The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon...part 3 of 3!!

It is sad to see the book come to an end....but "all good things must come to an end," right? Here is the last third of the book. I truly do hope for everyone who has read/will read this; they will get something out of it.

Chapter 26

I found the following on the very first page of the chapter; "...when you use the signs to find the right path and make a decision to follow it, God will move heaven and earth to support you. The right people show up. The right situations fall into place. Obstacles dissolve. Creative ideas appear."

• I think this is very important. If I can make the full commitment to letting God handle everything, then I can be confident that He will help me in my teaching. Everything will make sense and I will have less stress if I trust to follow the signs.

Rule #8 Love Your Passengers

Become a love magnet. Let your team know that you care about them and their future. Another important quote is, "...enthusiasm is what gets them on your bus, but love is what keeps them on the bus."

• When I am in the classroom, I have to remember to be enthusiastic so my students will get on my bus but then I have to show them I care about their futures. If I do that, I will have a more enjoyable career. Maybe one way I could do this is by letting them lead FFA meetings and plan events on their own but make sure I'm there if they need anything.

Help the people you love discover the value inside them. The rock that Joy gave George awhile back was actually a piece of gold that had dust on it!! Joy related this to how his team members were pieces of gold that just needed to be dusted off and given the chance to shine.

• Every student has potential. No matter if they are in ag or not. They just need a way to uncover it and I will be super glad if I can help just one student do that. And sometimes ag is what a student needs in order to shine.

Chapter 27       Love Rules

Five Ways to Love Your Passengers

1. Make Time for Them

2. Listen to Them

3. Recognize Them

4. Serve Them

5. Bring Out the Best in Them

Just help your team to be the best they can be; spend time with each of them individually; truly listen to what they have to say.

• If I notice that a student is having trouble, I can casually bring it up to them and then truly listen to what is going on. I want my students to know that I am there for them no matter what. Sometimes they just need someone that will listen and not tell anyone else.

Chapter 28

After reading the 5 Love Rules, George walked into his office building. But as he was walking towards his office; he let fear get the best of him. Michael, one of George's past Energy Vampires has come back and will be getting a second chance. George is definitely ready to take the next step in this journey!

• With guidance from Dr. McLean, I thought some more about who my Energy Vampires might be when I get to the classroom in the spring and through the rest of my career. Some of my Energy Vampires could be the students that don't want to do anything/the ones who are acting out in class. They can also be teachers who don't care and teachers or other people who believe Ag teachers aren't "real" teachers. 
• P.S. we are real teachers; through FFA and events/contents, students learn interpersonal and decision making skills among others.

Chapter 29

Rule #9 Drive With Purpose

Look ahead to the bigger goal; what you truly want out of this situation.

• Whatever I may be going through in the classroom, I need to remember that I want to inspire students to do what they love no matter what it is. I want to educate them further on the topic of agriculture.

Chapter 30

Let your team come up with its purpose on its own. In the end, it makes it more meaningful and inspirational.

• I remember hearing about a few teachers who practice the following in their classrooms. Let the students choose what they want to learn about. They might have to stick to a bit of a curriculum but at least it gives the students ownership in what they are learning.

Chapter 31

This is the big product launch for George and his team. Joy told George that he needs to count his blessings and not think about being stressed.

Rule #10 Have Fun and Enjoy the Ride

You do not need to be so adamant on deadlines and promotions, etc. that it takes up your life. In the end, not everything is going to get done anyway so you might as well breathe, be blessed and have fun.

A study of 95 year olds was completed. If they were to change 3 things in their lives they would be the following; reflect and enjoy more moments, take risks and chances, and leave a legacy.

Joy says, "The best legacy you could leave is not some building that is named after you or a piece of jewelry but rather a world that has been impacted by your presence, your joy, and your positive actions."

• This is why I want to teach agriculture. It is something I am passionate about and I want to impact my students in any way possible.

Chapter 32

The product launch was a success! George could see the negativity in the executives eyes but then he thought of Joy's smiling face and was calm again. George and his team stayed and celebrated afterwards with some unofficial team building activities.

Chapter 33

George went to the repair to get his car back finally. The receptionist's name was Joy! "It wasn't something he could teach with words. It was something she needed to experience," Gordon says.

