Wrapping Up a Rewarding Experience

I don't even know where to begin.  This week has been both eventful, and rewarding.  From wrapping up classroom instruction, completing assignments, attending Regional Public Speaking, and holding our Athens FFA Banquet, there was never a dull moment.  Though I was extremely busy, this week, along with the entire experience, it was also extremely rewarding. 

I continued instructing both sections of Horticulture this week as we finished up IPM by going over Pesticide Safety, while also working in the greenhouse.  We spent two days going over PPE, first by identifying what Personal Protective Equipment is necessary when handling pesticides, then discussing the importance of PPE by completing an activity.  I had students dress up in different levels of PPE and then go outside to spread "pesticide," which was really granola coated in fluorescent powder. After the activity was completed, we moved back inside and brought out the black light.  We first observed how much pesticide residue was on each individual prior to removal of PPE.  I then had the class predict who they thought was the best protected.  After everyone had made their prediction, we had the students remove their PPE.  We then again turned on the black light to reveal the pesticide residue after the removal.  As predicted, the student with the highest level of PPE was the best protected, and had no residue remaining after the equipment was properly removed.  Today we are going to have a salad day.  We will be using fresh vegetables from our greenhouse to have a little celebration for the hard work that has been put in.  I am excited to see students rewarded for their efforts!

 

Thursday brought a day with 15 consecutive hours spent with kids.  Though I don't think I am recovered as far as rest goes, I wouldn't have changed anything about it!  The day began by taking a bus of students to Williamsport for the Northern Regional Public Speaking CDE.  We had three Creed speakers and one Extemporaneous.  We also took nine students to a Forestry Field Day put on by the Forestry Department at Pennsylvania College of Technology.  It was a really tough decision to decide if I wanted to stay with the students competing, or go with the forestry students.  I have not had a lot of exposure to forestry, so we decided that it would be a valuable experience for me.  I am extremely glad I went!  We spent the morning going over the use of compasses, GPS units, and various other activities.  After a lunch around their pond, we finished up with a dendrology walk.  It was fun to watch the students see who could identify each tree fastest!  We really appreciate the staff at Penn College for taking the time to work with our students!

Thursday night was the Athens FFA Banquet.  We had over 120 people come out to celebrate the accomplishments of our students throughout the past year.  I really do not have words for this experience.  It took a lot of work to ensure the banquet ran smoothly, but it was beyond worth it.  I am incredibly proud of the success of each of the members.  I have been to a lot of FFA banquets, but always as a member.  Though those were always a great experience, my heart never swelled up with so much pride at any of those.  That blue corduroy jacket can take students as far as they let it, and I can see that my students truly get that!  They all have the potential to do great things, and for that I am so proud. 

Today is a bittersweet day.  This journey has been a challenging one, that is for sure.  There have been times where I questioned myself, and my ability.  But I am here for the kids.  I am here to help them become the best version of themselves that they can be.  I believe with my whole heart that without that motivation I would not have enjoyed this experience.  These students are our future, and without agriculture there is no future at all. Agricultural Education is essential to ensuring a promising future for our nation, and our world.  I believe that these kids will make a positive difference.  I believe that there is no  job out there then that is more important that that of an agricultural educator, and I am honored to be entering the profession.  I cannot thank Mr. David Steinfelt enough for giving me this opportunity, in which I was able to experience everything I had hoped for, and more.

I don't believe that when I walk out those doors today that it will really sink in that my time here as a student teacher is done.  I am sure that tears are possible, and probably even likely, but that is to be expected.  My experience here at Athens has greatly influenced my life.  I can only hope that I left a mark on their lives as well.

As my time here quickly comes to an end, one quote has been running through my mind.   

"Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting."

I will never forget my time here, so therefore today is not goodbye.  Today I will simply say see you later.  I know that I will be back a few times before the students complete their school year for various visits.  I know that it won't be the same, but that is okay.  I look forward to moving on to the next chapter of my life, and because of this experience, I will be turning the page with a positive attitude and a different perspective.  The world won't change if we sit around and wait for it.  The world will change when we get up and do something, and I am ready to face that challenge.

Beef Finishing SAE Visit

For my second SAE visit, we went to check on a students steer that he is raising to show at the Troy Fair.  This student's family owns a local butcher shop, so we met the student there and then walked across the road to his steer pen.  Everyone takes Troy Fair pretty seriously, and this student is no different!  He is currently raising two steers, and will then take whichever one is in weight and looking the best to the fair.  He is keeping records on both steers, and will sell the one that doesn't make it to the fair elsewhere. 

This visit went much like our other visit.  We talked to the student and asked him questions about how often he works with his steers, when he last weighed them, and what they weighed at that time.  We also discussed his expenses, and clarified some questions he had about accurately keeping those records.  Then we began talking with him and asking which steer he felt was going to do better at this time.  He had one that had a better demeanor,  however he felt the other steer was of higher quality.

Unlike my first visit, this student had been working on his steer project for years.  It started with his older siblings, and continued down the line with him.  He has a lot of support from his family, and is able to work in exchange for the feed expenses. 

Just like our first visit, before leaving we set up a time to work individually with the student to help him transfer over to AET record keeping as opposed to the old Pennsylvania record keeping system.

Of course, before we left, we had to stop in their shop and pick up some of their locally famous beef sticks!  They were great!

Maple Syrup Production SAE Visit

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit a sophomore student who started a maple syrup operation from scratch this year.  I was amazed at the dedication he had!  I completed the visit with Mr. Steinfelt and his family on a cold Saturday morning. 

We began the visit by discussing the students success so far this season.  The weather wasn't very cooperative this year, which resulted in a slight decrease in production than anticipated.  We met the student at his grandfathers house, where his production is set up.  First, we went to check out his evaporator, and talked about how he hoped to get a larger one when he was financially able.  His evaporator is in the shop on his grandfathers property.  After we finished there, we all got in the vehicle and went out to the field.  Here we were able to see the students sap collection set up.  He chose to run line and collect all of the syrup in one collection tank, rather than the traditional tap and bucket.  In doing this, he was able to tap a larger number of trees.  The lines all ran downhill to the collection tank, so the sap was running solely by gravity

When we got to his collection tank Mr. Steinfelt noticed that the line made a slight upward turn right before it entered the tank, causing for a collection of sap that was not running into the tank.  Mr. Steinfelt suggested that he move the tank just a little further down hill to prevent that from happening. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this visit!  I had never seen a maple operation during actual maple syrup season!  Before we left, we talked with the student about concerns he had about his AET, which he has been using to keep his records in.  We checked his account before we left school on Friday, so Mr. Steinfelt had some specific tips that he offered. 

Before leaving, we set up a time for the student to come work individually with us to ensure his understanding of how AET works.

Winding Down Fast

I thought normal five day weeks went by fast, but this three day week flew by in the blink of an eye.  As a result of a short week with my students, I was able to take a day and spend visiting Tyler Cremeans at Gettysburg High School. 

This week I backed down to only three preps, and four classes.  The end of the third marking period was Tuesday, and so Monday was spent reviewing for tests in both Veterinary Science and Horticulture.  I was pleased with the review in both classes, as students really seemed to have a good understanding of the information covered.  In Agriculture Mechanics, students were required to have their second electrical project completed by the end of the day on Tuesday.  At the beginning of class on Monday, only five of the thirteen students were still working on project 2, while the rest moved on to project 3.  Overall the students worked well throughout the class period, and were on track to be finished on time on Tuesday.

