First Day Teaching Strategies

Perusing through the assigned reading for one of my Agricultural Education classes this semester, I read a lot about different aspects of teaching and different stages that teachers go though as they start their career, such as in the book the Effective Teacher  by Wong. According to the book, you do not even reach 'teacher' stage until you have made it to the final stage of IMPACT. In this stage the teacher makes a different in the lives of students and they " know how to open the door and invite their students to learn." This is the stage that every single teacher should strive for. If they don't try to make learning worthwhile, what is the point of teaching?

Another quote that I enjoyed from the book was "the biggest secret to teaching success - beg,borrow and steal". I liked this quote because it goes along with a commonly mentioned phrase in the Pennsylvania Agricultural Education community of "don't invent the wheel twice". I feel that the AGED community in Pennsylvania is essentially a big family, meaning teachers always try to help each other out. When there is an issue where a teacher needs a lesson plan or other resource for a subject, he or she can simply ask a colleague and will receive what they need. That is a wonderful thing to watch and also something I hope to experience in the future. 

Understanding by Design Framework, written by Jay Mctigne and Grant Wiggins, reinforced the idea that the lessons future students will learn in my classroom will be applicable to not only other classes but also in many other aspects of their life. In my advanced biology class in high school, we had to participate in a debate concerning a controversial biology topic. Afterwards, my teacher commended my speaking skills, which I credit to spending years involved in agricultural education classes and FFA. Without these critical experiences, I would still be extremely shy and unable to speak in front of others. Based on the importance of these experiences in my life, I want my students to have the same opportunities to expand their agricultural horizons and grow as a person. 

In class and in the reading Enhancing Student Learning Through Teacher Behavior by Garton, Miller and Torres, we also learned about the five behaviors that a teacher should possess, which are clarity, variability, enthusiasm, task oriented and/or business like behavior, and student opportunity to learn criterion material. Each behavior is extremely important to form the teacher-student bond necessary for success in the classroom.

I believe that if I include all that I have learned though class discussions and readings, the first day of my teaching career will be successful overall. I will survive. My goal is to make it to the final teaching stage of impact where I become a 'real' teacher. I want my students to be able to use what they learn in my classroom everywhere they go and I want to possess all the behaviors that a good teacher should have. These are my goals and I am going to work to reach them!

I found this picture on tumbler and thought that I would share it. See, in reality the teacher survives!