• Hello!!! I hope you are doing well. I wanted to touch base with you as we start our new adventure into distance learning. To be honest, this is not an easy adjustment for me. I have spent the last 20+ years of my life teaching people how to use tools and equipment. My classroom is unlike any other classroom in the school as we have lots of really cool machines to learn on and from. My shop at John Jay is my 2nd home and I desperately miss it. However, for the time being no one is allowed in. We did get our windows replaced in all the shops, so we are excited to see that when we get back. So, since we can’t work there we have to work somewhere else. That somewhere else is google classroom. I use computers to run equipment now I have to use a laptop to teach. It is a learning curve for all of us. If you are stressed, frustrated, bored, unsure what to do next. Well, me too. So let's try to move forward the best we can with what we have to work with.

     

    I have created a google class for each of my subject areas and you should have received an invitation to your specific class. If you need that code please email me at paul.david@wcsdny.org

     

    We can’t sharpen any blades or pencils, but we can sharpen our minds. So I have provided a series of assignments to be worked through until we can get back into the shop. 

    Student Grades

    At this point, there are a lot of questions centered about grades, and how it works from here.  This is a significant part of the students evaluation by others outside of class (parents and prospective colleges) and there is always a district policy that we teachers work under in determining our grading scheme.  As of this writing, there is a lot of discussion at the district level about how grading will work in this new environment.

    I will continue grading online assignments as I always have. And since most in-class assignments are usually graded for completion, I will continue to do that as well.  The nature of testing is still a big question. I will be creating testing tools through Google Forms, but I am not sure how these evaluations will play out in a grading scheme. More to come on that issue

    Individual Classes

    I teach 5 different classes, so I will just include a quick summary of my intentions for each in the following few paragraphs.  More details will come up in the Google Classroom stream itself.

     

    Advanced Woodworking, Electricity/Electronics, Construction:

    I have created assignments, mostly unit and chapter work. I would expect that students should be able to do at least 2 units/chapters a week. I will not assign due dates at this time since some of you have completed all of the work without the need of deadlines. Please continue to submit work as you finish it. The goal is to have a vast amount of knowledge available to you when we get back to the shop. There will be an “opening day” assignment for you on Friday. Several of you have suggested that the topic of your course might be your occupation some day. Time to start.

    PLTW - Digital Electronics and Design & Drawing for Production (IED)

    These are extremely software intensive classes that require good machines at best. That’s why you take the class, we have really awesome machines with even cooler software and you don’t have that at home. It is a problem. So, I have designed some activities that will allow you to work through as much of the PLTW material as you can. Since it is online you should have access to it from anywhere. Look at the google classroom for specific information on what and how to submit work. I expect that this format will be evaluated and altered to meet your needs as the learner. I would expect at least 2-3 assignments a week should be submitted. There are no due dates as of yet. Some of you have been working diligently. Please keep that up. The assignments are to help me help you throughout this evolving process. There will be an “opening day” assignment for you on Friday.

     

    Contact:

    The best way to get in touch with me is either through email or through google classroom. It is nice to hear from my students. After all, you are why I go to work everyday. Please reach out with any concerns or good tidings

     

    Paul T David

    paul.david@wcsdny.org