Tuesday was a quiet day, as students took tests in majority of the classes.  I was really pleased with the scores on the tests, especially in Horticulture.  The average of this test was better than the propagation unit.  I talked with Mr. Steinfelt, and we feel that this is a result of both a different approach to note taking.  However, I also feel that I was more comfortable with the information I was delivering in the IPM unit, which then resulted in increased clarity to the students.

Wednesday both Horticulture classes were able to spend time in the greenhouse.  We were unable to give the greenhouse the attention it deserved as we prepared for the test, so it was great to get back in and get everything looking good again!  Agriculture Mechanics moved forward to project 3, and those who finished worked to help students who were further behind. 

I was very pleased to visit Tyler this past week.  He was down to a lighter teaching load, much like myself, but I was still able to see him in action!  I really enjoyed seeing how block schedules worked as far as classroom instruction, and I was surprised with how much I like it!  The periods were over twice the amount of time I have to work with, and it was awesome how much they could get done in one days time!!  It was also great to see the great things the program is doing, especially in the greenhouses!  I also was able to spend time talking with Mr. Abma at the end of the day, and he had very encouraging things to say!  I enjoy talking with individuals in the profession who truly rock it out!

Overall it was a great week!  I now prepare for my final week with my students.  I am sure that this week is going to be full of bitter sweet moments.  Though I am excited to move forward into whatever chapter lies next for me, I am going to miss everyone that I have spent the last few months getting to know.  I look forward to our chapter FFA banquet this Thursday, where we will take time to recognize all of the great accomplishments that were made this year.  I couldn't think of a better way to end my experience at Athens!

Spring is in Full Swing!

Springtime brings a very busy schedule in the Agriculture department.  With only a few weeks remaining, the days are all packed full of instruction, banquet preparations, practices, and meetings upon meetings.  This week was no exception.  The third marking period is coming to a close, which means units of instruction need to be finished, and grades need to be entered.  To top off the busy springtime, the warm weather is making students anxious to be outside of the classroom walls. 

This week I continued working through Integrated Pest Management by working through the different types of pesticide.  Instead of giving students guided notes containing information about the 7 specific types of pesticides we worked to cover this week, I decided to have students create Chemical Control books.  The students worked throughout the week to identify the important information and write it down in their book.  My hopes in taking this approach is to have the students take ownership and make connections on their own.  Both classes worked well throughout the week to participate in class and complete their books.  I have been struggling to get through all of the information in order to have the test in before the third marking period.  As a result, it has been difficult to be able to get through the information in an engaging manner while also leaving time to take care of our responsibilities in the greenhouse.  After a busy week, we were able to get into the greenhouse on Friday to give the plants a little TLC.

I completed my final week in Animal Science by completing the Introduction to Poultry unit.  Though I only had this class for a few short weeks, I really enjoyed the class.  With 26 kids, they were my largest class this semester, but they were still very well behaved.  The highlight for both Animal and Vet science students this week was a field trip to the Cargill Regional Beef plant in Wyalusing, PA on Wednesday.  I was unable to go with the students, but instead stayed behind to teach the students who were not able to go on the trip.  I designed a virtual field trip for the students to complete by working through the website.  I lacked the enthusiasm for the students who were in the classroom, but with the help of Dr. Foster, was able to learn from the mistake and realize the importance of bringing variety into every lesson.

The favorite part of my week was Thursday, hands down.  After first period, we loaded the bus with ten students and headed out to participate in the county Dairy Judging CDE that was organized by the Troy FFA.  We visited two farms, each with four classes of cows.  The students judged each class, gave two sets of reasons, took a written test, and completed a parts ID test.  I loved seeing a barn full of young people working to learn more about the dairy industry.  I also enjoy seeing different facilities, and learning more about how they run, what works well, and what they would change about their facility if they could.  I felt right at home, helping kids learn in one of my favorite settings!

After being out of the classroom all day Thursday, we had just enough time to change clothes and get back in the van to head to Williamsport for the Northern regional PAAE meeting.  We took one student with us to participate in SOCS (State Officer Candidate School).  On the way home, I was pleased to learn that she is now seriously considering running for state office!  All in all, it was a great day!  Not only did I get to see some great cows, but I also got to see other teachers and student teachers and hear about how they are rocking out their last few weeks!

It has been a different experience as I work to back off of full load of teaching responsibilities.  I was wrong to think that the workload was going to lighten up, though, because even with the lightened class load, there is still a lot to be done!  As I look into this coming week, I am working to find ways to add variety to my lessons.  With only three short days this week, and the end of the marking period, this week is full of review and tests.  It is sad to think that I will be handing these classes back in such a short amount of time.  I plan to maximize every day I have left!

April Showers Bring Even More Adventures!

I know I say this every week, but, I can not believe that it is April already.  This first week of April here in Athens has brought some (almost) warm weather, sprouting seeds in the greenhouse, FFA banquet preparation, and fire drills.  Lots and lots of fire drills.

Throughout the week, I continued to work through my final unit of instruction with all of my classes.  We are coming to an end of the 3rd marking period, and the students are already getting antsy!  I continue to learn through this experience each and every week.  This week I have stepped down to only 5 classes, with 4 different preps, and it is amazing how small of a load that feels now!  When I began picking up more and more classes, five classes seemed overwhelming! Don't get me wrong, I am still incredibly  busy, however weaning off of a full load is definitely different then taking on a full load!

Horticulture this week was full of lessons and activities to learn more about biological control methods of pests and diseases.  We began by talking about predators, then continued on by completing an activity to learn other methods that could be used as biological control.  I then introduced a problem to the students where they walked out to their garden and noticed some problems.  They then worked to further explain and identify the problem.  After they had identified a pest and a disease, they worked to come up with biological solutions.  Through this activity the students learned that there is not a one size fits all solution to controlling pests.  We finished the week out by taking a quiz on biological control.  Next week we will cover the other two forms of pest control: mechanical and chemical.

I began Introduction to Poultry this week with the Animal Science class.  We began by defining poultry, then discussing 8 specific types of poultry.  After we identified those 8 types, we focused more on chicken and turkey production.  We watched a video that showed the advances that have been made in modern poultry production.  We began looking at differences in types of production houses.  I am still getting to know this class, and they are very quiet.  This coming week I will be continuing to look at the different types of poultry production with the class.  We will also look at the embryology process.  I was unable to get supplies to complete embryology in the classroom, however I have the supporting materials, so that will be a great resource to utilize.

My students in veterinary science have been giving their presentations on the six essential nutrients all week.  I am very proud of the work they have done in order to have the correct information to give to their classmates.  After each presentation, I added anything that needed to be covered.  Overall, it was great!  I think the students really liked the change in instructional method.  They also got a taste of what it was like to get up in front of a class and be responsible for the information that was being covered.  Monday we will finish the last presentation, and then talk about the importance of a properly balanced diet.  I am interested to see how well the class really took in the information that their peers presented. 

