Today we’d like to introduce you to Bobby Miller
Hi Bobby, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
This is my tenth year teaching. It’s hard to believe but time really is flying and it’s probably because I love what I do. I teach high school woodshop at Coon Rapids High School. We have an incredible shop that’s unlike any of the other schools I’ve taught at. We build pretty complex pieces of furniture and cabinetry in my woodworking classes. We also build sheds, chicken coops, planter boxes, wishing wells, etc. in my Construction classes. I love teaching real world skills kids can bring to their jobs someday. I work pretty hard at gaining and maintaining industry partnerships in the form of tours, speakers, donations, and consulting about what is happening in the woodworking world today. I use some teaching methods that I think are incredibly effective that I don’t see in education elsewhere. I have developed a series of woodworking plans that have step by step instructions as well as a QR code linked to a video of me completing the step. Students can then access whatever demo they need when they need it. They also have a front row seat as opposed to a live demo. I’ve shortened these demonstrations with video edits to make it more efficient than a live demo. I’m trying to market this method for free everywhere to help other shops teach these skills so their classes are more effective and we close the Skills Gap. This method has been proved on high schoolers and adults in my siminar classes I’ve taught. Not only is it great for learners, but the teacher now has the ability to complete the long list of other tasks necessary in their day to day. In my freetime, I like to spend time with my wife, three young kids, and our dog.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My method of incorporating QR codes is controversial because I’m asking students to use their own smartphones to access the demonstration. Many teachers, administrators and parents disagree that a phone can be used as an instructional tool. I agree as well at times. My own children aren’t even allowed to touch a cell phone but they are PreK/Toddler/Infant. A smart phone is one of the most dangerous things in the hands on the wrong person. However, it’s also the most powerful tool readily at our disposal.
I know something about teaching the proper use of dangerous power tools.
My students understand that they aren’t to use their cellphones unless they’re accessing instructions through my plans/QR codes. Any other use is against my expectations and I follow school discipline policy. However, I have less than 3 cell phone problems a year and see roughly 300 students every year. So this method has worked all but 1% of the time.
Still the well-intentioned pushback and curiosity has caused further scrutinization of my method. I’m also not the one who’s invented this method. I know dozens of teachers doing this method but keeping quiet about it because it’s controversial. The method works and I want more teachers/employers/educators to know about the effectiveness of it so we can help more kids.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My job at Coon Rapids is the first time I’ve held a job for over two years and I’m in my early 30s. Now, I haven’t been getting fired every other year, I’ve left for bigger and better which hasn’t always been salary. I worked several construction/manufacturing jobs before starting my own business – 3M(Miller Maintenance & Mowing) only to sell that to a neighbor/employee of mine to start full time in education. My time in education has been 3 years of substitute teaching, student teaching in Social Studies, followed by 7 years teaching woodshop in 2 high schools and 2 middle schools. Shop teachers are know for unconventional paths to teaching but where I stand out is that I still work summers in industry – partially for the money to make ends meet but to also to learn the industry. When I was told my I’d be teaching a welding class next year I went and found a welding shop (Performance Welding in Ham Lake) hiring and worked there over the summer. It’s a hard sell because I basically have 10 weeks to work for these companies so essentially as soon as I’m trained in I have to leave. Some companies I’ve spent more than one summer at when it’s a really great fit like Knapp Classic Cabinetry formerly in Isanti. This past summer I worked at a woodworking machinery manufacturer in Ham Lake Minnesota called Safety Speed. Unlike the other jobs, I wasn’t just brawn or summer help. They asked me to train their staff in woodworking to better understand their customer base. They also had me creating content for their website and social pages along with going to the International Woodworking Fair(IWF) in Atl Georgia. There, I helped their sales team but also was connected to the woodworking industries most cutting edge advances and saw where the industry was and where it’s headed. That experience was unlike anything else I’ve had professionally. I brought back so much knowledge, donations, connections from my summer at Safety Speed my class this year in so much better than it was in years past. It only further my desire to improve continuously by putting myself out there. For my classes, I’ve developed social media, youtube, & a podcast all titled, “Mr Miller’s Woodshop” for kids to follow, community members to see, and industry connections to be made. I’ve discovered through social media, there are hundreds of other excellent programs to mimic and learn from as well as more advanced teaching practices I can bring to my woodshop. At IWF, I connected with the woodworking teacher of the year -Mark Smith – and we’ve since collaborated on our curriculum and are working on giving presentations to other shop teachers across the country. After teaching now for some time & having a program set, it’s tempting to take my foot off the gas and let my program run but I think the stakes are too high and our country’s skills gap is too significant to not be helping out other shop programs. I hear so many say we need shop class back in school and to support the trades but my next question to them is, ‘How?’ What does the shop program in your town look like? What’s the instructor’s name? What’s been the response when you ask how you can help? At IWF, I played salesman for Safety Speed and got the opportunity to talk to hundreds of woodworkers across the world passing by the booth, I asked them all what their high school woodshop programs looked like back home. 99% had no idea. The 1% that did usually had children in those classes. The programs are out there. The teachers are out there. They need our support if they’re looking to survive and thrive to help close that skills gap.
What makes you happy?
My family. I’m so blessed by my wife and kids I can’t believe it. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE what I get to do for work. I also love that it gets me home by 3 every day. My ambition and drive leave me pretty exhausted by the end of the workday but when my family rushes to greet me at the door my exhaustion drops and that feeling gives me new life to enjoy my time with them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/mrmillerswoodshop
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrmillerswoodshop/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563799341620
- Twitter: https://x.com/millerswoodshop
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@mrmillerswoodshop
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7afCB36N0m76ayFp5dhjTx
- Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mr-millers-woodshop/id1760038691
