I attended a new and beginning teacher meeting at Shady Maple, the best food place ever, on March 25, 2015. Going to it the only thing I knew was to bring an activity to share and there would be awesome food.
I was not sure how the activity thing would work. I must say though that having every teacher and student teacher bring an activity to share was an excellent idea. Not every activity might have pertained to you but it was neat hearing what everyone brought.
This activity was a great way to share resources and bring new ideas to your classroom. It also sparked ideas like I could do this activity but change this to fit what I am teaching.
Another neat thing about the meeting was answering the four questions and hearing some of the answers especially about that do you wish you would have know at first and little things like that. However, I feel that the activity/lesson sharing should be happening more often because that is always a great resource and connection for Ag teachers.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Sunday, March 29, 2015
When the path ahead turns the wrong way
Classes this week went great from working on labs and finishing projects.
This week I took my AgriEcology class out fish stocking for the field experience for my community based unit of instruction on populations. Out of 24 students only 7 went because of either bad grades or just did not want to go.
Being none of us have ever helped with stocking before it was unsure what to expect. Were we the only ones helping? How would this whole day pan out? When we arrived there were about twenty to thirty others there to help. They ranged from older gentlemen who were probably retired and this is something they looked forward to, to dads bringing their young children.
We learned first thing that they do not tell you where the next stop is and well we got lost when we got stopped at a red light and lost sight of those in front of us. We finally made it back with the group. However, sometimes things do not go as planned and the unbelievable happens. You scratch the school van with students in it.
I never thought of how this process would go, even though it is not one my cooperating teacher or I wanted me to see it happened. (I was not the driver fyi) The school had to be called, cops called, administration had to come, every adult plus student had to give them their information, once we got back to the school every student in the van plus us had to get checked out by the school nurse, than you have to meet with the principle and all those and wait to see what the next step is.
The one awesome thing out of the day was meeting Mindy Fee who is one of their representatives while fish stocking.
This week I took my AgriEcology class out fish stocking for the field experience for my community based unit of instruction on populations. Out of 24 students only 7 went because of either bad grades or just did not want to go.
Being none of us have ever helped with stocking before it was unsure what to expect. Were we the only ones helping? How would this whole day pan out? When we arrived there were about twenty to thirty others there to help. They ranged from older gentlemen who were probably retired and this is something they looked forward to, to dads bringing their young children.
We learned first thing that they do not tell you where the next stop is and well we got lost when we got stopped at a red light and lost sight of those in front of us. We finally made it back with the group. However, sometimes things do not go as planned and the unbelievable happens. You scratch the school van with students in it.
I never thought of how this process would go, even though it is not one my cooperating teacher or I wanted me to see it happened. (I was not the driver fyi) The school had to be called, cops called, administration had to come, every adult plus student had to give them their information, once we got back to the school every student in the van plus us had to get checked out by the school nurse, than you have to meet with the principle and all those and wait to see what the next step is.
The one awesome thing out of the day was meeting Mindy Fee who is one of their representatives while fish stocking.
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Where has the time gone?
This week it really hit me that my student teaching is just about over. This time has gone by way to quick and I can honestly say I am going to miss my cooperating school, the teachers, and of course my students.
As for this week I was only in the classroom two days due to praxis exams and CDE judging. The CDE judging day was a great experience for me because I got to help judge the small gas engines CDE with Jasmine and other teachers. I am thankful for this opportunity because this is one CDE I never participated in and had no clue what happened in the contest. It was a lot of fun and I learned even more.
As for next week we should make a good head way on the power tools project which they are liking 100% more than the hand tools. Go figure. I will be implementing my action research into my AgriEcology class that revolves around learning styles. My intro to ag class will be diving into labs dealing with soils.
As for this week I was only in the classroom two days due to praxis exams and CDE judging. The CDE judging day was a great experience for me because I got to help judge the small gas engines CDE with Jasmine and other teachers. I am thankful for this opportunity because this is one CDE I never participated in and had no clue what happened in the contest. It was a lot of fun and I learned even more.
As for next week we should make a good head way on the power tools project which they are liking 100% more than the hand tools. Go figure. I will be implementing my action research into my AgriEcology class that revolves around learning styles. My intro to ag class will be diving into labs dealing with soils.
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Bringing Creativity to the Classroom
Being able to bring creativity and life to a classroom is always a challenge. I am always thinking well if I do it this way will the students be like oh this is cool or this is boring. By bringing creativity to the classroom you are able to make the learning environment fun and intriguing.
