Halfway There; Living on a Prayer: Week #7

So this week I think Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer comes to mind. I am halfway through student teaching, and with this week being National FFA week, as well as my official full load, I've been pretty busy and a little overwhelmed with all of the responsibilities I have with student teaching, my own school work, and trying to apply for jobs at the same time. Despite some of these challenges, I have the wonderful support of my cooperating teachers, great students, and some answered prayers to get me through. 

National FFA Week

This week, we had a dress up day for each day of the week. We also attended Meet Your State Officer at Hoss's night. It was nice to chat with some neighboring ag teachers and eat some good food! 

Meet Your State Officer at Hoss's Night

We also had a teacher appreciation breakfast on Friday morning before classes started. The FFA students stayed after school on Thursday and came in early Friday morning to help with the preparations for the breakfast. This teacher appreciation breakfast also brings in some people from the community so it was nice meeting some other community members. I got to talk to one woman who was one of the first female agriculture teachers in Pennsylvania. She shared with me her story and the struggles she had to face. Others who joined us gave me some great advice or otherwise were a joy to talk to. 

PA One Stop Erosion and Soil Conservation Management Planning

Students being trained on the program

My community based unit of instruction project was working in conjunction with Penn State to train students to use the PA One Stop program. The students would then work with local farmers on using the program and creating a conservation plan for their farms. On Wednesday, the students were trained and then the farmers came in. They were each able to help out a farmer and give support and assistance when needed. It was a neat experience and I think the students benefited from it by not only providing a service, but by knowing how to use the program to manage their own family's farm. 

Farmers joining us for the training

Reflection on my classes 

Testing pH of foods in Food Science

Other than that, this week, classes have been going on as usual (not that there is really a normal day). The students in my plant science class had their first exam. Some of them scored really well and others didn't score as nicely as I would have hoped. I wish we had longer to review the day prior, and I wish I had told them sooner about the study guides that were posted in their online course management system (we use Schoology). But I think the students also needed to put in some extra effort outside of class time to study. What I've gathered from many of them, they didn't really study even though they knew well ahead of time that this week was the exam. I can't help feeling like there might have been something more I could have done to help them, but again, I think part of it was a motivation on their part to put in extra work. 

Making jam in the canning lab

In my agriscience class, the Life Skills students I had previously worked with are now in the classroom with me and the rest of their peers. When it was just me and the Life Skills students, I felt I could fill their needs, but now that there is a wide range of learning abilities, I am finding it really challenging to meet the needs of the Life Skills students as well as the strong academic students. Especially since the unit I'm on is public speaking and there really isn't a way to make that hands-on other than having them present speeches (which most are naturally scared to do). 

Having Animal Bioscience outside!

Plans for next week

In plant science, we will be starting the next unit on hydroponics and alternative plant uses.

In small engines, we will be using micrometers and learning how to measure with them.

In agriscience, we will continue talking about how to write and structure speeches.

In welding, we are going to start discussing techniques for how to weld. 

In animal bioscience, students are going to finish learning about dairy cattle production and are going to begin learning the anatomy of an udder.

In food science, students are going to learn about food dehydration and some other methods of preservation.

In leadership, students are going to continue writing their speeches and will be given time to write their speeches.

Leaving Thought

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me." -- Psalms 23:4

ACES as an Advisor

I have attended ACES many times; as a member, as a State Officer, as a Penn State Avenger, to assist with the FFA Alumni and help chaperone, and this time, as an FFA advisor. It was such a great experience and I enjoyed getting to see my students outside of the school setting where they could have fun and grow as leaders. 

 
Upon arrival, I got to attend the teacher workshop where we heard about some cool classroom tools and resources. I slipped out to take pictures of my students in their workshops. I was able to find all fourteen of my students dispersed throughout the workshops. It was neat to see them participating and engaging. While taking pictures doesn't sound significant, I recall the many times I was in workshops and the teachers would walk around to take pictures of me and my peers. Now I'm the one doing this. It feels like I've been passed the baton and now I'm running the race. It's just a little piece of the greater picture of what teaching involves.

I helped chaperone the dance where there weren't any issues. I was also on courtesy corps. So after going to each room and checking in our students (one of which unfortunately had to go home due to feeling sick), I joined the other ag teachers in patrolling the halls. There really weren't any issues save for a few rooms that were a little loud. Other than that the night was quite peaceful. If anything, I was glad to see the process of courtesy corps and how the teachers handled the situations. 

