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! :)

Focusing on the Positive... - week 5

This week was certainly eventful for me and really stretched me in many different directions... I have chosen to be an optimist.

Most of my Intro to Ag (9th grade) students are learning the FFA Creed quite well so far... in order to keep track of what words they miss while they are saying the Creed, I type "Name: _____________" and then follow up with the paragraph of the FFA Creed that they are reciting.... copy and paste about 4-5 of them onto a Word document... Then for grading, I just underline the words they miss, and subtract 1pt. each out of 100. It's what I would classify as being "Creatively Economical" in terms of time.

I also started teaching about Floriculture in my Intro to Ag class this week, and they love it... even the boys are very engaged because they are getting to work with their hands! Thursday I went over various tools and flowers commonly used in floriculture, and then on Friday we made corsages before Valentine's Day which they got to take home!

My Animal/Vet Science class also got to do a lot of hands-on activities this week as well... They learned about dehorning and disbudding, animal ID, and facilities design. On Thursday the students got to practice ear notching, tattooing, and ear tagging. Friday my Dad brought 2 young goat kids to the school and they got to see a live demonstration of disbudding using the hot iron method as well as an ear tagging demonstration. We finished out the class trimming up the "school's" adult goat's hooves which gave multiple students the opportunity to try it themselves, or at least help hold the goat if they didn't want to actually try the trimming themselves.

My biggest take-a ways from this week are to stay positive, do my best, and provide as many hands-on learning opportunities as possible to keep students engaged while teaching them real-life skills... after all, that is what Ag is all about... Additionally, I feel that I am making good progress on learning my student's names, given that I know ~ 50-60% of the 60+ students' names in my newest 3 classes, which I just started teaching within the last week. Knowing student's names definitely helps with classroom management and connecting with students... To help myself learn their names, I go down through their names in the grade book after I have entered grades and match names to their school pictures. I also printed a "seating chart" with their pictures that I can keep with my lesson plan as I teach.

Controlled Chaos - Week 4

Wow! It has been an exciting week!

Monday was a challenge in the sense that it was Monday, and kids were on the sluggish side, so it took a lot to get them participating, but they came around... Then there are those realization moments that make you count your blessings... In the context of fruit production, I brought into my Intro. to Ag lesson about eating a balanced diet, and the appropriate daily serving size... I told them to write down what they had eaten in the last 24hrs. so that we could compare... I noticed multiple students hadn't written anything... When I asked them about it, they said they didn't eat anything the previous day... nothing? "No."

Tuesday the highlight of my day was challenging my Animal/Vet Science class with balancing a complete dairy goat ration... they looked at me like I was out of my mind... haha... they informed me (the previous day) that my cooperating teacher had spent 2 weeks on animal nutrition... I said, "great I'll see what you know"... when they couldn't readily tell apart common grains, and didn't remember the 4 compartments of the ruminant stomach... well, I decided that they at minimum needed a refresher... They got their refresher Monday, so Tuesday they had to learn that they didn't really "know it all" like they thought they did... some fo their responses... "this is hard"... "we didn't do anything this complicated before"... "wow, it's hard to keep the protein and phosphorus in balance"... :) I loved it, and so did my cooperating teacher... and more importantly it pushed them just a little farther! I also good some good responses to the video on why it is important to wear proper safety eye wear in my Power Tech class, and no one seemed to need reminded.

Wednesday helped me select my title of "Controlled Chaos". I started teaching both sections of my Plant and
Soil Science, and I certainly got a few "stretch marks"... My first section has some students with a lot of energy, and a few "non-participants"; however, they were all engaged the entire time which is very significant for those students which typically act uninterested and set through class and sleep or at least keep their head down... While I would have preferred that they set quietly in their seats, raise their hand to ask a question, etc. at least they were all participating and paying attention. I split them into groups (howbeit not without some apprehension); however, despite the few grumbles, they obeyed without questioning or challenging. I had given them 10 seconds to decide who (from my high energy gang) was moving to another group, or I would pick... they didn't move fast enough, so I helped them with their selection! At the end of class as I was finishing up my reminders for the next day, the students all jumped up and headed to the door... at that point they pushed me just a tad too far, and I made them all go set down until I finished, and then I let them go. My second section of Plant and Soil Science is almost as equally challenging, but in entirely different ways - the class is composed of several lower-level students, several very sarcastic/"smart-alek" students, and 2 students who continually try to challenge me, but I am going to keep working on them, and do my best to hold my ground and keep the law laid down. If they take it a step farther, so will I, and they will bear the consequences of their actions!

