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Day 1: Lab Routines and Your Choice (Flex Day)

Lesson Overview
Time 50 minutes
Objectives (Teacher-chosen) Establish CCE lab routines and expectations; run campus-required first-week activities; resolve technology access issues
TEKS N/A (flex day; core TEKS demonstrated on Days 2-4)
Deliverable Teacher's choice. Default: signed Lab Safety Contract.
Materials (as needed for the option chosen) Printed Lab Safety Contract, H&L Workbook Ch 1 pp. 2-3, Chromebooks, projector, Engineering notebooks (1 per student, distribute today — yearlong CCE artifact)

This is a flex day. Pick what your campus needs.

Day 1 is the natural routines day. Use the full period for Lab Routines + Safety Contract, run one of the shorter H&L Ch 1 activities below, handle a campus event, or let SSO and roster issues resolve. The core CCE content begins on Day 2. Zero minutes of these options is fine if your campus ate Monday.

Warm-Up (Optional)

WARM-UP (optional, 5 min): On page 1 of your new engineering notebook, write or draw what you think you might want to be when you grow up. It is 100% okay if you have no idea. Write "I don't know yet" and draw a question mark, or write "I am still exploring." There is no wrong answer.

If you run this, distribute engineering notebooks first so students can make their Day 1 entry on page 1. Have them label the cover with their name + "CCE Engineering Notebook." Students revisit this page at 6SW Wk6 Capstone and compare. Reassure anyone who wrote "I don't know yet." That is why this class exists.

Option A: Lab Routines and Safety Contract (Default Option)

This is the default option for Day 1 and carries the normal first-week routines load. Every VILS lab is different. Your Chromebook cart location, voice-level norms, equipment sign-out system, and safety expectations are yours to set. Use the starter list below and substitute what actually works in your room.

Starter routines checklist (adapt to your lab):

  1. Chromebook checkout and return procedures. Where the cart is, how to log in, what to do if a Chromebook will not charge.
  2. Software and website use rules. Only sites assigned by the teacher; closed-tab discipline.
  3. Equipment respect. Students who break, mishandle, or take equipment home lose lab privileges.
  4. Voice levels and movement. When to work at desks vs. when to work with hands-on equipment.
  5. Lab safety basics. Walkways clear, no food or drink on tech, report damage immediately.

Distribute the printed Lab Safety Contract. Students read, sign, and return. File in a Day 1 folder.

Facilitation Tip

The student's signature is not paperwork. It is the evidence you will reference if a rule is broken. The seriousness sets the tone for the year.

This option can fill 40 to 45 minutes (the full period minus warm-up) on campuses that need full first-day routines. If your campus has a separate CTE orientation day, compress the routines walkthrough to 20 minutes and add Option B or Option C.

Option B: Exploring the World of Work Scavenger Hunt

Source: H&L Workbook Ch 1, p. 2. "Exploring the World of Work."

Pair students up. For 3 to 5 minutes, they list as many items in the classroom as possible. For each item, they write at least one career that helped create it or bring it into the room.

Seed the activity with examples:

  • The chair you are sitting in. Furniture Designer, Carpenter, Truck Driver.
  • The Chromebook on your desk. Software Engineer, Electrical Engineer, Assembly Worker.
  • The shoes you are wearing. Shoe Designer, Material Scientist, Marketer.

After 5 minutes, lead a quick discussion using the workbook prompts (p. 3):

  • How many items and careers did you find?
  • Did you notice patterns in the careers that worked together?
  • Why might some careers be more "behind the scenes" than others?

DOK 2: How would you describe the difference between a career you can see (a teacher, a chef) and a career that is "behind the scenes" (a software engineer, a quality control inspector)? Why are both important?

This option fits in about 15 to 20 minutes. Use alongside a shortened Option A if you want to bracket routines with a low-stakes group activity.

Option C: Campus Event Buffer or Tech Access Resolution

If your campus has a Cub Camp, orientation, ID photos, schedule changes, roster churn, SSO setup, or any other first-week event, this is the day to absorb it. The core CCE content begins Day 2. Protect those three days over this one.

Exit Ticket (Optional)

EXIT TICKET (optional): Name one rule from the Lab Safety Contract you signed today (if Option A ran) OR one career from your scavenger hunt that you had never thought about before (if Option B ran). (d(1)(B) if Option B)

Differentiation

  • Support: For Option A, pair new-to-the-school students with returning students during the routines walkthrough. For Option B, pre-print a partial scavenger hunt with 5 items already listed (chair, light bulb, water bottle, backpack, marker) so students fill in only the careers.
  • Extension: For Option B, challenge students to find at least one item in the room that took 5 or more different careers to create. They should list all 5.
  • ELL: Bilingual word bank of common careers in Spanish and English (Maestro = Teacher, Ingeniero = Engineer, Diseñador = Designer, Carpintero = Carpenter). For Option A, provide the Lab Safety Contract in Spanish if your campus has it, or pair ELL students with bilingual peers during the routines walkthrough.