Final thoughts on my teaching internship...

I learned a lot...
Student teaching certainly stretched me (some days more than others). I encountered new behaviors (ones I had never seen before), worked on trying to differentiate instruction to multiple levels of students within one class, and helped juggle the many "extra" responsibilities that come with teaching Agriculture.

Definitely a growing experience...
Most of my students were clearly not raised the way I was raised. Unfortunately, many of my students came from broken homes lacking in both love and discipline. Swearing is everyday language, and being rude, ignorant, disrespectful, or dishonest is the "norm".  Dealing with these many situations, was definitely challenging. With some students I was able to make decent progress on their behavior and earned their respect. As a result, these students gave me much fewer problems in class. Others were not "conquered" and were a constant challenge.

Students...
Students come in all sizes, shapes, ages, and from vary varied backgrounds. What's new, right? Well for me it took time to learn their names. Once I knew their names, classroom management became easier, and I became more personable to them. They knew that I was taking the time to learn their names, and that showed that I was interested in them.

Classroom Management...
Although this is not one of my strongest areas, I definitely feel that I have made progress in this area, and learned some different tactics for dealing with various situations. My biggest struggle remains with high school senior boys; however, even toward the end of my teaching internship, they eventually came around for the most part. The other challenge for me is the variety of "new" things/challenges/situations I encounter regularly... hopefully time and experience will eventually pay off in this area.

Hands-on instruction...
I love hands-on instruction!!! I am a very strong kinesthetic learner myself. Tell me and I will forget unless I write down every word, but show me and then let me practice, and I probably won't ever forget! I love to incorporate as many hands-on experiences as possible for my students; however, unfortunately there are limits depending on available resources, the budget, and the number of students in the class. Thankfully, I was able to bring in our pony and a pregnant goat to the school which gave me many hands-on/lab opportunities for my animal/vet science class. I was also able to work with the local florist to purchase floriculture supplies at a very reasonable price which allowed me to incorporate some unique kinesthetic opportunities for my Plant and Soil Science students.

Agriculture...
I love agriculture, and my passion is agriculture. If I were to breakdown my passions within Agriculture I would have to create a list... Dairy Goats, Large Animal Vet Medicine, Animal Nutrition, Horse Training and Handling, Equine Science, Dairy Science, Food Science, Floriculture, Plant Propagation, etc. I really enjoy helping others with their agriculture projects... I am particularly interested in helping people improve herd health and profitability which is why I enjoy teaching Animal/Vet science because I have the opportunity to give my students the knowledge as well as some hands-on skill training to be successful, or to improve their farm and/or animal projects. My favorite lessons were when we problem solved real-life situations in my animal/vet science class.

Non-paid internships...
Reality is... tuition isn't free or cheap, and then there is rent, food, fuel, etc. We go to our cooperating centers, without a job, and somewhere we are supposed to find a money tree, or save money while we are in college just for this semester, or get our parents to pay our expenses, or ??? I find it frustrating that there are no funds available to even pay us a small stipend when we are paying full tuition and not even on campus utilizing resources. To top that off, our cooperating centers are burdened with additional expenses to meet the "Penn State Requirements" for experiences, and the $500 they do get doesn't even pay our National FFA Convention expenses!... Changes are needed...

Mock Interview

I interviewed our principal assistant for my mock interview.  The interview process lasted approximately 15 minutes.

During the interview I was asked the following questions:

      1.) Tell me about yourself…

      2.) Tell me what you know about IEP's

      3.) Describe to me your computer literacy

      4.) Describe what a complete education program would look like

 

After the interview was over, she spent another approximately 15-20 min. talking about my strengths and weaknesses as well as some tips and suggestions for strengthening my resume and teaching application.

Her comments to me were that I interviewed really well, have a lot of experience, and am passionate about agriculture and students. My biggest fault was that I gave her too much information too quickly… she couldn’t keep up with taking notes and missed a good portion of what I told her. She also suggested that I brush up on my IEP knowledge. One of my strongest answers was of what a complete Ag Ed program should entail… I talked about the 3-circle aspect… apparently I’ve heard the jargon enough times and picked up enough through student teaching to understand and regurgitate it in a sensible fashion even though I wasn’t in FFA myself…

Below is the list of the questions I asked my interviewer:

1.) Where are graduates of the Ag Program working within industry?

      2.) Where do you see the Ag Program 10 years from now?

3.) From your perspective, what is/are the biggest benefit(s) of the Ag program to the high school?

I was most impressed with the feedback I got after the interview, as well as the smoothness of the overall interview process – no unimpressive feedback to give! My only drawback was trying to find a time for the interview that would fit in the assistant principal’s busy schedule. It was a great experience that allowed me to gain some insight on administrations’ view of the Ag program, and gave me the opportunity to get to know the assistant principal on a more personal level – rather than the quick “hi” in the hallway!

