Management Plan

Rules & Expectations:

 Electronic devices are to be put away at all times unless being used for class
related content. If I see them being used improperly, they will be taken and
remain with me until the end of the period.
 Drinks with lids and food are allowed as long as they don’t become a distraction.
This does not apply to lab days, no food or drinks are permitted when working in
the lab. If food becomes a mess or distraction it will no longer be allowed.
 Work hard and ask for help when needed.
 Have a positive attitude, you get a daily grade and attitude affects this!
 Come to class prepared and ready to learn.
 Respect the instructor and fellow peers.
 Respect the facility, tools, materials, etc…
 Follow all posted rules.

Grading Criteria:
Daily Grades 10%
Course Notebook 20%
SAE and Record Books 20%
Labs 10%
Tests/Quizzes 20%
Final Exam 20%

Make-up Work Policy:

A student has three days from the day he/she returns to school to make up work missed
as a result of an excused absence.

Late Work Policy:

All homework will be accepted up to one week past the deadline without added penalty,
work submitted past that grace period will automatically be docked 50%.

Make-up Exams and Retakes:

Make up exams will be different than the original exam given. It is the responsibility of
the student to schedule a make-up day and time within a week of returning from an
excused absence. Retakes are not permitted but test corrections will be offered.

Absences:
For all excused absences please refer to the above “Make-up Work Policy” and “Make-up
Exams and Retakes”. All unexcused absences fall under the “Late Work Policy” and are
not permitted to make up missed exams.
Tardies:
The first tardy is a warning, the second is written documentation and a conversation,
any tardy beyond that is 1% docked off of the total grade in my class as well as parent
contact.

Participation:
Participation is essential and falls under the “Daily Grade” category that comprises 10%
of the total grade. All students are expected to engage and participate everyday in the
activities and lessons provided; if that is not achieved that daily grade will be lowered
and if it is consistent it will warrant a meeting to discuss expectations.

Teaching Style:
All students learn differently and in recognizing that, a diverse selection of teaching
styles will be used to accommodate the needs of all students.
 Reflection

Ambiance: The everyday working environment is well lit without being overly
florescent (Half on, half off lights) because it creates somewhat of a calming effect by not
having the room super bright but also light enough that work can still be performed
effectively. I also want to be able to exhibit student work and creativity around the room,
I like the idea of having each class design a ceiling tile collectively that represents them.
It can be anything from each person’s handprint to dividing it into squares and allowing
each person to design their own area, it is up to them to decide. I think this allows
students not only to work with one another but to be creative outside of the content and
to know that they are valued for their contributions in my classroom. I personally don’t
like music in my working environment and find it distracting so I would limit playing it
unless it is strictly a workday and work was being performed by the class even with it
present. I want to be able to create a relationship with my students where they know
they are valued and can talk to me about anything, whether it is content related or not.
When students feel safe in a room they perform better, and every kid needs an adult that
they trust in their corner.

Physical Space: A few weeks ago in another class I was tasked with sketching out my
ideal ag facilities and this is what I designed.
Section A is the actual classroom portion, it
B comes complete with desks that are easy to
move for a flexible design for different tasks
like group work, collaboration and lecture. It
also houses doors to each of our “labs” used for
various sectors of the program for easy access
and program management. White boards are
also up along the wall behind the teaching
A podium and there is a projector that can be
used if needed, the white boards will hold
C
upcoming dates, homework reminders as well
as any other pertinent information. Section B
is the shop lab space, it will hold work benches
as well as a wide range of wood and metal
working tools and three welding booths. The
D rectangles in the middle represent the work
benches where students can construct projects
E and have accessible work top space. The circles
on the outer edge represent stationary power
tools that students will use to cut, drill, sand, or generally alter and create project pieces.
This also includes a computer and CNC cutting table that allows students to create a
design on the compute and translate it onto metal. The boxes on the end represent the
welding booths that have to be so far away from wood working equipment due to the
potential fire hazard caused by flying welding sparks. Welding booths are used to cut
and weld metals together in either an artistic or structural manner to bond individual
pieces together for projects. Section C is the livestock facility with a total of six stalls for
animal holding, four grooming chutes/stands, a small arena for working the animals
and a pasture. The six stalls provide places for student projects that do not have space
for them at home as well as the opportunity for space to do hands on class lessons like
breeding, calving and herd management. The grooming chutes/stands allow for
students to be able to not only train their animal and maintain its physical appearance
for show but also inspect it closely for health issues as well as routine care like hoof
trimming or milking if we have dairy animals. The small arena provides space for
students to condition their animal for show and work on the overall appearance and
muscling of it to improve quality and desirability of the animal, it also provides students
with the opportunity to bond and work with the animal improving the human-animal
connection. The pasture can be used for a few things; not only turning out the livestock
but also pasture management for the students and how livestock impacts the soil and
vegetation. Section D is the food lab where students will learn about food products and
processing as well as food safety. This space requires three stainless steel prep tables, a
fridge, freezer and various kitchen equipment. This space is mainly designed to teach
students how to be safe with food as well as the tools surrounding the food preparation.
Section E is the greenhouses that will be used for plant science and horticulture mostly
but will also provide students the ability to be able to sell plants for fundraisers, research
plant breeding or create a school-based SAE project. Various lab spaces are a very
important part of Agricultural Education in schools, it allows students to engage more
with experiential learning as well as be able to find their area of interest because so
many various things are offered across the subject. Students also get to design their own
SAE (Supervised agricultural experience) that best fits them and their interests, and the
school facilities can help facilitate these projects for students without an ag background
or means to host a project at their home.

Managing Resources: The system I plan to use for managing routines is to set the
expectation of what I want early. For things like a shop class, after we get past the initial
safety quizzes at the beginning of the year, it will be an expectation that we meet in the
classroom for five or so minutes each day to catch up, go over questions or concerns,
and then move out into the shop for the remainder of the period until it is time to clean
up. Everyone must participate in cleaning up. If this expectation is not met a
conversation will occur and students will start to lose lab points as well as get
diminished work time until they step up. I think the most useful tool in doing this is
treating them like the young adults they are and holding them to the level of
professionalism that is expected, and if something arises, bringing it to their attention to
be fixed. I plan to use a clock and a timer to manage my time especially because in a
mostly lab-based setting time slips away easily. So, if a timer is set for a five minute
introduction, 40 minutes of lab work and a five minute cleanup, it will help keep both
students and myself on track to complete work. A clock also helps students pace
themselves when it comes to knowing what they need to get done and how much time
they have to complete said tasks. If time starts to be constantly an issue, I can
implement work attitude/completion sheets which require students to write out what
they want to achieve in that period and the time they are estimating it will take them to
complete it and then writing down what they actually achieved at the end of the period.
When it comes to managing the collection of papers, I plan on picking up due papers at
the beginning of class and filing them in a period specific folder as well as leaving a
labeled period basket on one of the tables at all times for late work that will be collected
weekly. This allows for me to see who is turning work in on time as well as who is
consistently late to be able to check in with individuals where I see fit to talk about why
the late work policy is in place the way it is, but to try and not constantly use it when it
isn’t needed.