Student Teaching: Week 12

This week was bittersweet as it was my last week teaching in the classroom.

Final Week Teaching

This week by far was the toughest week I experienced student teaching. This was not due to any classroom problems but, due to the fact I would have to say goodbye to my students and to my mentor. Throughout my entire student teaching experience, I had ups and downs, highs and lows, really good days and some not so good days but I wouldn't trade my placement, my mentor, or my students for the world. I learned so much from my time student teaching that it is hard to encompass my entire experience into words. Through it all I had a huge support system and I feel that I am now prepared to enter my own classroom. 

My Last Day

My final day teaching was filled with goodbyes from my students and faculty members. Other teachers in the school gave me final pieces of advice and wished me luck as I look for my first teaching position. The senior class surprised me with a going away party complete with a cake and a hand-made present from the FFA chapter. I cannot express how much this meant to me as their kindness and thoughtfulness showed that I had positively impacted so many students' lives in the short time I had been there. As I packed up the rest of my stuff at the end of the day, I look at the sign that the students made me and realize, "It'll be alright".

Student Teacher Visit

Penns Manor High School

I was fortunate to observe Ms. Victoria Herr at her student teaching location, Penns Manor High School!

The Visit

I arrived in the morning on Friday March 8th. Ms. Herr had a busy morning planned with animal science, small gas engines, electrical wiring, and floriculture! It was fascinating to see the differences and similarities between our programs. For instance my program has a greenhouse and extensive shop area and so does Penns Manor. The difference though is that Penns Manor has two large greenhouses that they use to grow plants for a huge fundraiser that they hold every year where my program focuses heavily on shop skills and uses tractor restoration projects as part of their fundraisers! In addition to seeing the classes listed above, Ms. Herr gave me a tour of their facilities were I got to see their impressive greenhouses first-hand!

Getting In On The Fun

I had a great time during my visit at Penns Manor! I was able to talk about the topic areas that Ms. Herr and I have in common such as electrical wiring and share ideas on what works and what doesn't. I was also given the opportunity to make my own floral arrangement during her floriculture class!

Final Thoughts

I was very impressed by the Penns Manor Ag program! My visit showed me that there are many ways to teach the same content and that not every Ag program is the same! Thank you Ms. Herr and Mr. Hughes for allowing me to visit your program!

SAE: Visit 2

Entrepreneurship SAE

I had the opportunity to conduct my second  SAE visit with the Secretary of the Bellwood FFA Chapter. His Entrepreneurship SAE is raising deer and trapping. His family has been raising deer for over 15 years. He currently has one buck shown in the photo above and one doe that is currently bred. It was amazing to see the bond he has with his deer along with his dedication and passion for this project!

Conducting the Visit

I arrived at his home at 5:00 to witness his feeding routine with the deer. During this time, he gave me a tour of the property while giving me the background on how he got started with his SAE project. I had the opportunity to look over his records before my visit to see that they were all up-to-date in AET. Mr. Webreck grades his SAE's on accurate and up-to-date records and conducts visits in an informal manor. There were no suggestions given for improvement.

Final Thoughts

Over-all I was very impressed by the visit and by the student having extensive confidence and experience with his SAE. I look forward to more exciting SAE visits when I have my own program!

Student Teaching: Week 10

Student teaching Week 10, crushed it!

Getting Down to The Wire

It's crazy to think that after week 11 I will only have five teaching days left before I complete the rest of my internship at the Blair County Extension Office. Since my student teaching journey is coming to close, I have been pushing the envelope with creative teaching ideas! This week, I created a "wildlife escape room" activity for my Ag Science 1 class as a fun and interactive way for them to review content. It required a lot of prep time and ingenuity but, was well worth it when I saw how engaged my students were! This activity was a huge hit and I look forward to adapting it to different content areas in the future!

A Week in The Life of an Ag Teacher

Week 10 sure was a busy week! Between working on tractor restoration projects, making my second SAE visit, and prepping for SLLC, it made me realize just how fortunate I am to be apart of a profession that has a lot of variety!

Questions

• How do you plan/ organize for FFA conferences?
• What kind of plans do you leave for your substitute?
• What activities have you used for reviewing content?

Student Teaching: Week 9

I know its a little too early for spring, but with the beautiful warm weather today it has made me excited for more spring weather!

Taking Care of Business

I was really exciting for week 9 because I introduced a new Ag Business project for my Ag Science 2 class. It is a pretty extensive assignment where teams of two were formed and tasked with starting their own business. The assignment also includes creating a logo, print add, market survey, TV commercial, and a final sales pitch similar to Shark Tank where they have to put their skills to the test in front of  "potential" investors! I am super excited to see the final projects from this class and to see all the hard work my student's have put into the assignment!

Getting Stuff Done

In addition to having a successful week in the classroom, I was able to meet with the superintendent of Bellwood for a mock interview to gain more experience and skills for job interviews in the future. I learned so much great advice from my interview which has left me feeling prepared for the job hunt. I also had the opportunity to visit Ms. Herr at Penns Manor on Friday where I got tour their program and even make my own floral arrangement! Overall I had a very successful and busy week during week 9 of student teaching!

Questions

• Do you have any cool assignments that you really enjoy giving to students?
• How do you keep track of bellwork/ tickets out? Do you have students keep them in a folder or do you take them and grade them?

Student Teaching: Week 8

My first full week of school without any weather delays since a few weeks ago and I had to end up taking a sick day!

The Sickness

I was so excited for the week when last Monday rolled around! I had a ton of activities planned from bird species, to metal working, to IPM management, to Ag business, and electrical wiring! With a packed week, there was no time for being sick. Unfortunately , being sick left me unable to go into school on Tuesday. My fever hit so fast along with my other symptoms that it was impossible to concentrate let alone begin to think how I would handle an entire day of students in my condition. I was very fortunate to have Mr. Webreck available to take over for me while I was out!

A Good Week After All

Despite being under the weather for the rest of the week, I was still able to get everything accomplished that I needed to! I was able to introduce some new concepts in metal working and electrical wiring while finishing up current concepts in bird species, Ag business, and IPM management! Hopefully next week I will be back to normal and able to operate at full speed!

Questions

• How do you handle sick day lesson plans?
• What do you leave for your sub if this happens?
• Do you have to have all materials printed and ready for them?
• How do you handle shop classes when you are out?