Week 11: Where Is The Time GOING?!

 Week 11: So Much To Do, Such Little Time

Oh My Lanta! This week flew by so fast. It was another busy week for me. Being out for two days and only staying at my host family's for one day, definitely made me feel like a gypsy. Even though I wasn't there for two out of the five days, I definitely had a better week then the last one. Even with the marking period ending and adding in yet another class I made it through. My Students made progress in every class and they really showed me that I could trust them with being out and getting their work down. I also realized that planning ahead definitely makes things go easier.
Animal science did well with the assignments I left and assigned them. When I was there we were able to finally get through the rest of the minerals section. They took a test to make sure they were obtaining the information and sure enough they did very well. We also began to talk about digestion. On Friday I left them a packet from the text book to read about digestion with different animals so we shall see how that goes on Monday and if they read it or not.
In Ag Environmental Awareness, we are still left with uncertainty of cooperatives and how they play a huge role in the Agricultural Industry. Since we are using our vegetable plants as a cooperative so they can get firsthand experience in one, they nominated a manager and co-manager. So next week we can vote and see what the outcome is. Overall though this class enjoys planting and really being able to get their hands dirty. Lets hope this sticks for we still have another week of planting and many weeks to come of transplanting. I am happy to say that I have some very dedicated students who come down eleventh period to help set up of the next day, make sure plants are sufficient enough with water, and to plant if not all planting occurs. They are great! Hopefully we see some growing numbers of plants!
When I micro taught last semester I was teaching small gas engines. This was great because I knew I would be teaching this unit when I student taught. So I am re-using the lessons I taught during micro teaching. I am having my students get into five groups and explaining one cycle of a four stroke engine. The fifth group and explaining the process of cooling and lubrication. I am then going to have them teach to the class what each cycle does instead of me always teaching. However I know I will have to step in to really get the class to understand the concept.
Oh boy have I seen a change in my Ag Mechanics II classes. I feel that they finally are understanding that I am not going to take the pushing my buttons. For that we have been in the shop and they come and ask me questions. Right now they are practicing ARC MIG and Oxy- Cutting to see where they are at and what they need to practice. Hopefully by the end of the next week they can get started working on their boot scraper. I should also add that they know before they can go down to the shop they must hand in their cell phones or else they cannot go down. I am however still having issues with a few of my students not wearing proper PPE. So I just make them do bookwork at one of the shop tables. I am hoping that they get tired of that and take it seriously that they can't be in the shop with shorts and sandals!
I picked up a Plant Science class that I am teaching floral design in. It is actually quite interesting to see the gender dynamics because there are only three girls and the rest are guys. They are a bit rowdy and since this is a short unit it is hard to really get their attention but I am going to continue to try. Hopefully we see some great arrangements.