Community Based Unit of Instruction

While I had originally planned on utilizing just my students in my electrical wiring class, I also decided to
include students in my Animal/Vet science class as well. Students in my electrical wiring class focused on electrical safety primarily, while students in my animal/vet class focused on the animal care aspect and eliminating hazards in a barn. Students from both of these classes helped clean and tidy the barn area in readiness for the event.

The flyer (right) was used for advertising the event, and was posted around the school and in the local grocery store. Three local volunteer fire companies were invited to participate and be a part of this event and were contacted via phone calls and emails.

Post card sized handouts were provided to all participants as a visual reminder for themselves, or to share with someone in their community.

Several volunteer fire company members from the community gave a short presentation on some of the most common situations they encounter with barn fires and working with animals, and shared some tips for prevention. I then had the opportunity to provide a demonstration dealing with a spooked horse at the event, and discussed different methods for getting spooked animals under control and calmed down. After my demonstrations with the horse, several brought up how they could also apply the same strategies when dealing with Amish horses involved in accidents. This led to them asking more questions, and I had the opportunity to go a little more in depth on animal behavior and some possible responses to various situations.

Participants seemed to really enjoy the event, and remarked how beneficial the animal handling techniques and hands-on experience was to them... and of course everybody enjoyed working with the baby goats!

No funding was needed for this event. The fire company members volunteered their time, and also offered their Jr. members credit hours to attend the event, so it was beneficial to all involved.

Culturing...

Culturing new ideas... program visit to Big Spring HS
- I started my week visiting Katie Andrews on Monday... (more on that in a separate blog post).

Culturing relationships... w/ students
 - Throughout this entire semester, I have been culturing relationships with the students - not friend relationships, but student to teacher relationships... relationships of trust, expectations, and responsibility.
For example, several months ago I brought in our miniature horse, so that students could learn basic horse care as well as have the opportunity to practice general animal care techniques such as taking body temperature, listening to the heart and respiration rates with a stethoscope, hoof care, and bandaging. I knew several of my 9th grade students were very interested in horses.

All of the sudden I had requests to sign passes from study hall so that they could work with the horse... The first time they came down I went to the barn with them, got the horse out, worked with her a little, and then had them demonstrate what I did to make sure they understood how to handle the horse. Since that time several students come down nearly every afternoon to take her outside to enjoy the grass (if the weather is nice), brush her, pick her hooves, etc. To just trust that they knew everything about working with the horse in the beginning would have been foolish, but as the year has progressed we have cultured a relationship of trust and responsibility. I know that when these students go out to take care of the horse they will take care of the horse, and they know that I have put that responsibility and trust on them, and they have proven their commitment to her care. Thursday, while I was out at the barn with them, I asked them if they would like to take the pony and all of the goats outside to pasture... their response? Can we really?! They all jumped in and worked together as a group to take the animals outside and keep tabs on them. Part-way through the class period, I got called in to meet with the assistant principal who had a few suggestions for my resume and teaching application. The bell rang and the students came back into class. Once again they rose to the occasion and showed their responsibility by working together and putting all of the animals away without my instruction. (My biggest regret... I failed to get a picture... the baby goats were having such a blast exercising their springs, and the students were beaming with smiles!)

Culturing cheese... in Animal/Vet Science

- This week I started my dairy unit; however, since I was so far behind in where I had hoped to be, I decided to start in with learning about proper milking procedures. We had 5 steps we outlined in the milking process, we discussed the importance of each step, then the students practiced each of the steps and tried their hand at milking on our live and very obliging goat models! Wednesday we learned about milk processing techniques such as pasteurization and homogenization. Thursday we learned about coagulation as it relates to cheese making. We were making chevre, a soft goat cheese. Our first step was to heat the milk to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, then add the culture (buttermilk), and rennet. I heard many comments throughout the process... are we going to eat this?, Eww, it smells funny, etc. :) The cheese sat overnight and coagulated forming the curd and separating from the whey.

At the beginning of school on Friday, I had one of the students help me drain off the whey, then we hung it in cheesecloth to continue draining. By 4th period we were ready to finish the cheese, and students still were skeptical. After I had students mix in the salt, I instructed them that they were to each make a flavor... do we have to eat it??? No, but I don't know why you wouldn't want to eat it... :) I hurriedly mixed up some horseradish dill flavored cheese, tasted it, and offered them to try it... After that the spark ignited, and they got very involved in flavoring their cheese, creating their unique flavors, and of course eating the cheese. They devoured an entire box of crackers in the process! When I asked what they thought of the lab at the end of class their primary comment was that I should have brought 2 boxes of crackers! :)  The students really enjoyed the lab, and were very involved. I had one of the students remark to me after class that she though that they were more involved as a class in that lab then what they had been in any other lab! I'm not totally sure if that was true, but they were definitely very engaged! Oh... and by the way... they said that goat cheese was awesome! Woohoo! Another positive perception of the dairy goat industry had been left with my students! If that isn't exciting for a crazy goat lady, I don't know what else is!

Mike also visited on Friday, and got to join in on the cheese sampling as well as get a tour of the facilities, and observe several classes.

