Evaluating Students for Your Shop Class

“Is Your Shop the Right Place for Them?”

I had a tough meeting this week with a set of parents to discuss why I felt that my class was too rigorous for their student and that the counseling department needed to help them find a more appropriate class for them. It happens occasionally and is a difficult decision to make. On one hand, I want to be able to teach students a skill that they could use as a career or hobby but safety is the priority. Not everyone is able to see this and I have to be careful when speaking with parents, administrators, and counselors. When I taught at the high school, I got reprimanded a few times for voicing my concern. Today’s post is to pass along some knowledge, ideas, and concepts to my fellow shop teachers and those who teach (or are looking at teaching).

Bottom line, it’s about safety. But it can be difficult to explain to a parent, administrator, counselor, or fellow teacher. It has to be more than a gut feeling, it has to be in words.

Here is the concept of shop class as it revolves around safety:

• If you did a risk assessment for your class, you’re going to put controls in place to keep the Probability of something happening LOW. The reality of working with power tools and other equipment in the shop is that if something were to happen, the Severity of the injury is potentially CRITICAL or even CATASTROPHIC. People (especially administrators) have a tough time hearing it but it’s a reality.

• We work hard at keeping the probability of something happening LOW but ultimately, the student carries the majority of the responsibility for their safety and the safety of other students around them. Evaluating students and ensuring that they’re never placed in a situation that they can’t handle is important.

• Depending on your program and the assistance (if any) that you receive depends on the type of program you can run and what tools and equipment students are able to operate. You might be well supported. I taught one class at the high school where the two young gentlemen had a SPED para that helped them with their projects and to be safe. Here at the Career and Technical Center, I don’t have that level of support. We all share the same SPED teacher who LOVES to be in the shop with me but unfortunately has to assist other classes as well. We do the best we can but we can’t compromise safety.

• Parents expect us to keep their students safe, even if it means keeping them safe from themselves or from other students. Early evaluation and identification is important.

Important Note. Labels don’t mean shit. ADHD. Autism. OHI. Depression… Every student is different. Every student is given the opportunity to be evaluated, regardless of learning challenges.

Here is the concept of shop class as it revolves around the curriculum and its competencies.

• This falls on you and what you feel you (your program) can handle. You might accept students who are safe but due to learning challenges, might not meet all of the class competencies. It’s your call. I had one student who loved the class and was incredibly safe. Half way through the year, we got to a point where the tools and the projects were past his ability. He was the best shop mate you could ask for. Would get tools and material for his fellow students. Used the tools that he knew how to use safely. He kept the shop clean and had such a happy demeanor that he was great to have around. I miss him.

Here are some of the key characteristics that I evaluate for:

• Maturity. Stays on task (most of the time) or fools around? Do they understand the seriousness and dangers of the tools or jokes around?

• Impulsiveness. This was the word that we chose to describe someone who sporadically does something. It aligns with situational awareness and self awareness. Do they pick something up and spin it just because or do they show self control? Do they sprint down the hallway for no reason or do they walk at a reasonable pace?

• Ability to follow instructions. Pretty straightforward. We’re not out to get students who have difficulty with lengthy instructions but when operating tools, there’s a certain process that needs to be followed. Are they going to be able to handle it? Are they going to be able to use some of the tools and not all of them?

• Ability to handle frustration. How do students handle frustrating situations? Do they become vocal? Do they take it in stride? Do they karate kick or punch the air when they’re discouraged or frustrated? This is part of maturity.

• Self/situational awareness. How do they move around and operate in the shop? Are they aware of their body movements?

It took some time to find the words that describe the characteristics that best align with someone being safe. This is used to help parents understand why we might suggest a different class for their student or what their student might need to work on. I try to conduct parent/teacher conferences as soon as I identify students who might struggle with these things.

THIS ISN’T JUST ABOUT SPED STUDENTS. I’ve had serious talks with students who don’t have IEPs or 504s about their behavior in the shop/classroom and how they either needed to fix it or find a different class. Everyone is evaluated. Everyone needs to be safe.

“You’re just trying to push students out of your class that you don’t want to deal with.” This was the accusation this week. Nope. I work hard at accommodating and meeting students where they are but I also know when it’s past my ability, the student’s ability, and the type of support I have or don’t have.

Knock on wood, I’ve only had three students who have needed stitches and all three told me that they knew that they failed to follow instructions when it happened. I would like to continue to keep those numbers low.

Again, we’re not here to be gatekeepers. I would LOVE to run a woodworking program that focused on students with learning challenges but we’re not there yet. Maybe come January when the youngest gets her driver’s license or the county decides to listen and come up with more programs for our students with learning challenges.

In the case of the student that we chose to remove, it illustrated the point that a few things weren’t done.

• The student’s caseworker and counselor didn’t truly evaluate the student.

• They didn’t listen to our concerns at the beginning of the year.

• They didn’t help the student’s parents understand the intensity of our program and direct them to utilize the shop class and SPED program at the student’s home high school.

P.S. Apparently, the attention that I was given by the SPED caseworker (accused of pushing SPED students out of my program) was added ammunition for additional SPED support. Even though my principal gives me a hard time for pushing back, it helped to illustrate a need that many of our programs have and we’re going to get an additional SPED teacher and para. What’s the saying? A squeaky wheel…

---

I hope this post helps you to understand how to evaluate potential or current students for your program. We have a responsibility to keep students safe.

Let me know your thoughts and if there’s anything I need to add. I’m always refining my program.