I have no bad things to say about my experience at ACES. My students are GREAT and I love being able to mentor, advise, teach, and care for each of them. 

Full Load; Full Week: Week #6

So technically speaking, I don't have a full load... yet. But the only class I haven't taken over yet is the Agriscience class. Instead, I have been doing a few more additional lessons with the Life Skills students. Because of this, I consider that to be a class in which I am teaching so basically a full load!

Past the honeymoon stage?

This week was interesting. Perhaps it's because my students are comfortable with me or perhaps I've been getting a little too relaxed. No serious behavior issues yet, but some of my newer classes I find that the students are a little more... charismatic and a little more social than what I find acceptable. Cell phones have been a bit of an issue. Some students are constantly on their phones. It wasn't an issue before except for maybe one student. Now it's a couple more. It doesn't bother me too much and I have them use their devices to find information so I feel that it is hard to regulate. 

The issue is actually that students might be on their phones but when I ask them a question they can still answer me! Maybe their answer isn't always the deepest answer, but I can't even catch them off guard. My cooperating teachers say they have similar issues too, which isn't entirely a bad thing (at least they are still following along), but I try to emphasize that it is not professional. I did say on the first day that I don't mind the use of phones for educational purposes but if I find that it is becoming an issue, we will have a conversation. So I did establish that expectation. Perhaps not clearly enough. Ms. Kane is going to have to get a little more serious!

One thing I've tried is to kind of make a light-hearted joke out of it. It doesn't always make them put it away but I think it shows that I do notice them on their phones. And the way their desks are setup, there's really not much hiding it anyway. Additionally, there have been a couple of times where conveniently enough, a respectful student asks a question that I don't know the answer to so I turn to whichever student is on their phones (gotchya!) and ask them to look up that information. I'm sure there are better methods to handle this situation, but we'll see how the following week goes.

A conditioned response

Another struggle that I found this week came out of assigning group projects. My cooperating teachers don't normally start with a bellwork or anything, but the students have normally all been very good about getting into the habit of completing bellwork. However, this week in several of my classes, they were working on group presentations. It's as if they completely forgot that bellwork was a thing.. instead they just walk into class and log onto the computer and begin to get to work. I'm happy that they're eager to get working, but it is so hard to reel them in and get them to hop off of the computer to do the bellwork. This has happened in several of my classes, and I think it's because they are used to just walking in and getting to work from before I arrived. Not a bad thing necessarily, but I was still a little taken off guard and had to adjust.

Chapter Degree Recipients

Greenhand Degree Recipients

Reciting the Creed

Chapter Officers

Greenhands and sandwiches

This week was also very full because there were several FFA events taking place. Students made sandwiches for their fundraiser which they were going to use the proceeds for their hunger awareness event. That same day, we had our Greenhand Degree ceremony combined with our Chapter Degree ceremony. I loved being able to help students out prior to the event with editing their speeches. I was also happy to see my students receive their degree. I tried to put myself out there and met some of the parents so that was really nice too. 

Goals and lessons

As I continue with my full load, I hope to continue to keep my head above water. I love teaching and I think that makes any challenge much easier to handle. A personal goal of mine is to be more on top of grades. I wish I didn't have to worry about grades... just engaging students in the learning! 

This week in plant science, we will have students finish their presentations and then we will review for their pest exam and then they will take the exam.

In small engines, we will finish talking about engine classifications and some of the systems.

In agriscience, I begin teaching the entire class and start with public speaking.

In welding, we just finished talking about safety and we are going to get into talking about welding techniques.

In animal bioscience, students are going to present their posters on dairy cattle breeds and get into selective breeding and later into dairy cattle production.

In food science, we are going to talk about pH in foods and do a neat lab with this which will lead us into how pH affects the method of canning, and then we will probably get into cold preservation methods at the end of the week. 

In leadership, we are going to continue talking about public speaking and styles of speeches.

Leaving Thought

"If there is no way, create one" 

All Hands On Deck: Week #5

This week we switched gears a little bit. It was a short week because we had a snow day on Thursday, and on Friday we regrouped with the cohort and University Staff at Penn State. But either way, there was a lot of hands-on action happening which was a little different from what we had been doing.

