This project didn’t start this year or last year. The true beginning may be so obscure as to be unrecognizable.  But by 1998 - the year I decided to become a teacher - I believe the thought was evident.  My educational goal was to teach high school technology, to have classes that emphasized projects, and to have students who selected my classes because it was where they wanted to be.  I also wanted to have technology classes for the more advanced students...something to challenge and inspire.  I felt that robotics instruction could meet these goals.

Robotics as a high school course has been established in many schools, but it is hardly mainstream.  Robotics presents itself as an excellent choice for combining technology and science curriculum into a project-based course.  Students work as teams to learn about, design, build, and operate machines to perform tasks - an experience with real-life applications.

A key factor in successfully teaching robotics is to make the instruction meaningful to the students.  Starting up a course requires some level of equipment, facilities, and staff that goes beyond what most schools already have in place.  It takes support, money, and commitment.

Focusing the effort ...

My first teaching assignment was middle school physical science.  While this experience had its rewards, there was little room for pursuing my technology teaching goals.

When I was hired to teach technology at Corvallis High School the following year, I was excited and hopeful.  I was being hired to teach specific courses that could have been prerequisites to a robotics course. I wanted to be ready to offer robotics the following year.  The summer of my hire, I attended (on my own initiative and expense) a 3-day workshop in San Jose entitled "Robotics in the Science Curriculum".  The workshop was modeled on a course offered at Foothill High School that uses Lego brand construction pieces coupled with two types of programmable controllers.  Students learn the basics of mechanics, programming, logic, electricity, and strategies for accomplishing tasks.

The Effort ...

This report documents my efforts during the 2001-2002 school year to get a robotics course at CHS. The original title for my project was "Adding Robotics to the High School Curriculum".  About midway through the school year, it was apparent that I would not be able to add a new course, so I changed my goal to just add some robotics to my existing Electrical / Mechanical Systems class.  By mid-May, I learned that because of budget cuts, courses - and my job - were being cut. The original title no longer made sense.  That’s when the title of this project changed to "The Rise and Fall of Robotics Instruction at Corvallis High School".

Personal thoughts ...

I believe I put in a strong effort to achieve my goal. In other places and times, I feel that my efforts could have been successful.  But now, with the loss of my teaching job, I’ve lost the ability to renew the pursuit of the goal. Yes, there are other teaching jobs available, and I’m sure that many school districts would value my services.  But for practical reasons, I’m location bound, and my future in teaching is now very unclear.

I’m not sure what I could have done differently to change the outcome of this project, and to avoid of the loss of my teaching job.  Blame can be pointed in more than one direction.  The people of Oregon collectively seem to feel that education is still overfunded.  The Oregon Legislature does not seem to value education sufficiently to raise its funding priority.  School district administrators prioritize, deciding what stays - and what gets cut.  In Corvallis, three schools are being closed.  At Corvallis High School, fine arts and technology were cut, but not sports.  My hope of surviving the cuts relied on being able to teach two science courses.  These courses were claimed by a more senior teacher who become ‘displaced’ at another school.  Current staffing is based on the assumption that the Oregon Legislature will, in a special session this summer, restore some lost funding.  If this doesn’t happen, even more staff cuts can occur.

I find the whole system and situation very frustrating.

What’s next?

I don’t know what’s next.  As I write this, there are no local secondary teaching jobs at the level and endorsements that I want to teach.  One option is to trying to stay connected with the school district and wait in case things get better.  I could maybe get a 1/6 time position, or maybe substitute for a year.  Another option is to seek out college level teaching assignments.  But another option is to write off my teaching aspirations as a bad choice and get a ‘real’ job.

But given the right teaching position and any reasonable chance, I would be willing to again try to get robotics courses in my high school.