This week was a very exciting week in my classrooms. In Horticulture, my students started with fertilizer, and growing media but spent the majority of the week in the greenhouse transplanting plants. The delivery of flowers came in on Monday, as a result, Tuesday and Wednesday were spent in the green house transplanting flower plugs to individual pots. This gave me time to talk with students and build rapport with them. I really enjoy days like that because one, its easy to plan and execute, but you also get to talk with students and see what they are interested in. Needless to say, I learned a lot about chickens.
My second period class finished up their soil unit. It seemed like they fully enjoyed texturing play doh and learned how to ribbon soil. I was surprised how well the unit went with them since most of it lecture and not as much hands on activities. This week, I am looking to incorporate more activities with the water cycle since this class surprised me with how much they know. What I thought would take 2 days, took about 20 minutes since the students already had the lessons in their 8th grade environmental class. So like any other teacher, we reviewed it once I was done with lesson. I was prepared for 2 days since most other student teachers in my cohort were having a hard time grasping the concepts of the water cycle. However, I quickly learned that these students already had it. And whoever taught them did a great job since the students retained the information very well.
Advanced FFA leadership finished their speech unit with grades this week. It is amazing to see how far they came and how well they did at the speaking contest. The students have been working extremely hard on their speeches and presented it every chance they had. Out of the 22 students who went to the contest 7 of them are moving on to Regional to compete. Even though I am excited to see how well they did and how far they came, its hard to compete with how happy I am to be done grading rough drafts.
Welding class continued to complete welds for grades and move on to the final week of class. Unfortunately, they were not able to start on the class project due to limited time in the shop and a high number of welds to be completed. I would have loved to complete the class project, however the students did not complete any of their class project plans or complete their welds. As a result, the class project could not be carried through.
Next week I begin my community based unit of instruction with the barn owl initiative. Stay tuned for the latest!!!
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
March Madness
This week in my classes was relatively a normal week. We did not have any big FFA events that were taking place, or any school events.
My AP-Horticulture class has been learning about sexual vs. asexual reproduction. Most of them had some background in the content, however, there were still some who did not have any experience in the subject. As a result, the students who had the experience helped by aiding those in the worksheets and notes.
Intro to AFNR has had a solid week of soil studies and most of the concepts are hitting home. However, some students are really out in left field on the topics and terms used. I keep asking them questions related to the content, however they do not seem to care and also keep getting the answer wrong. I found some improvement when I used actual pictures on the screen of different horizons. They were aw struck by how the soils looked in the profile. I need to find a way to motivate the select few who are not doing well in the class. I have seen some improvement with the end of the term coming up, but it will be too late for some of them to pass the class this quarter.
Advanced FFA leadership has been a great class to work with, however, there was one slip up on my part with a senior student. She asked about her points for questions in the class. I looked down over my sheet and accidentally read the score of the student above her. The score was a zero and when I said it I knew it was off, but she proceeded to become defensive as anyone would. The class presenter started and I did not stop them to address the issue. As a result, the student kept her negative feelings and I addressed it later that I read the wrong score. I should have stopped the student who started presenting and addressed the issue on the spot. That would have given me more credibility and made the class run more smoothly.
Welding is almost day to day. The students are becoming too relaxed in the shop with their PPE. I am very strict with the PPE rules in my shop. So when I caught one student, who was supposed to walk to the bathroom, walking around the shop without safety glasses. I immediately told him to go to the bathroom and leave the shop. It took him several minutes to come back from the bathroom, so I sent a second student (who I trusted) to find him. He later came back with the other student and all is well. But it frustrated me that he did not follow the rules that have been established for 7 weeks.
Friday was a great day, I really enjoyed the professional development that took place at Penn State. I realized that I need to become stronger in understanding extended contracts and what they should consist of. The delta experience was rather fun, because it was a trial run, yet also intense in the setting of a school teacher. I feel that the lesson tuning was a great system for us as student teachers to come together to make improvements for each other. I feel that I have gathered some useful resources for the future with my lesson plans and also for the present.
My AP-Horticulture class has been learning about sexual vs. asexual reproduction. Most of them had some background in the content, however, there were still some who did not have any experience in the subject. As a result, the students who had the experience helped by aiding those in the worksheets and notes.
Intro to AFNR has had a solid week of soil studies and most of the concepts are hitting home. However, some students are really out in left field on the topics and terms used. I keep asking them questions related to the content, however they do not seem to care and also keep getting the answer wrong. I found some improvement when I used actual pictures on the screen of different horizons. They were aw struck by how the soils looked in the profile. I need to find a way to motivate the select few who are not doing well in the class. I have seen some improvement with the end of the term coming up, but it will be too late for some of them to pass the class this quarter.
