This week concluded my student teaching internship. It was really emotional to see the student's faces when they were told that this was my last week. Many of them asked if I could come back next year to teach, most were upset that I was not going to be there for them to pick on and have fun with. I reassured them that I will see them at the banquet and to not do anything sneaking to me when I am there.
Looking back over the entire experience, I learned that I can make it through some very stressful and seemingly impossible situations. Student teaching is meant to give a college student the full experience of what a first year agriculture teacher would experience. Saying that, all of the planning, organizing, and executing of plans is only half the battle when you have a very active program. You must also plan trips, prepare students for events, and plan fundraising that is currently happening and in the future. I believe that this experience should have a time investment of 100% (or very close) to get the most out of the experience. A new teacher should have the passion to continue and the push for a stronger program. If a teacher does not have the passion, the investment will be lacking and the push for a stronger program will be non existent. Therefore, passion for teaching is needed to make it through stressful times as well as pleasant times. My experience at Big Spring High School had both pleasant and unpleasant times, however, I feel that I have grown through the entire experience. I am more precise with what I am doing, and focused on what I need to get done and how it should be.
I think the area in which I have expanded the most in teaching is building a connection with the students and developing my questioning techniques in classroom discussion. At first, I was very particular with what I said with the students in fear of crossing unknown lines. Yes, it is safe, however, the students view you as a robot without emotions. After several weeks, I began to make jokes and have fun with them. This all started after ACES when my goal was to get all of the students out on the dance floor instead of sitting around. From that point on, the students were always coming to me for advice and a laugh.
If I had to give one word of advice for those who are about to student teach, plan ahead as far as you can, you never know what will happen out side of teaching that will impact your planning and teaching. I felt that I had a good week of planning ahead of my class and sometimes I was at 2 weeks. However, that all came crashing down when I had to start taking on more responsibilities with the family business due to unforeseen circumstances. As a result, I was planning for the end of the week instead of the end of next week. This way is extremely frustrating and nerve racking with the stress of having everything ready for the students. Therefore, PLAN AHEAD as far as YOUR CALENDAR allows you.
I am happy to have the experience behind me, however, I will miss making students smile when they are having a tough day or feeling uneasy about an exam. Either way, I really enjoyed making students happy and confident in what they knew.
The one thing that will stick with me forever from this experience is when I asked my cooperating teacher if teaching has influenced how she raises her children. She replied "Many of the students come from a home life where they are not the main concern or are seen as a negative part of the family. So I try to never do work when my children are awake. I give all of my time to them when they are awake, all of my work is done when they are asleep so that I can devote everything to them." I feel that if I do not teach in the future, I will understand how to show my children the love that I have for them so that they will not have to endure some of the feelings that others have to.
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Sunday, April 20, 2014
The Last of The Full Load
This week, like many weeks, was very frustrating for me. Maybe the most frustrating week. The week started out with a visit from my University Supervisor which was not the frustrating part, but rather the best part of my week. Dr. Ewing provided some great points and coaching that I can understand and build off of. I used his advice on cracking down the with my freshman class to build classroom management. I moved some students and wrote up a couple as well. This coming week is a new week and I hope that my impressions held over break, but if not, I will have to reenforce them this week.
Horticulture had a guest speaker in Dr. Kerry Richards who spoke about pesticide safety. She left her materials with me to use on Monday with the students. I am excited to continue the formulations exercise and see what the students know from their background of house hold products. We will be finishing up the IPM and plant propagation unit, but I am worried that they will not have remembered the material from the plant propagation lessons. We will have some time to review, but they are in a college course so I will not spend too much time reviewing.
The students wrote one page summaries about their thoughts on GMOs and the impact they have on agriculture. It was great to see the students take a stand and reason through why or why not they agreed to using GMOs in agriculture. Although I may not have agreed with them on some of their view points, they were able to factually support their feelings toward the subject.
