ACES - Paving the Way

ACES has always been a conference near and dear to my heart. It was a place where I actually got to meet and interact with other chapters from across the state and get to hang out with my cousins chapter. This weekend was the first time since high school that I have been back to the conference and it did not let me down.

The maturity of my students will never cease to amaze me. Knowing what my adviser had to deal with along with horror stories from other teachers, my students are very well behaved. Earlier in the week my leadership watched an etiquette video that was created by a national officer. I heard the students in that class educating their fellow chapter members about the proper etiquette for the dinner -- this made me excited that they were actually paying attention in class :p! Some of the gentlemen needed a little extra prodding and reminding that the napkin goes on their lap, but they complied with my and my fellow teachers wishes and did what we asked. They do not understand it now, but the soft skills of proper manners that they are learning will be so beneficial to them later in life. Whether it is a dinner or lunch meeting with a boss or clients, or sitting down with their significant others families for the first time. Knowing how to properly conduct ones self is vitally important and something that is not typically taught in the classroom. This is one of the many advantages of FFA.

I also saw the maturity at the dance. I never felt like they were not conducting themselves properly. Some of the students had wanted me to teach them how to line dance but they did not feel comfortable going to the front of the dance floor where I was with the past state officers, so I found them later after talking to Mrs. B. They also played a swing dancing song where I taught two of the gentlemen how to correctly spin a girl in a circle. When I was checking the students into their rooms later that night, a comment was made that "the boys actually danced this year!!". I am happy that the students enjoyed themselves at the dance and got a kick out of that comment.

The students then continued to impress me at breakfast the next morning. Only one comment was made for them to put their napkins on their laps then one of the older gentlemen started policing the rest of them, which was most likely to tease Mrs. B and I, but hey it got the point across. They were also really good about paying attention to the state officers and not being on their phones the whole time. It is these little things that really makes a student more employable.

Besides being thoroughly impressed with the students I worked with, I also learned some other things while I was there. 

1. Other teachers are always there to help (i.e AET record books) I already knew this fact, but it was reinforced over the weekend. 
2. When students know your expectations, great things can happen. All of our members conducted themselves in a manner that made me proud to call them mine. 
3. It is okay to dance like a fool. I drug a past state officer with me into my group of students to dance to gangnam style. I heard my students go "look at Ms. Case, look at Ms. Case" which really made me laugh. 
4. Ya snooze you loose with getting seats at dinner or breakfast - either have a plan to all sit together or force the students to practice talking to people they do not know and meeting new friends. 

ACES was a really great experience and I will have the members who went talk about it in class and promote it to the younger students for next year. Now, I am looking forward to SLLC in two weeks at it is my first time going!