Agricultural Mechanics.  We are full swing into our basic household wiring projects.  The students are not all working at the same pace.  Some students finished the project by Wednesday, and others were still working come Friday.  In order to keep the class together, I utilized the students who were done as peer instructors.  They spent the later part of the week providing help and answering questions where needed.  I found this to work really well, especially since prior to having help, students were pulling me in all directions asking questions about how to complete different parts of their project.  Monday, we will finish project one, and move on to project two.  I really like being in the shop with this class.  They are more responsive to hands on instruction.  They still take some extra control as far as classroom management goes, but they are teaching me a lot.

Three weeks remain.  Three short weeks.  In that time I will wrap up my classes at the completion of the third marking period.  The time has gone by so fast, and I am excited to see how these last few go.  The students are definitely liking the warm weather, but they are also anxious for their summer break.  I believe that keeping them engaged and excited about the instruction may be a challenge as the days get longer.  Always an adventure!

Spring is in the Air......Maybe

What a week!  Athens had an extremely busy week, from our county public speaking contest, to the delivery of thousands of plugs and cuttings that needed to be planted as soon as possible, to handing back my first class in the middle of the week.  Through it all, there were still a lot of lessons learned!

Monday came before I knew what hit me!  I had ten freshman signed up to compete in the Creed speaking contest on Tuesday, so the entire class period was devoted to allowing students to practice the Creed in front of the class.  The same approach was taken with my FFA/SAE class, who all participated in either junior prepared, senior prepared, or conservation public speaking.  The Horticulture classes both spent the entire period planting seeds of their own, as well as seeds for Project Grow.  We are partnering with Project Grow as a community based unit of instruction.  The organization has partnered with us to grow plants for them, which will then be sold in a plant sell.  The proceeds from the sale are then used as a fundraiser so that the organization has money to sponsor community gardens.  They also put on workshops for community members that teach things such as how to can produce from the garden.  I started my veterinary science class on a project to create a presentation on one of the essential nutrients to kick off the nutrition unit.  To end the day off, I reviewed parts and tools with my Ag Mechanics class, in order to prepare for their quiz on Wednesday.

I spent Tuesday with students at the County Public Speaking and Tractor Driving CDE.  The top three individuals from each event proceed on to the Regional Contest.  Athens FFA took home not only first, but also second and third in the Creed Speaking contest.  We also have a student continuing on in the Extemporaneous contest!  In Senior Prepared and Junior Prepared, our students did really well as well!  Our students were competing against students from Northeast Bradford, Troy, Canton, Wellsboro, and Cowanesque Valley.

Wednesday was quite the blur!  we had our delivery arrive from Jolly Farmer of over two thousands plugs and cuttings that needed planted within the first 24 hours.  Horticulture students worked hard both Wednesday and Thursday to make sure that everything was successfully planted.  With the conclusion of the public speaking unit, I handed back the FFA/SAE class as the begin to plan our banquet. Veterinary Science worked to complete their presentations.  I didn't plan on the projects to take more than three days to prepare, however with the slow connection to the school computers, students were not getting as much done in a days time as planned.  Wednesday afternoon I was also able to work to finalize plans with my student who is participating in the Teach Ag Essay Contest, who planned to teach a lesson to Introduction to Ag. 

The week continued to fly by, and before I knew it we were already to Thursday.  The highlight of Thursday was being able to meet with the high school principal.  We talked about how assessments were used within the school, however I was also able to talk with her about how my experience was going, as well as what my future plans may be.  At the end, I was penciled into her schedule to go through a mock interview after my teaching load lessens.  As far as in the classroom, I conducted a demonstration with my Ag Mechanics class on how to wire a light fixture.  I was excited to see how well the demonstration went!

Friday, Friday, Friday!  I was excited to get Friday started by watching my student teach the first period class.  He taught a lesson on the story of milk, and he did amazing!  He planned several activities to keep the students engaged throughout the lesson.  The horticulture classes were transitioned back inside after a week of hard work in the greenhouse.  We learned about the difference between good bugs, and bad bugs, and characteristics of both.  I finished the day by starting Ag Mechanics on their projects.

Overall, it was a really busy, but really great week!  I can't believe that this experience is coming to an end so quickly.  I look forward to continuing into next week.  Horticulture classes will spend time working on Integrated Pest Management, while also continuing to take care of the needs in the greenhouse.  Ag Mechanics will work on their electrical projects, and Veterinary Science will begin their presentations.  I will also begin a poultry unit with Animal Science.  I would like to continue to work on classroom management as the weeks begin to come to an end.

Time Keeps Flying By!

Another week, another story to tell!  This week flew by, just like the rest.  I had two unit tests scheduled and a county public speaking contest quickly approaching.  The students all worked hard to review and prepare for all of these upcoming events.

Monday started with a catch up day in Introduction to Agriculture.  We wrapped up the Dairy Judging unit and worked to make sure everyone entered their placings the way they needed to on the entry cards.  We also had several presentations of posters from the conservation unit.  After students were finished they were given time to update their AET.  Horticulture worked through an activity to compare and contrast the needs of seed propagation versus cuttings in order to wrap up the propagation unit.  I worked through speech presentations each day with students in FFA/SAE in order to prepare for the contest that is this coming Tuesday.  Veterinary Science learned about the avian digestive system, and then compared and contrasted what happens in each of the different types of digestive systems.  I wrapped up the school day with agriculture mechanics.  We continue to work through calculations of Ohms law, as well as how to calculate kilowatt hours.  I wrapped up the day with an organizational meeting for the planning of an Athens FFA Alumni, which was a great experience!

Tuesday I introduced Soil and Hydroponics Management to Introduction to Agriculture by having them begin a two day lab completed on the computer.  Students worked through different activities and quizzes on websites in order to see where they stood on their knowledge about soil.  I believe the activity went really well.  I wasn't planning on it taking two days originally, but I am glad that I gave the extra time after seeing that not everyone was able to get as far as I expected them to on Tuesday.  From there I moved into a review day with Horticulture in order to ensure that they were prepared for the test on Wednesday.  Veterinary Science was a fun, interactive day as we worked to assemble particles of "food" to send through the digestive system.  Each student was assigned a part of the digestive system.  To review the functions then, we passed the particles of food down through the digestive system.  I was really pleased to see the activity unfold.  It lead really well into the review of the digestive system unit prior to the test on Friday. 

I facilitated the second day of the soils lab with Introduction to Agriculture on Wednesday, and tested Horticulture on propagation.  FFA/SAE continued to give their speeches to the class, and provide feedback for each student who presented.  I had intentions of reviewing the digestive system with Veterinary Science, however, I decided to facilitate an activity where the students worked through their notes and books to create questions to review the information from the chapter.  I wanted to see what they thought was important, not just tell them what was important.  Agriculture Mechanics continued to work through how electricity enters the house from the power line and the different types of cable.  We also spent some time reviewing classroom expectations and consequences to ensure that everyone was on the same page.

Thursday.  I can't believe how quickly Thursday came around!  Introduction to Agriculture discussed how not all soil is the same, and completed an activity to show how different factors affects soil.  Students worked to draw pictures to represent those factors.  With the weather warming up, Horticulture has begun to clean up the greenhouse in order to start planting seeds.  I designed a Jeopardy game to review with Veterinary Science using the questions they had created the day before.  I liked seeing what they thought was important so that I could reemphasize anything that they may have missed.  Agriculture Mechanics spent time learning about the difference between various wires.  Before I left for the day I made sure that everything was in order for Friday, as I was spending Friday in State College for a meeting.

