Flying high, but not without grounds... - Week 3 - Student Teaching Internship

I started teaching my second class on Monday... electrical wiring. I must say it didn't go quite as smoothly as I wished, but it improved over the week... A few of the students have some knowledge and background of basic electrical wiring which definitely makes it more challenging to keep them engaged. They also tend to ask me a lot of questions that are beyond my knowledge, so I am trying to learn as much as I can, but I plan to tell them that "that is a great question... could you look that up, and share it with the class tomorrow?"

Tuesday, we were scheduled to have Mrs. Fay go over the AET via Adobe Connect, but because we had a 2hr. delay, it was rescheduled for this upcoming week. I learned to use the online grading system "Sapphire", and graded exams and entered grades for Mr. Hughes which seems relatively easy compared to teaching... :)

Wednesday was definitely a challenge for me - I taught 3 classes - all in a row, and found that it is nearly impossible to write learning objectives and bell work on the board in between classes... I'm still trying to decide what to do about that because there isn't enough board space for me to write them all up in the morning unless I took up the entire board, and I use the board a good bit since using technology has also proved to be a challenge... I tried a "Teach Like a Pirate" method for my class on electricity... I turned off the lights, projected a lightening storm (video) on the white board, made them create "rain" through various motions (snapping fingers, tapping their lap, and stomping their feet), and told the story of Benjamin Franklin's discovery with the kite, then I move on to the story of Thomas Edison and the invention of the light bulb. At the end of the lesson I did a matching review game which they seemed to enjoy. My Intro. to Ag class is definitely going to prove to be a challenge as well due to the broad range of students.

Thursday proved to be interesting as well, but I felt slightly less stressed doing 3 lessons in a row; however, what is most frustrating is not being able to remember names with the addition of approx. 40 more students to teach... I have access to their school pictures through the grade management system, so I am planning to print out a sheet for each class to help me learn their names.

Friday I taught about conductors and insulators in my electricity class which seemed to go better than my other lessons for this class; however, I found out very quickly that I have a few students who are going to try to push me (more on that later). Third period I went to observe the Physics teacher (more on that later too)... and then I rushed back to teach my 3rd class on Animal Nutrition. I also taught my first lesson for my SGE class. I taught them the parts of a micrometer, how to read a micrometer and use feeler gauges, and then they had a few minutes to work on their engines and start collecting measurements. This class is certainly going to be a challenge, as several of them didn't want to put on their safety glasses, and made all kinds of excuses or pretended to not hear me... the ones that were wearing them for sunglasses I insisted that they wear them properly, and then I went to the safety glasses cabinet and personally hand-delivered a few pairs and told them to put them on... :)

Reflecting on the week, it went well over all; however, I have a few things that I will need to likely deal with on Monday... a few students were picking on another student, so they are going to be given a warning if they do it again, if it repeats they will lose points, and then they will get detention. I'm also considering that if I have to remind them more than once to put on safety glasses they will lose points, and if it continues their will be more severe consequences. Friday I took the time to enter all of my grades after school, and hopefully that will help as well with getting some cooperation when they realize that I was serious about doing their bell work and filling out their worksheets... zeros aren't a passing grade...

Overall, I feel that the week went well; however, it definitely was more stressful, and I encountered many new challenges, but I'm going to give it my best, and keep trying new things!

Student Teaching Internship - Week 2

It has been an exciting week (for the most part)! Monday the students had off of school; however, the teachers had an Act 81 day. We spent most of the day learning about the new changes to the mandatory child abuse reporting, suicide prevention, and drug awareness.

Tuesday was a very unique day filled with both good and bad. To make things interesting, we started off with a 2hr. delay; however, I didn't know anything about it until I got to school and observed that the parking lot was nearly empty of vehicles. After contemplating my next plan of action, I saw an employee pull in, and decided to give it a try... I asked them if they could let me in to the school... to which they replied, "Who are you?" After explaining that I was Mr. Hughes' student teacher she let me in the school building. I spent the "extra" time working on lesson plans, but the day was just beginning... shortly before Mr. Hughes arrived, one of his helpers went to check on things in the greenhouse, and brought back very bad news - the gas heaters in the greenhouse had quit working and nearly everything was frozen... :( Even though the best of plans are laid... "sometimes those things happen".