Chapter 34

George hopped on the bus the next day even though he had his car back. He had made a bigger sign with the 10 Energy Bus Rules written on it. It is to be posted on the bus so Joy can more easily help others learn the rules.

The book also included an 11 step action plan at the end that can be personalized for YOUR energy bus.

Here is my 11 step action plan.
1. Create Your Vision

• I want to be a better teacher than I am right now at the end of student teaching.

2. Fuel Your Vision with Purpose

• I want to be able to see students succeed and gain new knowledge.

3. Write Down Your Vision/Purpose Statement

• I want to be a better teacher than I am now so that I can watch students succeed and gain knowledge that will benefit them in the future.

4. Focus on Your Vision

• This means sending it to everyone on the team; coming soon!!

5. Zoom Focus

• coming soon!
• practice teaching and watch others; the more I watch others, the more variability I will be able to try on my own

6. Get on the Bus

• This means sending out bus tickets. It's a real thing at www.theenergybus.com

7. Fuel the Ride with Positive Energy and Enthusiasm

• be positive with cohort members and teachers
• This will become a way of life and will transfer to the students when I am teaching.

8. Post a Sign that Says "No Energy Vampires Allowed"

• If I were to do that in the classroom, I'm not sure what kind of response I would get from the students. They might think I was extra weird or they could be confused.

9. Navigate Adversity and Potholes

• Be flexible! When stuff goes awry, just be ready to try it a different way or try something else all together

10. Love Your Passengers

• I talked about this before. I just have to show everyone that I am there to help them learn but I am also there for them if they need someone to talk to.

11. Have Fun and Enjoy the Ride

• remember the why! Why am I doing this? (to better other people, to see them succeed with the light bulb moment)

Week 2 Investment: Effective Teaching

Weekly Essential Question: 

How can we facilitate and design excellent teaching and learning?

Key Questions:

What is effective teaching?

What is learning?

How do we decide what and how to teach?

Key Takeaways:

Top 10 Characterisitcs of Effective Teachers

1. clarity

2. variability

3. enthusiasm

4. task oriented/business like behavior

5. positive reinforcement

6. student opportunity to learn

7. avoided criticism

8. structuring comments

9. effective questioning

10. humor

All of these characteristics can be learned by any teacher. The teacher must work hard in order to obtain these characteristics and they must work hard if they want their students to work hard and learn.

• Clarity was the first one on the list and I thought I came through in my first lab lesson with clarity on the content that I needed to teach. I could have been more clear by stating the objectives.
• I need to seriously work on my enthusiasm and humor; I know my lessons can be dry and part of that was my nervousness. The other points not mentioned are ones that I have a handle on but just need to figure out how to express more clearly.

"People who do things right are efficient; people who do things right over and over again, consistently, are effective."

"The Effective teacher Affects lives"

• I absolutely love these two quotes. I really don't know how to explain my thoughts on these except for they are motivating me to work on improving myself in the 10 Characteristics of Effective Teachers. I want to affect lives so I should strive to achieve those characteristics to be the best that I can be.

Four Stages of Teaching

1. fantasy

2. survival

3. mastery

4. impact

Obviously, impact is where a teacher needs to be.

• That's why I'm doing what I'm doing. I want to impact student lives and watch them grow in all that they do.

"Discipline has very little to do with classroom management." The article also said well ordered environment + positive academic expectations = an effective classroom.

• A teacher should go in on the first day of class and start off business like. They will most likely gain respect from the student and therefore, be able to better manage their classroom.

"The beginning teacher must perform the full complement of duties while learning those duties."

"The beginning teacher is expected to assume the same tasks and responsibilities as the most seasoned teacher on the staff."

• These last two lines above made me realize that there is a reason why we are getting thrown into this and a reason as to why some of us feel completely clueless right now. When we get a job, there may be very little training before we actually start. We need to get into a school district that has some kind of training program, even if it is over several years.

"Teaching does not take place in a vacuum."

Teachers must make decisions on what and how to teach by knowing their audience and subject matter.

• Teachers must constantly be looking to change things and to adapt to what the world is becoming. Real life example: we have to make sure that we incorporate technology into our lessons because if we don't, our students could be clueless.

"Occupational decision making is a process, not an event."

