Enhancing Classroom Activities (STB#11)

This week of student teaching felt like a slower pace week for me. It was the week after SLLC and CDE contests and I returned to a full week of classes. Although I enjoyed my time at contests and CDEs I was glad to jump back into my "normal" teaching routine. I use normal very lightly as I don't believe I ever have a normal week. However, if we as teachers had "normal" weeks or even days I don't think our job would be as fun as it is. The best part about walking into school every morning is that I know it will never be the same as the day before. Kids will test, love,yell, listen, disrespect or encourage you and the list could go on. But the most important thing to remember is that all of these characteristics of our students inspire us and shape us into better teachers.

In my Animal Science class, students had projects to share and present this past week. After hearing these presentations and looking at the results I was greatly disappointed. Most of them did not hand in the quality of work that I had expected. At the end of presentations I reflected on what I could do better or how I could have gotten better results. On Friday, I had the chance to travel to Penn State and meet with my fellow cohort members for one of our Pre-Internship Seminars. We were given time during this conference to discuss with our peers a lesson that was a "flop." I decided to bring along this project and ask my cohort members for help. 

The feedback that I got back was amazing. After feeling stuck and not knowing how I could have gotten students more excited or into this project, my peers brought a whole new perspective to the table. They gave me great suggestions as to how to build more student motivation and get students more involved with the project. One of their suggestions was to make the project competitive. My students especially really enjoy competition. I think that that may have boosted their interest in this project. Overall, I was pleased with this feedback! Reflection is a great thing and with multiple brains working together the results are mind blowing. :) 

This experience was also a wake up call for myself. Sometimes I feel that I get caught up in the day to day routine that I forget how exciting school can be. With my animal science project I didn't know what else I could do to make it better; however, my peers helped me realize that I need to take a little bit of extra time to think outside that box and prepare an exciting activity that students can't wait to participate in. My students more than anything deserve an awesome experience in my classroom and I want them to be excited walking into each of my classes. In finishing out my last couple of weeks (where did time go?) I want to push myself even more to develop awesome experiences for my students. As I am often encouraged at school with the question "how are you going to leave the wood pile higher?" I want to be able to answer this question at the end of my student teaching experience. 

Students had to find different Parli Pro motions hidden around the shop. #GoGetItEMoment

Tis the FFA Season (STB#10)

My students and I touring the Capitol as part of our SLLC experience 

It’s a time of year where it seems that the Christmas season has ended and the FFA season has started. Almost every weekend I have been away for an FFA conference or event. Although a lot of running around, I see the impact that these events are making on my students and it is rewarding to see the outcomes. This past weekend was the FFA State Legislative Leadership Conference (SLLC) in Harrisburg. We left with five students on Sunday and returned to school Tuesday. We then had a Small Gas Engines competition to go to on Wednesday. I returned to teach at school Thursday and Friday. 

Although I was gone from school most of this week, it was a great opportunity to spend time with my FFA students at these conferences and competitions. These events have allowed both me and my students to explore more of what all FFA has to offer. I have never been to SLLC before and so it was a great learning experience for myself. My students, however, were like new individuals when they returned to school. They had such a great time! On our way home I asked the students to reflect on their highlights from the trip and how the conference could improve. Most students said that their highlight was making new friends. I was constantly seeing my students talking with students from other schools and I was proud of them for branching out and meeting new people. My students also said that they would improve some of the bills that were discussed during their workshops the first day. Overall, it was a great trip and I am pleased with the way my students were open to helping others, learning and making new friends.

Our Small Gas Engines team putting their engine back together

This past Wednesday Octorara traveled to Solanco High School to compete in a Small Gas Engines and Creed Speaking CDE contests. This was another excellent experience for both myself and my students. I have never judged the Small Gas Engines competition before and it was quite the experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. Octorara came in third place for this competition and fourth for creed speaking. I was very pleased with this outcome but more importantly seeing the motivation the students had to do even better next time was very exciting to see. As we returned to school the participating students were talking all about their success and competition with the other students at school. They were excited to be able to advance and they were anxious to get out to the shop and tinker with their engine even more. I hope that the next unit which happens to be small gas engines will help them perform even better at the State Summer Conference. 

