A Dynamic Week!

Mrs. Bier & I sporting our spring colors and love for agriculture education!

When I think of the word “dynamic” I think of things being LOUD and EXCITING and RISKY. 

Student Teaching Week # 7 AKA National FFA Week… has been Dynamic in terms of growth, activities, and relationships. 

Growth.  It is clear to me (and hopefully my cooperating teacher and students!) that I grew this week.  I grew in terms of preparedness, assertiveness, and relatability.  This week I believe that my lessons were better prepared than prior weeks and I hope to keep this trend constantly improving.  I was more assertive with my students in telling them that they had to stick with their given assignments.  I gave them my guidelines with a glimmer of hesitation but I ultimately stuck to my plan!  I also improved relatability by making better connections in class to what interests my students.  Additionally on a feedback sheet for me from my students, several students said that they like how I try to relate the content to them.  That is a very rewarding feeling!

Activities.  With all of the excitement of National FFA Week (YAY!), the week was booming with activities relating to leadership growth of students, fun, and even philanthropic events.  Some of the things we did were as follows: present gifts of appreciation to the school board at a meeting, conduct a game-night, ice-cream social, teacher appreciation breakfast, movie night and even a kiss-the-cow fundraiser contest.  This contest was quite the highlight and the talk of the school for a few days!  Ms. Paula, our epic cleaning specialist won the contest and she was beyond tickled!  The newspaper came to take photos and her picture was displayed during the announcements.  While all of this is stellar, the best part was the philanthropic approach.  The student’s at Shippensburg decided they wanted to raise money to send to an agriculture teacher who has an infant child that is facing intense medical procedures and hefty expenses.  This moment reminded me just how much the agriculture community is like a family.

Relationships.  As a student teacher I strive to do my best to remind my students that I am learning how to be a good teacher.  I try to build a positive relationship with them and that begins as me greeting all of my students every day at the door with a huge smile and saying “It is so nice to see you today!”  My student’s expect that and on my weekly evaluation from them one student said that a positive is me greeting them at the door.  I am also learning more about my student’s interests in terms of activities that they do and do not like in the classroom, my teaching style (which is constantly evolving), and their interests outside of school.  Building relationships with my students helps me to inspire them to exceed their potential and it gives me feedback on switches to use in the classroom to better keep my students engaged.

This DYNAMIC National FFA Week had the perfect ending for the Shippensburg chapter as they celebrated it at ACES.  ACES also reminded me why I am here as an FFA Advisor and it is because “I believe in the future of agriculture.”

Weekly Reflection - Student Teaching - Running a Marathon/Climbing a Mountain!

Hello!  Here is my weekly reflection from student teaching.  This week I learned a lot and certainly grew.  To me it felt like I was climbing a mountain and running a marathon.  Even though it was difficult I am certain I will push through!

Additionally here are some pretty neat photos from a turkey dissection lab!

Weekly Reflection of Student Teaching

This past week of teaching I have presented several cool experiments, discovered that I have a lot to learn as I finished teaching full day classes for the entire week, and was reminded just how stellar my cooperating teacher is.

 

Enjoy my video blog that shares things that I have learned in relation to classroom management and what I can do better as an instructor. 



 

 

 

Below are some pictures from my teaching experience this week! 

 

In this photo students are discovering that an egg can bounce after it is left in vinegar.  A great way to discuss poultry and the make up of the shells of eggs.

 

Students did an experiment to see what would happen with a jar full of lima beans and sand and water.  Turns out there is too much pressure from lima beans expanding.  So much the jar broke!

 

 

Students in the horticulture class are sowing seeds and learning more about propagation.

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this week's adventures!

 

 

Will I get to the top of the mountain? Student Teaching Week 4!

As I reflect on this past week of teaching I am going to focus on the question, how can I be better?

This week I think that I have certainly improved from my teaching style from the former weeks, however I feel like I am only half way up the mountain.  I need to keep climbing.  Within the past few days I have been more truthful to myself by acknowledging the areas I need help and reaching out to my collegiate professors and of course relying on Mrs. Bier's advice.  Their opinions and advice does a great job of providing me direction and helping me to comprehend what I can do to enhance my performance. 

(Photo of a student stacking TP rolls to create the height of a tree to then calculate board feet.)

- Fun interest approach! -

 

One of my biggest realizations from this week resulted from a conversation from a dear friend.  He shared with me that games and activities are fun in the classroom but they are not truly preparing students for college.  He said that one of his best teachers in high school greeted the students on the first day and said that "This class is like a college class, you will come in, take notes and prepare for the exam." and that is what they did.  This friend directed me that I should be helping to prepare students for college and to help them learn how to behave when they sit through a meeting.  Another valid point was that school systems seem to spend too much time caring about who goes to the bathroom and what clothes people are wearing instead of truly focusing on the lecture content.

As my friend regaled me with his opinions, I became unhappy because I realized that his thoughts are true, and I was striving to teach in a fun creative way.  I confided in my cooperating teacher the debate that I was having and her advice was to do both.  She said that "yes" I do need to provide a period of lecture and notes - it's not fun but it is important and will help with transitioning out of high school.  However, she also said that I can do fun activities but just do them after pushing through the notes. 

