Welcome to Technology Education at Stout Middle School!

Thank you for taking the time to visit my virtual classroom website.  Whether you are a student, parent, or collegue, you will find something of interest here.  I have been teaching industrial arts/technology education for the past 18 years.  In 2001 I joined the faculty at Stout Middle School as a Career/Technical Education (CTE) instructor.  Two classrooms are utilized to present a problem-solving based curriculum.  The first is a traditional 'shop' with various tools and machinery. The second is a computer lab attached to the shop with 30 Dell workstations.  Sixth graders are introduced to the course during a 10-week program entitled Exploration Technology.  Both  7th and 8th grade programs are semester courses, the 7th grade being Foundations of Technology and the 8th grade, Applications of  Technology.   Units involve project building, written assignments, along with the integration of math and science.  These units include but are not limited to the following areas of technology:  Transportation, Communication,  Manufacturing,  Construction, and Bio-Related.  I believe that one step in developing critical thinking skills in young people is to get them to 'think with their hands'.  Technology Education at Stout Middle School certainly does that!