Advanced FFA leadership has been a great class to work with, however, there was one slip up on my part with a senior student. She asked about her points for questions in the class. I looked down over my sheet and accidentally read the score of the student above her. The score was a zero and when I said it I knew it was off, but she proceeded to become defensive as anyone would. The class presenter started and I did not stop them to address the issue. As a result, the student kept her negative feelings and I addressed it later that I read the wrong score. I should have stopped the student who started presenting and addressed the issue on the spot. That would have given me more credibility and made the class run more smoothly.
Welding is almost day to day. The students are becoming too relaxed in the shop with their PPE. I am very strict with the PPE rules in my shop. So when I caught one student, who was supposed to walk to the bathroom, walking around the shop without safety glasses. I immediately told him to go to the bathroom and leave the shop. It took him several minutes to come back from the bathroom, so I sent a second student (who I trusted) to find him. He later came back with the other student and all is well. But it frustrated me that he did not follow the rules that have been established for 7 weeks.
Friday was a great day, I really enjoyed the professional development that took place at Penn State. I realized that I need to become stronger in understanding extended contracts and what they should consist of. The delta experience was rather fun, because it was a trial run, yet also intense in the setting of a school teacher. I feel that the lesson tuning was a great system for us as student teachers to come together to make improvements for each other. I feel that I have gathered some useful resources for the future with my lesson plans and also for the present.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
One Really Short Week
With this week holding SLLC and having staff development on Friday as a compensation day, my teaching was limited to Wednesday and Thursday. However, I was able to learn more on the days that I was absent from the classroom. When I returned, I was excited to look at the project that I had my students complete while I was absent. I created a "PhotoComic" for my horticulture students to complete. It was a comic strip on photosynthesis that depicted each step of photosynthesis. My students were struggling to understand the steps and process of photosynthesis. As a result, I allowed them to use any resources necessary to complete task. When I got back from SLLC, I was excited to see how the project went in the class. I got some VERY good results from them when I returned. They were happy with the assignment as it cleared up questions they had on photosynthesis.
For the two days that we had in class, the students worked in the greenhouse planting seeds to sell later in the semester. They were excited to plant and get their hands dirty after being in the classroom for the last two days.
My Introduction to AFNR class was a struggle for me this last week as we started into soils. Yes, I know that soils should be my strongest point, however, it is very hard do labs with 23 freshman who are hard to keep interested in the material. Furthermore, the school does not have the needed lab equipment. My solution to this is to show them the different pieces using video of the topic.
My welding class is in high gear to get everything completed in the next 3 weeks. Welding grades are coming in left and right. Class projects are being finalized and materials are being purchased. It is exciting to see them bring everything together that was taught thus far. Furthermore, the welding grades that I are being turned in are very good, the students are running strong beads and are doing a great job!
For the two days that we had in class, the students worked in the greenhouse planting seeds to sell later in the semester. They were excited to plant and get their hands dirty after being in the classroom for the last two days.
My Introduction to AFNR class was a struggle for me this last week as we started into soils. Yes, I know that soils should be my strongest point, however, it is very hard do labs with 23 freshman who are hard to keep interested in the material. Furthermore, the school does not have the needed lab equipment. My solution to this is to show them the different pieces using video of the topic.
My welding class is in high gear to get everything completed in the next 3 weeks. Welding grades are coming in left and right. Class projects are being finalized and materials are being purchased. It is exciting to see them bring everything together that was taught thus far. Furthermore, the welding grades that I are being turned in are very good, the students are running strong beads and are doing a great job!
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Seeing the Leaders at SLLC
As a former FFA member who did not attend every conference available, I now know that I truly missed out on great experiences that the FFA has to offer. This past weekend I attended the State Legislative Leadership Conference (SLLC) in Hershey with my FFA chapter. I was blown away with the content of the conference. SLLC enabled students to not only learn about the legislative process, but they dove into the process by taking on roles within the legislature and fight for the issues they felt strongly about. As a result, students were not just learning about the process, they were utilizing it. On top of playing the part of being at state legislature, students were able to meet and greet their state representative and state senator. For my chapter, this was awesome because we were able to ask questions that will affect agriculture in the local community. I was impressed with the many and deeply thought out questions that were brought up by the students for the legislative members. Not only was I impressed but I could feel that the representatives were enjoying the highly thought out questions the students were posing.
| SAE Proficiency Judging |
On our way to SLLC, we stopped at Red Robin after talking with students about where they would like to go. The meal went smoothly and we continued on our way. However, I was unsure what Tuesday would hold with the students undecided where they would like to eat. During SLLC I was concerned with Tuesday and had a plan to eat before heading to the Army Heritage Museum. However, I changed my plan Tuesday morning when the students seemed to not be hungry after the visit to the Capitol Building. As a result, I decided to go to the Army Heritage Museum and eat after. Here is where I went wrong. I though the students were hungry after asking them if they would like to eat. What really happened is that the students were tired from the night before which hid their hunger from them. This made them grumpy and miserable to work with. Both of my cooperating teachers spoke with me while we were at the Museum to coach me on reading the signs that I had missed. Another issue that I ran into is that I did not know where would be a good place to eat in the area. I am very unfamiliar with Carlisle and what it has to offer. This limited me on what I could give as options to my students who were hungry. As a result, my teachers stepped in and recommended a place to eat.
