I am teaching for the first time this year a high school course titled “Basic Car Care”. Any suggestions where I can find lesson plans for such a course, making it worthwhile for my students and not just a “busy work” class? I have searched the Internet to no avail for a course or a book. thanks.
Sorry … no help on topic, just curious as to the thinking behind a school thrusting a teacher with no experience into a course with no lesson plan. If I were that teacher, I would be taking them to task for this!
I hope it all works out despite the seeming massive lack of forethought on your employers part. Good luck.
Public library with books with names like, “Basic Car Care”, and “Auto Care For Dummies”, etc., etc.
In Minnesota teachers are hired in the Summer to develop lesson plans for courses or revised courses at a rate of about $25 an hour. Think you need to have a talk with the school leadership on how courses are put together. The lesson plans are as important as the instruction.
Here’s a link to what appears to be a course with lesson plans, and activities. It appears to be a website oriented to Wyoming teachers, but the application is universal.
www.nwlincs.org/wyolincs/lessons/elcivics/Miscellaneous/Auto%20Unit.doc
I would also check with the local or regional vo-tech. Many of them offer basic car maintenance courses to novices.
try this:
As a retired secondary school educator with 34 years of service, I have to say that I am shocked that the OP’s school or the school system does not have a course of study and an appropriate approved textbook for this course that he/she is expected to teach. Before we implemented new courses, there was a very detailed proposal that we had to submit, just to have a course considered for inclusion in the curriculum.
Once a course was approved, a supervisory committee would request sample textbooks from various publishers, and after studying those offerings, would select a textbook, and prepare a lengthy document containing the objectives of the course and the major topics that would be included. Then, a curriculum committee that met during the summer would assign one or more teachers to work on a study guide (including classroom activities) for the course.
A teacher who is certified in the subject area would be given the study guides, textbook, and other materials several weeks prior to the beginning of the school year, in order for him/her to begin to prepare lesson plans and such. If the OP works for a school system that does not do all that I have described, I have to say that I am not at all impressed with that school system.
Thanks so very much to all of you for your hints. It sounds like you should be in charge of education in the State of Michigan! Unfortunately, you would be surprised at the number of courses offered to students with no curriculum, no text, etc. - nothing except an interested and concerned teacher. Thankfully, there are sites like CarTalk to help teachers like me out. I appreciate it!