The Barn Owl box unit is possibly my favorite unit. I have freedom to plan it however I desire and execute the project to my preference. This week the students cut out all of the sides and boards. It was GREAT to see them problem solve through the measurements and work together to come up with a solution. The students were working hard during the activity but were happy when they knew they solved the problem.
Food science concluded for me this week. They took their exams for the first unit and afterwards we discussed how diets vary around the world using my experience in South Korea as an example. Many of the students found it interesting how they have such a monoculture in the food industry. It really hit home when I informed them that here at Big Spring, we can eat tacos, pizza, and various other foods when other countries do not have a need for the diversity of foods.
Horticulture had a guest speaker in Dr. Kerry Richards who spoke about pesticide safety. She left her materials with me to use on Monday with the students. I am excited to continue the formulations exercise and see what the students know from their background of house hold products. We will be finishing up the IPM and plant propagation unit, but I am worried that they will not have remembered the material from the plant propagation lessons. We will have some time to review, but they are in a college course so I will not spend too much time reviewing.
The students wrote one page summaries about their thoughts on GMOs and the impact they have on agriculture. It was great to see the students take a stand and reason through why or why not they agreed to using GMOs in agriculture. Although I may not have agreed with them on some of their view points, they were able to factually support their feelings toward the subject.
The Barn Owl box unit is possibly my favorite unit. I have freedom to plan it however I desire and execute the project to my preference. This week the students cut out all of the sides and boards. It was GREAT to see them problem solve through the measurements and work together to come up with a solution. The students were working hard during the activity but were happy when they knew they solved the problem.
Food science concluded for me this week. They took their exams for the first unit and afterwards we discussed how diets vary around the world using my experience in South Korea as an example. Many of the students found it interesting how they have such a monoculture in the food industry. It really hit home when I informed them that here at Big Spring, we can eat tacos, pizza, and various other foods when other countries do not have a need for the diversity of foods.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Spring Fever
This week was the last full week of classes with a full load that I will have for the internship. I will have had 11 weeks with the full load of class, even though Penn State requires 4 weeks. Time has gone fast, but I am ready for the next chapter to soon begin.
This past week was a great week for me at the school. I was able to teach my Horticulture class the basics of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). This was awesome, because I can use the information I am teaching to help me take my Pesticide Certification Exam. I LOVE when I can make things count for 2. I asked my students if they would be interested in taking the exam, however, they were not as thrilled as I was for the opportunity. As we continued through the lesson, they really seemed interested in the biological control factors, especially the males in the class. This is because they found the parasitic wasps to be fascinating. As a result, they were interested in discovering more methods of controlling pests.
My Introduction to AFNR class is very challenging for me. Some of my students do not care if they pass or fail. They have given up hope for a good grade in my class. This is a full freshman class that is very hard to work with. I have struggled with them throughout this internship. At one point, I over heard one student say "I don't care anymore, he gave me a bad grade". With this, I addressed the class saying, "some of you are constantly distracting others, we can not have this if you all want to do well. I know that you are all capable of good grades, you just have to apply yourself". With that being said, some students were ready to listen and start and have maintained it. One student still does not want to try and I am trying desperately to find the connection.
My community based unit of instruction was a great success this week. The students are cutting out the pieces for the barn owl boxes and we had a guest presenter from the PA Game Commission. The South Central Wildlife Biologist came to the school and presented the students with information about the barn owl. They asked him many of questions and kept working towards the goal to improve their habitat in the Big Spring School District.
This past week was a great week for me at the school. I was able to teach my Horticulture class the basics of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). This was awesome, because I can use the information I am teaching to help me take my Pesticide Certification Exam. I LOVE when I can make things count for 2. I asked my students if they would be interested in taking the exam, however, they were not as thrilled as I was for the opportunity. As we continued through the lesson, they really seemed interested in the biological control factors, especially the males in the class. This is because they found the parasitic wasps to be fascinating. As a result, they were interested in discovering more methods of controlling pests.
