Justin Stewart

I have learned that its ok to ask for help. Its important to have a good relationship with Administrators and coworkers.

How is everyone doing today? I am gradually trudging through this. They want me to ask a question so here it is.

What are some suggestions you have that will help a new teach progress through inspire? 

I have learned that the way I view my job or the trades isn't  how my students will view it. What is the right way? Maybe neither. 
The approach to tell the student to get back to work with little intervention would be something that I would have done the first time I caught him, but now i can see how that could create more problems with other students. It could quickly become the perception of favoritism  "You let them nap on the job so how come I can't"

Having a mentor is crucial to success. The example of the new culinary instructor having all these responsibilities that she probably wasn't fully aware of in the beginning. If she didn't have a good mentor she would have invested more time and energy into coming up with a solution because she wouldn't have understood the inner workings of the school and who she should contact to help. Her mentor helped her solve her problem. 

I have been blessed with good leadership and mentors so I lean heavily on them to navigate the maze called Post secondary Education. :-) 

I learned that professionalism as a CTE instructor is considerably different than what is considered professional in my previous job as a I/E Technician. The image and reputation of CTE, your program, and your Institution can be tarnished in one night of you letting your guard down and having a bad encounter with a student, parent, or the public in general. As you develop your program into state renowned program, which should be everyone’s goal, the number of people that “know” you will increase to the point where no matter where you go you will be judged on your actions… >>>

 I feel that as a country we lost focus of CTE for a decade but now we are getting back on track with, what appeared to me to be, a new emphasis on CTE programs. While reading through this module I realize that the need for quality CTE programs is not a new idea.  There has been a great deal of effort throughout history to improve the skilled trades through some form of CTE. The amount of resources that are provided from the State and Federal level for CTE is impressive.