What Happens in Winter Thankfully Stays in Winter

What Does a Bell Schedule Look Like?

How long does it take to learn a bell schedule?  Maybe a week?  If you add an extra bell schedule just for Tuesdays and Thursdays, how much longer does it take to memorize all your classes?  Maybe an extra couple of days.

Well, it's already been three weeks of school and I'm still checking the time the class is over every day.  With all the cancellations, two hour delays, early dismissals, Keystone exams etc, I'm just downright confused.  I'm pretty sure out of the three weeks I have been teaching, only four or five days have been a regular schedule.  Yikes!!

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It certainly has been interesting being in the midst of wintry weather and school.  I've had to reschedule my time at the computer labs four times already!! Yes, four times!!  My Introduction to Agriculture class, which I have 2nd and 8th period, are never at the same spot in the coursework.  Aye, aye, aye, the challenges of being a teacher.

This week has been pretty exciting nonetheless. I can see relationships with my students finally beginning to form in a positive manner.  Previously, I have been known to be "Mr. Hughes's scary student teacher".  Yes, me.  Knowing me, that's funny and unbelievable.  Yet, in my Animal & Veterinary Science class, some of the kids are starting to warm up a little bit, it's pretty exciting!  

As you can probably imagine, my lesson plans did not go the way they were intended to go at all.  For my Animal & Veterinary Science class, we've managed to finish dissecting the cow udder on Monday, talk about the historical development of ice-cream (serves as a great history lesson too), making of ice cream, and a short introduction to butter.

                                              

In my Introduction to Agriculture class, we continued learning about the various types of agricultural regions of the world. Students are researching a chosen region for further details and developing a bulletin board.  I think they're going to be pretty cool!!

Power systems and power technologies have continued there projects, I simply am coaching them through them.  Interestingly, I have had a wonderful opportunity to practice co-teaching. I teach the students the skills they need while Mr. Reppick, an assistant in the agricultural department, inspects and grades the projects.  It works really well!  

Reflection

As always, there is room to improve with the lessons.  I know one particular lesson I would try to improve for next time.  If I can get a hold of topographical maps of the world, I could easily turn my agricultural regions of the world into an inquiry lesson.  Now that I have a better sense of what inquiry is and I'm in the midst of teaching, I'm seeing so many opportunities I could incorporate it.  Unfortunately I'm a little late in recognizing these opportunities.

Anyways, it would be really neat to have the students look at the topography of the world and determine their own regions.  Then once they have split the world up into regions, think through what the agriculture would look like in each region.  This would require the students to recall on geographical information taught in other classes.  Now, the only problem is, did my freshman students actually have geography yet?  Depending on the school they may have had more or less.  My students currently, have had none.  So it's much more of a geography lesson for them.  

Besides that, I felt really good about my historical development of ice-cream lesson.  It was timed perfectly, it was engaging, and I only had one behavioral issue with a student the whole time.  I incorporated the $10,000 pyramid e-moment which worked splendidly!!  I had students rotate turns creating a time-line on the board as we went through it.  My history goo-roos had a chance to show how much they know.  It just felt really good.

Next week

First, I will have a full load of teaching by next week.  It'll certainly be interesting.  

Introduction to Agriculture:

~ Finish Bulletin Boards & Present

~Issues in Global Agriculture

Animal & Veterinary Science:

~ Making Butter

~ How Cheese is made

~Cheese Tasting

~Possibly attempt to make some cheese.

~Yogurt

Power Technologies

~Continue working through packet to rebuild the engine

Power Systems

~Continue working through electrical systems

Plant & Soil Science

~Pesticide Formulations

~Pesticide Toxicity and Health

Student Teaching Week 2

2 Weeks Under My Belt...I Must Be an Expert Right?

Today marks the ending of my second week at Penns Manor High School.  What an interesting week it has been.  Full of surprises and unexpected schedule changes, I surely was challenged in my ability to be an excellent teacher.  But I'm a survivor!

This Week's Happenings

Actually this week has been really exciting.  With two awesome labs in my animal & veterinary science class, one tasting off-flavors of milk, and one dissecting a cow's udder, and beginning my unit on international agriculture,  I can't complain.  I will be honest, I have never dissected an udder nor seen the inside of one, so I was terrified I wouldn't be able to identify the parts we had talked about.

But it all worked out.

 

This week, I introduced my freshman students in Introduction to Agricultural Careers & Leadership to my classroom expectations, procedures, and consequences and started off the class with the International Agriculture unit.  I'm pretty stoked for the class. Some students are already excited to learn, specifically about equipment used in other parts of the world.