Making butter!

First... the problem solving approach

One of my areas of improvement was having the students do some more hands-on or student centered learning. In plant science, I was introducing Integrated Pest Management. I actually performed my lab that I did with my cohort members in the fall with a few adjustments per their feedback. You can check out my blog on this lab here.

Students had just learned about the pests and were starting to be introduced to the idea of pest management. I gave them a scenario and they were given the task of solving this scenario. I led them through the steps of IPM without telling them what IPM was or that they were doing it. Once they solved the pest issue and figured out how to best manage the pest, I told them that what they did was essentially IPM. 

I thought the lesson went really smoothly. The only thing that I wish went differently was that I didn't already introduce them to the pest earlier in the Pest ID lessons. Most of them caught on quickly that the pest they needed to find was the Bean Leaf Beetle just by looking back at their notes. I didn't want to trick them but I also didn't want it to be so easy! I still had them find a resource that backed up their claims so they still had to do some research. They did have to do more work later on, though, as they followed the other steps of IPM so it wasn't like they were just sitting around. Point is... I need to make it a little more challenging for them!

Second... Inquiry Based Instruction

Students in my small engines class have pretty much just been in the classroom. While I think they've enjoyed it so far, I think some of them were itching to actually start working on engines. This was my worry as I was planning my unit because of how much content needs to be understood. Yes, they could tear down engines at essentially any point, but either way, there is quite a bit of content to discuss so that they fully understand the functions of an engine. 

Assembling parts of an engine... no tools and no manual!

My cooperating teacher and I decided it would be nice to have them spend a day in the shop. They had just learned about safety, tools, and parts. They had the base knowledge to be able to go in the shop and tinker around with the engines. So I split them into groups and told them to try and assemble the engine based on what you know about the parts and how they function together. They were not going to worry about using tools; just try and see where everything fits.

This was also a great time for me to check on their safety. I thanked them for following safety procedures and remembering those rules. 

I really enjoyed this activity and I think they appreciated something a little different too. It was a great opportunity for them to try and put together the parts just off of prior knowledge. I had to tell some of them to picture themselves as a little three year old putting the round block in the round hole, and the square block in the square hole. If you look close enough, some parts are shaped in such a way that it logically only fits in one place. 

Another thing that was really cool was that I was able to ask them questions about how they knew something went in a certain spot. How do they know the exhaust valve goes in one hole vs. the other? Knowing what the carburetor is, where do you think it goes? 

Third.... hands-on laboratory lessons

Making a battery with pennies and salt water

With my group of Life Skills students, we continued doing fun labs and activities. This week, some of our labs included making butter, making plastic out of corn starch, and running a potato battery and a penny battery. Some worked better than others, but I think either way there was a lesson for them to take away. I think they really enjoyed doing these mini lessons with me and I so enjoyed working with them. Now they are back in the classroom with the rest of their peers, and soon, I'll be taking over that class!

Penny battery circuit lab

One thing that I must say that I really enjoyed was being able to teach them applicable lessons in measuring and mathematics. Some of the labs I did with them needed specific measurements so I would tell them that amount and they would show me how much that was or we would look at it together and see if that was enough. I liked this because I went into it thinking I was only going to be teaching about corn to plastic, for example, but the result is that they walk away with practice of some everyday skills. They may never make anything into plastic from corn starch again, but they will certainly use measurement and mathematics and other problem solving skills in their future. It's an educational win!

Heating up the corn starch mixture

Upcoming plans

In Plant Science, we are going to finish with our discussion about pest management and then I am going to have them work on and present presentations about Pest Management and Control. 

In Small Engines, we are going to finish talking about energy conversion principles and start talking about engine classifications.

In Welding, we are going to finish up our conversation on safety and tie in any more pieces of equipment necessary, and then they will take their safety exam.

I am starting Animal Bioscience on Monday so I will begin the unit on Dairy Cattle Production talking about breeds of cattle and getting into anatomy.

In Food Science, we are going to finish up talking about the history of food preservation and then we are going to get into heat preservation.

I am also planning on starting Leadership next week, so I will begin with having them work on public speaking in preparation for the speaking CDE. The lessons won't be specific to the CDE, but rather how I can prepare them for speaking in life (which will subsequently prepare them for the CDE). 