As I returned to my two days of classes, I was surprised to return to a well behaved bunch of students. I thought they would have enjoyed not having their teacher for a few days, but what I found was that they were excited to see me. They were more well behaved when I returned which made me wonder what they were trying to cover up from the beginning of the week! But all reports that I got back were positive, so I kept moving through my lessons as usual for these past two days. I am looking forward to having a longer and more productive week next week. 

The following are pictures from our community service project at the Neighborhood Center in Harrisburg:

                                                      

              

  

Down on the Farm with an SAE Visit

Glen cleaning the barn before milking time.

Today I finally got to conduct an SAE visit with our FFA Chapter VP, Glen. After having to reschedule with this student for over a month due to snow days or delays, we finally find a sunny afternoon that fit both of our schedules. If I have learned one thing it is that snow postpones almost everything over the winter season and we must be flexible. I will say that it was much more pleasurable having to carry out an SAE visit with the temperatures above 32 degrees. Anyway I had the opportunity to learn all about Glen's SAE project by visiting him down on the farm.

Glen has shown exceptional progress in just the two months that I have been student teaching at my cooperating center. After a downfall in our officer team earlier this year, we elected Glen as our FFA VP to finish out the year. So far he has been doing an excellent job maintaining his responsibilities in this position. I don't think I have every met a student with such determined and creative ideas for our chapter to engage in. As I constantly tell my students, "the sky is the limit. You can accomplish it if you dream it," Glen takes his ideas above and beyond and has the willpower to see his ideas succeed. Glen is currently in the Ag Mechanics CTP program at school where he has been developing his shop skills. I am proud of the responsibilities that Glen has taken on this year and all the FFA events he has attended. I hope that he pursues his FFA degrees and goes on the receive his American degree at the FFA National Convention even after he graduates.

For this SAE visit with Glen my cooperating teacher and I traveled off the beaten path to a little farm in southern Chester County. Here was a dairy farm where Glen milks cows every day after school. He does the evening milkings during the week and both morning and evening milkings on the weekends. I surprised at all the hard work that this high school student put forth in this job. Glen did say that although it is hard work he enjoys the paychecks at the end of the month that helps him pay the bills. This small dairy farm that he works at is run by a father and son. Glen's older sister milked cows at the farm for many years and then the job was handed down to Glen when he was old enough. Glen has been milking cows at this facility for a little over a year. This placement SAE has helped him develop a good work ethic and a love for agriculture.

This farm uses shredded newspaper taken from local schools to prepare bedding for the cows.

In preparing for this SAE visit I gathered together specific questions that might be needed to better understand this SAE. In my AEE 311 class a developed an SAE visitation form and rubric. The students need to first fill out a form that describes their SAE project and hand it in prior to their visit. The students then receive a rubric that explains how they will be graded on their SAE project and visit. I also have been scheduling with Glen to try and get a date established that would work with Glen, myself, my cooperating teacher and Glen's employers. There were different parties that all needed to be on board with this SAE visit. Although it took some planning, I think we were all well more prepared for the visit.

In evaluating an SAE program I have developed an SAE grading rubric. The rubric awards points to the student for the completion of forms prior to the visit. The student needs to completely fill out the form and meet with the teacher to discuss the SAE program and planned visit. The student is also given points for the actual SAE visit which should the student's evidence enthusiasm for the project and progress in reaching goals. Students should also have all records relating to the SAE updated and organized. Students are evaluated on organization and well kept records. If these tasks are all well maintained I believe that the student has an active and progressive SAE program and should therefore be awarded the proper grade.