One crazy, busy week has ended, and one busy week of student teaching remains! Bittersweet thoughts...

Ag Program visit - Big Spring

First impressions... I love all of the cabinets and book shelves... and the individual student desks!

On Monday, April 11th I had the opportunity to visit Katie Andrews at Big Spring High School. While there I had the opportunity to observe students in an Animal/Vet class utilizing the 1 to 1 technology they have in their school. I also observed a plant and soil science class transplanting various flower types. During their Leadership class they were busy making banquet preparations, so I jumped into the assembly line and folded their invitations. At the end of the day I observed Katie teach her equine science class, and had fun joining in on the classroom discussion and helping answer questions.

Overall it was a great experience, and allowed me the opportunity to observe block schedule classes, as well as the 2 classroom/ 2 teacher dynamics. Being used to teaching 42min. classes, the block scheduling would certainly have some advantages - especially when doing labs; however, I'm sure there would be drawbacks as well.

Professional Development through the CPPD

My cooperating teacher, myself, and other Ag teachers and student teachers in the western PA region were able to attend a professional development meeting held at Hoss's restaurant in Indiana, PA. In exchange for the price of our meal, each one was responsible for bringing a project, lesson plan, etc. to share with the entire group. I chose to share a lab worksheet on fecal analysis that I developed for an Animal/Vet Science course. My cooperating teacher shared a design for a horseshoe cactus welding project that can be used to hold hanging flower baskets. Throughout the evening we shared stories, and experienced teachers offered their words of wisdom from classroom management to working with school administration. Student teachers were also given the opportunity to ask any questions we might have concerning teaching or finding a job. Toward the end of our meal, Mr. Frederick handed out free posters, flyers, bulletins, etc. for us to use for teaching. Overall it was a very enjoyable meeting (excluding the fact that it went so late), and I was able to garnish many useful resources.

Outside Insights

Utilizing our resources is important! This week I was able to utilize the baby goats for 2 classes. On Monday, the students in my Introduction to Agriculture class got to learn about disbudding and dehorning, why we do it, and then a live demonstration of disbudding. How did I use my resources? I disbudded our 4 baby goat kids that were born over our Easter vacation. Each student's response and reaction to the process was different - some it did not bother, some couldn't stand the smell, and a few I thought were going to cry; however, once it was over they realized that what I said was true - it is a relatively short procedure, and the goats don't hold it against you - they're ready to be petted and played with shortly afterward. Later in the week when we were discussing wounds, and I was reminded of a vet call I had shadowed....  a bull had gouged a cow with his horns which ultimately resulted in her death. The bull had severed so many of her muscles in her hip region that she could not walk. I shared this story with the students, which gave me the opportunity to re-emphasize why we de-horn animals, and definitely sparked the students' interests and several questions. It allowed me the opportunity to review previous material and make a connection to the current lesson!

Previously, I had taught several forms of animal ID in my Animal/Vet science class all in one time period. Now that it was time to teach animal ID to my Intro. to Ag students, my previous experience with this lesson - along with my experience with this class, helped me to gauge that swine ear notching was plenty for one class period. The students seemed to really enjoy the activity I had planned - ear notching paper plate pig ears, and I was very impressed with how well the students seemed to grasp the material. Since I had previously taught this material in my Animal/Vet Science class, my one student, who is in both classes, was able to be my assistant. It was a great learning opportunity for her as she tends to be more shy; however, she was confident with the project and was a real help in the class. I was told by the district supervisor (later in the week) that that is the only class he has ever seen her engaged and paying attention in... she always is that way in my classes... I would have never known that had he not said something! The other unique thing about this lesson... I "tricked" them into doing math! :) Figuring the correct notches for the 13th piglet born in the 128th litter takes a few calculations!

Wednesday I was observed by the district supervisor, and we continued on animal ID - ear tagging and tattooing. For my lesson, we reviewed swine ear notching, and discussed the purpose of animal ID along with many common methods of ID. The students each had the opportunity to try out the ear tattoo tool and "tattoo" a paper plate goat ear. Towards the end of the lesson we went out to the barn, and the students got to watch as I tattooed one of the goat kids, and then we looked at one of the does' tattoos so that they could see the final result. Since we were out in the barn, I took another opportunity to review, and had the students figure out the pigs' litter and pig number by looking at her notches.
What else did I do on Wednesday? #latenightbowling with some of my upperclassmen... :)

Thursday I decided to teach my Intro. to Ag students about bandaging and basic animal restraint since the weather was not too conducive to the other lab I had planned. I was very impressed with the fact that nearly all of my students were very engaged, and seemed to really enjoy the lab... there are always those few, but today they were excited to participate! As always, whenever I have a good story to tell about my experiences with the topic, I shared some of my experiences from working in a veterinary clinic. Students really seem to pay attention and make the important connections to the topic. I love it when it sparks questions or discussions about "one time my dog... ", or "have you ever seen...?" #makingitreal