Next week's about to get a whole lot busier for me... I hope I can manage it all!

Leaving Thoughts

"And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst" --Zechariah 2:5

The Joys and Discomforts: Week #4

What a wonderful week it has been! I still feel like I am in the "honeymoon" stage. Sure there have been some challenges, and sure I've pushed myself in many ways, but I feel empowered. My students are great and my cooperating teachers are inspiring. I am so lucky to be where I am at; I truly believe this. Even though things have been going well, I am learning a lot and continuing to adapt and grow. I feel in all honesty that teaching is where I belong.


Now that I've got that off my chest, I can begin to really talk about the blessings and challenges of my week.

Welding students working on safety posters

Rolling with the punches

I believe I've been doing pretty well with flexibility so far despite my mental need for order and organization. However I find that a lot of my plans are changing. Some of this is due to things out of my control. For example many students are still out due to sicknesses and sports, etc. This has brought several classes down to half their size (no exaggeration!). Also, on Tuesday, there was a two hour delay, so two of my classes were cut out from there. This not only pushed everything back, but in Plant Science, I decided to move around a lesson to today rather than split a two-day lesson over the weekend.

Party Host E-Moment learning about weed pests

The other changes have come from my personal decisions. There were some projects or lessons that I thought were really neat while I was planning it, but looking at it now, 1) we don't have time, 2) I feel like they aren't a good idea anymore, or 3) the students are above or sometimes even below the level at which a certain assignment/activity is set at.

Small engines students demonstrating the function of engine parts

All of these factors combined can make it really challenging to follow a lesson plan let alone a unit plan. I know that it's all part of the experience, however, and adjusting to the needs of my students is of the utmost importance. The detail-oriented side of me is hoping for my plans to follow their original intent so I don't have to change so much!

A fourth classroom

I have two cooperating teachers, and then I work with the shop instructor, Mr. Statler, to teach welding. So I usually jump around 3 different classrooms throughout the week. However, this week, I had the opportunity to teach Life Skills students in their learning support room. These students are normally in my 3rd period Agriscience class, but due to the rigor and nature of the lessons and experiments the students in that class were doing, Mr. Clark thought it would be best to have separate lessons for them.


The topic is on alternative energy and fuel. I joined them in their learning support room and did little lessons with them every day this week. I had an aid with me who was a great help, but I was pretty much on my own as far as facilitating the lesson goes. I was up for the challenge!

Personal Tree Cookies

I had such a great time with these students. I think they really enjoyed me being there and enjoyed the lessons I was doing with them. On Monday, I taught them about chemical bonding. They got to make chemical bonds out of toothpicks and gum drops. Tuesday, we didn't have this class, but Wednesday, we talked about renewable energy and fossil fuels, and we did an activity with recycling and composting vs throwing things in the trash. Thursday, they did something completely different involving reading tree cookies to determine the age of trees, and talking about some by-products of trees. And today, Friday, I showed them a bunch of animal pelts, skulls, and footprints, and had them figure out what the animal was and feel the materials.

Making chemical bonds out of gum drops and toothpicks

There were a lot of things I noticed from observing them and working with them in the Agriscience class, and Mr. Clark shared some input on how he manages them. I also got to meet with the special needs coordinator this week who was able to give me insight on teaching with these students. Even though I did not have the experience or expertise working with students in that situation, I felt very comfortable with teaching them.

I don't always know if they've retained the information the next day, but I am confident that they are learning something, and that they enjoy some of the hands-on activities I am doing with them. They really are quite a joy to work with! I will be working with them for a few more days yet, and then we will be back in the classroom with the rest of the students. I feel like this is exactly the kind of experience I need and want to have so that I can better understand my students in years to come. And I look forward to working with them every day!

"The joys and discomforts of agricultural life..."

Just as the FFA Creed says, I hope to exert an influence on my school and community which will stand solid while I perform my duties during student teaching. I may not always know what the next day will bring, but I know that it brings me great joy to see my students and work with the teachers and staff at Greenwood High School.