On the brighter side of things, we spent the remainder of the day working with students on the AET to make sure that they had their profile complete, career paths selected, and an SAE project started or at least put some effort into brainstorming possible projects. I am really excited that I was able to help so many students get started with the AET, and to get them thinking about what they can do for an SAE project, or how they can potentially use something they are already doing to count for their SAE project.

Wednesday I started teaching my Animal/Vet science class which is also my smallest class. We started by doing an overview of the U.S. dairy industry, and focused on the general trends of the industry, as well as the top U.S. dairy states. In the afternoon I attended the monthly Jr. FFA meeting, and helped to guide and instruct them in making posters for FFA Week.

Thursday I focused on the dairy industry in PA, emphasizing that we are 5th in top dairy states in both production and number of cows; however, we are second in the total number of dairy operations. I had the students take turns reading various paragraphs of important information about the dairy industry in PA. As a review for the top U.S. dairy states at the end of the class, I had drawn a map of the US on the dry erase boards and had the students color in the top dairy states. I wasn't sure what they would think of it, but they really seemed to enjoy it, and more importantly they remembered them the next day (Friday) when I reviewed with them. (My biggest regret is that I forgot to take a picture)

Friday found me teaching about the 6 primary dairy cattle breeds... it still is a challenge to gauge how long various components of the lesson will take to teach; however, I think the more I get to know my students, the better I will be able to guesstimate how much they can handle, or how long it takes them to do an activity. My biggest accomplishment for the week is that I was able to learn the names of all of my students in my "first" class.

I am looking forward to this next week as I start teaching 2 more classes - Power Technology (electrical wiring), and Intro. to Agriculture (Horticulture). I plan to continue to work on learning "my" student's names, and learn about their interests. Mrs. Fay is also scheduled for Tuesday to go over the AET. I am excited to see what she has planned, and hopeful that she may be able to spark some ideas for those students who are still struggling to come up with a project since I am sure she has "seen it all" when it comes to SAE's!

Student Teaching Internship - Week 1

The beginning of this week found me at the 100th Annual Farm Show. Most of my first day was spent going back and forth between the pig holding pens and the small arena to watch "my" students show their pigs - many of them were showing pigs for the first time. While none of them placed high enough to be in the sale, the students had a lot of fun and more importantly got great experience.

Wednesday proved to be an interesting day as well. We left school around 6AM with 30 6th-12th grade students - a first time to take 6th and 7th grade students. Once arriving at the Farm Show complex, the students were instructed to stay in groups of 3 or more and meet back at the entrance at 3:45pm and younger students were to stay with upper class-men or an adult. I got 3 6th grade girls to my charge, and then the excitement began... so much drama! I quickly found out they were not at all interested in looking at the animals, plants, or really anything agriculture-related - they had been given too much (in my opinion) spending money, and it was burning a hole in their pocket; therefore nearly every vendor needed to be visited and money spent wherever possible... After some time, I decided that we were going to change things up and go look at Ag-related things anyway - after all that was the point of the trip! I'm not sure how much they took in or learned, but I tried... If I didn't keep them moving (literally), then they started begging to go look at more vendors or vamped-up the drama, and one girl kept trying to sneak off because she didn't want to go look at displays, animals and other Ag-related attractions... she did succeed once for a few min., but we found her and then I watched her like a hawk! It was a physically exhausting day, but when I reflected on my experiences, it made me really appreciate the way my parents raised me...

The remainder of the week was spent observing Mr. Hughes teach. This gave me the opportunity to closely observe how the students interacted throughout the class, what types of things he called them out for, which students continually act up, which students are really interested in the material and are trying to learn, as well as his teaching style. I had observed before, but never noticed some of those details... now having my eyes opened to some of those things, and knowing that it is going to be "my turn" to start teaching lessons next week, I found those details very important.
Accomplishments... I learned a few more student's names, and got to engage and help students in the Ag Mechanics classes...
Additionally, I got to wear the "teacher shoes" and get a little bit of experience being "in charge" when I saw a bunch of girls using grinders with their hair loose... I got a typical response... some students put their hair back immediately, others pretended to not hear and had to be personally "reminded"... Anybody know of any good safety videos on this???

