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How do you go about planning a lesson for instruction? When planning a unit or lesson, my goal is to achieve high levels of student engagement, which will enable them to gain knowledge and understanding of the subject matter and apply that knowledge and understanding in a meaningful way. I began by looking at the standards to see what the state expectations are for the given topic of Agricultural Mechanics-Shop Safety and Electrode Classification. Currently, I am using the CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE CORE CURRICULUM-AGRICULTURAL MECHANICS CFL 2301 and CFL 2303. ! CFL 2301- Welding equipment and safety o Pass a safety test and demonstrate proper use of arc welding equipment. CFL2303-American Welding Society (AWS) classification system for electrodes o Be familiar with the American Welding Society (AWS) classification for electrodes.

Using the backwards design for learning (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005), I was able to unpack the standards, looking for the big ideas and essential questions. The big ideas are used to shape what the enabling terms, skills and performance task expectations are for achieving and demonstrating understanding of the unit or lesson. ! It is important to maintain a balance between the teachers and students rights within the classroom. Because of the large safety implications that can occur in a shop class, I have chosen to use assertive discipline as a way to maintain control in my classroom. An Ag Mechanics shop is a very dangerous place when not managed properly and I believe that firm teacher control and well-defined rules are the best way to ensure a safe learning environment for everyone. However, no one wants a classroom dominated by authoritarian teachers, where students are forbidden to speak and express themselves. Creating a positive student-teacher relationship is essential to my classroom, but because of the possibility of safety issues in a shop, established rules and expectations and a system of positive and negative consequences is just as essential (Canter, Lee & Marlene). Formative assessments are planned and engrained into the lessons as checkpoints for student understanding. I use these assessments to gauge whether I can progress in a unit or if I need to remain on a topic, or refer back to an earlier one. ! Included in the following pages is an example lesson plan demonstrating the implementation of big ideas, essential questions and scaffolded knowledge and skills to achieve high levels of student engagement and understanding. !