Week # 12: The Challenges of Leading Objectives: Evaluate teaching practices Choose appropriate steps to follow in dealing with student misbehavior

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Learning Activities:

Think of a discipline problem you have witnessed or that you fear you may experience. Go to www.disciplinehelp.com and see if you can find a solution to solve it. Read what Dr. Jim Flowers of NC State University tells future teachers about discipline. All teachers should anticipate that at some point they will have to deal with a discipline situation and should have a plan in place when this occurs. "Four Stages of Discipline" describes a plan for dealing with discipline problems when they occur. These four stages are described at: http://www.honorlevel.com/steps.html. Read the suggested steps—they may or may not work for you, but they are an example of a discipline plan.  We all have differing abilities and intelleigances. This graphic organizer shows how to plan a lesson that can challenge everyone.

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Leadership Moment:

This advertisement from the North Carolina Teacher Cadet manual will make think twice about teaching. A lumberjack went to cut some wood one week. One the first day he cut 5 cords of pulpwood all by himself. The next day he decided to get up an hour early and work longer so he could cut more wood. However at the end of the second day had only cut 4 cords of pulpwood. Frustrated by his second day efforts he decided to wake-up still an hour early and stay an hour late. He was convinced if he worked longer and harder he would reach his goal of cutting 6 cords of pulpwood in a day. However at the end of the third day he only had 3 cords to show for all his labor. That night as he tried to sleep he tossed and turned thinking about how hard he had worked each day and how his efforts to work longer hours were not paying off. On the fourth day he went in an hour early again. At lunch time he a wise ole logger came upon him and noticed the young man was give out. The ole logger asked him, "Looks like you've cut about a cord today. A strong young man like yourself ought to get more done than that. Do you mind if I look at your sawing technique?" The wise ole logger quickly noticed the saw was not cutting like it should. "You need to sharpen your saw," he added. The young logger strugged him off and kept at it. "I don't have time to sit down and sharpen my saw. I have to work." At the end of the fourth day you young man had only cut 2 cords of wood. Frustrated he called up the wise ole logger and asked for help. The ole logger showed him how to sharpen the saw the fifth morning just before lunch break. "Now try that," the ole logger chuckled as he handed the young man his newly sharpened saw. "Every 2 hours take 5 minutes to sharpen it and you will get more done." That afternoon the young man took his advice. He cut 6 cords before dark on the fifth day. As a leader you need to sharpen your saw too.

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Assignments: Extra credit!

Contact either an elementary school teacher or schedule a date two weeks from now to present a short program (30-60 minutes) on agriculture. This can be done in the same class you are mentoring. Print and complete this form and turn it into your advisor. What should be in a lesson plan? Here another example of a complete lesson plan. Turn in your lesson plan to your advisor with this handout showing how you will reach every student. Be sure to complete Worksheet 12 and turn it into your advisor. Go to the BLOG and tell about a time you misbehaved in class and what the teacher did to correct you. What should the teacher have done?

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