![]() Reading. One of the key indicators of academic excellence starts when a child opens a book. Reading helps with basic speech skills, better communication skills, helps a student master the language, and creates more logical thinking skills. Students who read have better concentration skills, and exhibit more discipline in academic life. It’s no wonder schools focus so heavily on this crucial skill at an early age. Pitsco Education understands the importance of reading, and have built in strong reading components to the redesigned elementary coursework. Within the Pitsco Education Missions, students are asked to do many different activities that incorporate reading and literacy. Students have to read aloud, complete reading comprehension activities, speak and listen within their team, acquire new vocabulary, and use their writing skills. Almost daily in their Missions, students are asked to read and gather information from informational texts (nonfiction books). With the advent of the national ELA standards, literacy is significantly emphasized. The reading required of students in the Missions helps address these standards. READING IN MISSIONS Briefings
WRITING IN MISSIONS Mission Journals
SPEAKING AND LISTENING IN MISSIONS Collaboration
LANGUAGE IN MISSIONS Vocabulary words
Not bad for a STEM curriculum, right? Adding the R (Reading) and A (Arts) elements pay off for elementary students, both know and later in their academic careers. The interdisciplinary nature of the Missions allows for the reinforcement and application of reading, writing, and literacy within the teaching of science curriculum. The Pitsco Missions provide cross-curricular connections and makes the R in STREAM an integral part in the student experience. Blog adapted from the Pitsco Network Magazine, content by Tammy Pankey. See original article here.
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![]() rWorkers today are called on to be subject matter experts in what they do. Gone are the days when someone can clock in and do a repetitive skill for hours. Today's workforce demands more: the same worker must now know how to assess, troubleshoot, fix, and communicate in a much more global sense. Work is less silo-ed, more interconnected with other teams. Added requirements are making it difficult for employees to stay ahead of demands, creating a skills gap. How do you train employees for these enhanced skill requirements? Many are turning to Registered Apprenticeships to fill the void. According to Why Apprenticeships are Taking Off, registered apprenticeships, not to be confused with less formal or company-specific apprentice programs, have five defining features:
Apprenticeships allow employers to hire and train workers with the necessary skills, while students can avoid an unnecessary financial burden of student loans. According to the Department of Labor, 87 percent of apprentices are employed after completing apprenticeship programs, with an average starting salary above $50,000. Registered Apprenticeship programs make a lot of sense in both urban and rural settings, and are easier to implement and facilitate than you may realize. In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor offers several registered Apprenticeship programs, backed by curriculum from leaders in education, like Amatrol. Looking to learn more, or get started today? Contact Moss for learning opportunities. Moss is proud to offer equipment and curriculum from Amatrol’s Advanced Manufacturing program. Amatrol’s industry leading equipment and curriculum is developed in partnership with industry to deliver job ready, industry relevant skills. Working closely with companies like Caterpillar, Tropicana and many others Amatrol has designed equipment for work place success.
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Want to ensure you are covering your bases and addressing the skills training most needed in your region? Check out the skills chart, which aligns coursework to job-ready skills: ![]() How well do you know the Engineering Design Process (EDP)? How well do your students know it? If you answered “not at all” to either of those questions, think again. You likely follow some of the steps in your everyday activities. The focus of the EDP is problem solving. I’m sure you’ve problem solved already today. Deciding what to wear, which errands to complete, and where to eat are examples of everyday situations where you subconsciously use the EDP. Let’s review the steps to see if you agree.
The Engineering Design Process is something we use more often than we realize. However, many kids today do not have this same skill set and often lack problem-solving skills. So, let’s look at how a Pitsco Maker Space Project can be used to teach the EDP. The KaZoon Kite Maker Project spans all three of our leveled makerspace packages.
Blog re-printed from Pitsco Education Community Blog. Content written by Kristina Davis, Education Program Designer.
