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!