As I plan for next week, Monday is an Act 80 day, Tuesday is reserved for working on the AET, and Wednesday I start teaching my first class - Animal/Vet Science (Overview of the Dairy Industry). I will continue to observe and help out with the other classes for the remainder of the week.

Final Presentation

... Will embed my video once I get a chance to edit it...

#TeachAgChat Reflection

Once upon a time... (Oh wait, that was back when I grew up reading books with paper covers)...

Now... (#21stcenturycommunication)... More to come later...

Classroom Management... A note to new and struggling teachers...

First, I feel very unqualified to write this letter as I have had very little experience in this area; however, I'm am going to share what I have, and hope it will be a help to someone who is struggling with classroom management. If nothing else, maybe I can use it to remind myself of the tools I have at my disposal!

Dear Teacher,

First I'd like to congratulate you for making it this far in your journey... it's not easy! It definitely takes courage and dedication! Every day I learn new things that I can incorporate into teaching my students, whether it is a neat experiment/project, lab, or a classroom management technique my mind is continually churning with ideas - some I write down and save, and others I forget or toss.

Classroom management is certainly a very important component in teaching and maximizing student learning. One tactic that I have found to be very helpful is proximal control. Even without speaking a word of reprimand, students tend to hush their chatter when you move near them or stand behind them. Unfortunately, the days of students respecting their teachers simply because they are your teacher and they are also older, seems to be a thing of days-gone-by. This poses many questions in my mind as to what is responsible for these changes in our society. I could probably write a whole research paper on this, but I will sum it up into a few categories - a change in family dynamics, television/gaming systems/social media, and the moral decline of our great nation. If you don't think TV has something to do with the reading challenges and behavioral problems we have to deal with on a daily basis, here are some alarming statistics... 
   1.) [Children] are less likely to be able to read at all (34% of children ages 4-6 from heavy TV    households can read, compared to 56% of others the same age)...
   2.) The majority of parents (59%) say their 4-to 6-year-old boys imitate aggressive behavior seen on TV.
            Resource: http://realtruth.org/articles/233-tta.html 

Since individually we are very limited as to what we can change about these problems in our society, we are left to come up with other methods for managing and directing our students' behaviors.
You need to have specific rules and consequences for your classroom. In a world and life of uncertainty, students need solid guides and boundaries to give them stability in their life. By being firm and re-enforcing rules and following through with consequences from the beginning of the year, students will learn to respect you and classroom management problems will occur less often. Additionally, many youth “act out” because they are seeking acceptance; therefore it is important to get to know your students personally and show that you care! You just might be the one they will credit with “because of you I kept trying and didn’t give up!” Providing hands-on experiences and labs also helps to get students engaged and actively learning, which will give them less time to be disruptive.

In summary, we are faced with many classroom management issues that stem from a variety of issues within our society and culture; however, we as teachers have the responsibility to help nurture and train these students to become successful citizens. To help us achieve our goals we need to be firm but caring, which will provide our students with stability and the knowledge that “they matter”. This allows us to teach more effectively because we will waste less time dealing with classroom management issues. Incorporating activities and hands-on labs will help to maintain a high level of student engagement and involvement which will also reduce classroom disruptions and can be particularly beneficial for busy students and/or students with IEP’s who may struggle with general education classes, but may excel in in a class with “hands-on” real-life, applicable projects.

Keep up the great work! Remember students have bad days too. Every day is a chance to start over and try new tactics, and most importantly, look for little “gems” – signs of improvement or deeds of kindness by your students. Always strive to do your best, and seek to be an exemplary role model in your student’s lives!

LifeKnowledge Lesson

Here is a "short" excerpt of my teaching experience yesterday... very short in comparison to what all happened in those short 42 min.

