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!
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