Students in the Power Technologies class are almost done tearing down their engines

                 

 

while students in the Power Systems Class are just starting the electrical wiring boards.

                        

Teaching Reflections

We all love hands-on labs!!  They are so much fun!! It was so awesome to see my frustrating students get so involved and asking me questions about the very same topics we covered in class.  Of course, I knew this would happen, but still, it's so cool to witness.  However, sometimes you gotta work through the classroom portion first so the lab actually makes sense.  

I think next time I have a lab similar to the dissection, I'm going to try making it a little more inquiry like.  I can't believe I didn't think of this before.  Granted, the udder was still frozen and I wouldn't have been able to anyways.  I think, it may be neat to have the students dissect the udder first, identify different structures in it, draw it on a diagram, then look into identifying each of the structures and their functions.  Once we've learned what all the structures are, go back to the udder and put all the pieces together.  With this weather, we can keep an udder from going bad for quite a while and serves as the perfect opportunity!!

What's in it for next week?

She sure is gonna be a busy week.  I'll have four classes that I will be teaching next week.

In Animal & Veterinary Science, students are going to:

~ Finish dissecting the udder

~ Begin learning about processing butter

~ History of butter

~ And will make their own butter to eat!!

In Introduction to Agricultural Careers & Leadership, students will be:

~ Learning about the agricultural regions of the world

~ Begin their bulletin board projects on regions of the world

~ Learn about issues in global agriculture.

In Power Technologies, Students will continue to tear down and begin rebuilding their engines.

In the Power Systems class, all of the students will continue to work on their electrical wiring projects for me to inspect and grade.

I'm pretty excited for whats to come!!  Look out for my next blog!

495 Assignment #8 - Science Classroom Visit

Quality example of teacher effectiveness

How do we become better teachers?  Well first, we practice.  Practice implementing teaching strategies that are highly engaging. Secondly, we observe other teachers.  How are they teaching similar topics?  What methods for classroom management are they utilizing?  What techniques are they using?  Then we add them to our book of tricks and...we practice.

Today, I observed a science class to see how a lesson is taught.  Many subjects in agriculture are science related and a science class is very similar.  Therefore, it only makes sense to ensure one of my first observations is in a science classroom.

The class I observed was a Biology and Natural Science class for 43 minutes.   Rather than describing what he did in class, I'll explain what I was thinking during his class.

I was thinking "Yes! Yes! Yes!!" He just did an e-moment.  He's asking students questions to make them think about the answer!  He's adding variability!  He's so calm!  Wow!  It was a really great example of a bunch of teaching strategies being meshed together into one 43 minute cohesive lesson.

I think back to the lessons that I have taught so far.  I've been implementing these strategies to the best of my ability.  Yet, it just doesn't seem to go as smoothly as the observed teacher's does.  Aha! It's my transitions.  I think through every transition very carefully when writing my lesson plans.  Unfortunately, they don't come second nature to me like a seasoned teacher and are still a bit jerky.  That's ok though, as I continue to practice, I am confident that my lessons will become more cohesive.    

A Practical Exercise - Mock Interviews with the School Superintendent

Life-It's so close!

Today, I completed a mock interview with the superintendent from Penns Manor High School.  It was a really good practical exercise for me to endure.  Complete with a curriculum vita, cover letter, sample letters, and a completed teaching application, I scurried down the hall to the district office.  Feelings of anxiety? Nah.  Feelings of nervousness? Nah.  Feelings of unpreparedness? Nah.  What feelings were there?  I simply felt curious to see what the experience was going to be like.

I handed my "potential employer" my copy of the cover letter, the curriculum vita, and my completed teaching application.  With a thorough review of the materials provided, the superintendent gave a prompt exclamation of satisfaction.  Hurray!!!! He was impressed.  I was feeling invincible!

Then the questions pursued.  Dun, dun, dun...what were they to be?  Honestly, none were so terrible as they could have been.  I was able to conjure intelligible responses, or at least so I thought.  Once the interview was over,  the superintendent went through each question with me and identified why each question was asked and what sort of response he was looking for.  It was incredibly helpful.

Too often I find myself falling into the trap of thinking "he's the superintendent, I am not good enough/important enough to ask for his time".  But experiences like this make me so glad I do!!!  This experience helped me identify two things.  First, that I need to quit being so afraid to ask people for their time.  Secondly, that I need to practice my responses to the questions that may be asked during an interview.  Or in other words, just learn what employers want to hear. 

I am looking forward to additional opportunities for practicing my interviewing skills.  

Student Teaching Week 1

Whoop Whoop: Student Teaching!!!!

It's Friday January 16th and I have just completed my first week of student teaching!!!  Woo hoo!  It feels great to be finally in the classroom, with students, doing what I love- teaching kids!

