If you haven't done it, how will you know?

An interesting graph from WorkTour.com shows what students consider to be the important factors in choosing a career. You'll note that the two largest factors "I'm good at this" (22%) and "I enjoy doing this"(28%) require  students  to have actually done something. You will not know if you're good at something or that you enjoy doing it, without the reality of having done it. 

I remember an experience in junior high woodshop in which I noticed that I was having difficulty keeping my coping saw cut on the marked like. For just a brief second I looked over at my neighbor's work and realized that perhaps my own work was not so bad after all. His saw cut had wandered far from the line and his work was very much worse.

The very simple graph should illuminate the failure of American education. While it might be focused on students doing real things, it is focused on keeping kids at desks instead.

Make, fix and create.