WELCOME to Mr. Vickery's Technology Education On-line Curriculum Page

tech-KNOWLEDGE-ist

The purpose of this web-site is to allow students and their parents an easy way to find out what we are learning about each day in class.

Technology Education  is defined as using tools and machines to process materials in order to solve a problem.

All Ballston Spa Middle School students participate in Technology Education classes in 6th, 7th & 8th grade. Each student is required to have the following items for class each day: a set of colored pencils, a ruler (inches and centimeters), a protractor (to measure angles) and most importantly a design portfolio (to keep daily notes). 6th graders will also need a set of  headphones. Students will learn how to design using T-Squares, Rulers, & Triangles as well as AutoDesk Inventor (CAD program) in lab 508.

All tests are online and can be taken anywhere that the child has Internet access, including at school, public library, or at home. They may take the tests as many times as they need to in order to master the concepts being addressed.

Science of Speed Curriculum

Newton's Law's of Motion

A great website for Technology Education worldwide

The woodpecker might have to go!

Everything I need to know about life, I learned from Noah's Ark...

One: Don't miss the boat. Two: Remember that we are all in the same boat. Three: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark. Four: Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big. Five: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done. Six: Build your future on high ground. Seven: For safety  sake, travel in pairs. Eight: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs. Nine: When you're stressed, float a while. Ten: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals. Eleven: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting.. NOW, wasn't that nice?

Have a good day!

Electronic Motor Controller

Science + math = Our future

Our view: AMD proposal offers bright future for students who stick with math and science.

Published on 1/28/2007

Tousled hair, overweight backpacks slung carelessly over shoulders, pants too low, shirts too high, sneakers untied, cell phone in one hand, iPod in the other, mouth and brain going a mile-a-minute. Welcome to your typical middle school student. Or as businesses like to call them: Their future work force. This generation is curious and smart, and far ahead of their parents in how quickly they absorb information and adapt to the world's changes. Yet while they embrace technology, they don't seem too enthused about making a career out of it.

Last week's public-relations sweep through the area by officials from AMD was a not-too-subtle reminder that those careers are just over the horizon. According to the Web site for Tech Valley Careers, the number of jobs requiring high-tech skills is growing at a rate of 5 percent a year. New York has seen a nearly 6 percent increase in high-tech industry establishments, and our state ranks third in the nation for high-tech employment. In addition, job growth in the multi-county region known as Tech Valley is higher than the national average. In the very near future, no longer will our kids have to leave the area or the state to find good, high-paying jobs. Many of those jobs are here now, and many more are coming. The challenge for businesses, educators and parents over the next few years will be how to get the current generation of students jazzed about math and science in a way that prepares them for the high-tech jobs we'll need them to fill.

Part of the problem is that many kids find math and science boring. Another part is that students, parents and teachers don't understand the real-world applications of math and science. But that is changing, as companies, universities, government entities and school districts have already begun working on approaches to making science and math engaging for students. If you look around, there is a wealth of effective, innovative programs and school curricula available to school districts and parents. Damian Huising, senior program administrator of the Rensselaer Nanotechnology Center in Troy, said compared to other states, New York's school curriculum is "pretty good" in math and science. In addition, higher education institutions like RPI and the University at Albany are working with community colleges and the public school system to create a "bottom-up and top-down" approach to math/science/technology education.

And the high-tech companies themselves are working on building interest in math and science. AMD, which is planning to create 1,200 jobs at its Luther Forest chip-fab plant in the next few years, has been developing future workers by helping school districts create programs and curricula designed to encourage interest in math and science. Ward Tisdale, AMD's manager of global affairs, said if schools can get kids interested in math and science, the company will train them for the specific jobs. Besides providing financial support for innovative math/science programs such as Austin Community College's Mobile Go Center and AMD's digital media lab, AMD has partnered with the school district in Sunnyvale, Texas, to develop teacher development programs and after-school enrichment activities. Locally, the area BOCES is spearheading an effort among school districts to develop a curriculum that better prepares students for science and technology careers.

A model grade-school curriculum developed by RPI is already in place in Albany-area schools. And Applied Nanoworks, a Rensselaer-based nanomaterial manufacturing firm, is partnering with the Adirondack Business & School Partnership in Glens Falls on a program for K-12 educators Feb. 13 that will feature a presentation on nanotechnology and an opportunity for hands-on experimentation. One problem with getting kids interested in math, science and technology, Huising said, is that there's no central access point for all the great programs that are out there. To know what programs are effective and which can be adapted locally, people first have to know they exist. He said it's very time-consuming for parents and educators to research the many programs and curricula available, so many just don't do it. And parents are a vital component in promoting interest in math and science, Huising said.

The Post-Star would like to play a role in getting out some of this information. We'd be willing to host a community symposium that brings educators, parents and companies together to focus on what jobs are going to be available and what we need to do to prepare students for them. If you have any ideas or thoughts on what you'd like to have presented, contact any member of our editorial board -- Publisher Rona Rahlf, Editor Ken Tingley or Editorial Page Editor Mark Mahoney. If we get enough interest, we'll put it together. Sooner than we think, the kids with the backpacks and iPods are going to be entering the work force, and the high-tech jobs will be waiting for them.

Are they ready? Are we?

WEB SITES FOR PARENTS, TEACHERS

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