Friday was a great experience.  The student teachers were all brought back together, and we were able to work in small groups to fine tune lessons that didn't go quite as planned.  We also worked through stations in which we were dealing with different scenarios that we may find ourselves in down the road.  Some of the scenarios were really thought provoking, and a great way to get us thinking about situations we may find ourselves in.  Overall it was a great experience!

This week should be another great one.  I am excited to continue working with each of my classes as we continue through this journey.

The Journey Continues....

What a busy week!  I feel like I blinked and it was Friday again.  This week began with a trip to Harrisburg for the State Legislative Leadership Conference with 6 students from Athens.  The three day event was packed full of workshops and things to do.  When I was a student participating in events like SLLC, I thought I left tired.  Boy, tired didn't even begin to explain how I felt after leaving the conference as an adviser!!  The kids learned a lot, and had fun while doing so.  We had the opportunity to complete community service by cleaning out a house in downtown Harrisburg, which was an interesting experience in itself!  Overall, everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves.  The conference was concluded with a breakfast with our legislators on Tuesday morning, which was followed by a tour of the Capitol.  Athens, Troy, and Canton FFA (all located in Bradford County) toured together.  Our legislators were all busy, so we weren't able to meet with them after they left the breakfast, but they made sure we had a guided tour of the Capitol building.

Wednesday we found out half way through the day the kids were going home early due to weather conditions.  The day was spent going over the work students completed while we were out on Monday and Tuesday.  We did not have eighth or ninth period, so my second section of Horticulture and my class of Ag Mechanics did not have class on Wednesday.

Thursday was another short day due to a two hour delay (down South, they would have had the day off for the road conditions we came to school in!).  Thirty minute periods.  That is a challenge!  How do you accomplish anything in just thirty minutes time?!  I continued to work through a mini dairy judging unit with Introduction to Ag, provided work time to edit speech manuscripts for FFA/SAE, introduced grafting with Horticulture, and continued to work on calculating watts, volts, and amps with Ag Mechanics.  Vet Science was given a work period to finish up work that had been assigned while I was out because a lot of students were out sick or on the trip with me.  Before I knew it, the short day was over. 

Friday, already?!  I couldn't believe that the week had already come to an end!  Today we had a representative from PDE come to conduct a Chapter 339 visit.  I was fortunate enough to be involved in some of the process, however, since we missed so much of the beginning of the week, we felt it was more important for me to remain in the class teaching the students.  I wrapped up the dairy judging unit with Intro to Ag by having them work to judge the Hoards Dairymen Contest.  FFA/SAE students each met with me to go over what they were working to make changes on in their speeches so that I could answer any questions before the Final Draft is due on Monday.  I am working to wrap up the Propagation unit with Horticulture, and conducted an activity to demonstrate how to complete successful cuttings using fruit roll ups and twizzlers.  The activity went well for the most part, but I think most students were more concerned about eating the candy than learning the material.  Vet science reviewed ruminant nutrition in order to prepare for an activity on Monday (I am really excited for the review activity I have planned!!).  I finished the day by working with Ag Mechanics to teach them how to calculate their electric bill.  I had a few students really understand how to properly complete the problems, but I had other students who just would not stay on task.  On Monday, they will have a new seating arrangement in hopes that they will respond better.

Friday night we had our last Bradford County Dairy Judging practice before the spring contest.  I was out helping with that until almost 10:00 PM.  Oh, the life of an ag teacher!  There is always something to be done!

As I look into next week, it is going to be a busy one as well!  I will be reviewing and testing my Horticulture classes as we wrap up propagation, as well as my vet science as we finish digestion.  I will begin Soil Management with Intro to Ag, and continue public speaking with FFA/SAE.  Ag Mechanics will continue through the Introduction to Electricity unit as we prepare to move into Basic Household Wiring.  The work keeps piling up, but it is worth it!

Half Way Point.....Can it be?!

I feel like this week went by even faster then the past weeks.  I can't believe I have reached the half way point so quickly!  I feel like so much has been accomplished, but I still have so much more yet to do.  This week has been full of a lot of review as I worked quiz and test my students on what they have covered so far in their classes.

I spent time with my Introduction to Agriculture class finishing up posters on Conservation.   My intentions for this project were for the students to take the information they learned in class and do research to make it more personal.  I wanted students to begin to think about the issues that arise within soil and water conservation that affect their lives.  However, I realized as they were doing their research that the students weren't seeing just how important this topic really was.  After spending a day presenting posters, and reviewing the unit as a whole and taking a quiz, I decided to have the class participate in a class discussion.  I began to ask the students what they learned.  They spit back the information that had been given to them, telling me how we had little fresh water, and we needed to conserve it.  However, I still didn't see that they really understood the importance.  I asked them what we could do with this information to really make a difference nationally, and even globally, in soil and water conservation.  Answers such as creating brochures, and commercials were thrown around, which didn't seem like bad ideas.  However, I then challenged them to think about whether or not those things would actually make a difference.  The room was silent.  I asked them if anyone had changed anything they do after learning about our limited water supply, and the effects soil erosion and pollution could have on them.  No one had.  We then talked about if it really mattered for them.  They realized in America, we have it easy.  We EXPECT water to come out of the faucet when we turn it on.  We EXPECT there to be enough land to produce the endless amounts of food that are available to us.  I then challenged them with this question:  If you had to carry every ounce of water you use in a days time, would you then conserve water?  Would you still EXPECT a fifteen minute shower?  It was then that I saw the students start to get it.  When we talk about the water cycle, and water availability, it isn't a national issue, it's a global issue.  We wrapped up the discussion to wrap up the unit.  I learned a lot, and will make a lot of changes before I work through this information again in the future, but overall, it was a really good learning experience.  Next week I will be working through a mini Introduction to Dairy Judging unit before moving ahead with soil and hydroponic management.

I worked through speeches with my FFA/SAE students, who will all be presenting their speeches at the county contest.  We went over different ways to prepare for the contest, and worked on digging deeper into subjects in order to vamp up their final drafts.  We will continue to work through the public speaking unit as we begin presentations on Wednesday of this coming week.  I am excited to see the students progress with their public speaking skills!

My two sections of Horticulture were productive this week.  We worked through the last part of seed propagation, took a quiz, and will now head into asexual propagation.  I am really pleased with the students response to my instruction.  I believe that they are really learning the information well, and they are being really patient as we wait for the supplies to get into the greenhouse!

This week I picked up Agricultural Mechanics with the Electricity unit.  A class full of high school boys, who laughed at me when I told them my first classroom expectation is Respect.  I have made it half way before having a difficult time, so I can't be surprised, but this will undoubtedly be a class to test me.  I feel that I have done well in sticking to my consequences, however, I am nervous as they begin to reach the point where I planned to remove them from the class.  I have found the key with them is to keep them busy, however, I can't have them in groups, as they have not proved that they can handle that yet.  I believe this will definitely be a new adventure as I continue to work with this class.

