When the education focuses too heavily on reading and writing(english) literacy, the scenario is that everything is reduced to read/write, like a computer. And We have been playing this system out by learning how to mimic the correct formulas of writing when seeking qualification.
we need a balance of hands-on metrics to bring a focus and value back to being prowd of what we make in our communities, and learn to enter a new era of domestic cradle-to-cradle production.

Saw this in a Maker magazine article. Definitely want to incorporate this into shop curriculum. It will be important in the future to have local shops that can fix things. Good design accounts for fixing. And Fixing incorporates a wide variety of skills that can be fostered early in education.
I plan on hanging these posters in my classroom. Now if I can only get a large format printed? Download posters in 6 languages and print your own locally!
http://www.ifixit.com/Manifesto

This is a list of thoughts and questions I ask on informational interviews at schools.

• what do you think the future of IA is?
• would it help if I have different credentials? which ones?
• view of national university?
• I really think that there is a huge potential in the industrial arts, and I want to get my teacher training as an IA teacher, not through another credential. Although they will help me work towards one, National University seems ill-equipped to give me an IA credential. Do you have any suggestions of alternatives?
• Could I bring outside funding to my internship to develop a shop model? will this work?
• would you allow me to start working on building the shop before I had an official internship there?
• http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/Articles/Article.asp?title=Negotiating%20Te...
  http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/articles/article.asp?title=teachers%20in%20...
  SBX5 1, signed into law in January 2010, established the Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Career Technical Education Educator (STEM-CTE) Credentialing Program. Under this program, by June 2010, the state must establish a process for authorizing alternative route educator preparation programs in those areas, and must allow community-based organizations to provide those preparation programs.

team work
there is a heavy emphasis on team work. Middle school is almost entirely team work, even if making own projects, they will make them together and share use of tools.
Shopsmith
shopsmith makes a tool that is very versatile and precise. instead of focusing on a shop with a lot of single purpose tools, I am going to have a full shop of 7-in-1 tools, the Shopsmith Mark V. The tool itself teachers industrial processes of re-tooling, and planning throughout the production process in order work towards maximizing efficiency.
The tool is mostlly an american made product. the leader in shopsmith curriculum had an industrial arts teacher credential program at SJSU that closed in the 80's.
standards rich
system to facilitate the assignment and tracking of academic and CTE standards practice and mastery on an individual student basis.
curriculum
use shopsmith curriculum from SJSU and try to get Creative commons copyright to allow for educational use. Drupalize the content.
learning to build a career

This 8 week course is designed to be an after school program or an off-site CTE training and educational environment for Community Education programs: Green Tech program.