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?

Student Teaching: Week 7

Week seven has been another rollercoaster ride! With a two and a half day week during National FFA week, we were still very busy!

In Overdrive

With so many cancellations, delays, and early dismissals it has been hard to stay on track with my unit plans and lesson plans! Adaptability has been a necessity during my student teaching experience to combat these conflicts. Since I am in week seven, the urgency has struck on making sure that my other assignments apart from student teaching are being completed. It is time to kick it into overdrive to get everything done!

National FFA week

Even though we had some set-backs this week with our activities, we were still able to get a lot accomplished! We had teacher appreciation breakfast on Tuesday, FFA trivia and meeting on Thursday, and Chapter breakfast and Middle School recruitment on Friday! The chapter officers and members did a great job of planning and executing all the activities! 

Questions 

• How do you instill the importance of being a leader in younger members?
• How do you combat immaturity?
• When dealing with weather set-backs, do you cram in as much information as you can or do you select which information is most important even if it means leaving out content you had planned for?

Science Teacher Observation

I had the opportunity to observe the AP Physics teacher at Bellwood-Antis High School! Mrs. Flarend was a fun and experienced teacher to observe!

Observation

The day I visited, Mrs. Flarend was going over an in-class assignment that her students had been working on the day prior with a substitute teacher while she was out. The objectives of the lesson were defining energy, analyzing how energy works. The entire class was very engaged in the lesson especially when Mrs. Flarend asked discussion questions with the class. The most effective methods for achieving the objectives were using questions to get the students to think about their every day lives and what kind of energy they experience. She also used their previous assignment to make connections to the current discussion of energy. I believe that the teacher was facilitating learning because she focused the students on topic and encouraged them to think in their own way about the solutions to her questions during the lesson.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed my time observing Mrs. Flarend's class! I feel that she did an exceptional job with clarity, enthusiasm, and with-it-ness. I hope to implement her way of asking deep-level thinking questions into my own lessons!

ACES: 2019

I had the opportunity to attend my first ACES conference with seven members from the Bellwood-Antis FFA Chapter! I assisted in the selection process of choosing seven freshmen to attend with Mr. Webreck and I. While the conference is only a day and a half, I learned some valuable tips as a future teacher.

1. Do not assume students know how to pay their own bill and tip at a restaurant 
2. Encourage students to have fun, but remind them that they are ambassadors for the chapter
3. It is okay to get in on the fun, especially during "embarrass the teacher" because your students will forever remember how relatable you were
4. Communication is key, especially with all of your students and parents
5. Be prepared to fix unexpected problems
6. Finally, enjoy the food because it was delicious!

Studnet Teaching: Week 6

This week, I started teaching a full load of classes. Even though the week was cut short due to a cancellation, a two hour delay, and an in-service day, teaching seven classes a day has been an adjustment! 

Good but, Crazy Week

Due to the snow and ice, my week was only two and a half days of teaching. Even though it was my first week taking over all the class periods, I had so much fun getting to meet new students and to start teaching new topic areas! Sure it was a stressful week, but by planning ahead I was able to stay on top of things and was able to plan a fun floral arrangement project on Valentine's Day with the senior class!

Looking Ahead

I can't believe that week six has come and gone already! My student teaching internship is truly flying by! There have been many ups and downs so far and no doubt there will be more before my student teaching is over. Despite the ups and downs, I have truly developed a passion for wanting to see students succeed and to see them get excited about agriculture! I can't wait to see what the remaining weeks bring!

Advice Wanted

• How did you juggle looking for jobs while maintaining your responsibilities as a student teacher?
• What is the most effective method you have found for organization?
• Do you have any tips for creating fun interest approaches?

SAE : Visit 1

Placement SAE

I had the opportunity to conduct an SAE visit with the President of the Bellwood FFA Chapter. Her placement SAE is at a Percheron Farm where she works 4-5 times a week. She has been working at the Percheron Farm for two years.

Conducting the Visit

Arrived at the farm at 6:00pm for when the shift started for the evening. I was introduced to the owner of the farm and was able to ask him some questions about how the placement was working out. The student then took me on a tour of the facility while detailing her responsibilities and tasks that she completes for every shift. Over-all I was very impressed by the visit and by the student having extensive confidence and experience with her SAE.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed this SAE visit not only because of the atmosphere and the student but also because I love horses and have been an equine owner for many years. I look forward to more exciting SAE visits!

Student Teaching: Week 4

Finding My Stride

This week was another rollercoaster with early dismissals, cancelations, and a bad shop incident. Despite all of these events, I really feel that I have started to find my stride. I was able to teach the classes I currently have for than just one day this week which allowed me to make clear connections between the content topics while also doing fun, interactive activities! My proudest moment from this week was getting to see my Ag Mechanics 1 students put their skills to the test by setting up and shutting down the oxyfuel equipment properly!

Adapting at the Last Minute 

On Friday, we experienced a scary accident in the shop area. Brake fumes from the tractor restoration project caught a trash can on fire and caused minor burns on Mr. Webreck. Fortunately, no students were harmed and the trash can was the only piece of equipment in the shop that got ruined. Due to the incident, Mr. Webreck had to go to med express which left me to handle fifth and sixth period by myself. Fortunately Mr. Webreck is okay with sustaining only minor burns.

Advice Needed!

• I have a large class of 27 freshmen for Ag Science 1. Every time I try to do something that is different from a PowerPoint and a guided note sheet they lose control of themselves. I want to continue to add variety to my class but it feels like it takes forever to even setup the activity to where everyone is on the same page and following directions in order for the activity to have learning value. How would you handle this situation?