This week we also had the delivery of our strawberries, which was a fundraiser I helped put together.  They first moved ahead two days on delivery, then were pushed back a day, making the final delivery date Wednesday.  We had a busy day as we worked to make sure everything was handled smoothly.  Friday was another eventful day.  Halfway through third period Mr. Steinfelt had a fire call, after the second call went out, the school arranged for immediate coverage, and I taught forth (which was already my class) and fifth (not my class) on my own.  I feel that I was better prepared this time, and overall, it went pretty smoothly.  I have learned that you never know when duty may call, that is for sure!

I am really enjoying my time in the North.  I find myself working later and later every night, and I look forward to the extra time to get work done on the weekends, but in the end, it is rewarding.  I look forward to this second half of my experience, but I know it will come to an end all too soon.

Many Lessons to be Learned

We did it! We had a full week of school for the first time all month! No delays, no cancellations, a full 5 day week!  So much more can be accomplished when you see the students five full days in a row!  This week has been full of good moments, and some not so great moments, but with each comes the opportunity to learn and grow.

Monday morning began with my Introduction to Agriculture class.  We only had soil erosion to get through before we began working on our unit project.  I planned an activity that had the kids use their books to answer a question.  I wanted the students to see that their book would be a great resource to begin their search for information for their projects.  However, I under estimated how much time it would take the class to read the two pages of information I wanted them to read.  What I thought was going to take 10 minutes, quickly became 20 or 25.  I wrapped class up, and immediately started thinking about how I could make things better on Tuesday.  My FFA/SAE class spent the period working on debriefing from FFA Week.  I had them work together to make a list of things that went well, and what they would do different for next year.  I was pleased with their work and the information they came up with.  This class was followed immediately with my first section of Horticulture.  Monday was dedicated to reviewing the crossword puzzle they had been assigned as homework, and introducing the terminology that was needed to begin teaching the punnet square.  Both sections of Horticulture went pretty well on Monday, leaving me excited to teach the punnet square on Tuesday.

To bounce back from Monday, I planned an interactive activity for my ninth grade class.  On Monday they read about twelve specific things that can be done to prevent soil erosion.  On Tuesday, I had the class line up based on height, and then partnered students up.  Each group was given one of the twelve practices they read about, and asked to draw a picture representing that practice without using words.  After the groups were finished, we did a gallery walk around the room.  Students looked at each picture, and worked to identify which practice it was representing.  The participation from the group was good, and I think it tied in nicely with the previous days work.  My punnet square activity went over well in Horticulture as well.  I had students ranging in experience with the punnet square, from those who didn't know what it was, to students who were learning about it right now in Biology.  We spent the class working through scenarios, and ended class with each student writing their own scenario and completing the punnet square to go along with it.  I also picked up Veterinary Science on Tuesday, I took the whole period to introduce myself, get to know the students, and go over classroom procedures.  Overall, it was a good day.

Wednesday, arguably the most difficult day of this week.  The students were tired, the week was only half over, and, after all, this was the first full week in quite some time!  I provided first period with a rubric for their project and explained to them what I was looking for.  I asked if they had questions, and, seeing none, we went to the library to begin research.  I quickly realized that their was confusion, and not just from some, but majority of the students.  However, I don't believe it was a wasted day, because the students had time to learn about resources available to them from the librarian.  When third period came around, half of the students in my FFA/SAE class were absent.  The lesson I had for them was going to go over better if I had more students, so I gave the class the period to work on updating their record books.  Horticulture.  My plan was to go over the definitions that were covered in the crossword puzzle and make sure that they were really understood.  Instead of clearing up confusion, I created more of it.  As students questioned, I began to question myself.  My first section left, and I felt defeated.  I worked to improve what information I had before I had the class again eighth period.  Veterinary Science was a success, we learned the parts of the digestive system, and the class then worked in groups to create a model using play dough.  After they finished, we discussed the order they had the parts in and made sure that everyone had that correct.  My second section of Horticulture went better than the first, but we were able to spend half of our time in the hydroponic greenhouse taking care of some things that needed to be done. 

I began Thursday by working to further explain what I expected from the students in Introduction to Agriculture with their soil or water conservation posters.  I explained that I wanted them to focus on one specific issue and do more research on it.  Overall, their was less student confusion, and I was able to answer questions and help point students in the right direction.  I feel I also redeemed myself in Horticulture.  The confusion on Wednesday came from explaining scarification and stratification.  I decided to do an activity on Thursday where I provided half of the class with an article on stratification, and half the class with an article on scarification.  They were told to take notes, put things in their own words, and half the information ready to present to the other half of their peers.  The students took longer to read than I had anticipated, but after they finished, I think they really enjoyed teaching each other.  I had them partner up once, and then after they taught their first partner, I asked how many people took notes.  Seeing no hands, I had them rotate partners, recommending they take notes this time!  After they finished, I had two students stand up and explain the opposite of what they originally read about.  I was pleased with how well they did!  Veterinary Science was given a similar task.  After learning the parts the previous day, using a Go Get It e moment, they were each given a part to research and determine it's function.  They then shared with the class what they found.  Again, I was pleased with how the activity turned out, but realize how much quicker it would be if we were fortunate enough to be a one to one school.

Friday rolled around, and the kids were all dragging.  It was the first full week for them in a while, and you could tell.  The entire period was set aside for research for Introduction to Agriculture, so I spent time walking around clarifying any questions that came about.  FFA/SAE spent the period in a speech manuscript boot camp.  After reading their speeches, I decided to set up stations for them to go through to help them better prepare their speeches for the contest.  They responded pretty well, and either Mr. Steinfelt or myself was able to give each student one to one feedback on their rough draft.  We had a lot of maintenance to get caught up with in the greenhouse, so both classes of Horticulture spent about half the class out working on changing water, cleaning the tubs, and adding fresh water and nutrients.  The other part of class was spent on talking about the four things needed for germination. I wrapped up the week of the digestive system by assigning a project.  I groups of two, they were to create a digestive road map.  In this map, each part was to have an "attraction" that would describe the function of that part of the digestive system.  They were provided the example of a "saliva stop" water park for the mouth.  The attraction then needed to have a description to show that they understood the function, without just stating what the function is.  I got this idea from my ag teacher, Janine Stottlemyer, and absolutely love it!  The kids were able to use their creative juices to make connections to the parts and their functions!  I am really excited to see the completed projects on Monday!

As I look into the week to come, I will wrap up Soil and Water Conservation with Intro to Ag, and begin a mini unit on dairy judging.  I will continue working on Public Speaking with my FFA/SAE kids, and Horticulture will continue with plant propagation.  I will continue with Digestion with Vet Science, and add electricity with one section of Ag Mechanics I.  It will be a busy week, but I am excited to continue this journey!

National FFA Week on the Flip Side!!

National FFA Week; a time for FFA members, alumni, and supporters to advocate for agricultural education and FFA.  Throughout my years as an FFA member, I spent many hours trying to help plan activities that would make for a fun, memorable week.  Now, this year for the first time, I was helping from the side of the advisor!  My students worked long and hard to plan a week that would help to increase agricultural awareness among the members, student body, and the community. 

In order to increase awareness of the local agriculture program within the community, the students decided that they would like to partner with the local Tractor Supply to help promote the Scholarship Campaign they ran through FFA week.  After talking with the manager, the students decided to dedicate Monday, their day off, to setting up a display at the store and strike up conversations with customers about what FFA is, and how it has been beneficial for them!  They also decided that it would be best for every student to be wearing Official Dress.  The response from both the customers and the management were beyond positive!  At the end of the day we were assured that our presence helped a great deal with increasing donations to the scholarship campaign.  I would highly recommend partnering with Tractor Supply to every program at any point of the year, but especially during FFA Week!