One of the things I learned through this adventure is that you have to be prepared for anything and everything. I “knew” where the Army Heritage Museum was after passing it multiple times, however, I was asked to give my cooperating teacher directions when we left the Capitol and I did not have a map to go by. I was able to get them close, but not dead on…..as a result….failed. I believe that the trip went well all together, but I need to improve on having everything ready at a moment’s notice.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Half way?
This past week was a great learning experience for my AP Horticulture class. They started a project in January in the greenhouse where they grew a series of plants and tested their own hypothesis. Some of the experiments consisted of watering a plant with salt water, compared to watering it with Gatorade. Others planted their seeds at different depths to see which plants emerged and which plants could not survive. However, this week, after all of their hard work they were finally able to get answers on what happened to their plants. After looking, digging and going on an adventure with their samples, some were given clear explanations on what happened to their plant. Others became frustrated because their plant did not grow when others did and saw the experiment as a failure. I quickly tried to show them that all experiments can be a success as long as you learn something from it. Upon this, the student researched reasons why his/her seed might not have grown.
Others were shown that the hypothesis is not always supported with their experiment. However, they were fascinated how the plant adapted to see its survival through. This coming week (March 13th) is when they will have completed their written report. I am excited to see how they viewed their experiment and what they took from it.
My Introduction to AFNR class was as always challenging to manage. Some of the students in the class work very hard to get better and come ask me questions. However, I am not able to give them the instruction they need because others in the class are always trying to get away with things in the class (such as picking on each other). As a result, I am struggling to aid the students who have the questions and want to know more because I have to keep an eye on the others who are just trying to complete the assignment.
To aid in this, I moved some of the assigned seats which helped some do better in the classroom, however, it did not seem to be the "big fix" (I am still looking for that one).
It is amazing how far students can go when they work on a project and then take it to others for feedback. Just seeing that the students are pushing themselves to become better at a task/skill is great to see. The results, are even better and can last a lifetime. For my speech unit, students created their speech and had to turn in multiple drafts for grading and revisions. Some students turned in as many as 5 drafts to be revised and changed to have the best speech.
I do not know what it is with high school boys and their fascination with welding pieces of metal together to make "art" but I know that I have been watching them like a hawk after finding some "art" in the scrap metal bin. Its okay to weld pieces together, but it can get out of hand quickly when it becomes difficult to cut the metal that has been welded together. As a result, I have been a drone and just watching over every little thing that has been happening in my shop. They have gotten better but we are still learning. PS. Putting a due date on the board really gets them motivated to accomplish the skill.
All in all it was a great week and this next week with my first field trip will get even better!
Others were shown that the hypothesis is not always supported with their experiment. However, they were fascinated how the plant adapted to see its survival through. This coming week (March 13th) is when they will have completed their written report. I am excited to see how they viewed their experiment and what they took from it.
My Introduction to AFNR class was as always challenging to manage. Some of the students in the class work very hard to get better and come ask me questions. However, I am not able to give them the instruction they need because others in the class are always trying to get away with things in the class (such as picking on each other). As a result, I am struggling to aid the students who have the questions and want to know more because I have to keep an eye on the others who are just trying to complete the assignment.
To aid in this, I moved some of the assigned seats which helped some do better in the classroom, however, it did not seem to be the "big fix" (I am still looking for that one).
It is amazing how far students can go when they work on a project and then take it to others for feedback. Just seeing that the students are pushing themselves to become better at a task/skill is great to see. The results, are even better and can last a lifetime. For my speech unit, students created their speech and had to turn in multiple drafts for grading and revisions. Some students turned in as many as 5 drafts to be revised and changed to have the best speech.
I do not know what it is with high school boys and their fascination with welding pieces of metal together to make "art" but I know that I have been watching them like a hawk after finding some "art" in the scrap metal bin. Its okay to weld pieces together, but it can get out of hand quickly when it becomes difficult to cut the metal that has been welded together. As a result, I have been a drone and just watching over every little thing that has been happening in my shop. They have gotten better but we are still learning. PS. Putting a due date on the board really gets them motivated to accomplish the skill.
All in all it was a great week and this next week with my first field trip will get even better!
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