Glen has an established profile on AET. However, Glen has been seeking help with keeping records on his account. Although he has general information on his account, he needs some assistance in entering journal entries and financial reports. Glen and I established a time this week were I will work with him and show him how to enter this information using his AET account. Glen will be working with a placement record book to keep records on this SAE project. If I could make any recommendations

to Glen it would be to always ask his teachers for help with AET if he is unsure how to use any of the settings. I think Glen would have an outstanding record book if you kept up to date with his journal entries and financial recordings. I would suggest that he gets into a pattern writing on a chart what he does everyday at his job and then weekly sign into his account and enter this information. Although the record book keeping is not up to date, I think with some help we can get him on track again.

Overall, I was very impressed with Glen's SAE project. He seems to be learning a lot with the work that he is doing. When I asked him what his goals are after high school he said that he wasn't sure but definitely something in Agriculture. His SAE program has helped him develop an interest in Agriculture that will impact his future career goals. I was pleased to have conducted this SAE visit as it was a learning experience with for both myself and my student.

Visiting the Agriculture Science Department

Last week I had the opportunity to explore the rest of the Ag department at my cooperating center by sitting in on classes and observing how other teachers teach. There is one other teacher in my school's Ag department and I am frequently talking and interacting with her; however, I have never seen her teach a class. Therefore I decided to take this opportunity to observe her teaching style and technique in her Animal Science class.

This Ag teacher primarily focuses on production agriculture including plant and animal science, where as my cooperating teacher's focus is on agricultural mechanics. There are many different teaching techniques that can be utilized for each specialty area. After observing the other Ag teacher I was able to better make these comparisons and effectively observe different teaching styles.

I observed Ms. D's Animal Science class for this assignment. In the lesson the students were learning about Beef Quality Assurance (BQA). They had just finished a major project in which they had to create a pamphlet about one subject in beef production. Students had the opportunity to share their presentations with the class. As students presented their presentations the other students were expected to listen with respect. I really liked that the teacher allowed time for students to share their creations. Often times teachers collect student projects without allowing students to "show what they know." It also allowed the other students to gather information from their peer's presentations. As a result I also believe this technique builds students presentational and listening skills. It appeared that students were interested in this portion of the lesson. During presentations, the teacher roamed around the room to ensure all students were listening and taking notes on the presentation as well. I think this classroom management technique is also important in order to keep students on task.

The other aspect that I liked in this lesson is that the teacher only had two students present their projects and then moved on to other informational activities. Often times during presentations students share one after another and by the end of class students are tired of hearing the same format of information being said. By dividing presentations into chunks, students were more engaged because they had more varied instruction. After the two presentations, the teacher had a mini lecture and then a collaborative group assignment. These techniques engaged the students more in the lesson.

I also observed that the teacher's clarity helped students engage more in the content of the lesson. The teacher seemed knowledgeable in the content and was therefore able to provide good content knowledge. I thought she did a great job in providing clarity when informing the class on a topic. She also gave good and clear directions. Towards the end of the lesson the teacher divided the students into 4 groups. Each group was responsible to answer a specific question by researching the topic. I felt the teacher gave adequate instructions that allowed students understand their specific task and complete it with ease. These aspects are important for students to be able to complete a task successfully.

Overall, I enjoyed observing this lesson. It allowed me to observe teacher efficacy from a different point of view. During previous observations, my primary focus has often been on students. This gave me the opportunity to primarily focus on the teacher and lesson and then observe the response of the students. I also appreciated being able to observe the other Ag teacher in the same department. It gave an opportunity to compare different teaching styles and techniques utilized in different agricultural subjects. For example, in Ag mechanics courses there are many demonstrations utilized to teach a specific task. In this animal science lesson, there was research and projects utilized. Both of these techniques could be used in either class; however, it was interesting to realize how they can be used in different ways. I appreciated the time I had to observe this lesson and feel that it has helped me realize teaching strategies that I might also be able to implement into my own classroom,

Transitioning Phases (STB#9)

This week of student teaching seemed to be a week of many things new. I got to start a new unit on sheep and goats in my Animal Science class and I started a new unit on Parli Pro in my Intro to Agriculture class. It feels almost refreshing being able to start what feels like a "new chapter" with the students. I take it as an opportunity to again reignite the spark of agricultural interest on a new topic. Although I have new units, I still have the same students, and everyday continues to be a learning process as a student teacher.

