Learning By Doing: Tales of "My First Day in Class"

o What happened?

So this is a pretty neat story. 
The job description included creating a lesson plan for the first day of school, and then executing one of the elements from your plan. So for example, I carried out the first day of school classroom expectations. 
To do this, I asked my peers (students) to walk around the room to the whiteboards which had one word- each of which built in to what my classroom expectations are. To illustrate the scene, there was one board with the word kindness, respect, and then growth. My classroom expectations, which would differ from my classroom rules, are to show kindness, respect, and growth. 
I was impressed with how my peers responded to the prompt and were able to write down examples on each of the whiteboards with their input on how to show kindness, growth, and respect in the classroom.
o How does it relate to what I know about teaching and learning?
This activity is essential for the first day of class with your students. Regardless of how we deliver them, classroom expectations must be provided on the first day of school. It's sort of like the relationship between employer and employee. I'd imagine that if the boss failed to provide expectations from the start and perhaps was even a bit too laissez-faire, then it will be hard to change the habits of the employee. It's the same in the classroom when we consider the dynamic of a student-teacher relationship. 

o What did I learn from the experience?

I learned first and foremost that the activity may actually work! I hope that doesn't sound too prideful but in these days as a pre-service educator, any victory regardless of how big or small is worth celebrating. I also learned more about my personal teaching style. 
During this activity I showed my enthusiasm with humor as opposed to high energy. When comparing my work to my peers', I noticed that we all show enthusiasm differently which is important to understand. Because if enthusiasm was only shown by high energy individuals (some of best teachers were like this), then a calm punk like me wouldn't be able to teach. In the end, the lesson is that energy doesn't always equal enthusiasm.

o How can I apply this as an Agriscience teacher? 

When the rubber hits the road, I'll have to execute an activity very similar to this when I got to set my classroom expectations. Judging by the outcomes of the experience, perhaps this may even be the activity I use in the future!