![]() Amatrol has released its instructor training course schedule for 2017! The Amatrol Technical Training Institute (ATTI) in Jeffersonville, Indiana, provides courses on the technical subject matter and implementation of Amatrol Learning Systems. This training is a valuable opportunity for instructors to improve their knowledge base, and understand new training developments. Interested instructors will want to reserve their seat early! Please see the schedule for dates and times and enroll now to secure your place as these classes fill up fast! ![]() ITC: Building the Workforce of Tomorrow Today's economy requires workforce members to possess a range of technical skills that can be used in team-based environments, so current students must develop both specialized hands-on skills and essential workplace skills like problem solving, teamwork and effective communication. Amatrol's Integrated Technology Concepts (ITC) program offers technical skills training across a wide range of real-world areas through project-based learning while interweaving essential workplace skills through team-based projects. This combination of skills and knowledge will put students on a path toward exciting career opportunities in areas like supply chain, automated distribution, engineering, medical, and more. Strong STEM Integration Facilitates College Credit, Industrial Certification Prep In addition to essential workplace skills, ITC emphasizes STEM skills. Combining STEM skills with hands-on applications helps to meld theory and practice in student's mind, which will assist them in knowledge retention and building skills for more advanced concepts. This STEM integration allows for many schools to establish transferable college credit hours for ITC courses. Amatrol's ITC proram is also a strong foundation in preparation for several industrial certification. Amatrol partners with organizations including NIMS, MSSC, ITEEA, and more for certifications like MSSC's Certifiied Production Technician and NIMS' Industrial Technology Maintenance certifications. Foundational Systems for Successful Careers The first step of ITC is Amatrol's Enterprise Systems courses, which provides the framework for integrating multiple technical skills successfully using teamwork. Students begin by exploring different technology sectors before studying team concepts, product design, business presentations, internet research, and much more. ITC Quick Facts
Want to learn more about this (or any other Industrial Technology program from Amatrol)? Contact Moss for an in-depth look today. ![]() The FANUC Advanced Automation Challenge 2.0 invites all CERT schools to work with local industry to create problem solutions. This challenge provides students the opportunity to improve their STEM skills and become familiar with the advanced manufacturing industry. This challenge encourages students to work with manufacturers to design a solution or solve a problem using FANUC products or an integrated solution with technology from FANUC, Rockwell, Cisco or Lincoln. Students (aka “Tomorrow’s Innovators”) will have the opportunity to test their STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) skills and critical thinking abilities. Students will interview a manufacturer to learn about their processes and consider potential opportunities to apply their skills and knowledge. Students will use their school’s robot, CNC, or advanced manufacturing technology to develop/design a workable solution and provide a demonstration. Creativity is encouraged - students decide how simple or complex their solution is. The goal of this open-ended challenge is to change the perception of what todays advanced manufacturers looks like and introduce manufacturers to Tomorrow’s Innovators. This challenge will prepare them for exciting STEM career opportunities, develop their problem-solving skills, and introduce them to real-world advanced manufacturing applications. Manufacturers need a workforce that is prepared to work in the new, Smart Factories of Industry 4.0. FANUC, together with Rockwell Automation, Cisco Systems, and Lincoln Electric, are committed to supporting education programs that serve the needs of the advanced manufacturing industry. Awards will include a FANUC Robot, a FANUC CNC Simulator, a Rockwell PLC/HMI package, FANUC Simulation software, and technology from Cisco and Lincoln, representing over $100,000 investment in STEM education programs. ![]() Educators and tech leaders look back on 2016; predict where edtech trends in teaching and learning will head this new year. With every new year comes new ideas. To get a glimpse into what the next 12 months will hold for everything from professional development to digital learning, and from communication to virtual reality, 15 ed tech luminaries looked back on 2016 edtech trends to help predict what’s in store for 2017. Here’s what they said: At Moss, we partner with Boxlight to provide affordable solutions for:If you are looking to keep up with the latest ed-tech trends, we can customize a solution affordable on almost every education budget. You tell us - what solutions you are looking to implement in your classrooms in 2017? How can we help? 15 hot edtech trends for 2017 adapted from eSchool News online publication.
![]() If you have been in the market for a large-platform 3D printer, we have exciting news! Moss now partners with 3D Platform, a leading manufacturer of large-scale, industrial-class 3D printers. 3DP’s flagship 3D printer, the 3DP1000, offers a large build area of 1 meter x 1 meter x 0.5 meter. (To put this in perspective, this is more than 70 times the size of the average desktop 3D printer!) 3D Platform is committed to building on industrial strength linear motion components, actuators, and motors while maintaining affordable flexibility with open market software and control solutions. They offer helpful How-To training, videos, and FAQ on their website. Learn more - contact Moss today to learn about the most reliable, large format 3D printer in its class:
![]() A recently published article in Manufacturing Business Technology, " Next-Generation Manufacturing: Are You Ready?" addresses the changing face of manufacturing facilities. These cutting-edge facilities embrace information-based approaches to manufacturing, advanced technologies, and a growing number of younger workers. An excerpt: "There is a revolution underway in manufacturing today that is ushering in a new era for the industry. If you take a step inside and look around one of today’s most advanced facilities, you’ll see it’s a far cry from the dark, dirty and dangerous rust-belt dungeons of manufacturing days gone by. Instead, these forward-thinking facilities are clean, bright, efficient workplaces that use some of the most cutting-edge technological advances available — robotics, 3D printing, mobile internet, cloud computing, big data and the Internet of Things (IOT) — to gain an edge in the marketplace with greater efficiencies, increased productivity, and other advantages that equate to a much healthier bottom line." |
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