Friday, our district supervisor took approximately 1 1/2 hrs. of his time to talk with me one-on-one to go over my entire lesson that he observed. He told me that with that particular class he would probably only have 1 or maybe 2 objectives for each lesson, spend approx. 10 min. reviewing, spend 20 min. on the new material, and then spend 10 min. reviewing. Many of his suggestions centered around ways to take the pressure and stress off of me, and put it on the students - especially those who are a struggle to keep focused and are easily distracted. One suggestion was to select the student who isn't doing his bell work exercise and have that student write my objectives on the board. Use the students who aren't always on task and make them answer the review questions - if they don't know what the previous days' lesson was about, then tell them that they must not have learned the material like I thought they had... "therefore, we will repeat the previous days' lesson and we aren't going to move on to new material", and then do just that... He said most times after utilizing students this way, and repeating the lessons as needed, students will start to pay more attention for various reasons - one being that their peers will get after them because they want to move on to new topics. The embarrassment of being called on to answer and not knowing the answers because of not paying attention will also motive some. This is one of the first times that some of these concepts have really "made sense" to me. He gave me numerous scenarios of how it might play out in the classroom - not a bunch of theories or ideals, but he worked through my entire lesson plan, section by section with common sense approaches for real situations within my class and suggestions for particular students... it was awesome! I am excited to try some of the suggestions in my last 2 weeks of teaching, and hopefully I will have the opportunity to see at least a few of them work!

 Snowy ending to the week... this is April, correct? :)

SAE Visit #2

Dairy Goat Growth Curves - Research-Based SAE project

Since one of my 10th grade students showed particular interest in the goats, but did not have an SAE project, I suggested that he try a research project at the school on the growth of the dairy goat kids that would soon be born. While we waited their arrival, I instructed him to research information on this topic as well as look at the research I have done on dairy goat growth. During this time he also started his record keeping in the AET, and outlined his project plans and methods. Once the baby goats (kids) arrived, I showed him how to properly measure and weigh the kids. He plans to record this information on all 4 of the kids until the end of the school year at which time he should be able to create a simple growth curve to analyze their growth. Through this project he helps to care for the goats throughout the week, so he is gaining hands-on experience outside to the classroom working with animals. These kids were also used for a disbudding and tattooing lab, which provided an additional connection between his project and the classroom instruction. Additionally, he is gaining record keeping skills which will be transferable to nearly any vocation. Through this SAE project he is gaining hours of experience which can be also applied towards degrees and awards through the FFA.

To evaluate his SAE project, I would look at his AET records (which I have done) to make sure that he is recording the height and weight of each kid on a weekly basis.

I have done a few follow-ups since the kids have been born, and I have been working with him to make sure that he is taking the measurements as accurately as possible with the measuring devices available so that he will get relatively accurate results. Should he ever decide to raise goats in the future, he now knows how to measure their rate of growth which is important when managing animals and managing their nutrition.

Regional PAAE Meeting

Approximately 20-25 PAAE members met at Hoss's for the Western Regional PAAE Meeting. A guest speaker from Altoona area, who is working with PDE and the "trial runs" of the new NOCTI's presented on how they are collecting and using the data, why changes were made, as well as the need for more participants so that they can get the required number of "samples" before the new NOCTI tests can become official.

Mr. Campbell led the meeting, officers gave their various reports, etc.

Throughout the meeting a very interesting discussion ensued as to what students could qualify as "Completers" of the Ag program. Most present stated that completers had to have X number of hours/classes; however, another visiting individual insisted that completers have to be enrolled in at least 1 Ag class every year from 9th grade to 12th grade. The discussion that followed revolved around the fact that scheduling conflicts sometimes don't allow students to take an Ag class for one of the years, or a student may not take an Ag class until 10th grade, etc., so this other individual was stating that none of these students could ever be considered completers even if they met the hour/class requirements... Interesting discussion...

... Food was great! :)

Egg-citing things are happening!

The weeks are zooming by...
Since we had off Monday and Tuesday, it was another rather short week...

Wednesday, Dr. Rice visited for my second evaluation, and egg-citing things were happening in my

Introduction to Agriculture course. We had started incubating eggs the previous week, so the students learned about the parts of the egg and also got to candle eggs. The students were very excited with my interest approach... first I broke a bantam egg into a dissecting tray, followed by a chicken egg, and then the climatic GOOSE EGG! The students were very awed and intrigued with the size of the goose egg. In reflecting on the class, I think the lesson would have been better if I would have had students work in groups of 2 for ID'ing the parts of an egg activity - that way more students would have been able to be more directly involved, and learning the parts of the eggs might have been easier if I would have allowed them to break their egg into the tray earlier in the lesson.