Sebastian planting some Herbs

Matty and Ryan from Small Gas Engines

Planting Some Veggies

Week 10: Short and Somewhat Bitter

When Times Get Tough

Another week in the books, but this is one that if I could redo I would in a heartbeat! This was not one of the greatest weeks of my student teaching internship. It started off fair but ended with an uproar. My week was already shortened because of the SLLC Convention, so this meant I only had three not even full days with my students. Wednesday was the actual whole day we had that was shortened for the musical preview or an early dismissal.
The SLLC convention was a great experience not only for myself my students as well. It was my first time seeing how this convention was ran. I really enjoyed hearing some of the stuff that my students were saying. They told me about some of the legislation that was being discussed and what not. It was great to see how they were thinking and what their opinions were on certain topics. Another part I thoroughly enjoyed was doing community service at the Ronald McDonald house in Hershey. It was nice because my chapter and I were able to give back, even though it wasn't that much. We cleaned and sanitized different common rooms and picked up trash outside. We even had a nice littler helper who was there for is three year checkup of being cancer free. It definitely made me realize its the little things in life. I really enjoyed eating breakfast with our county representatives and legislators. I thought this was a great opportunity to see what was going on in our local and state government. However my favorite part was getting to go to the capital. I never though a building could be so darn beautiful and expensive! I loved knowing how it was jammed pack full of history and stories. Talk about taking a girl out of the North for a moment! It as amazing!
Animal Science was still working through the work that the sub gave them and then we moved forward but with the shortened classes made trying to get through things impossible. However we made it through vitamins and started into the importance of minerals and the difference between macro and micro minerals. I have noticed that this class is better when they work in groups and I am unsure why. I do not like putting them in groups especially when I do not assign them because then I have groups talking/gossiping rather than doing their work.  However they do get the work done rather than having them do the work on their own. I do have this one student who really upsets me because she refuses to do her work and then when I call her out on it she tells me she doesn't understand what is going on after I asked for questions as a group and individually. It is so hard not to get frustrated with her but I feel as though that just causes her to get attitude and defensive. I am still working with her but with the marking period ending next Tuesday I just do not see her having the ambition to come to me to get her assignments done. I guess we will how that goes next week. I just do not like turning students away.
In Ag Environmental awareness we started to plant some more vegetables. I really think my students enjoy planting, which is good because they will plant more and then transplant the plants into four packs to sell. They are grasping a little more concept on planning where to plant.  We are trying to show that in order to have a business they must have a plan. So in this case them planting and knowing when to plant and the sell date counts as a overall business plan. I touched on co-ops but with these shortened period is truly makes it impossible to get through the information for them to better understand this process.
I also picked up two sections of Ag Mechanics I. This was interesting because I picked them up on our shortened periods and it seemed to go well. I got a basic understanding of where they are at with small gas engines, and as I assumed they really do not know too much. However this did lead me and Mrs Jarema to a new finding. For my community-based project I am going to write an article in the town newspaper and create a flyer for the school to bring in lawnmowers for the students to repair and maintain. I was going to do a career fair but with little timing we decided to change it and open this unit to the community. Its great because it takes care of this assignment, but most importantly it helps the students really retain and understand how to repair and maintain a small gas engine. I am pretty stoked about it, but before we can get to the shop we have some class work to do first.
On top of this shortened week, one of my lovely sections of Ag Mechanics II decided that they really wanted to push my buttons to see just how far they could push before I would break. Let me tell you, they broke me. We were still doing safety demonstrations of the oxy-acetlyene torch and my students decided they were going to be extremely disruptive, disrespectful and just annoying to the one student taking his test. After countless times of talking the students I finally sent them up to the classroom to think about what they were doing. I should have known better because when I called on them they decided to shut me down by being disrespectful to not only me but the student who was struggling.  On top of that I had a student think it was absolutely necessary to be on his cell phone while he was in the shop! I lost it! I sent them up and literally couldn't handle my anger that I just started to weep, in front of the struggling student. Bless this student's heart, he knew what was going on that he was trying to keep me distracted, but being overwhelmed I just couldn't gather my thoughts in time. So we cleaned up and headed up to the room where the rest of the class was, and I decided to pull the one student aside and speak with him one on one. That backfired hard! He literally told me I was a terrible teacher, which broke my heart even more.
This is when I brought myself to a decision, I had to address this situation at the beginning of the next class, and so I did. I sat there and yelled (unfortunately the mean teacher side came out) and explained the reason the safety was taking so long. I also established a new rule that if we are going to the shop that they must turn in their cell phones at the beginning of class and I will hand them back out at the end when they are in their seats. Since it was only one day I am waiting to see what next week will be like, but it had to be done.
Overall this week was a tad crazy, but I made it through. I have realized that sometimes you just need to come on strong to deserve some respect, but also for the importance of the students learning. I can say that I am pleased with the way I handled things but I am sad that it had to come to this. Might I add that I appreciate all people who are in the profession of teaching, because it definitely isn't easy! I am still waiting to see what the next week brings, hopefully well-behaved mechanic boys and a better week.

