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...