 This little piggy... was being a good sport... with just a little coaching... :) Students had the opportunity to practice their bandaging skills on the pig, goats, a pony, and heifers! If I had a favorite part of the FFA motto, it would definitely be "learning by doing"! All of my students got involved and seemed to really enjoy the learning opportunity... even the students who sometimes drag their feet...
I have noticed that some of my students in my animal/vet science labs are sometimes "afraid" of doing an activity with the animals (Ex. injections and hoof trimming)... Sometimes I get the question..."What if I mess up or hurt the animal?" to which I usually reply... It's okay... Go ahead and try... I'm right here watching you... I'll walk you through it the first time... If you have any questions you can always ask, etc.
Why do I think this time went better? The students are getting more confident and comfortable working with the animals, and I think that they all felt that it was a goal/challenge set within their reach, but without as much pressure of "messing up"... I think I'm getting closer to reaching my goal of teaching these students how to provide basic care for various animals, so that they have the knowledge to be educated and responsible animal owners if they choose that path! So exciting! I hope to continue with these labs so that my students feel confident, accomplished, and knowledgeable enough to know how to research or seek out help if needed.

Thought I'd share just one more photo... the students were busily working in the

greenhouse, and Mr. Hughes had to meet with the supervisor to finalize a grant, so I helped keep tabs on his class and keep them busy... I would not have volunteered to do this earlier in the year... they were my most challenging and stressful class...
Funny note though... they were "de-flowering" the geraniums this week and one of the boys collected all of the flowers, brought them to me, and asked for an "A" in the class... I told him that was bribery, and that he couldn't pick me a big enough bouquet... :) ... This student was also the the one that told the substitute teacher that he was taking me to the prom... you should have seen her face :D... the crazy things students say...

New beginnings, new experiences, and new connections...

This short week has certainly been packed with excitement!

Tuesday brought 2 new baby goats to the school... When several of my students (and some of their friends that aren't even in my Ag classes) found out that baby goats were being born, I got to teach those students about gestation, parturition, colostrum, etc. The students were so excited! It was an excellent learning opportunity for those students because not only did they get to see 2 successful births, but also an unsuccessful one as well. The unsuccessful birth gave opportunity to discuss why labor was so long for the second kid, which was born in the breach position and dead. After all of the excitement of the births, we discussed the importance of colostrum, antibodies, and kid immunity while we worked with the kids to get them to nurse.

Wednesday we started chicken eggs in our incubators in my Intro. to Ag class, and then the students got to see the new goat kids... they were so excited! Wednesday after all of the grades were entered, and I was setting at the desk looking up teaching resources, I got a knock on my door. There stood the principal and assistant principal, another teacher, and a young student... I thought... this is interesting... Their request... we heard about the baby goats that were born today, but the barn/greenhouse door is locked... could you let us in? Oh yeah!

New connections... Friday evening I stopped at the school to check on the animals and got to meet 2 of my students' parents, and got to see 2 more new goat kids... The mom informed me that her daughter told her that she finally had found a favorite teacher, but I guess that will be ending shortly...

What have I learned through these experiences? Utilize hands-on learning opportunities whenever possible! Those students that were able to see those kids born will have an awesome memory that will go with them throughout the rest of their lives, and maybe someday a few of them will be able to utilize what they observed and learned from this unique experience.

In thinking of new beginnings and new experiences I think it is most important to reflect on the reason for the short week - Easter - a time to remember and reflect on the new birth that can take place in our lives if we repent of our sins and allow God to transform us into new creatures after His likeness.

Because I want students to be successful citizens...

Want to know what stood out clearly to me this week? American culture has so degraded our families and morals to the point where we are now faced with innumerable "problem" children that we don't know what to do with except feed them through our school systems, and hope they turn out okay (if they don't drop out before they graduate.)

As teachers we are expected to perform miracles and turn these undisciplined, often unloved, and many times unwanted children into useful, productive citizens who will enter our workforce and have the skills necessary to be successful. We are sent into combat with a pillow, ear plugs, and sunglasses... soften the blows, plug your ears to the things that you hear, and cover your eyes when things aren't happening like they should... oh and by the way... if those three tools don't work... try reasoning with them, and somehow through your smooth words, tireless efforts, a few detentions, and threats they will magically transform into the desired product when they cross the stage at graduation having cheated and lied their way through school.

Over this semester, I have seen, heard, and combated these things; however, this week there was a climax. I don't intend to, nor did I, plan to look the other way or stop my ears from hearing. This week my plant and soil science classes learned to identify various common flowers and tools used with floriculture. All went reasonably well. The arrangements turned out well, the identification reviews went well, but Friday things changed. Friday was exam day. The students were given explicit directions as to how the exam was to work. Since there are 22 students in the class and 45 items to identify, there should be 1 student at every other item for the duration of the exam. Once the timer goes off, you move to the next questions and so on until the exam is complete. Each of the 45 items were given in a word bank on their exam, so that if they could not remember one, they could find it in the word bank. They were also told that if they could not remember one, leave it blank, and at the end of the exam they would be given a second opportunity to look at the items. Furthermore, they only needed to know 40 of the 45 items, which equates to 5 free ones or bonus.