Thursday was a unique day. I found out that I had incorrectly told my students how to wire their second
wiring project... That will have to be fixed Monday... Third period I had my first opportunity to take my Intro. to Ag class out to the greenhouse. After they had answered the bell work and filled out papers on their assigned seed type, we went to the greenhouse and they filled their trays with soil, drew lines/row with a "custom" board, planted their seeds, and made labels. For my Animal/Vet Science class we were learning about gestation and the placenta. Having planned way in advance for this lesson, I brought a very real and authentic specimen! ...My HS boys couldn't handle it... pretty amusing considering that they think they are so tough and macho - it definitely gave me some good laughs... :)

Friday was spent working on the AET with Mrs. Carole Fay. I learned several new things about the AET program and my student(s)! The most enjoyable part was getting to work with a few students who are genuinely interested in doing SAE projects. We talked about ideas and goals for the project, did some research, and started working on recording the information into the AET. I was also shocked to see how many of the upper class men have never worked a job, or even been involved in some kind of volunteer organization - not even mowing grass during the summer - very sad. As their Ag teacher, it is my responsibility to help prepare them for the workforce... a very scary aspect considering all the more experience I have in that category, let alone the fact that I'm not currently employed myself except through my small home business.

Things to work on this coming week... learn more of my student's names, work with those students starting SAE projects, and work on developing more ways to keep my students engaged and participating!

Science Classroom Visit

Since I enjoy physics, I decided to observe the physics teacher... I had heard rumors from my students, but I decided I wanted to find out for myself as to what type of teacher he was, as well as to gauge the depth and level of the class since there are several concepts within my electrical wiring units that deal with physics. I thought maybe I could somehow help students make the connections between their classes... After I observed, I found out that none of my students in my electrical wiring class were currently in physics... oh well... I can teach them what they need to know about physics as it pertains to electrical wiring.

1.) What were the objectives of the lesson? Not really sure... none on board and not clearly stated...
2.) Were the students interested in the lesson? Some of the students were engaged and asked questions from time to time... others were clearly bored... this was likely due to the extreme "lecture" format of the lesson.
3.) What teaching methods or behaviors were most effective in achieving the objectives? The teacher would ask questions about the lesson, particularly if someone was talking.
4.) Does the teacher "give away" information or facilitate learning? The teacher did some of both, sometimes he would just "give away" an answer and hurry on, other times he would give them more time to figure out the problem, but he did not seem to want to pause or wait any too much on any one question.
5.) How would I evaluate this teacher in term of clarity, enthusiasm, business-like behavior, variability, learner-centeredness, and with-it-ness? His speech was clear, enthusiasm somewhat lacking/fake, very business-like in his teaching with little variability and learner centered learning.

6.) Other comments or observations.
      - He started out the class by taking attendance and collecting homework. No bell work or objectives stated.
      - Chewed gum the entire class which was very distracting to me...
      - Kept students several minutes over after the bell rang because he wanted to finish his content for the day...
      - He occasionally had students give him a "thumbs-up" when they were working on a problem.
      - He taught entirely off of the PowerPoint and an entire board plastered with writing except for a few small diagrams that he drew while working through a few example problems.
      - He spent 1-2 minutes answering questions towards the end of class and then gave them a homework assignment out of their textbook.

Overall, the teacher tried to focus the students' attention on the presentation by asking them questions and moving back and forth across the front of the room.

I did not see any evidence of the teacher incorporating students' interests or experiences in this class session.

In his summary, he added some framework to the topic by stating that they had learned about forces and vectors the previous day, and today they had learned about vector addition, Pythagorean Theorem, and the Angle of the Resultant Vector.

While he did seem to know content, it was obvious that he uses the lecture format frequently, likely because the curriculum comes with pre-made PowerPoint presentations. It would have been interesting to observe him in a lab setting and see if he loosened up, or how he would facilitate a lab.