What have I done so far?

On Monday and Tuesday I was with 30 students, 3 adult chaperons, and my cooperative teacher on a trip to the FFA Mid-Winter Convention in Harrisburg, PA.  My previous blog talks more about the trip specifically.

Wednesday I picked up my first class, Animal & Veterinary Science, teaching dairy foods.  Day one outlined my classroom expectations/procedures and consequences.  Thursday and Friday delved into milk production.  It was a lot of fun!  

Reflections

With three days under my belt of teaching, I can honestly say that I feel pretty comfortable teaching.  I am quickly finding out that I really enjoy it.  Being surrounded by students, motivated or not, is very enjoyable.  Especially with the high school's band being located next door and listening to music during my classes.

So far, all of the concerns I have had about my teaching, have been tossed out the window and I feel completely ready to tackle this semester!!  This is what I enjoy doing!! So why be nervous?

There are a few things I know I can focus on improving for next week.  First, I will need to speak a little louder.  To me, it feels like I am screaming, but to the people in the back of the room, not so much.  Secondly, paying closer attention to the time.  I get into the material so much I forget to check the time.  Thirdly, really grasping how to make the material appropriate for IEP students.  I thought through this very carefully prior to my lesson and at the end of it, I completely misjudged what I needed to do.  But have no fears, I know what I need to do for the rest of my classes.

Otherwise, I have been very satisfied with how my planning has been going. My lessons are going really well, students are getting the material, and they are participating!

Already my unique style of teaching has struck the students as surprising but they seem to be enjoying the integrated e-moments, the tasks that I have been giving them, and the higher levels of thinking.  

What's in the works for next week?

My Animal & Veterinary Science Class will continue to discuss Dairy Foods.  We will be covering the following topics:

 - Supply chain of milk from the bulk tank to the store.

 - Homogenization

 - Pasteurization 

 - Dissection of a cow's udder lab.

 - Milk Off-flavors lab

 - A quiz on milk production

I will be picking up the Introduction to Ag Careers & Leadership course starting with an International Agriculture Unit.  I'm really excited to kick off this particular class as I have lots of really cool, exciting activities and this is my most passionate subject in agriculture.  Next week we will be covering:

- Classroom Expectations/Procedures/Consequences

- The need for international Agricultural Awareness

- Geographical Regions of International Agriculture

    ~Students will be designing an informational bulletin board to be posted in the classroom

I'm really looking forward to it!

A Wintery Convention- The Mark of a New Beginning

  Freezing air shows my breath in the early morning.  It's still dark while I carefully step outside down an unfamiliar sidewalk.  There was a chance of school cancellations, but after watching the local news for the last 15 minutes, I discovered, that fate was not to be mine.  It's 4:45 in the morning.  Bags packed, dressed in layers, water bottle in hand, groggy eyes from a short night and ready to go, I climb into the truck and head out to Penns Manor. Today, is the first day of my student teaching internship.

At 5:45, reality sinks in as student after student climbs on to the school bus, destined for Harrisburg, PA.  It's here.  It's really truly here!! I'm with 30 students, 3 adult chaperons, the bus driver, my cooperative teacher, and more luggage than you could imagine.  The bus is a whirlwind of activity as students claim their right to the chosen seat. Mr. Hughes calls attendance, luggage flies through the air, face painting threats are made, by way of lipstick, for sleepers, and the bus is revved up to prepare for the four hour drive.  I, Kate Bassett, am a student teacher and this group of people, are to be my life for the next seven weeks!

Penns Manor attended the FFA Midwinter Convention at the Farm Show in Harrisburg on Monday.  It was a great chance to get to know a few more students a little more closely.  It was also exciting to see three of my new students receive their Keystone Degrees.  Probably even more exciting for me, was seeing two Life Skills student's eyes light up at all the sights to be seen.  I really enjoyed seeing my student's excitement for all of the agriculture around them.

                                 

What was very unique was the opportunity my students had to stay overnight near Harrisburg then travel to Gettysburg this morning.  Two days of awesome educational experiences!!!

We had a tour guide who joined our bus as we drove all over the battle field.  He was really good at integrating agricultural information to his explanation of the battle, making it relevant for the students on the trip.  

Inside the visitor center we had the chance to watch a short film on the Gettysburg battle.  There was also a mural painted on a 360 degree wall that depicted Pickett's charge. 

 It was really neat.  The students absolutely loved it.

I really appreciated how the trip took advantage of the opportunities along the way and included the stop at Gettysburg.

Overall, I'm looking forward to continued experiences with Penns Manor and its agricultural students as I begin to teach classes.