[Chris Byam]

As a 9 year teacher in Technical and Architectural Design as well as the Introduction to Engineering Design course in the Project Lead the Way program, I fully agree with all of the suggestions you've given at this point. However, we can't forget that AutoCad, Inventor, Pro E, Unigraphics, etc. are all "tools" to be used to teach certain drafting principles such as orthographic projection, dimensioning principles, pictorials, sectioning techniques, auxiliary views, working drawings, and so on. I feel this information is much more critical in a drafting class than the software itself. Any of the "old drafting textbooks" you have will give examples on how to accomplish these types of problems and I would suggest giving varying assignments in each of the major categories to see that the students receive a wide array of knowledge by the end of the course. I know as well as you do that kids don't all learn at the same pace.... you need to be very flexible and patient.

Best of luck and if you ever need help, please feel free to contact me through e-mail for ideas and suggestions.