maximum load, day in and day out.
Efficient- Resources are limited. I will be efficient with use of resources, to bring my students as far as possible, particularly with the scarce resource of time.
Brute-Force Power- I will put forth an energetic effort to create and propel learning environments that will drive students to succeed as individuals.
Plus who doesn't get a bit of a smile when a diesel powers up?
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