This week Tuesday was an in service day for Athens faculty.  During the morning program we had a guest speaker presenting about how to integrate literacy into curriculum.  I learned a lot of new and forthcoming information and techniques!  Look for a blog about these strategies to be coming soon!

The original plan for Wednesday was for the school to participate in a Trivia Day.  However, with the last two days of last week being snow days, the students didn't have all of the prep work and advertising of events done, so everything got pushed back to Thursday.  The FFA/SAE class spent Wednesday planning for the rest of the week.  Introduction to Agriculture reviewed the information that was covered the previous week since they had an entire week off from school to forget information, and then was given time to update AET and ask any questions they had about the program.  I had one section of Horticulture that I had covered my introduction with last Wednesday and another section that I did not.  We had work that needed done in the greenhouse, so my first section had a work period to get that taken care of, while my second section went through introductions of me to the students and of the students to me.  I also covered my classroom expectations and procedures, and introduced the plant propagation unit to them. 

Thursday was an extremely busy day.  We had about three days worth of FFA Week activities crammed into one day!  The day began with an early morning at the school to prepare for a faculty appreciation breakfast.  Several students came in early to help cook and serve over 30 faculty and staff members breakfast and then clean up afterwards!  The faculty were extremely appreciative!  We then held Trivia Day, which entailed an agricultural related question being asked over the loud speaker at the end of every period, and the first student in the office with the correct answer received a coupon for a free chocolate milk!  We also celebrated Blue/Gold day, and most FFA members who own official dress participated by wearing it to school!  The FFA/SAE class put together a PowerPoint showcasing ways to get involved in FFA that they wanted to share with every ag class.  Affiliate membership now means that every student in the ag program in an FFA member, however there are some that still refrain from being an active member.  As a class, it was decided that in order to increase awareness amongst these members, they wanted to make sure they knew exactly was available to them.  Every class period on Thursday was then presented this presentation by actively involved FFA members.  The kids did an awesome job of sharing personal stories that really got teh classes attention!  I was very proud of them!  There was a regular scheduled FFA meeting during PM Advisory on Thursday as well, during which we had our group picture taken for the yearbook! Perfect timing for an awesome picture showing off a lot of blue and gold jackets!!!

Friday.  Boy did that get here quick!!  Throughout the week we had a sign up in every lunch period for a Pedal Tractor Pull competition.  During each lunch period on Friday, then, we had those who signed up come down and compete against each other.  The male and female winner from each period then came down at the end of the day for a pull off!  The school had a lot of fun seeing who was the strongest and could pull the sled the furthest! Throughout the week there was also jars with teachers names who had volunteered to participate in a "Kiss a Cow" contest that were set out each lunch period.  The teacher with the most money collected then had to kiss a cow at the end of the day on Friday! 

Overall it was a packed full week!  The students were pleased with the turnout and results they had from their very abbreviated National FFA Week! Next week should be a little more "normal!" I will begin working on a conservation poster project with my Introduction to Agriculture class, dig deeper into plant propagation with Horticulture, begin public speaking with FFA/SAE, and pick up Veterinary Science with a digestion unit!  I am quickly learning that no plan will go exactly how you thought it would, but that planning ahead definitely pays off as you work through the last minute changes!  This is such a learning experience, and even though it is a lot of work, I am truly enjoying it!  At the end of the day, the students make it all worth it!

A Week of Adventure!

What a week of adventure this has been!  I have had many exciting experiences all wrapped up into one week!

I began the week by continuing my soil and water conservation unit with my Introduction to Agriculture class.  On Monday we began by going over the worksheet that was provided for the students to complete on Friday with the substitute.  The students were then given paper to complete a drawing of the Water cycle using all of the definitions we had just went over.  The students responded well to the activity, and were really able to display their understanding of the water cycle.  I finished the class by having the students review all the things we use water for.  Everyone wrote this down and then were assigned homework to keep track of each time they used water throughout the next 24 hours.  My SAE/FFA class was given time to work on National FFA Week activities.

Tuesday was spent going over water consumption with Introduction to Agriculture, where we were able to come up with a class average on water consumption.  We then talked about all of the hidden water that is consumed in the production of our food and clothing.  It was an eye opener to the students to see how much water is actually used in just one days time!  The SAE/FFA class worked to finalize FFA Week activities, get the final approval, and present everything to the class.  Overall, it was a good day!

Wednesday: the day of my first observation from my University Supervisor, Dr. Foster!  I was prepared to conduct a lab with my first period class, an activity with my SAE/FFA class, and planning to take over both sections of Horticulture by introducing myself and getting to know the students.  First period went well, the students responded well to the pollution lab that I had planned for them, and I wrapped up in time to bring them back and tie everything up before the bell rang.  Third period brought on my SAE/FFA class, and they enjoyed the activity that they had to learn the four styles of leadership.  They finished in time to take a few minutes to work on details for FFA Week.  Forth period was my first section of Horticulture.  The students took longer to finish their exam from the previous day than we anticipated, so I was rushed to get through just the very beginning of my introduction.  Overall, I was rushed and the students knew it.  I planned to go over the information on Thursday to make sure that I really got my classroom expectations and procedures through so that they understood.  We then moved into the Ag Mechanics I class fifth period.  I am just helping out with this class at this point, and the students are working on a welding project.  It wasn't until about half way through the period that things got interesting.  A few of the boys in the class decided that instead of walking to the other side of the shop to cool their metal, they would simply open the shop door and dip their metal in the snow: not a big deal!  That is until they noticed the smoke that was reaching into the sky from the other side of the school!  They called Mr. Steinfelt over (who is a volunteer firefighter) and showed him, and they all proceeded to turn on their scanners.  It wasn't long before everyone knew that there was a house fire on First Street in Athens.  Within minutes, the phone rang in the shop, and Mr. Steinfelt answered it.  After he got off the phone, he came and informed Dr. Foster and me that he may have to leave.  It took a few seconds before I realized he was serious!  There are a few teachers in the building who are released from their positions whenever an emergency needs to be handled.  As Mr. Steinfelt waited for the sub to get their to release him, he went over the plans for the rest of the day.  I was not allowed to take kids in the shop for 6th period, but that he hoped to be back for 9th period.  Needless to say, the day got more interesting then I had anticipated!  It all worked out, and the remainder of the day went about as good as can be expected in the given situation!  Overall, I was pleased with the day!  I finished my plans for the following day, and left to head home at a decent time.  I was sure that we were going to have school on Thursday, so I left some of my binders at school.

Thursday.  We were supposed to get a few inches of snow, nothing too bad, and nothing too early in the morning.  I figured we would have a 2 hour early dismissal.  I was wrong.  A few inches turned into over 8 inches that accumulated on top of the 12 inches we still had laying around.  I woke up to the information that we were indeed closed, so I had a whole day to get work done!

