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Can you tell us about yourself? 

My name is Chuck Conrad. I teach at Randleman high school and teach electronics in the vocational department called career technical education. The school is located in Randleman, North Carolina, just a few miles South of a brain rural North Carolina. I've been there for 12 years.

Why did you start a career in education?

And I wanted to pass along things that I know because my age is aging out and we need more people in the industry and more people that are going to take over us one day in the, uh, in manufacturing and troubleshooting, and service for any other jobs that I would like to have.

If you could have any other job what would it be and why?

I've always wanted to be since I was a kid, a park ranger, something about working outdoors in the elements and, in nature and all that really has always appealed to me. So when I get done teaching, I retire from that. I may look into something along those lines

How are kids different now than 30 years ago?

Kids today are more tactical learners, I believe, than they were 30 years ago, 30 years ago, I was in the army. So I was not in school, but I did remember my kids when they were in school. And they weren't near as hands-on as they are now, which I think is a good thing. There's an upside and the downside, as long as things are regulated well in the classroom. I think that kids touching things, having the opportunity to, um, uh, maybe the stakes and learn from those mistakes are a really good thing.

How is teaching different now than 30 years ago?

Teaching, is also different along the same lines. You have to be more conscious about how to interact with kids. Most of the calls, their attention span is not near what it used to be.I don't believe, like I said, I wanted to teach him where I'm at for 12 years, but I was a student once. And I noticed that kids attention spans are definitely smaller than they used to be.

What would you tell someone who wants to become a teacher?

Something I would tell someone right now that's thinking about becoming a teacher is make sure that it's a calling. We had, we had so many teachers that considered a job. It is, it is a job. And I enjoyed the job, but make sure that you are called in to make sure that your heart is really into teaching, because if are starting to teaching, you're not gonna be effective. Kids will see right through that. They become unmanageable. You'll become discouraged and you won't want to teach anymore. So make sure that it's something that you really have a desire to do. And you actually feel like you have a calling to about young folks.

What is one thing you would change to help kids learn better?

One thing that I would change to help kids learn better knowledge say, um, having a one to one technology with students. I think that if every student had, something like an iPad or a tablet of some sort, uh, something other than their phones, the phones are really too small and hard to interact with. Our school doesn't have that some schools do. And I think that they, they do well with it. There's a learning cutter curve, obviously, kids who want to take advantage of it. But I think that there is a way to implement a one to one technology. And I think that would really help.