I'd say start with getting your weighting right, using the techniques you were taught. Then arrange the weights so that you can float in a horizontal position without having to scull much.
Then go diving. I can guarantee you that you will get to practice mask clearing often enough -- masks sometimes just leak! Practice taking your regulator out of your mouth and replacing it until you have no anxiety about being without it for a short time. If you are one of the students who had problems disconnecting that LP hose, do practice that -- those connections definitely CAN leak, and you want to be able to pop that hose off quickly if you need to.
Some skills are not much needed. I have, in ten years and 1500 or so dives, never had to remove my BC underwater, but I have taken it off innumerable times on the surface, as that is how some dive ops run things. Since almost all of us dive with two second stages, it's very unlikely you will have to breathe off a free-flowing reg, since you can just switch to the one that isn't doing it (or your buddy's gas). Oral inflation is a good skill to practice, because if you end up on the surface out of gas (which should NEVER happen) you will need to do it, and that's the time when your brain isn't going to be working real well, so it should be quite natural. I have a friend who orally inflates his BC at the end of every dive, just so it will be normal to him if he has to do it for real.
Do practice sharing gas. You can do that at your safety stop, and then complete your ascent to the surface sharing, which is good buoyancy and stability practice. (Always tell the dive guide you are going to do this, because they freak out otherwise. )
It's great that you are thinking about this already. Many people don't practice skills after their classes. We've had people come for Rescue classes who haven't shared air since open water
If you want some good reading material, take a look at the articles on buoyancy control by Gareth Burrows HERE. (The link is to page 1 of the resource section, the buoyancy articles are mostly on P.2.) Take a look around the rest of the articles, too -- they have a LOT of really good stuff on their site.
Then go diving. I can guarantee you that you will get to practice mask clearing often enough -- masks sometimes just leak! Practice taking your regulator out of your mouth and replacing it until you have no anxiety about being without it for a short time. If you are one of the students who had problems disconnecting that LP hose, do practice that -- those connections definitely CAN leak, and you want to be able to pop that hose off quickly if you need to.
Some skills are not much needed. I have, in ten years and 1500 or so dives, never had to remove my BC underwater, but I have taken it off innumerable times on the surface, as that is how some dive ops run things. Since almost all of us dive with two second stages, it's very unlikely you will have to breathe off a free-flowing reg, since you can just switch to the one that isn't doing it (or your buddy's gas). Oral inflation is a good skill to practice, because if you end up on the surface out of gas (which should NEVER happen) you will need to do it, and that's the time when your brain isn't going to be working real well, so it should be quite natural. I have a friend who orally inflates his BC at the end of every dive, just so it will be normal to him if he has to do it for real.
Do practice sharing gas. You can do that at your safety stop, and then complete your ascent to the surface sharing, which is good buoyancy and stability practice. (Always tell the dive guide you are going to do this, because they freak out otherwise. )
It's great that you are thinking about this already. Many people don't practice skills after their classes. We've had people come for Rescue classes who haven't shared air since open water
If you want some good reading material, take a look at the articles on buoyancy control by Gareth Burrows HERE. (The link is to page 1 of the resource section, the buoyancy articles are mostly on P.2.) Take a look around the rest of the articles, too -- they have a LOT of really good stuff on their site.