Bermudan FFA Chapter at the State Capital Building

Giving a helping hand to the Ronald McDonald House 

Planting and Labeling Vegetables 

Week 9: So Much is Happening!

Week 9: So Much to Do in Such Little Time

Talk about a speedy week with loads of events, practices, new units and class on top of the work we have to do. What seemed like a calm week in my planner was the exact opposite of that. I am getting ready for the following week to add on another two sections of Ag Mechanics I. I will be teaching them Small Gas Engines and the way we have it set up is that the students bring in a small engine (lawnmower-push, rototiller) from home and then the "tune" it up. Also in my Ag Environmental class we are going to wrap up maple syrup and go right into Vegetables and Cooperatives. Also this week was our county public speaking contest, which means we had to revise, review, and get the speeches altogether. Sometimes I wonder how Ag teachers do it, and then I realize this is what I love about our profession, the way that it is always changing.
Even with a busy schedule we as Ag teacher still have to keep it together. I have found that I have issues sometimes with remembering what I had said to certain students about assignments. So I have definitely utilized the writing everything down technique. This has helped me out a ton, but still if I misplace my notebook then we are in big trouble. This week seemed to fly by, especially in my Ag Environmental Awareness class. Teaching two units can be a little tricky at times but it definitely is helping the kiddos get into a routine. However I will be ending the maple unit at the end of this week, due to SLLC being the following week and I would rather the students not get confused with the sub being there. However I am still trying to find a way to get these students really involved in the vegetable unit. They are really getting confused on cooperatives, so hopefully within the next few weeks they can really grasp this concept and continue to move forward.
Animal Science is going well, however how do you motivate the unmotivated. I feel as though I have tried everything and they just continue to give me the stare and refuse to participate. I guess this is why reflection is key when it comes to fixing these issues. Hopefully once we get out of feed and nutrition I will start seeing a turn around in the digestion section of this unit.
Ag Mechanics II still isn't in the shop and they are being difficult on getting through the material because they want to be down there. However I decided to try a different approach to them by hearing what they wanted and combining what I wanted them to get from the lesson. I decided to steal an idea from Dr. Ewing when I had shop class. I had my kiddos make a poster about the oxy-acetylene tank and label all of the parts. Once they finished with the poster they had to come up and present how to set up and tear down process of the oxy-acetylene tank. I think I really hit the creative bone in some kids and tested it in other kids. Being an all boy class I constantly heard the excuse of I can't draw and what have you, but I would like to say they actually did it all. The second part of this was to have the students go down and set up and shut off the oxy-acetylene tank. This was to show me that they could do it without a problem and safely. I had a grading rubric that graded them from proper PPE to the shut down process. It was interesting to see that my kiddos didn't know it all and the allowed me to help them. My students like to think they know everything until they are put to the test.
Overall it was a good week that ended in some of our students placing in the county public speaking contest to Mr. Frederick coming down for a second visit. Even though it seemed jam packed I had a great week and it definitely is helping me to learn and improve on time management skills. Even though my time is getting shorter and shorter I still have more to come.

