Perkins Technical Skill Attainment--Early Childhood Education Career

The first day of a month is always a good one in which to concentrate on the first things in our lives. So I did that on Friday, October 1, by attending the Perkins Technical Skill Attainment on Early Childhood Education--Early Childhood Development and Services AND Teaching/Training. This session was the first of four meetings in which common core competencies and assessments are reviewed and analyzed for the pathway of Early Childhood Development and Services. Prior to the meeting, survey results from 43 secondary and post-secondary instructors were compiled and analyzed. The TSA process was established in the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 and sets an expectation that CTE concentrators are assessed beginning in the 2010-2011 year for their attainment of technical skills using valid and reliable assessment instruments aligned with industry standards.

Specialists in these two areas had a big job on October 1 reviewing the many performance indicators and measures; but they got it done! The next steps will be conducted in the following related meetings:

- Business/Industry Validation Meeting, Monday, November 22, 1010, Saint Paul College, 1:00-5:00 pm
- Winter Teacher/Faculty Meeting, Friday, February 4, 2011, Saint Paul College, 9:00 am-3:00 pm
- Spring Teacher/Faculty Meeting, Friday, March 4, 2011, Saint Paul College, 9:00 am-3:00 pm

While so much of this TSA implementation is new, it's really exciting to see how students can be recognized and how the assessment data can be used to improve curricula for the benefit of future students.

Teaching Styles and Learning Styles at Pine Technical College

One helpful hint to think of when designing your college classes is to consider that many people prefer to learn with a specific learning style.  For example, Auditory learners prefer to learn through listening, Visual learners through seeing, and Tactile learners through moving, doing and touching.

In September 15, CTL hosted a lively discussion about learning styles at Pine Tech.  17 faculty members came to the session to learn about learning styles and explore how learning styles can be applied to one's teaching style. The lively discussion was intersting and informative, with faculty members giving examples of how they teach in order to best reach students.

What was the consensus?  That all students will be more likely to learn if faculty members mix their classroom presentations to address all of the learning styles.

Here are some examples:

• In an American Sign Language class, students get up and move around the room, and practice with their classmates.(Appeals to tactile learners and visual learners.)
• A biology instructor annotates her PowerPoint classroom presentations with her own voice and makes the lessons available to students. (Appeals to visual and auditory learners.)
• A nursing instructor demonstrates a procedure while explaining it, then students follow by practicing. (Appeals to all three learning styles.)

Learn more about learning styles and how to use them at this website.