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How to calculate one/Fifth of any number

Accurately Calculating Drywall

Producing Trade Ready Students

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Intro Skills

Each semester many students upon graduating, are swept into the workforce with promises of earning higher than normal wages and with guaranteed later pay increases. If you’ve entered the workforce with an entry level industry base certification skill; I would really like to hear your opinion in this discussion. Its because of being trained, getting certified, and having a steady income that many older adults have decided to take classes at technical schools. Meanwhile, class and study times always seem to conflict with the mandatory family time. Having such demanding obligations requires that individual to already possess advance skills which they most likely don’t have.  

Adults with dependents and limited skills is but one of many reasons’ workers get frustrated and quit. 

“Gaining trade experience from trade instructors should produce skilled work-ready students and not helpers”.

View Point

    You may have heard construction workers, students, and even some technical trade educators say that the construction industry is mostly a hands-on industry.

I find that this statement in the worst case has been misunderstood. Surely hands-on plays an important role in our industry but, no matter the end results - excellent or poor, clearly the potion called theory shows how well students have mastered the understanding of each hands-on task.

“It takes both theory and hands-on skills to define the outcome of every project”.

                                                         

Math Problem

          Many students entering into technical trades thinking they need only develop their measuring and cutting skills. Shame will accompany failure if material estimating, bidding, and how to create a materials cut-list wasn’t taught.  

In my research, I’ve discovered why some students have difficulty solving numeric equations. One of the main reasons for such difficulties is called the traditional inverted process. This is because we read math questions from left to right but solve them from right to left.

Motivational Statement

      Please teach me. I am your student. I am your student who’s no longer willing to be moderately educated; no longer willing to accept hands-on training and negate or forsake theory, but to learn and use them both. I am no longer willing to be marginally blinded by my own dimming light. A failing light learned by hearing others say “you-don’t-need-to-know-any-of-that-stuff”, “let’s just go to work and make that money”.  Well, not changing this mind-set will remove most theory from my hands-on task called winging-it. I’ve heard that something like this forces many to complain when denied a pay increase, or when not offered the available higher position, and, even when having to place their retirement on hold. For this reason, I am ready. I am ready to view the impossible as doable and ready to see all difficulties as unfamiliar. I am ready to be challenged, ready to research, ready to take notes and study those notes until I can recite and apply them like second nature. I am ready to clearly see the why’s, how-comes, and the for-what’s that should’ve never been removed in the first place. Teach me to be successful so that I can show others this same door! 

Kenneth Williams Sr.

“A daily reminder of why you started will eliminate giving-up as an option”

“Apprehension and comprehension come after the dismissal of dead space and dead weight”.

Communication and Written Skills

 Communication in the construction industry is always the first skill a worker must use. From a do-it-your-self handy person to a general contractor. Planning, scheduling, blueprint take-offs, job bidding, and creating a cut list must be completed before the hands-on skills can begin.

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Andragogy – The Adult Learner

          Many adults perform poorly on the job because they enter technical schools with an I-just-need-you to teach me this and not all that other stuff type attitude. This behavior stems from a young age where children although commanded chooses to pick what they think will be easiest; even if the end results are substandard. Some adults register for classes based on what they think they’d like to be taught; missing a lot of what is really needed. Today in most cases the expert agrees. Telling a construction expert after 20 or 30 years of industry service what lesson they’d like to learn versus the ones they don’t, return to school for more training and they usually never complete the program. This demand may expedite the training but will also invite skill and performance limitations.

 “How can you express what you want if you don’t know all that you need? After all, “we are considered the trade experts”.

Demand for trained carpenters

     Some may say that the construction industry’s demand for highly skilled residential carpenters is low.  “who’s building the many new homes and making the necessary repairs”?  Surely you don’t think general contractors or building them alone. What about the remodeling and renovation jobs?  It appears that the demand is very high, but because of the minimum requirements needed, nearly anyone can title themselves a carpenter; even those who are self-taught or those with a few short - handed-down lessons. In fact, it’s not that the demand is low; It’s that so many improperly trained workers are working as underpaid carpenters that the demand for highly skilled - technically trained carpenters are limited to; We’ll call you when-the-hole-of-trouble has gotten too deep. One major problem in our industry is not requiring carpenters to be independently licensed. This issue has invited a decline in technically trained craftsman that most often result in poor performances.

Applying Construction Mathematics: Applying Construction Mathematics: The importance of mathematics to construction

Applying Construction Mathematics: Applying Construction Mathematics: The importance of mathematics to construction

I believe everyone; especially carpenters uses algebra and geometry daily and don't
realize it. I know how to repair an engine, but should I also learn how to
build one? No if you are satisfied with making repairs. Yes, if your goals
include advancing in a mechanical career where you are the engines engineer.
"The face to face come over here and let me show you approach was the only
medium used by our grandparents". This practice was pretty much a limited
hands-on training. Understanding and applying theories complements the hands-on
training that will create successes above success.  I find that many folks take the content
approach to mathematics especially if it involves many hours of hard work and
brain power. “Let us not regress by miscalculating education"