2020?! Woah!

In 2020, I can tell you exactly where I will be, well sorta.

"Mrs. Molascon, can you help me with this drill press?" It's a question I've heard every day for the last week, ever since we started this robot project. I sighed btu smiled, "Of course Sarah, just sit tight for a second while I... Dave, PUT THE SAW DOWN!" I run over to the 8th grade boy who was just about to cut something without his safety gla**** on, good thing I caught him! "Dave, first of all, put your safety gla**** on! You know the rules! Now that I see what you're up to, it's really important that you measure twice, cut once, remember? Put a pencil line down on that piece of wood, mark off the piece you want and cut on the side of the line that you don't want, got it?" Dave nods and I go and help Sarah with the drill press.

Oh, it's a typical day in paradise. For the first few years I taught, I didn't let the kids use and tools or machinery. I was too scared to let them do it. After I got tenure, I loosened up a little bit, but not too much. I have been teaching Technology for nine years now. I'm located in San Francisco, California, a long trip from home. I ended up here because my girlfriend, now wife, and I wanted to get married, and didn't want to stay in the Northeast. We wanted a nice, liberal area to raise a family. 'Course I got more than I bargained for here in San Fran.

I am a technology teacher, yeah with the machines and everything! We do a little bit on the computers, but it really needs to be hands on learning. During this project we're building wooden robots that uses a hydraulic system to pick up tennis balls, the kids always have fun in the end when we have our tournament! The hydraulics is provided by syringes and tube filled with water that the kids will push and pull to make their robot pick up the most tennis balls. I reclaim the wood mostly from torn down buildings, or cut-offs from the local hardware store. The tubing and syringes I need to buy, but sometimes I can get some old oxygen tubing from the hospital. Reusing and recycling is always better than letting things sit in the landfill!

In my high school cla**** I have the kids use on material they can find around their neighborhoods, nothing store bought is allowed in my lab, and boy do they know it. In all of my cla**** I emphasize the fact that we're wearing down our Earth, and by planting more trees or using composts instead of throwing everything out, the world will be a better place for our children. The kids always cringe when I talk about them having kids, well, the high schoolers chuckle.

I love what I do and I would never, ever do anything else. Touching people's lives is always what I've wanted to do, and the kids need someone they can talk to, and I am that person! When I was in college, I took for granted the opportunity around me to raise that awareness in my colleagues. I think people forget why they wanted to become teachers, but for me, every single day I go home happy because I know that the kids had a good time, felt safe, and learned something new about themselves. I'm a people person, and that is the aspect I want to change in this world, we need more happy people and I am going to make that happen, one person at a time.