Next week in Plant Science, I am excited to start the week with my problem solving approach lesson on Integrated Pest Management. This is the lab I did at Penn State, and now with some refining and a real class, I can try it out for real. I'm nervous but mostly excited, and I think this will change the pace compared to what we have been doing so far. The rest of next week, we will get into pest management and pesticide safety.


In Small Engines, the students are going to take the parts identification quiz, and they are even going to get their hands on a little inquiry as they try to assemble an entire engine based on what they know so far about the parts. They won't necessarily be putting it together using the tools and measurements, rather, they are going to try and see if they can figure out how the parts fit together and really visualize the functions of those parts in one whole engine. They will get started on energy conversion principles as well.


In Agriscience, I will still be with the Life Skills students, and we will be making butter, making plastic from corn, and making a potato battery.


In Welding, students will finish up on their discussion about safety, and get into tools a little bit, and then they will take their safety exam.


I am also picking up Food Science next week, where I will be starting on the Methods of Food Preservation unit.


My goals for next week are to work on planning in time for review of objectives/reflection at the end of the period. I try so hard to keep track of my time and I want to squeeze as much as I can into the class period but before I know it, the bell has rung. I need to work on stopping instruction earlier even if we aren't done yet in order to review.


Another goal, which is perhaps a long term goal, is to create lessons that are more student centered rather than teacher centered. I believe it is my need for organization that prevents me from planning lessons where I don't have direct control over what the students are doing. But I know that it is so important for their learning and beneficial for their problem solving skills so I agree fully that this is a necessary change (and a good change). I hope to overcome this challenge though!

Leaving Thought

"Do small things with great love" -- Mother Theresa

Conducting SAE Visits... Weigh-In Day

On Wednesday, January 25th, I got to experience SAE visits. My home chapter never conducted SAE visits to my knowledge, and my SAEs never really needed visited. Needless to say, the idea of teachers going to students' homes is still a little outside the norm for me, but I really do like the idea of home visits and SAE visits. I see many benefits and will make sure to try and do them with my future students.

Mr. Clark and Mrs. Pontius reviewing rate of gain with Mallory for her steer

We visited with 5 different students on a beautiful Wednesday evening after school hours. Each of these students had steer that they were raising to show at the county fair. They had Beef Finishing-Entrepreneurship SAE programs. My cooperating teachers and I went to do weigh-ins and check the rate of gain to make sure they were on the right track.

 

Mitchell weighing his steer with help from his pap

Mallory, Mitchell's sister, weighing her steer with help from their pap

 

We visited each of the students' farms and got to meet the parents and even grandparents and other farm hands.. oh, not to mention the farm dogs and kitties!

Wyatt holding his steer on the scale

In the fall, Mrs. Pontius and Mr. Clark had sign-ups for weigh ins because they couldn't show unless they had the initial weigh in. They would schedule the visits and collect the weights. They save this information to use for future visits as well. This was how they prepared prior to this day's visit.

This time, Mrs. Pontius and Mr. Clark began with weighing the steer. They would calculate the rate of gain and show the students. They would talk about if that was good or not and whether the student should continue with the feed amounts or increase or decrease them. They also would observe the facilities and barns to make sure that the environment was clean and comfortable for the animals and that they had plenty of water and other needs were met. They would then ask if the student had any questions or concerns about their steer and what more they needed to prepare. They would give advice if needed, however these students were pretty advanced as far as understanding how to raise animals and showing animals.

Brooke with her steer, Donald, and Mrs. Pontius observing the steer

The records used were AET. Students completed all of their work in there. They brought with them a folder with previous weights. They added the new weights and the rate of gain for each students' steer. When it comes closer to the fair, they give out a checklist of what is needed in preparation for the fair. My cooperating teachers then grade the SAEs simply by reviewing the AET records and making sure that they are complete.

 

Ethan's sow with day old piglet litter

Ethan with his pigs

I really benefitted from seeing how visits work, but it makes me nervous for when I have to do my own in the future. I've never shown animals and don't know if I could provide great advice for that. While I have worked on a farm and certainly have some knowledge of farming facilities and practices, I don't know if I could easily identify issues or come up with ways to solve problems. Especially for animals which I have never worked with.