Friday was spent in State College for a Student Teacher Seminar.  There was a great variety of information covered and provided throughout the course of the day.  I was able to vamp up my resume and further understand what to put in and what to leave out of a cover letter.  I also learned a lot about what to consider before walking into a job interview!  Overall I really enjoyed being able to catch up with the other student teachers and talk through successes and challenges that we have been facing.  Athens had a snow day, so I didn't miss a day of instruction

This weekend Athens FFA traveled to ACES with 37 students!  It was definitely a whole new experience to attend a conference that I attended as a high school student as a chaperone!  I had experience with this feeling during National Convention, however, this time, I had developed rapport with students in the classroom, so I felt more like their teacher than I did at National Convention.  We were able to keep track of all 37 students with no problems, and they all had a great time!  I also learned a lot of valuable information about the AET system in the teacher workshop. 

As a student teacher, I was drafted to help with the courtesy corp duty on Saturday night.  The highlight of this experience was undoubtedly a hotel staff member telling Jessie Ross (another student teacher) and I that it was past curfew and we needed to get back to our room.  It took a few moments for it to sink in that he actually thought we were students!  In that moment, it really sunk in that I am not a student anymore! 

Overall, it was a very eventful week, and I learned a lot!  I am excited to get back in the classroom with my students on Wednesday!  We will see if the students still know what school is after having a whole week off!  I will pick up the Horticulture classes by beginning the Plant Propagation unit of instruction.  My FFA/SAE class will be conducting the FFA Week activities, and my Introduction to Ag class will more forward with conservation!  It should be a great week! I mean, it is National FFA Week, it is sure to be AWESOME!!!!

Week of the Snow Storm!

It is hard to believe that we have already completed week three!  The weeks seem to continue to go by faster than the last.  This week had several big moments, including picking up my second class, surviving my first Northern Tier snow storm (over 14” of snow, easily!), my first snow day which was followed by a two hour delay (hello short class periods), preparing my first set of sub plans, and my very first state record book contest.

 

Monday I picked up my ninth grade Introduction to Agriculture class.  We began a unit on soil and water conservation.  On Monday I introduced myself, got to know the kids, went over my classroom policies, and used the remaining time to simply define conservation and its importance.  I decided that as I observed that the class was pretty good, but there were a few groups of talkers.  So on Monday, I had the students fill in the seating chart where they were sitting, but explained that the right to pick their own seats was one they would lose if I felt necessary.  I debated this for a long time, and after talking with Mr. Steinfelt, decided it would probably work to allow them to feel that they had a say in where they sat as long as they were aware that it was a privilege that could be taken away any day.  I also decided to have the students write their bellwork and ticket out on one sheet of paper to be handed in on Friday’s for weekly participation points.  I explained to the students that it was important to take these seriously because they would be a great resource to study from.  Overall, the class went well.  I was excited to dive into the content on the second day!  My FFA/SAE class followed my Introduction to Ag, and we worked all week to plan FFA week activities.  Monday we worked as a class to determine the final list of events and then split up into committees to work on planning individual days.  I was really pleased with the ideas and discussion the students carried on throughout the course of the entire week.

Tuesday was the real test for my ninth grade class.  I planned an activity utilizing the “How Wet is Our Planet” activity out of the Project Wild Aquatic book.  I began the class by asking the students why Earth is referred to as the Water Planet.  This was a good way to lead into the discussion about how much water on Earth is actually usable for all of our needs.  I then turned the discussion to determine what all the sources of water are on Earth.  As students named off the sources, I handed them clear plastic cups that had that water source written on it.  After all of my cups were distributed, I had the students who did not have a cup partner up with someone who did.  I then posed the challenge to the class as a whole to determine what percent of water comes from their water sources.  I gave the kids 5 minutes, but had to extend that time frame because it took so long to log onto computers.  Once they had an answer or an educated guess, they were supposed to put the amount of water that would be if we put all of Earth’s water in a 5 gallon bucket.  After each group was finished, I had one person from each group come to the front table with their cup to place the sources in order from the most water to the least water.  As a class we then decided if the order made sense.  After they had them in an order that they thought made sense, we went through and each group told the class what percentage they found, and we then discussed whether that was correct or incorrect.  When we were finished with that, I began the discussion about which sources of water were actually usable for human consumption.  This led to the main point that I wanted to make, which is that even though over 75% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, less than 3% of water is available for human use.  Overall, I think the activity was a good way to show the students how little water is usable, therefore showing the need for conservation, however, if I did the activity again I would definitely change a few things.  First, I would color the water with blue food coloring so that students could see it better.  Second, I would have the water in a five gallon bucket, so students had a better visual.  I talked through all of this with Mr. Steinfelt immediately after class, and he agreed that those both would have improved the activity, but that he felt the point was still made.

Wednesday ended up being my first snow day.  I had a full day to contemplate how I was going to better improve my instruction to fully engage my students.  First period is a very challenging class to teach, I believe, and I wanted to find ways to get the students really excited to be there.  My mission for the day quickly became revamping my lesson for Thursday so that my students would all be actively engaged.  I had a plan to take a problem solving approach to determine ways to conserve water, however, a two hour delay on Thursday resulted in a 30 minute class period that partially killed that idea. 

 

Thursday I spent the beginning of class revisiting the information from Tuesday.  I had two students who missed the class, and the rest lost the information they learned somewhere in the 12 – 18 inches of snow we had lying on the ground.  I believe that it was a good idea to review that information and clarify some of the information so that the students really understood.   I then challenged the class to come up with a list of all of the things they use water for throughout the day.  After they had a list that they felt was complete, we talked about it for a minute, and then I broke them into groups to come up with a way to conserve water for each of the things that were on the list.  My mistake this day was not realizing the clock was two minutes slow, therefore not raping up the class in time to hear everyone’s ideas, and discuss what was going to be expected from them on Friday when the substitute would be teaching them.  I am a little nervous to see what happened on Friday since I did not have that discussion with them.  My FFA/SAE class worked to develop a proposal of the week’s activities to get approved by the principal.  They will be meeting with her this week.  Before we left on Thursday, I talked through my sub plans with Mr. Steinfelt, which included a video on the water cycle with a worksheet for my Introduction to Agriculture class, and work time for a speech rough draft for my FFA/SAE class.   After making copies and getting everything in order, Friday was planned and in a folder easy for the substitute to find in the morning.

I ended my week by attending the state SAE record book contest.  I believe this experience to be beneficial for me.  I enjoyed the networking opportunities as well as the learning opportunities that this event offered.   My favorite part about the contest was honestly seeing the wide variety of SAE’s that students across the state complete!  It was interesting to see how different students made different projects work for them!

I am excited as I look into this coming week.  I will continue forward with my conservation unit with my Introduction to Ag class, begin leadership activities with my FFA/SAE class as they continue to plan FFA Week.  I will also pick up both sections of Horticulture by starting with a propagation unit!  I plan to continue to find ways to vamp up lessons in order to increase student engagement!

Taking over the Reins...Slowly!

My second week in The Valley has proven to be just as cold (or colder at times), but things in the classroom are starting to warm up!  I have had an exciting and eventful week that is for sure!

I began this week with mid-terms.  Students are given two days for each final; Monday and Tuesday were elective finals (this included all agriculture classes).  The students are then given a day break, and then Thursday and Friday were designated to Science finals.  Mid-terms will continue until next Friday. 

