Hello!

My name is Jody Bennett and I am the Work Based Learning Coordinator for the Boulder Valley School District in Boulder, Colorado.  This is my third year in this role, and prior to that I was a Business/Marketing CTE Teacher for 15 years.  

I am excited to see this national WBL CoP as we started one in Colorado about a year ago, and this year we are getting ready to start a Colorado Division for WBL as part of CACTE!  We are excited about this alignment to ACTE and the ability to start connecting to resources and the large… >>>

Create a student training plan template to be used by students, content teachers, and businesses to outline learning objectives that align with class content.

Building partnerships with business and school personnel is going to be key to success of any WBL program.  I liked the idea of sending out a survey to building staff asking for contact information of people they may know in industry that may contribute to the WBL program.

I also think it is important to allow teachers who already have a running WBL program the ability to continue to run their program, with the support of district level WBL.  There should be record at the district level for insurance/liability purposes, so that process should be created with teachers input.

As a WBL Coordinator, having an organized information packet for students, parents, and potential/contracted businesses will be important.  My district will want to create a BRAND for WBL and use those elements to coordinate all communications.  This information should also be templated, and usable by all schools for their specific needs.

I like the idea of a vetting checklist for employers or job sites.  Could be a relatively easy template to build.  I also think that when implementing a district wide WBL structure, the liability insurance is very important and should addressed right from the start.

What I took away from this module is the need for organized processes and communication tools to ensure all stakeholders are on the same page with the experience.  In addition, the WBL/E experience must be aligned to a students vision/needs/interests in order to be meaningful.  I plan utilize this information by making sure I put together well organized and informative, and clear information throughout each step of coordinating WBL experiences. 

I thought this module was interesting as it pertains to my participation in the decision making process in my building.  I see leadership in my building using the different methods and techniques discussed in this module.  I find it interesting how I evaluated myself in these different scenarios from a participant perspective as well as a leader perspective.