#5 Changing Gears from the First year to the Sixth

I began teaching 5 years ago on an emergency certificate with know clue as to what I was doing. My style was sporadic at best and at the end of my first year I contemplated doing something different. I was very knowledgable in the subject of agriculture but all my knowledge was not necessarily book knowledge. So I thought I should just follow the textbooks since that is what all teachers do. Right? The students were bored and to be honest so was I. Something had to change and change quickly. I was great at growing, building, and fixing things but not teaching them. The fifth year program I was in was great for teaching me reading strategies and special education issues but not how to teach agriscience. So I went to the administration and asked to take my program in a new direction. I was granted that freedom as long as I taught the reading strategies.

So in my second year I began to develop my style. My style was going to be to teach the students by working with them on developing skills that they could not get in any other classroom. We became a working class that produced results on everything that we were given. I was showing the students how to build, grow, and fix things the way I was taught. This seemed to be a great plan until the idea took off and I got a reputation for working well with difficult students and the counselors started packing my classes with more students than I could handle. Then my style change again and I was forced to rethink everything because my style was not suited for 30 plus students. I reverted back to my sporadic style and lost a lot of control with the students.

I have used many styles over the years with mixed results and mixed feelings. I thought teaching was a lot easier than this. I was lucky enough to marry a very good teacher who has helped me develop my own style and even with 30 students I am finding success. She has shown me the things that a teacher learns in a traditional education program. My style now is a mix of the working class and the traditional classroom instruction. There is not a lot of down time to get bored in my class. I have learned the importance of engaging the students every minute. Maybe this style will stick with me. I want to be a great teacher I am just trying to figure out how to do that. Never stop trying to improve.