The mid-terms in all agriculture classes were designed for students to have both Monday and Tuesday to complete the exam.  Needless to say, Monday was a VERY quiet day.  I guess I should have enjoyed the silence, but by fourth period I thought I was going to go insane!  Every exam was required to have a reading section as well as an essay question in addition to the multiple choice, true/false and short answer questions.  On Monday, most students were able to complete majority of the exam, typically having only the essay to complete on Tuesday.  

Even though Monday was a pretty quiet day, the evening proved to be quite the experience!  Bradford County has an active County FFA Chapter that meets once a month.  The County Chapter is made up of four schools, Canton, Troy, North East Bradford, and Athens.  Typically meetings start at 7 and rotate between the different high schools.  For this month’s meeting we met at North East Bradford (an hour away from Athens) and the teachers were to meet at 6 in order to judge the SAE record books for the county.  This was a definitely a “this is it” moment for me!  Throughout my high school career I sent my SAE record book to many county record book contests.  This week, I switched sides of the whole competition!  No longer was my book being judged, but instead I was doing the judging!  Knowing that I have dairy experience, I was quickly passed the stack of Dairy Herd record books (that were all from Troy).  I was nervous to have to compare the traditional record book to the AET record books, but luckily, every book that was entered in the Dairy Herd category were completed using AET.  This was another learning curve!  After years of working to keep my own records, I never imagined it would be so hard to score a stack of books.  Every student showcased a unique quality in their book, making it hard to determine the final score.

We also had a guest speaker at the meeting from Pee Jay’s Fresh Fruit.  He came to share information about their Fresh Florida Strawberry sale.  North East and Canton both participated in this sale last year, and they claimed that it was a successful fundraiser with quality fruit.  After sitting through the presentation, Mr. Steinfelt decided to go forward with this fundraiser this year.  To gain experience and fulfill an assignment, the fundraiser became a project for me to work on.  The turnaround time has to be very quick though, as orders are due February 17, with a final add on date of February 24.  During the presentation we were introduced to a new option available when selling through Pee Jay’s: online ordering.  This option allows for customers to purchase online with a credit card.  To utilize this option, you have to set up a website through Pee Jay’s by adding the information to your school and sale.  Throughout the rest of the week I worked with Mr. Steinfelt to get the fundraiser approved by the school and getting the website set up and ready to go live upon approval.  I am really excited to see how this fundraiser works out!  I am particularly excited to see how the online sales turn out!  This is a new experience for everyone involved, so it should be a great learning opportunity!

On Tuesday we were back to mid-terms.   It worked really nice to have two teachers, because while students finished up their exams I was able to stay with those still working, while finished students were able to get into the shop and greenhouse with Mr. Steinfelt.  During prep periods and some of lunch, we began grading mid-terms from classes that were finished.  Over all, Tuesday was a pretty quiet day.  I did really enjoy getting to hear from the entire Penn State 2014 Student Teacher Cohort, though!  It is really nice to know that even though we are spread all over the state, our Ag Ed team does everything they can to make us feel connected!  

Wednesday, this was it!  They day I had been anxiously awaiting for over a week!  I finally got to teach a room full of MY students!  After some change of plans, my FFA/SAE class was the class I picked up first.  I have a class of ten students from 10-12 grade, 5 of which are FFA officers.  This class is designed to give the students an opportunity to work on their SAE project as well as planning FFA events.  To begin, I am facilitating a Leadership unit of instruction that focuses around FFA Week.   I had been hearing lots of ideas from the officer team for FFA Week and I was completely excited to work to expand on those thoughts in order to organize a successful week.  I talked through my ideas for the class with Mr. Steinfelt, and asked what events were typically done in the past.  After doing so, I decided that I wanted to change up my original lesson plan a bit!  The task I assigned my students on the first day (after taking care of introductions) was to create a purpose statement for what they wanted to accomplish from FFA Week.  My plan in doing this was to get the students to think about WHY we should even bother with FFA Week.  I wanted them to realize it was much more than a week to just wear blue and gold and do things with the chapter.  I think that they started to realize that was where I was going, but the whole “purpose statement” thing really tripped them up.  I continued to ask questions and they really did start thinking deeper, but the short 39 minutes came to a quick end, leaving almost 24 hours for me to reflect and plan a new approach!  I talked through the class with Mr. Steinfelt afterwards, and discussed what had happened.  I told him I was honestly pleased with how the class went, but that I knew I needed to work on the purpose statement with them more on Thursday.  We then talked about how I was just a little bit nervous, which was a complete shock to me!  I already know every student in this class after attending National Convention and Mid-Winter Convention, so I figured I would be comfortable in front of them!  Turns out I was wrong!  It was nothing that I feel really affected the lesson, but you could tell I was a little nervous to finally be in front of a class!

As I continued to reflect on the class from Wednesday, I kept researching good ways to teach purpose statements.  After searching for a long period of time, it finally hit me!  SMART Goals!  Every kid that has ever been to an FFA Conference should know what a SMART Goal is!  I changed some things around, developed a worksheet, and I was good to go!  We began class on Thursday by writing the purpose statement we had from the day before.  I had a student read it aloud, and then let the class discuss whether or not they were happy with it.  Then, I broke out the worksheets!  I asked who had heard of SMART Goals, and the entire class had.  We went through what each letter stood for, and they nailed it.  Then, we broke up in groups and they were each to create a SMART Goal for FFA Week.  We then shared with the class, combined the different goals created, and wa-la!  We have a very SMART goal for Athens FFA Week!  We ended the class by discussing why goals are important.  My students now understand why it is important to begin with the end in mind!! 

Today, to finish out the week, the students were given three tasks to complete by the end of class:

1.       Update SAE record books

2.       Prepare 2013 record books for the state competition

 

Not all of the students had books that were being sent on to the state competition, so I thought the best approach to take would be to have students begin to work as a group as they finished up with their record books.  Each student took a different amount of time, so the group working on FFA week grew as the period progressed.  At first the kids thought that there was going to be less structure since I was designating the class as a “work” period.  I made sure to circulate throughout the room and answer questions about record books and help facilitate discussion about FFA Week.  Overall, I have some learning to do, that is for sure, but I was pretty happy with the amount of work accomplished in the short 39 minutes!

As I look into next week, I will continue planning FFA Week with my FFA/SAE class.  We will designate a chair for each event, and then they will do what is necessary to plan their event.  They will give updates to the class so that they can get feedback and ideas as they work through the planning stages.  I will also begin to look at leadership and show the importance of working to obtain and improve those skills in order to have an even more successful FFA Week.  I will also pick up my Introduction to Ag class with a unit on soil and water conservation.  I am a little nervous for this class of 22 high school freshman, but excited, too!  We will begin looking at conservation and its importance in the future or our world.  I have a lot of activities planned for this, and I am really excited to see how the kids respond!  

This is something I have been working to remind myself of this week!  I want my students to know that I am here to help them succeed.  In fact, I WANT them to succeed!  I know that throughout my education it sometimes seemed as though the teachers or professors were setting me up for failure.  It is my goal to help my students reach their full potential.  I believe that to achieve this, I need to continually remind them that I believe they can do great things.  It is not enough to tell students they can do better than what they are doing right now.  Sometimes all they hear is that they are not doing good enough.  They need to hear that you have faith in them, and that we are here to help them do great things!  As I progress through this journey, I will strive to actively show my students how much I do believe in them!