We learn from each other. Share your effective practices in Integrating Academic with CTE among other teachers. Part of being a professional educator is sharing with colleagues. The CareerEd Lounge is a good tool for posting links and discussions as a virtual way of sharing. Another great tool is Twitter; easy to use and reach colleagues with common interests by including specific topics using hashtags #. Twitter is a form of rapid communication, but by using hashtags, it becomes a searchable database of all related information.
When posting information on a practice related to the Integration of Academics and CTE, use the hashtag. #CTEandAcademics
There are also several common CTE community hashtags to be a part of the broader CTE conversation, including:
#CareerTechEd, #CTEWorks, #CareerTech #PerkinsCTE, #STEM, #workforcedevelopment, and #CTSO
Also, one or more of several education-related hashtags might be appropriate depending on the content,
#edChat, #engchat, #literacy, #litchat, #math, #mathchat, #science, #scichat, #sschat ,#histedchat, #CareerEd
ACTE has an excellent online resource on social media called Social Media Advocacy. It includes suggestions how what types of information to include and also composing interesting posts. Advance CTE also has a publication titled Advance CTE Social Media Guide. This includes directions and sample posting. Each of these also covers Facebook and LinkedIn in addition to Twitter.
What Types of Items to Post
Teachers sometimes are reluctant to post and wonder if their efforts are worth putting in public space. The significant items to post are examples of student projects that showcase student technical skills and demonstrate problem-solving by applying academic areas of Math, Science, and Language Arts. Perhaps the project has been highlighted in a school newsletter or local paper. Use Twitter to share this project with a broader audience.
Perhaps you have found a creative way to bring academics into CTE instruction. Also, consider efforts, whereas a CTE teacher, you have shared ways to bring real-world projects to Language Arts, Science of Math using a real-world problem from CTE. These efforts are great to share in hopes it gives other ideas to adapt.
Drawing attention to great CTE projects and connection with Academics helps the public develop a more accurate perception of CTE, which is directly connected to student achievement, not an alternative to rigorous learning.
Your creative efforts to provide challenging and engaging lessons for your students are worth sharing with others. It helps to grow the profession and helps even more students. Collaborative professional sharing is one of the cornerstones of education. Social media technical tools offer a wider audience for collaboration.