Within less than 5 minutes, students started grouping together rather than staying spread apart. Turning their clipboards to their buddy and copying answers. No problem... they just lost 5 points right then and there... I walked over and made the deduction on their test. Others decided to print pictures off of the internet which they labeled and kept under their test... that didn't work well either as I confiscated papers and took off more points. Did they need to cheat? Absolutely not. They knew the answers in the review quite well.

Some might say... just go through the items 1 at a time while they are sitting in class, and have them write them down... guess what... the room is packed at 22 - no room to spread them out - thus the reason I utilized the shop class to spread them out. Take home test.... even more disaster... about 5 students would do the work, and the rest would copy. These kids, if they pass their classes, will walk across the graduation stage, not by their own merit or honesty, but because they worked the system and cheated their way through. Unfortunately, many will, and some already are, facing consequences with the law because too many adults have looked away, stopped their ears, muffled the blows with a pillow, and "passed" them out of exasperation. That does not meet the expectations that we will turn out productive, honest, hard-working students.

So, for all of you teachers, future teachers, and others who work with impressionable, young, love-deprived students, stop hurting the students by looking the other way. If you care about them at all, use everything within you to show those students you care by giving them the consequences their dishonest and unlawful actions deserve - because if you don't, the state penitentiary will house them at your expense once they graduate!

You can write me off as extreme, but children need to know that someone cares about them.  Ignoring their behaviors, that will someday put them in the hands of the law, isn't caring, nor is it doing your part in teaching children and young adults the character traits and morals needed to become successful in this life or prepared for the next one. The next time you hear of a mass shooting, medical malpractices, or someone short changes you and pockets the difference, remember that each time you look the other way when students are cheating, accept a known lie, or turn the other way when you see them involved in unlawful activities without any attempt of correction, you are helping to create more of these problems.

Hands-on learning is exciting!

I love real-life experiences and hands-on learning opportunities, and most of my students seem to as well!

The beginning of the week, I spent in Harrisburg with 4 juniors and my cooperating teacher. The students had the opportunity to learn about the legislative process and how bills are made and amended. Several of the students said they learned a lot and enjoyed the trip. Tuesday after the SLLC events were over, we took a "self-guided" tour of the capital building, and the opportunity to see awesome paintings depicting significant events in out history as well as representation of PA industries. Furthermore, the architecture is awesome! We met with staff person from Senator Don White's office as well as the Lieutenant Governor's office. These visits provided us with the opportunity to see their office, enjoy the balconies, learn some interesting history and background information, as well as ask some questions.

 Some other exciting things that happened this week... I was excited that overall my students knew the 4th paragraph of the Creed much better than they knew the 3rd paragraph last week... A very good type of surprise!

Wednesday the weather was so nice out that I took my Animal/Vet Science class outside to review the anatomical directional terms that they were to work on learning while I was away at SLLC; however, 3 of those students were at SLLC and a few of the other students had been absent, so I just decided to completely go over the information, and then we moved on to my lesson on dairy goat diseases. With several changes to my schedule, I ended up spending additional time on dairy goat diseases and had to switch several things around - hopefully we get this section finished by Monday or Tuesday!
Friday we did a fecal analysis lab looking for parasites which made things a little stressful as I was originally planning to have the lab this coming week; however, it did work out okay. I did learn though that it takes students a lot longer to clean up from this type of lab than I had planned for, so I ended up finishing the clean-up over the beginning part of my lunch break. :(

I also started teaching Floriculture to my 2 sections of Plant and Soil Science students. Incorporating as much hands-on as possible throughout this unit is certainly helping it to go smoother and keep my "busy" students engaged and on task! So far we have spent 3 days learning to make a boutonniere, corsage, tie bows, and ID common floral design tools and flowers! Love it! ... AND I found a 4th participant so that I can have a floriculture team to compete in CDE's! So excited!

Another exciting thing for me this week is that I was able to "turn-over" the care of the pony to 2 of my 9th grade students who are crazy about horses. Friday I spent time with them showing them how to care for and work with her, and then had them demonstrate to me what I showed them... Now they have something to put in their AET records! Woohoo! I'm hoping to get some other students started with some projects very soon - it is one of my favorite parts of Ag Education... unfortunately there just isn't enough time in the day and too many other pressing things that keep me from being able to fully implement it like I would prefer... If there were to be an unequally sized portion of the 3-circle model in my mind, it would be that the SAE circle would be slightly enlarged as I feel that this aspect can teach students so much - especially those students who detest school!

In reflecting on this week, I need to allow a few more minutes of clean-up time for labs, continue the hands-on approach when applicable, and work to get my students more involved in SAE's and CDE's!
... Oh... and find more time in my day... haha!

On an even more exciting note... my 2 required PRAXIS exams are done, and spring is just around the corner! ... I found an exciting little reminder in our woods when I got home and was gathering wood... Myrtle!

My Reflections and Thoughts on SLLC...

Pros

The students had the opportunity to learn a lot about the legislature, how our government works, and how bills are written and amended.
Interaction with other students
Real-life situations and experiences
Although our community service project was very unique, it was a good opportunity for the students to work together and give of their time and energy.

