Dr. Sandra Adam's Bio
Dr. Sandra Adams is a nationally recognized CTE leader, author, and advocate for high-quality career and technical education. She serves as ACTE's Vice President for the Administration Division and is an area CTE director and principal known for advancing college completion and workforce readiness through innovative CTE programming.
Sandra is the author of five books, including But I'm Not a Reading Teacher and Next Level CTE Instruction, PLC in CTE, Fluent Work and is a sought-after speaker, consultant, and contributor on CTE leadership, instruction, and work-based learning. She is also a founding member of the CTE Collective, a national network dedicated to elevating and advancing the field of career and technical education.
Dr. Adams begins by saying that possibility thinking is about reimagining teaching so students connect with supportive people and build real efficacy through mastery.
She says teachers should move away from content delivery and toward helping students partner with resourceful people who expand opportunities.
Sandra says work-based learning should be embedded all year and adapted to local needs, not treated as a one-size-fits-all model.
She says the client pitch is her favorite example of classroom WBL, because it brings real problems from the community into the classroom.
Sandra says feedback from partners should include descriptive and directional feedback, not just correction or evaluation.
She says networking is one of the most important skills in the age of acceleration, so students need explicit practice with it.
Dr. Adams tells listeners that students should sound like experts by using industry language and technical vocabulary in authentic contexts.
She says vocabulary should never be taught in isolation; it should always be taught in context.
Sandra says all educators are literacy teachers, and she frames literacy through TWIRLS: thinking, writing, reading, listening, and speaking.
Her final message: exposure is the key, and no one should cap what a 17-year-old can do.
To learn more about the features of MaiaLearning that support career exposure and work-based learning, schedule a demo today.
.png)
