Meet Jake Greer, Local 25 Instructor

We’re proud to send Local 25 instructor Jake Greer UA Instructor Training Program (ITP) in Ann Arbor this week as part of the training faculty. Jake has been a full-time instructor for our apprentice training program since 2020. This week, he will co-teach “Introduction to Teaching Online Using Blackboard LMS” along with Brannon Baxter from UA Local 72 in Atlanta, GA.

We caught up with Jake before he left to get more information on his current position and the benefits of the weeklong ITP.

 

 

What do you teach at Local 25?

“When I started, my primary focus was to develop a 3-week program for people who were new to working in Natural Gas Distribution work to be pipe fusers and pipefitters. I typically spend about a 1/3 of the year focused on Gas Distribution courses and the rest on building trades plumbing and pipefitting. The classes I currently teach for building trades are Math 1, Math 2, Oxy/Fuel Torch Cutting, Related Science, Soldering and Brazing, Welding, Basic Valve Repair, Plastic Welding, Customer Relations, Foreman, Drafting and Blueprint reading, Fuel Gas Systems, Use and Care of Tools, Iowa Mechanical Code, and Robotic Total Station.”

Is this your first time teaching during the ITP? What will you teach?

“Yes. I feel very fortunate to have been asked to be part of the training faculty for ITP, where Brannon Baxter and I will co-teach ‘Introduction to Teaching Online Using Blackboard LMS.’ We’ll have morning and afternoon groups, with 20 participants in each group. Their computer skills vary, and we’ll teach how Blackboard can be used with various types of files, how grading of assignments can become automatic, using an online gradebook versus a paper gradebook, managing rosters, tracking apprentice progress, announcements, lesson plans, and more. My objective is to show Instructors how Blackboard helps you be more effective with training time. When homework can be automatically graded along with any quizzes or exams, the apprentices get feedback faster about their progress and they can ask more specific questions.”

How did you get started using the Blackboard platform in the training center?

"In summer of 2020 we decided to make the switch from pen and paper homework/classwork and see how much content we could move to an online platform. We were shut down due to COVID and were looking at options to keep training apprentices. We decided moving forward to utilize an iPad with the online learning platform known as Blackboard. Fellow instructor Craig Buckwalter and I dove headfirst into training. The UA International Training Fund hosted online classes for basic and advanced Blackboard methods."

How does this weeklong program benefit the industry?

“You create a network of people who are always willing to share their knowledge. Some areas of the country have more oil refineries, others have microchip plants, some have many food processing plants, etc. These various worksites all have unique approaches to complete the work, and you meet people who are very knowledgeable about those specific worksites. We share that knowledge with apprentices to help them be aware of what it’s like to work at various places across the country. By the end of the week, you have so many new training ideas that you can’t wait to try back home!”

What are you most looking forward to about teaching other instructors?

“I’m looking forward to teaching a class of instructors in an environment where everyone is doing their best to pay attention, take notes, ask questions, listen to answers, etc. Instructors are fully engaged every minute of ITP and every participant is giving more than 100% effort in their classes. Everyone starts thinking how to apply their new knowledge back at their home local, and before they leave ITP they’re going to be asking each other to evaluate their training ideas. Training is not cheap, nor is ego. We want our ideas to be well tested by thought out before we spend members’ money.”

Join us in wishing Jake luck this week as he teaches colleagues from throughout the U.S. and Canada ways to be more efficient in the classroom!