Dear future Ag teachers

Classroom management skills are important for any teacher to hold forever, but it takes practice and knowledge to master the skill. Managing your classroom will result in an effective learning process. Here are 5 tips on classroom management that I have found useful.

1. Start strong. This could quite possibly be THE most important part of managing a classroom. Starting out the year with a strong attitude is better than starting with a weak attitude and trying to become stronger. If you start strong, you can always lighten up once you begin trusting your class. The first day will either win you or lose you the classroom. 
2. Always remind students of the expectations, procedures, and consequences. Throughout the year students become comfortable in front of you and their classmates. Reminding students of your classroom rules and consequences can bring the students back to you. 
3. Reinforce good behavior. No matter how old students are, it is always best to reinforce good behavior to receive more of it during class. Just a simple phrase of, "Thank you for raising your hand," will remind students that it is important to follow the classroom expectations. Behavior can also be reinforced through rewards. Rewarding students for doing stuff like cleaning the shop, practicing safety procedures, or simply having students' respect will reinforce the behavior you want your students to have. 
4. Prepare, prepare, prepare. Preparation of the classroom is key. Having your lesson plans ready, the classroom seating chart complete, and a prepared classroom create the environment that you are in charge. 
5. Procedures for starting and ending class. These procedures allow students structure within the classroom. It will help you maintain the class with minimal distractions, frustrations, and loss of classroom time. With the periods only being 40 to 50 minutes long, every minute counts. 

These tips on classroom management will help out a beginning or student teacher. It takes time and practice to master this skill, but it is always better to try and fail then to not try at all. 

Putting It All Together

This past week I visited my cooperating center to teach a Life Knowledge lesson. The students were between the grades of 10 and 12. I chose to do a lesson that would be fun and useful to the upperclassmen: Interview Etiquette. The upperclassmen enjoyed the lesson, but the younger students couldn't connect it to their lives yet. Here are some snapshots from my experience.

• I started out with a lesson plan that I had to shorten to fit the time slot of the class. I made some small edits here and there. In the end, I never really used this plan! The students needed to become engaged through activities, not lecture. I started out going through the interest approach. This really grabbed the students' attention until I began a discussion. I lost the students, so I had to speed up to the next activity. Because of this, I had to improvise the rest of the lesson to fit the time. I actually ended the lesson in perfect time. 

• My classroom management skills have grown. With simple words, I have control over the classroom! I had four students who troubled me a bit, but that challenge was good. They became off task by talking to one another. I tried to bring them back in to the task with little success. I could have picked them out of the crowd for a later activity, but I didn't want to push my luck. 

This lesson brought back the spark I needed to finish out the semester's activities. I cannot wait to be in that classroom with students who are willing to learn. Labs throughout the semester help you find your teaching strategies, but there is nothing like a classroom full of high school students to point you in the right direction. 

4th #TeachAgChat

Each of us are required to moderate a twitter chat on a topic that we prefer within a group. I worked with Mike Swartwood to moderate a chat on "Fostering new innovative skill sets in agriculture mechanics education." The questions we compiled are listed below.

Here are some key points from this assignment.

• Because of our topic being on ag mechanics, we had a different group of individuals willing to participate. They are familiar with the ever changing industry and were able to provide a new insight for the classroom. 

• It was neat getting to interact with teachers across the nation. We got to pick their brains and get advice for when we are teaching. It was interesting to see the teachers interact with each other as well. They questioned each others way of thinking. 

This assignment was different from the rest we have had this semester. Here is the Storify from our #teachagchat last night. 

Micro Teaching Experience

This week was filled with many days of teaching. I had the awesome experience of teaching a 3 day unit of instruction on floral design at Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology (CPI). Each lesson held a different aspect of floral design that interested students. I saw the passion and excitement that the students have for horticulture throughout my teaching experience. 

I taught a lesson on 4 principles of design and the color wheel, an operational lesson on creating an arrangement, and a managerial lesson on pricing out arrangements. Here are some take away's that I got from each of these lessons.

• Day one was full of excitement as I began teaching about floral design. I had the students create a "note" book by using sheets of blank paper. They were to take notes in the book on the principles of design and color. I wasn't very clear in my instructions for this book. I wanted them to use one page per principle and was hoping for them to use colors to illustrate the principle. I did not state this in the directions for the book, which was poor decision making on my part. Next time, I will need to make a note in my lesson plan to give instructions on how to utilize the book during class. 