It often feels that some sort of transition is always occurring during student teaching. At first it had been a transition into the classes and building the needed rapport with students. Now that I have those established I have been struggling in dealing with the openness of students. Students feel comfortable sharing in class and openly talk to me, which I extremely value; however, I am seeing how this openness can also cause problems if not well managed.

My Animal Science class is a great class in which I have built an open and friendly classroom environment. We often joke with each other and can sometimes as the students say get "sassy" with one another. I am beginning to realize however that there is a fine line with this behavior until it is taken too far. This past week, what I thought was a joking around session in a group of my students quickly turned into a bullying session that resulted in one of my students leaving my classroom. We spent a good chunk of the rest of the period talking about bullying and it not being accepted in the classroom. Although I felt that we had a good class discussion, I couldn't help but feeling absolutely terrible after class. How could I have left such bullying happen in my classroom? How could I have prevented this? It was an extremely good eye opener for me in seeing how I need to handle these situations when they arise and even limiting the "joking around" in class. Students often times do not know when they have crossed the line and as a teacher it is important that I manage it in such a way that it does not cross any lines and end up hurting students feelings.

After talking to my cooperating teachers about such matters in the classroom, I am more confident in how to control or limit such behavior. One way is simply reminding students of my classroom expectations and consequences. If behavior A is being acted out in my classroom then consequence A will applied. I then need to stick with these consequences and act upon them, otherwise students know that I won't punish the behavior and they can do it again. I realize now the importance of installing these classroom expectation and consequences at the beginning because I can now refer back to those posters that we covered at the beginning of the course. So far it seems to be working even though those consequences need to be applied more frequently.

Overall, this week went well and I am finding that I am busy writing sub plans for two days while I am away at SLLC next week. I seems very hard writing lessons plans for subs for two days. These are two days that my students still need content even though I am not there. It makes for very strategic planning to ensure students meet such objectives. However, I am very excited for SLLC and exposing my students more FFA learning and fun!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.... (STB#8)

Some might disagree that it is the most wonderful time of the year with 11 inches snow that is sitting at my front door right now; however, I have found that if we choose to dwell on the negatives then it will blind us to all the positive things around us. Sweeping snow off cars, shoveling driveways, frozen cars are just a few of the struggles this time of year, but these snowed in days also give us the opportunity to relax, bond with our families and most importantly get caught up on lesson planning!

I had one full day in school this week. The rest were snow days and 2 hour delays. Yes, I would have loved to have been at school carrying out lessons this week, and as a matter of fact I got anxious not being able to be at school, but I learned to relax a bit, refresh for next week, and use my time wisely by getting assignments done. Although I was not at school, I spent that last two days getting moodle modules done and writing lesson plans. These seemed like a lot of work but I feel much better now to have gotten work done. It makes me feel confident in facing another week. But if I had sat at my desk and wrote papers and lessons all day I think I would be crazy by now, so I don't want to give the impression that this is all I did! Rather my days off were mixed with both lesson planning and snow playing! I often took breaks and rewarded myself by taking a walk in the neighborhood and talking to my neighbors. In fact I met new people that I never met before and helped others get out of their driveways. These past two days have been a huge help in allowing me to take a bit of pressure off of myself as well as getting ahead in my work. 

Enjoy the beauty of your surroundings. I have always been encouraged to see the good in people and things. This time off of school has not only allowed me to see the beauty of my snowy environment at home but I have also had the time to reflect on my classroom and students at school. In reflecting I have thought about my students and how I might be able to raise the bar a little higher in my classroom with the rest of my time of Octorara. A few days last week were difficult with some behavioral issues and they make you wonder why as a teacher you try so hard. When you begin thinking about the positive difference you can make in their lives it reminds you why you started this journey as an educator. Often times I need to remind myself to just enjoy your situation rather then get worked up about the little things. The classroom is a beautiful place to be, so enjoy the journey one step at a time.