In my AgriEcology class this week I taught the idea of estimating populations, factors that contribute to populations, and how they react to changes in the habitat. One way I taught this was through Tragedy of the Commons lesson where the students went fishing to understand the effects that humans and limits have on populations.
In Honors Ag Mechanics they worked on finishing their birdhouses. People have always made fun or talked by obsession with the home make over shows. However, my cooperating teacher saw the beginning of the week where they torched a counter top to add patterns and texture instead of staining. So what did we do? Showed the students this idea and about half the class was like this is cool and did it. With this technique each birdhouse is different in its own way and they look awesome.
In my AgriEcology class this week I taught the idea of estimating populations, factors that contribute to populations, and how they react to changes in the habitat. One way I taught this was through Tragedy of the Commons lesson where the students went fishing to understand the effects that humans and limits have on populations.
In Honors Ag Mechanics they worked on finishing their birdhouses. People have always made fun or talked by obsession with the home make over shows. However, my cooperating teacher saw the beginning of the week where they torched a counter top to add patterns and texture instead of staining. So what did we do? Showed the students this idea and about half the class was like this is cool and did it. With this technique each birdhouse is different in its own way and they look awesome.
Friday, March 6, 2015
The Week That Was
I talked in my first few blogs about flexibility and this week flexibility has been the name of the game. Our five day school week turned into three short days. This week was a lot of changing and adapting and cutting certain lessons short and deciding what is the most important to cover that day and what is not.
I am officially at a full course load as of this week and to be honest its tough. It not tough in the aspect of preparation but tough in the area of my fourth block is a struggle because they are a class that has no desire to be there. So no matter what activities you do or how you teach it they could care less if your teaching and doing things with them. I was told it is not you it is them, but it is still frustrating because you feel like your failing each and every day with them.
I have spent the past two snow days getting moodles done so I can officially say I have one left!!!! I have gotten a bunch of little things done and out of the way that I have been pushing off. However at the same time it upsetting because I was hoping for a long weekend at home next weekend but I will still make the best of few hours at home of course being spent with the goats.
I am officially at a full course load as of this week and to be honest its tough. It not tough in the aspect of preparation but tough in the area of my fourth block is a struggle because they are a class that has no desire to be there. So no matter what activities you do or how you teach it they could care less if your teaching and doing things with them. I was told it is not you it is them, but it is still frustrating because you feel like your failing each and every day with them.
I have spent the past two snow days getting moodles done so I can officially say I have one left!!!! I have gotten a bunch of little things done and out of the way that I have been pushing off. However at the same time it upsetting because I was hoping for a long weekend at home next weekend but I will still make the best of few hours at home of course being spent with the goats.
Placement SAE visit
Being in the FFA my SAE project was always based around livestock breeding and finishing. Being a student teacher at Manheim Central I am being exposed to the different types of SAE projects. Over the summer I did a dairy beef project visit and visited with a student who was restoring an old combine.
For my first SAE visit this semester I went to visit Diana High, who has a placement SAE project. The visit occurred at her place of work which is the G & G agway in Manehim. In order to set up this visit we had to get her work schedule and make sure it was okay for us to come. Diana uses AET for her record keeping. There were no recommendations when it came to her work from her boss but we talked about her responsibilities at G & G and where she could pick up more responsibility. For this to happen though it will not start till the summer when Diana is working more days and longer shifts. Overall there was nothing but good things said about her and her work ethic.
This student is a hard worker and you can see that just from her attitude and what others have to say about her. She recently had an accident that resulted in a concussion. Her place of employment has worked with her through the whole thing and yet she has not slowed down. The only thing she has slowed down is her time in the classroom but has still stuck that out as much as possible.
For my first SAE visit this semester I went to visit Diana High, who has a placement SAE project. The visit occurred at her place of work which is the G & G agway in Manehim. In order to set up this visit we had to get her work schedule and make sure it was okay for us to come. Diana uses AET for her record keeping. There were no recommendations when it came to her work from her boss but we talked about her responsibilities at G & G and where she could pick up more responsibility. For this to happen though it will not start till the summer when Diana is working more days and longer shifts. Overall there was nothing but good things said about her and her work ethic.
This student is a hard worker and you can see that just from her attitude and what others have to say about her. She recently had an accident that resulted in a concussion. Her place of employment has worked with her through the whole thing and yet she has not slowed down. The only thing she has slowed down is her time in the classroom but has still stuck that out as much as possible.
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