• With day one behind us, the students were to put the principles of design to use through an operational lesson plan. Mr. Luther had asked me to give him a list of plant materials and he would gladly order them for the class. I got to CPI that morning and wanted to prep the shop and flowers. He had about 6 bunches of mini carnations waiting to be prepped, but nothing else. (For a floral arrangement there is usually a green and a filler.) He also only had enough oasis for 5 students to create an arrangement, and there were 6 students in class. I worked some things out and in the end each student was able to create their own arrangement using holly cuttings. This day brought about a need to be flexible in the classroom. When you expect one thing, always be open to other possibilities. 

• Day 3 was my managerial lesson. I was really nervous to teach this because it was math based. I have never taught math before and was worried the students would loose their enthusiasm. I wanted the students to walk away knowing the importance of pricing floral arrangements and how to complete pricing problems. This lesson was far from successful. I didn't stop and check for understanding. This was a large issue with the lesson because I felt some frustration among the class. Some best practices I want to try are writing out in my lesson where to check for understanding. 

Although there were a few bumps along the road this week, it was a learning experience I will never forget. I got practice with some lessons I will be teaching in the spring, learned how to better my teaching, and became flexible with the cards that are dealt.

Inquiry Based Instruction Lab #6

As I finish up my last few teaching labs, I continue to learn and improve. Earlier this week I completed an inquiry based lab on dissecting a chicken wing. I had a fear that this lesson would crash and burn with the lack of preparation that was put into it. The lesson turned out running much smoother than I thought. Here are some highlights and learning moments from my lesson.

• No matter how prepared you are for the lesson, your plans may not always guide you. In each lesson plan I usually think ahead of probing questions I can ask the students throughout the lesson. This time, I had no questions planned, but the students were interacting enough with the lessons that the questions came naturally and were nothing compared to what I would expect to ask. I learned that sometimes it works out to just let the lesson flow.

• Having a different group of students in the lab made for a change of pace. The students I am used to teaching are quiet and go with the flow. This group was more energetic and demanding, but were very willing to participate. It taught me that every class will throw you different challenges as a teacher. 

As you can see, I am continually growing as an educator through my labs, classroom experiences, and projects. This week was full of teaching and moments of learning. Look out for my next blog on my micro teaching experience at Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology!

National Convention Recap!

It was another successful year at the National FFA Convention finishing up its last days in Louisville, Kentucky. Just last year I was walking across that stage to receive my American Degree. This year I went as a student teacher with Mohawk and Wilmington high schools. I had a relatively shorter week that other convention goers. We began our trek bright and early Thursday morning. Here are some highlights from the trip.

• Thursday We didn't spend any time at the convention center. It was filled with food, tours, and the Belle of Louisville boat trip. The students got to tour the Kentucky Speedway. Our tour guide was amazing with the kids. She took them to the owner's suite let the driver of our chartered bus race around the track, and let the students set foot on the track. For some, I think this was the highlight of the trip. On the Belle of Louisville, students got to mingle with their friends from around the state of Pennsylvania. They had the chance to dance the night away, or take in the city of Louisville views. 

• Friday We made it to the convention center. The students got to attend a session as well as the expo hall. Mr. Wallace had received his Honorary American Degree during this session. National FFA had brought in an amazing keynote speaker for this session. She made an impact in everyone's life that day. I took advantage of the little time I had at the expo hall to gather as many resources as I could to bring back to the rest of my class. Today was also filled with tours and dinner. 

• Saturday Students got the opportunity to walk around the shopping mall or attend the American Degree ceremony. From Mohawk and Wilmington there were 10 American Degrees earned today. This was also the day I realized that students are beginning to accept me as their student teacher. 

Through it all, I got the experience of knowing the students on a relaxed level. I don't feel as nervous anymore going into the classroom as I was. The time with Mr. Wallace and Mrs. McKelvey was very beneficial. Even though I won't be student teaching at Wilmington, the two chapters work closely together and it is important to know their side as well. I learned to respect the students and they will respect you, stay calm in any situation, and give the students the freedom to explore. You never know what they will discover next!