Ethan's steer

One student asked my cooperating teachers before we left if they could look at their gilt and determine if she was pregnant. We all went and looked but none of us could give answers to that question. It's neat to see that collaboration and also good to see that even veteran ag teachers may not know everything. It reminds me that I shouldn't be worried as much about not knowing everything about showing and raising animals. However, I feel it is my duty as the educator to know this information so even if I don't know then, I think it's important to learn for myself as well as guide that student to resources and provide the pathway for learning.

SAEs can be tedious and a lot of work, but I think it's experiences like the potentially pregnant gilt which can generate further learning.

Science Teacher Visit: Biology and Chemistry

I got to visit two different science teachers for this assignment. I visited with Mrs. Novinger's class, a freshman biology course, and Mr. Tomko's class, a chemistry course. Mrs. Novinger was teaching the students about photosynthesis and cellular respiration and Mr. Tomko was performing demonstrations on chemical reactions.

Mrs. Novinger Reflection

 Mrs. Novinger did not post objectives, however she did have posted the essential question which was: How is energy used and transformed in living things?


She also posted two vocabulary words: photosynthesis and cellular respiration. I think she used these similarly to objectives so that students know that today, they will be able to describe those two terms.


I think the students were interested in the lesson. It was mainly a discussion with a worksheet that they worked on in partners. Mrs. Novinger did a great job at facilitating the instruction and asking a lot of questions to get students' gears going. She also drew out some of the explanations on the board to help students visualize the information. She used choral response to help the students pick up on additional vocabulary throughout the lesson. I would say she was helping students facilitate the learning. It was evident that she used a lot of personal experiences and connections throughout the lesson.

Mrs. Novinger hit many of the teaching characteristics. I think more specifically she reached the clarity of instruction and enthusiasm about the subject. She also provided some variability as far as discussing the information, visually presenting the information, and having students fill out a worksheet. There were times where they were listening and there were other times where they were sharing with their partners.

By providing that variability, I think she was able to better focus the students' attention on the lesson. She got their interest by relating things they are familiar with. For example she related aerobics with cellular respiration and use of energy or she related a previous lab experiment to talk about cells. The structure or framework was apparent in providing the concrete application in the form of a worksheet. She clarified goals by simply posting the vocabulary words that stemmed the discussion on the topic.

Mr. Tomko Reflection

I so wish I took pictures the day I visited Mr. Tomko's class. It was a chemistry class of only five students so it was nice to have more of that one-on-one instruction. As I mentioned, he was doing his lesson on chemical reactions and spent the class period creating all of these neat chemical compounds and explaining what was happening in each reaction. He did not post objectives, but as he went through the reactions, he would write the type on the board. It was almost like he was posting the objectives as he performed the lab.

I know I was very interested in the lesson and I believe the students were too. It definitely takes interest approach to a whole new level! Students wore their goggles and got to see, smell, touch, and even taste some of the chemical reactions. I think the use of the senses is what helped make it effective.

I think the Mr. Tomko was facilitating learning as well. He was the one doing all of the experiments, but would have students participate whether it was holding something or pouring something. He would ask questions about what was going on and what they observed rather than just telling them everything that was happening. He allowed them to come to their own conclusions. Mr. Tomko also did well with clarity and business-like behavior. This was important for his class because even though there were five students, they were jokesters and could get distracted easily, so he had to ensure that they were constantly engaged in the lab.

Mr. Tomko focused their attention and capitalize on their interests by simply keeping them physically as well as mentally engaged in the demonstrations. One thing that was really neat that he did was he essentially created alka seltzer. The students smelled it and were curious as to what it made. Mr. Tomko mentioned that the substance was something that people consume. They still couldn't figure it out so he grabbed some cups and remade the alka seltzer in clean beakers and then had the students try it. They had never had alka seltzer so they couldn't quite figure it out, but they not only learned about that chemical reaction, they now know what that tastes like. I just enjoyed the spur of the moment application which I'm sure they won't forget.

The structure he provided wasn't in the form of a worksheet or anything specific like Mrs. Novinger had. Instead, I think the structure came from writing the types of reactions on the board and reviewing them at the end of the class. This review also helped him clarify the goals he had in the class.

Visits were an A+

I really enjoyed seeing other teachers in their element. Each teacher has a different style not only compared to one another, but from my own. I may not teach exactly the same as them, but I hope to keep in mind some of their strategies and apply them in my own classes. It will be especially good to keep these in mind because I could see both topics applying to ag education!