What did YOU observe this week?

Week 1 at Bermudian Springs High School

I am finally here, I am finally beginning my student teaching internship at Bermudian Springs High School with Dianna Jarema. I could not be happier! Event though the week started off rough, we ended it with a bang. I can not wait to see what next week has in store for me. I am picking up her third period Ag Environmental Awareness class. 

To start off the week, the student teachers were suppose to go to Mid-Winter convention at the farm show complex. However due to inclement weather, my school was not able to attend because the district cancelled school. What started off as a two hour delay, went to full fledged cancellation. So my excitement for beginning this new journey was set back a day. I did not let that get me down, and took the day to relax and get some last minute tasks in. I also took this day to reflect on my past semester, to remember what we covered and how I would implement different methods and skills into my teaching.

It was finally here, the first day of student teaching or should I say mandatory observation. As soon as I walked in kids were friendly. I walked down the hallway to the Ag room where home room was taking place. I walked in to a bunch of students, half sleeping and rebooting from the long weekend. Once homeroom finished, I began my observation. It was mid-term week, so students weren't too eager walking into class to see that they had an exam coming their way in the next few minutes. Students were making faces and you could tell that they just wanted it to be done and over with. Only two exams occurred this day with Mrs. Jarema. The rest of their classes participated in review days.  This helped the student recall information that they learned in the beginning of the semester and be able to ask questions whenever one came to mind. Many students appreciated this time because they haven't studied and needed to refresh themselves on the materials that were covered.

Each class had a different personality in how they would come across. Of course you had your rowdy bunch, the eager to learn and be in the shop, and then the kids who didn't want to be there at all. I noticed that Mrs. Jarema really took to the kids who didn't want to be there and tried to work with them the best she could.  When the class had finished their midterms they were asked to log on to AET and finish recording 20 hours. I was able to help aid the students when they had questions and did not know what do next. Almost every student had a different type of SAE project they were doing. Some of the projects were Worm Farm, Motorcycle Mechanic, Working at a local Market, and Working on a dairy farm. You could tell that most students came from different backgrounds, not your typical farming background. However these kids don't let their backgrounds hold them back. 

One goal of mine is to help Mrs. Jarema work on improving their FFA chapter. They have a good chapter but recruitment is a main goal of ours, in trying to get more members. I feel as though this will be tough, but I am as well as Mrs. Jarema are ready to try. 

Overall, I believe this week went well and I cannot wait to get my feet wet next week by starting to teach.