Cons
The music selections certainly did not promote positive behaviors... it is no wonder kids do some of the stuff they do...
I know I come from a different background, but is dancing really the best way to entertain and manage students???

Vet on call...

This story really started last week when the school got 3 new additions from our farm to provide more hands-on opportunities for the Ag students. Last Wednesday, my parents brought over 2 goats (1 due to kid in a few weeks), and a pony named Misty. All seemed to go well the first day; however, I soon realized that
Misty wasn't drinking water. She would eat her grain and hay, but refused to touch her water... ok... chlorinated water... I'll bring her fresh water... still wouldn't drink water... I checked in on her several times on Saturday and decided that it was time to call the vet. He recommended that I give her a saturated salt solution IV, which usually causes them to drink. Monday came and she still hadn't drank. While I did bring her over to the school for teaching purposes, this wasn't exactly the type of teaching purposes that I had planned for within my unit; however, when there is the opportunity to create a good lesson that has a clear need and purpose it would be a waste to let it pass by without attention.

The above situation meant that my Animal/Vet Science students were going to start the new unit with a hands-on real-life situation. I started the lesson out by explaining the situation, we reviewed maintenance and replacement fluid recommendations for various dehydration levels in horses, and then went to the barn to further assess the situation. I started out by showing my students how to do a physical exam on the pony and how to check for signs of dehydration... sunken eyes, skin pinch test, increased heart rate at rest, capillary refill time, etc. After evaluating and discussing the results of the physical exam, we clipped her neck and gave her 75-100mL of a saturated salt solution IV. Although the situation was not ideal for the pony, it made for an exceptional lesson for my students.



My unit for my Animal/Vet Science class did have plans for some anatomy and physiology along with animal diseases, so I made some changes to fit the situation and make it more relevant. Why not?  The next day I built on the previous day's class by  transitioning to an overview of the circulatory system and blood pressure... why would her heart rate be increased when she was dehydrated? What controls blood pressure?

Early Wednesday morning ended up bringing the vet out for another IV - this time a much larger dose which had the desired result, and the pony started drinking. The following day I once again demonstrated how to use the stethoscope and thermometer to determine pulse and respiration rates and body temperature. The students then practiced listening to and recording the heart and respiration rates on various animals including the pony, goats, pig, and a beef heifer.

Transitioning to the functions of the kidneys and liver was easy as we
discussed their role in cleaning the blood and maintaining proper electrolyte balance. We also discussed the importance of these systems in other diseases such as diabetes, Fatty Liver Disease, Urinary Tract infections and kidney stones, and copper toxicity. Oh... and how does your body process and excrete antibiotics and other medications?

Friday we discussed the basic parts and functions of the respiratory system and it's role in oxygenating blood. The students spent the last few minutes of class practicing listening to the lungs with a stethoscope.

So my biggest take-away/reflection... be flexible and use these types of opportunities whenever possible to provide students with meaningful experiences... No doubt my Pre-Vet degree and experience definitely was a benefit in this situation, but through this strength I was able to provide my students with some high quality learning experiences that they will no doubt remember for years to come... The students were awed this week with these experiences and asked if I was a doctor or veterinarian... :) This week was like the icing on the cake in my Animal-Vet class, and I hope to keep it building as I plan to move on to other animal diseases over the next few weeks... #keepingitrealandrelevant

Connections

On Tuesday I went to the local grocery store, where one of my students packs groceries. He carried my groceries out to the vehicle for me, and in those few minutes that we got to talk, I found out about his future goals to become a state trooper. Now I have a closer bond with that student in the classroom.

Our FFA president also works at the grocery store as a cashier. I asked how late she has to work, and from there the conversation went to the fact that she just got accepted at Penn State. Even though I do not have her for any Ag classes, since that conversation, she talks to me nearly every time she is down to the Ag classroom. She even cleared out several students who came down for study hall and were talking... :) She told them that they were being distracting to my class that I was teaching, and that they needed to be respectful to me and to take their work into the shop! Woohoo... that was fine by me!

The 3rd connection was my first SAE visit which finally worked out… more about that to come in a separate blog post…

For our FFA event, all of the 6-12th grade students and faculty were in the gymnasium... we had multiple activities including: feed the pig, musical hay bales, shear the sheep, hay bale toss, milk chugging, pole bending, and milk the cow. As I made my way around the gym, students were continually shouting out "Miss Spicher" and waving... when I made eye contact, gave them a smile, and waved back, their faces shone, and then I would hear them proudly telling their friends that I was their new Ag teacher... all I can say was that I didn't know that I was that popular - especially considering some of the comments I get in class... but it just went to show that I am connecting with students, and it gave me the opportunity to connect with students that aren’t in the Ag program as well.