• That takes me back to when we were applying for our cooperating centers. It took a lot of time for me to decided what to do. This is the precursor to my life career and I was a bit freaked out about that.
• decision making isn't just about general ideas or jobs; for teachers, it is the things like how do I want to teach this lesson, what exactly do I need to teach....

"You are the only person on the face of the earth who can use your abilities. It is an awesome responsibility."

• This is absolutely powerful! It is amazing to think of how unique you are in this huge world. You can do whatever you set your heart to, so go out and do it!! You never know the people you will meet or the differences that you can make!

References

Newcomb, L.H., McCracken, J.D., Warmbrod, J.R., & Whittington, M.S. (1993). Methods of teaching agriculture. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. 

Vaugh, P.R. (n.d.) Effective teaching: Notes for the Beginning Teacher.  Retrieved from http://www.casnr.unl.edu/aps/teachman.pdf 

Wong, H.K. & Wong, R.T. (2009). The first days of school: How to be an effective teacher (4th ed.). Mountain View: Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc. 

Jumping Into the Great Unknown

Well, the first week of classes has concluded. Surprisingly, I don't feel as overwhelmed as I thought I would. Don't get me wrong; I'm still overwhelmed but I have all of my assignments and other things to do written in my planner. If you are a future student teacher, a planner is key!

Last Monday, we had to draw numbered packets from a pile. They had 15 minute lessons written on them that we were going to have to teach to our peers on Wednesday morning....yes that's right, 48 hours to come up with a lesson plan to teach on our 3rd day. That's right, no explicit teaching on lesson planning or teaching methods....hence the title of this blog post (at least part of the reason why it is what it is)!

It was kind of scary at first but after teaching the lesson on Wednesday, everything was fine. As part of our duties as future teachers, we must write blog posts reflecting on our weeks and in response to articles we read/videos we watch.

This one is going to be a reflection on the 1st lesson of the semester. We had free choice of 14 numbered packets, so naturally I picked my lucky number 13. I open it and out of all things....it's a 15 minute lesson on chess! I have tried to play chess before but it never went very well at all. Thank goodness that it's only a lesson on the pieces; their names, positions and point values. Not that bad once I started to look at it.

I think that was part of the reason why I was so nervous going into the lesson; because I was never good at chess. Anyway, here are some of the things that I will improve on for the next lesson I teach.

I need to....

• not rely on my notes so much (that's something that has always knocked me down while public speaking, a constant struggle for me).
• shared objectives (I even thought about that before I started my lesson).
• be more physically active, walk around the room more (that was part of my nervousness I believe).
• provide all materials and diagrams or videos to illustrate talking points.
• have a faster pace along with more enthusiasm.
• have an activity where the students are physically engaged in the lesson (I could have had each student be a piece in the chess game and made a large chess board for the floor).

Overall, I think the lesson went fairly well. I knew all of the things that I needed to teach but if I must say, I always feel as if I'm going to forget something very critical. That is why I get so nervous and rely on my notes all the time. If I can get over the worry of forgetting something, that will be the start to taking away most of my problems.

Among my school blog posts, you will soon see one that recaps my last summer as a junior livestock showmen! A more light-hearted, sentimental post coming soon!!!

Importance of SAE (Visits)

Back in mid May I had the opportunity to go on an SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) visit with my cooperating teacher, Mr. Haussener. We went to Ms. Risser's farm after school. She is the Cedar Crest FFA President who you will meet later in my video blog.

While on the visit, I also got to meet her siblings and her mother. They were in the process of cleaning out the pig pen so we started our visit there. This picture includes her market hog projects along with her siblings projects.

Mr. Haussener led the conversation by asking questions like; "What do you feed," "Are you going to take anything to the PA State Farm Show," etc. She told us that they work with a nutritionist to formulate a special diet; especially for the hogs that are going to Harrisburg in January (which they did not have at the time of the visit). Mr. H. actually printed a copy of some of Ms. Risser's records and brought it with him. We talked about how she could improve her records and maybe add a couple more activities to it.

We then moved on to her dairy project. They have approximately 80 milk cows. She chose a December calf as a young project while having a couple of older milk cows as well. 

Also, we walked through the tie stall barn as she talked about the milk cows. She is extremely involved in dairy industry activities as they have won several awards. I had the opportunity to learn more about each of her show cows and their little personality quirks. There were also some jokes shared as well!