One of my student's Oxy-Acetylene Posters

Studying the Maple Process: From start to Finish

My FFA Kiddos at Adams County Public Speaking Contest

Week 8: A Short but Sweet Week

Week 8: Time is Truly of the Essence

One major lesson that I took away from this week is that time is truly of the essence. I believe that is why everyone stresses on time management and being flexible. These two skills definitely go hand in hand because you need them both in this profession. For example the week started of strong with full-timed days and when Wednesday came along, it came with a vengeance because we had the rest of the week off. During these days off I was able to get papers graded and work on some assignments.  However I got overwhelmed with the thought of my classes all being behind, when I finally thought were we getting caught up. Overall with the two and a half short days my Ag Enviro class finally completed the forestry unit and Ag mechanics finished Arc welding safety and procedures. I picked up an animal science class and only got to spend one day with them before the week came to an unexpected halt. My mechanics sections are still testing me and somedays pushing me to the max but all in all this is part of the learning experience.
I thought in the beginning that this experience would be a breeze, not with the work portion but teaching portion. It seemed like my kiddos would be easy to teach, and I am telling you that I am finding that to be false. Not saying my students are "bad" but they do test my limits. In some classes it is clear of what I expect from them and what is to be done each day, but in my Ag Mechanics class they seem to constantly test me. They think they know everything there is but really they haven't shown me that they do. They want to be in the shop and I want them in the shop but I am unsure they are ready to be in the shop and therefore I will not let them go down until they can prove to me what they know about the machines and safety.
My Ag Environmental Awareness class finally finished up their forestry exam and might thank the good Lord because I thought we would never get through this unit. I definitely learned not to assign so many trees for the students to identify. I also need to continue to check in with them to see if they are understanding content more than I did. I feel that some students didn't grasp the concept as well as I would of liked them too, but you live, learn, and teach.
I picked up another class this week. Animal science period 1 was the class and only got to spend one day with them. This class will not be easy for me, because the kids just sit there and do not want to participate, and some of the girls are very catty and think they can give me attitude. I am still new to them so its definitely going to take time and work to see improvement with these students. I have quite a few students who want to work with animals when they get out of high school and college that this class will be good for them to test their knowledge and provide them with new skills and information for this career pathway.
Overall the week was short but sweet and I seem to re-evaluate where I am going with certain units and the classes. As well as improving myself and revamping my end goals. I know that I have struggled with the many skills that you need for this profession and I hope to achieve and improve on those skills so I can become an overall better agricultural educator. We will see what this next week has to bring, hopefully no cancellations!

Week 7: Its starting to get REAL!

How to Balance Everything?

Oh my lanta! What a week!! This week I added on two sections of Ag Mechanics II. Both portions of this class had all boys, so you could say that they constantly test me. On top of adding a new class it was FFA week, one of our biggest times for recruiting. We decided to have a spirit week with each day representing FFA. For instance Monday was camouflage, Tuesday was wear something representing FFA, Wednesday was sponsors of FFA, Thursday Blue and Gold Day, and Friday Flannel and Boots Day. Also on Friday some of the students went down to the middle school to put on a presentation for 8th graders since picking next years classes was coming up next week. Oh but let's not forget the after school events we had as well. I am really starting to see how much work it takes to be an Ag Teacher.
I still have my third period Ag Enviro class they are finishing up with tree identification and then we will be moving into Maple Syrup Production! I am excited because I think they will really enjoy this unit. They are being champs with all the trees I have had them identify. With this unit ending there are things I would definitely change. I do not think I would have them identify as many trees. We had almost forty different trees for them to identify. So with the review I did, I told them they only had to know a certain few so that way they didn't stress out over my mistake. However with this little bit of knowledge under my belt I realized that I am going to do the Maple Syrup Unit differently. I want to make it more hands on and interesting for the the students.
This week we added on two sections of Ag Mechanics II. This is a very tough class for me because the boys really enjoy testing me and not letting me get through my lesson. They think because they took Ag Mechanics I that they know everything, but when we were going through the safety lesson they do not understand why certain answers are that way. I explained to them that if they are not safe in the shop that they will get kicked out of the shop and have to do book work for the rest of the time that I am teaching them. I know that they really want to get in the shop and start working but I am not comfortable with them going down there yet. They also kept asking if I knew how to weld and if I knew what I was doing, so the one day during my prep I went to the shop and welded and brought up the weld so they could see I know what I am doing. They definitely have changed their attitudes a little bit. I definitely feel like now we can get somewhere so hopefully the next weeks to come they continue to give me that respect.
In conclusion to week I experience many different feelings of stress, panic, and then pure happiness. I have good students and with a little more structure and fun lessons these kiddos will do great! Also I feel that I need to put the hammer down with more organized time management strategies so that I can get more assignments and lessons accomplished. I am as always looking forward to next week!