A connection that seems to be lacking… what you put into a class often reflects what you get out of it… I have several students who take the class seriously and took the exam review seriously… guess what? They also got the highest grades –they did not all get “A’s”, but they were still at the top of the class… several others (based on their past performance in the class) could have easily scored higher, but they weren’t concerned with paying attention, and told me they knew everything I reviewed… Great! ... evidently not...  Some just have a bad case of senioritis, and I’m going to have to explore some methods for encouraging them to be more studious and take studying for their exams and their grades more seriously...

Eye connections… a few of my Intro. to Ag students don't want to be in the class and make constant attempts to distract others - not loud and obnoxious - just in sneaky ways like making faces, mouthing the next word of the Creed to the student trying to say it for a grade, quietly laughing at other students while they are saying the Creed, or whispering when I'm helping another student; however, that "teacher look" sure had the desired effect on a few of them... I made steady, “unhappy” eye contact until the grin left his face and his head dropped… as soon as I turned back to helping  the other one, I heard a whispered “boy, you got the look!”... it was almost funny... I won that battle! The other student who silenced when given the look, but who “revived” every time in between got to spend the last few min. of the class in the shop with my teacher’s aide and substitute teacher...  oh, the absolute silence after that... I won that battle too!

1st SAE Visit - Entrepreneurship

My first on-farm SAE visit! The student that Mr. Hughes and I visited is in 2 of my Ag classes, and gets bused everyday from a school where they no longer have an Ag program. For her SAE projects she raises beef cattle on her family's beef farm with approx. 70 head of cattle.

Prior to the visit we set up a date and time that would work with the student's parents. As we arrived at the farm, it was obvious that their animals are well cared for and healthy. To evaluate the student's involvement and overall understanding of the project (since it is a family farm), Mr. Hughes asked her questions about how often she feeds the bottle calves milk, how much she feeds them, what type of feed, animal health questions, etc. She is also planning to show her bottle calves this summer.

She records the information regarding her SAE projects in the AET which makes evaluating her record books convenient because Mr. Hughes can pull them up and evaluate her records wherever he has internet service. These types of SAE projects are not associated with a grade due to a variety of reasons; however, he does encourage them to take their projects seriously, so that they can apply for awards and degrees within the FFA. Students taking the SAEP class do have their projects evaluated and graded; however this student's SAEP class is not associated with her bottle calves she is raising at home.

Through this experience and visit I was invited to come back if I wanted to get some experience vaccinating and palpating/pregnancy checking cows. Several weeks later, after they finished their corral and chute set-up, I spent approximately 6 1/2 hrs. helping them move cattle, vaccinate calves, and pregnancy check a few cows. It was a great experience and I enjoyed every minute of it! My student would draw up one vaccine while I drew up the other... we worked as a team to get the job done! I also go to teach her about mixing and using modified live vaccines which was exciting for me!

A week of 1st's...

First day off of school (President’s Day)...


First Snow day (Tuesday)…ice everywhere!

First inquiry lesson… I taught my first inquiry lesson in my electrical wiring class, and had them create a battery using a electrolyte solution, paper towels, nickels, and pennies, aluminum foil, and multimeters. Two of the four groups came up with the “correct” design, the 3^rd group came up with a totally different design (but it did work – although not quite as well), and my 4^th group behaved themselves very angelically and created a huge mess all over the table and floor which got them special janitorial duties before they could go out and work in the shop…

First FFA Meeting ever... And as an adviser! After spending the first 10 minutes of the Activity period trying to find room for everyone in the Ag classroom, we finally got started. With over 60 6^th-12^th grade students in attendance there was “standing room only” for many members. 

The opening ceremonies were conducted, and then many upcoming events and past, current, and future projects were discussed. FFA week was a highlight of the discussion with each day having a designated “dress-up” theme… Monday – Blue and Gold, Tuesday – Orange and Camo, Wednesday – Ford vs. Chevy vs. Dodge, Thursday – Hat Day w/ a $1 donation, and Friday – Flannel Shirts, Belt buckles, and cowboy boots. I am very excited to see how it will all play out as this will be my first FFA week! Although it was interesting, I saw some room for improvement in how the meeting was conducted. I was somewhat disappointed to see that the officer team did not have their parts memorized, nor were they functioning as a team. It was evident that there is some contention between various members, and that others were unprepared; however, I was very impressed at the huge turn out and the large number of 6^th-8^th grade students who were excited to be there and want to get involved!

Reflecting on this meeting, I am going to try to meet with the officers before their next meeting to make sure that they are better prepared, and emphasize that they are role models and there are many students looking up to them. They have a huge responsibility and opportunity to “hook” the next group of Ag students. Also, I plan to make sure they have an agenda, complete with important upcoming events and dates, to pass out at the next meeting, so that everyone is on “the same page”, and so that they can get more help on projects and implementing school FFA activities.

First student teacher seminar... I really enjoyed the opportunity to talk with my peers, as well as the job prep boot camp and getting to talk with professionals on a one-on-one basis. More time getting to discuss questions and concerns would have been great as well as a mid-way break throughout the rotations; however, all-in-all it was a good first student teacher seminar! :)