My LifeKnowledge lesson was interesting yesterday... actually it wasn't the lesson as much as the students... I used almost every tactic in my toolbox for classroom management... other than sending them to the principal's office... One student kept continually vocalizing that he doesn't like the class, doesn't want to be in the class, but had no choice, etc., several boys decided to have a pen clicking competition about 2 min. into the lesson, worksheets turned into airplanes, works of art, tiny pieces of paper, etc., answering questions became classroom chaos, 1 student decided to try sleeping, 4 or 5 students wanted to answer all of the questions, several refused to participate in anything, etc. - pretty much everything they could think of in 42 min. except physical violence... oh, and by the way... 10 of the 20-some students have IEP's......Oh the joys of teaching in our public school systems, where we have been "educating" students so well without God, discipline, or respect, that we are churning out disasters that have no respect for authority, and as one of my students so "eloquently" said it when I asked him what he wanted to do for a job when he graduated... "Nothing, I'm going to be a homeless person"... wow, that's a high-class ambition!

BUT... I "busted" some of them... :) (Unfortunately, I imagine that I will have to do that regularly when I start teaching that class)... I found and used my teacher's voice, burned lots of calories moving around the classroom to provide proximal control (which worked - however, the other "chatty", disruptive students across the room would pick back up when I moved to deal with another area), I walked over to the "pen clickers" and told them that they needed to stop clicking their pens and disrupting the class - at which I got very surprised looks - they were trying to push me and see what they could get away with, and I foiled their plan! The student who "fell asleep"... I awakened with "can you please read me your answer to #2... which he hadn't filled out... he turned to his buddy (who had also been cutting up and made up answers instead of writing what he was supposed to write, and then proceeded to read the wrong answer which I kindly informed him of... he stayed awake the rest of the class :), I had to remind them that I was the teacher, and that they were the students; therefore, I was to do the talking and they were to do the listening... I tried the awkward silence approach, but 2 or 3 of them just kept right on talking... For the last 1-2 min. I asked them to share what their favorite Thanksgiving food was, and guess what I got for an answer? "Food"... I was like, really? Glad you like food... how about more specific... like... what kind??? ... "Turkey"... and then my chatty overly helpful students started regurgitating grocery lists...

My Intro. to Ag class is going to be tough and take a lot of work, but they are going to find out that if they choose to behave so poorly this spring... well, let's just say... dynamite comes in small packages... :) ... not because I want to be known as a strict or mean teacher, but because I want them to learn and have fun! They all have potential, and I want them to realize that... My goal is to find out "what makes them tick" and "trick" them into learning (Teach Like a Pirate wisdom)... it's going to be a challenge, but I'm certainly going to try my best!

To be clear... I chose to teach this particular class yesterday knowing ahead of time that they are a rowdy and challenging class (not because my cooperating teacher told me or suggested that I should teach this class, but because he forewarned me that he has had some real issues with this class this year). I wanted to be able to better prepare for the "worst" as much in advance as possible... Now I have a lot better understanding of what to expect, and I have a little over a month to look for more "tools" for my toolbox, creative ideas and activities to get them engaged, and time to brainstorm on how to reach those students! #realadventureandexcitement

Inspiring Gem from the experience... I noticed one of the "lower level" students seemed to really be paying attention, although I quickly saw that he was struggling to fill out his worksheet; however, he kept working at it and trying... towards the end of the lesson I wanted them to write on the board all of the different ag-related careers that they had written on their papers... I checked to see if he needed help, and saw that he had something on his paper, so I asked him to add it to the board... he gave me a quick glance of fear?/apprehension, so I looked at his paper a little closer... only to realize that he had written "constrackshin worker" - I spelled it correctly below for him, he flashed me a grin, and then quickly went to the board and proudly wrote up his contribution! - That's what I call a rewarding experience - one that pushes me to try my hardest! 

Going through the worksheets I collected, I found my Inspiring gem's paper... He defined the following words as follows: Task: "a peas of work", Job: "a pasific job", and Career: "a prefeshin"... very cute, but also sad considering this student is in 9th grade... I'm excited to see if can help to build his confidence and reading and writing skills... wouldn't it be awesome to see him take off and reach new heights!