My Introduction to AFNR class is very challenging for me. Some of my students do not care if they pass or fail. They have given up hope for a good grade in my class. This is a full freshman class that is very hard to work with. I have struggled with them throughout this internship. At one point, I over heard one student say "I don't care anymore, he gave me a bad grade". With this, I addressed the class saying, "some of you are constantly distracting others, we can not have this if you all want to do well. I know that you are all capable of good grades, you just have to apply yourself". With that being said, some students were ready to listen and start and have maintained it. One student still does not want to try and I am trying desperately to find the connection.
My community based unit of instruction was a great success this week. The students are cutting out the pieces for the barn owl boxes and we had a guest presenter from the PA Game Commission. The South Central Wildlife Biologist came to the school and presented the students with information about the barn owl. They asked him many of questions and kept working towards the goal to improve their habitat in the Big Spring School District.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
SPRING TIME!!
This week was a much improved week compared to that of recent weeks. I feel that overall, even in the classes where I did not have rapport with the students, I was able to connect with them and build relationships with the students. I felt really proud when I was ask from others "What happened in your class today?" Not because of something bad, but that students were talking up my classes in other classes. This week I was more relaxed than most weeks. I feel that my communication with others has gotten better but must continue to build.
Horticulture is definitely enjoying class. We have been planting in the greenhouse to sell off the plants in May for a program fundraiser. I think the biggest thing they are gaining from the experience is how relaxing it can be to plant and see what comes from their hard work. This upcoming week, we will be moving into Integrated Pest Management and looking at ways to limit pest populations through diverse methods.
In my Intro to AFNR class, I learned some key things this week. I have noticed that the vocabulary and key terms has not been hitting home and sticking with the students after we go over it in class. This week, I decided to test it out to see how well they are retaining the vocabulary, but I wanted to disguise it from them. I made a crossword puzzle using the key terms. The definitions were given at the bottom with the students filling in the blanks with the terms. Some of the students were able to pick up quickly on the terms and made it look easy. However, a majority of the students were not able to fill in the blanks with the key terms. As a result, I have questioned how I present the material. I will not be giving them guided notes, but will be writing the definitions for my self on the board when I present them to the class. This will activate the visual learners. Tune in to hear the outcome next week.
My community based unit of instruction kicked off this week with the students in the FFA Leadership classes. We have discovered how the Big Spring School District is a hot place for the current barn owl population. On April 11th, the PA Game Commission will be visiting to see our progress and share how we are helping the barn owls in the area. I am not the only excited person in the classroom, especially when they said they could possibly bring in an actual barn owl!!!
Horticulture is definitely enjoying class. We have been planting in the greenhouse to sell off the plants in May for a program fundraiser. I think the biggest thing they are gaining from the experience is how relaxing it can be to plant and see what comes from their hard work. This upcoming week, we will be moving into Integrated Pest Management and looking at ways to limit pest populations through diverse methods.
In my Intro to AFNR class, I learned some key things this week. I have noticed that the vocabulary and key terms has not been hitting home and sticking with the students after we go over it in class. This week, I decided to test it out to see how well they are retaining the vocabulary, but I wanted to disguise it from them. I made a crossword puzzle using the key terms. The definitions were given at the bottom with the students filling in the blanks with the terms. Some of the students were able to pick up quickly on the terms and made it look easy. However, a majority of the students were not able to fill in the blanks with the key terms. As a result, I have questioned how I present the material. I will not be giving them guided notes, but will be writing the definitions for my self on the board when I present them to the class. This will activate the visual learners. Tune in to hear the outcome next week.
My community based unit of instruction kicked off this week with the students in the FFA Leadership classes. We have discovered how the Big Spring School District is a hot place for the current barn owl population. On April 11th, the PA Game Commission will be visiting to see our progress and share how we are helping the barn owls in the area. I am not the only excited person in the classroom, especially when they said they could possibly bring in an actual barn owl!!!
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