(At the PA Record Book Judging Contest)

It was great to learn about record books but even more important to learn advice and opinions from agriculture educators across the commonwealth!

 

One of my goals to be a better educator is to still help learning to be fun by sharing stories that will help with the connection in my lecture and then introducing a fun activity or shop time. I want to do my best to help students fully grasp academic concepts, but at the same time I want them to learn to think for themselves because that will be the most beneficial for them in the long haul. 

In conclusion, I discovered a lot about myself and I am preparing to take on the entire course load starting Monday!  As I do this I have to keep in mind finding balance and time to push through everything.  I fully believe that I will make it to the top of the mountain!

(Picture of me climbing a mountain in Hell's Gate in Kenya during summer of 2013)

 

Student Teaching Week #3 - Like a Gymnast!

G - generating new ideas constantly

Y - always asking "why"

M - magic in the classroom

N - "newbie" #teacher in training

A - artistic approach

S - smiles for miles

T - transitions are key

 

 

Gymnast, that is something that I always wanted to be.  I love the grace and the poise one has when they balance on a beam or bounce up from a split to do a 5 flip summersult.  It leaves me in awe at the combination of talent combined with a ton of practice and yet the confidence and determination written all over the athlete. 

Even though I was never a gymnast (yet - it is never too late to chase a dream!) I sort of feel like one as an agriculture teacher in training.  I am constantly reminded that it is important to be flexible as I plan and deliver my lessons, especially with the accumulating snow days!  I have to overcome my fears and worries of not being good enough, and instead focus on being the best person that I can.  Slowly, I am realizing that if I begin to give something my all and show sincerity then no one could ask for more. 

I have improved on some of my assignments and teaching techniques and I am beginning to feel more comfortable in front of the classroom.  Students seem to never know what type of learning technique they will experience.  Today, students were learning about measuring and had to measure their instructor (me) to prove how many inches are in a foot.  It was a fantastic interest approach.  However, I know that if I was not confident with that activity then it would have flopped - but instead it brough the magic to the classroom. 

 

 

"Why" is a question that I ponder with everything.  As an educator I am slowly starting to notice that people are not created equally.  I have encountered students who have drastically different types of backgrounds.  Students who can spend $100 on jeans (what?) to students who are not entirely sure what home is.  There are also students who try really really hard to learn basic concepts but struggle immensely to make the connection, right along side of students who have high intelligence but consciously choose to drop out of school.  I am baffled at the daily contradictions, and I still believe in the impossible because it spells "I'm Possible." 

As I continue this journey to be an educator I hope that I am never too foolish to think that I am an expert, because if so, that excuses me from the richest learning opportunities.  I hope that I will instead strive to be like a gymnast and bring with me confidence, determination, grace, and talent.

Second Week of Student Teaching!!! Quite the journey!

Hello Everyone!  

My second week of student teaching has excited and exhausted me I think I just need to do it but I feel all over the place.   Please check out my Video Blog and enjoy the photos.

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At an SAE visit - seeing a student with her horse and favorite rabbit!

A small rabbit who had to be bottle fed. 

First day teaching Ag Leadership Course.

Observing Mrs. Bier teach a rat dissection lab - very cool!

 My classroom management posters - very punny!!!

All my best, All the Time, 

-Jenna

PS - Please share your suggestions and words of wisdom!

Fantastic Beginning to a Great Journey!

What an eventful week of student teaching!  

Monday:

The week began with school being canceled on my first day because of icy weather.  This was sad because 1) it was my first day and 2) it was also Mid-Winter Convention.  Since school was canceled Mrs. Bier and I traveled to the Farm Show and met a few of our students there who braved the outside elements.  It was a nice day to bond and connect with Mrs. Bier and recognize our FFA members.  After Mid-Winter we went to the high school and I saw that Mrs. Bier already had a teaching desk for me and a sweet gift on top of the desk.  I left the school feeling very welcomed and excited to be a student teacher at Shippensburg

Tuesday:

I learned how to copy – always a highlight!  I also became acquainted with the janitor and secretaries.  I pretty much spent the day closely reviewing my syllabuses and observing the skills and style that Mrs. Bier used in the classroom.

Wednesday:

Things were getting exciting today!  Today I took over a class of two – Mrs. Bier has two classes that she instructs at the same time so I was able to follow her lesson plan and teach the smaller class.  It was really nice to interact with them and have a task to do.  I also began my wood shop project – I am making my own project so when I teach the students I am fully comfortable with all of the equipment and supplies.  

Thursday:

Today I had the joy of attending the band concert.  Four of the FFA officers are also in the band and it was wonderful to see them play.  During the school day I continued to teach the class of two and I worked on entering grades and taking attendance.

Friday:

I began interacting more with the students and congratulated the officers who were in the band.  They were so happy when they realized that I was there to support them.  I could tell that it truly meant a lot to them!  Additionally I was able to observe a stellar science teacher, Mr. Mancino, and picked up on a lot of classroom management techniques.

Overall, this first week of school went swimmingly!  I will be happy to learn more from Mrs. Bier and enjoy that she takes time every day to review content with me.  She is a great role model and I am blessed to be student teaching in Shippensburg!