Monday, April 28, 2014

Action Based Research Reflective Blog

For my action based research project, I contacted Mrs. B when I first heard about it. She is currently completing her masters degree and had to complete research for it as well so she invited me to jump on the band wagon. We researched student and teacher perception of agricultural courses at our high school.

Through the research we found that the top 3 non-ag student perceptions were that they....
1) selected other classes for future careers
2) no room in schedule/ do not believe ag classes will help future career
3) not interested in ag classes

Top 3 Ag Student Perceptions were...
1) interested in/ enjoy ag topics
2) ag classes will prepare for future career
3) advised by an adult to take ag classes/ FFA member so needs an ag class. 

Top 3 teacher perceptions
1) leadership skills are important
2) variety of subjects is important
3) would recommend ag to interested students/ academic rigor should be present in every class. 

I thought these results were really interesting! Non- ag students were not taking the classes because they were not career relevant?! I bet I could tie their career into something in agriculture, especially something that needs a soft skill or leadership skill!

Though something that I have also noticed in my classes that I have taught, is that even some of the students in agricultural courses don't think that the class is relevant. An example of this is a student that had to write a speech for the prepared public speaking CDE. She was convinced that nothing would relate to what she wants to do, and that she definitely didn't want to be a farmer. I tried to make it career relevant for her by having her research advertising and the importance of a logo on agricultural products and how it ties in with marketing and product success. I believe that helped, because she seemed more interested in the topic and the assignment.

This research was really interesting since it will be applicable in multiple agricultural education departments. What I learned here about how academic students are really interested in becoming prepared for their careers, I can use that information in my own future program. This assignment was also helpful to get my toes wet with action based research. I have the experience from my own school and experience, but I will also learn about what the rest of my classmates have done and I am sure that all of our experiences are different. I also got more experience working with powerpoint to create a professional poster to showcase the research that I have completed. 

Friday, April 25, 2014

Week 14

Monday

Ag Leadership - Students did a good job working in their committees and getting things planned. There was an FFA meeting so they had to be prepared to present their motions and run for office. The students and I talked about sunburns and what we did for Easter as well. It was a good day.

Tuesday

Ag Leadership - I am not as happy with how today went. I feel that I did not have a good enough introduction. The students were supposed to be finished with their media projects today and the group of gentlemen were not working up to par. I still have not found a way to get them to consistently do their work. I really did not want to crush their spirits by being mad at them all of the time, and it would not have been good for me to be mad all of the time. I had a good review at the end of the day though and talked about the importance of community and how our project in class was affecting the community and how we were involved. One of my students told me that today was a good day and they actually got a lot done.

Wednesday

Ag Leadership - Today was an SAE day and it went okay. I showed them everything that they needed to have complete on the white board and went through where to find them. Then I walked around the classroom and helped students out that had questions. However, a lot of the students that told me they had completed everything, I realized had lied when I started grading them. That was disappointing to me. Their work ethic has been a little lack luster this week. I think if I wasn't leaving it would be easier to keep their attention, but I think that they think Mrs. B will be easier on them.

Thursday

Today we had a two hour early dismissal. Keeping track of time is still one of my downfalls. I had the students do a gallary walk around the room to grade different agronomic crops and figure out their disorders, then they had to research an agronomic career to wrap up the agronomy lesson. I assigned the agronomy as homework because they did not have enough time to finish it in class.

Friday

Today we finished the agronomy unit and the local and global hunger unit. They got almost 300 cans donated!! I am proud of them for pulling through with that. I don't think they are going to miss me. The horticultural students got me a cookie cake this morning that I shared with them and the ag business had a little party for me while the other students were out at lunch. I am going to miss all these students so much.

Friday, April 18, 2014

Week 13

Monday

8th Grade - Today we learned about how to safely handle raw meat. We read through the page in the book then they worked in pairs to complete the review questions at the end. 1st period went well, they completed it and we went over how tomorrow was going to go. 2nd period was in some kind of mood, I called them all chatty Cathy and it confused them. They then asked me if you could cut a chunk out of the cow and eat it and the cow would still live. This led us to talk about how they cut a hole in the side of a cow so you can put your hand in and look at how they are digesting the food. I also told them how I palpated a cow to measure the uterus, and their faces were priceless. I doubled over laughing. They kill me. It blew their minds. It was perfect. Tomorrow we are completing a burger lab and will get to have burgers to breakfast. YUM!

Leadership - Ohhhh they made me so mad today. They have not been hanging in their assignments, they are talking when each other is talking, sassing me and not the normal students that sass me. I made them reread the assignment rubric for the global and hunger unit and I made them repeat it because we had a public speaking unit and that is not how I taught them. Other students were not working well with each other and that was making me mad. I hope tomorrow will go better.

Ag Mechanics- I told them that I only have today and tomorrow as their "teacher" but that I would still be around to help out. After I said that a lot of them were like yay!! Then the said just kidding, they also kicked me out of the room. I didn't know if I should or not because that would mean they are bossing me around, but I was thinking it was so they could do a surprise for me and I like surprises... so I left the room. Mr. Stollar was in there... so it was okay. They then worked on their engines. I traveled around to the different groups and helped out. One group realized that they did not put their piston pin back in correctly... so they had to take everything back out and put it back in. Another group was having problems with putting their linkages back together and I didn't really know how it went back together so I called a more knowledgeable student over and he was like do you need help and I just kind of nodded and he came over and helped without saying anything to tear me down or the other students for not knowing how to fix it. I was proud of how maturely he was acting today, Mrs. B noticed it during 5th period as well.

Tuesday

Today was my last day with all of my classes.

8th Grade- Today we made burgers. It we co-taught and made sure everyone got their burgers made on time. Mrs. B got a lot of stuff together the night before which made for smooth sailing. She was also no technically there today since she had to bring her daughter to an appointment in the afternoon, so it was her, myself and the sub running this class. The students got to measure the temperature of the meat and Mrs. B and I were the grillers. I tweeted a picture of some students with the burgers. The students had a blast and it was also a time for administration to see what we do since they got to some and enjoy the left overs. However, for the rest of the day, I smelled like I was wearing burger perfume.

Leadership- Today the students actually worked well. They got a lot done and I did not have to do a lot of redirecting. It was very nice to see that with how crazy they were yesterday. They also decided to google me and some pictures from the blog and Teach Ag society came up. They then started to try to look up if Penn State was still the top party school and see if there were any pictures that way and I told them they were taking the joke too far and needed to get back to work.

Ag Mechanics - They are happy to not have to do bellwork after today. One of the groups tried to start their engines today, but it did not run. Another group was trouble shooting and the carburetor is broken and gas started to go everywhere. Students kept picking on me as usual. It was a good last day. The students have really impressed me with how far they have some and their mentality towards me as well. I am very happy with where we have ended up as a whole.

Wednesday

I spent first and second period organizing my desk and my note books. I also started to write my newspaper article and look at the jobs in Nashville.

Leadership - I should have checked to see if their computers worked on the projector, because they didn't. I then put my computer up and had them all save it on echalk. That worked out pretty well and we finally got into our presentations. Some days I feel like I never taught public speaking. Their presentation styles are lack luster and are just boring. I had to yell at a couple students for not facing their audience. We had a cool discussion about biological pest management and called my dad so he could explain what we are currently doing in our greenhouse.

I then helped a little with ag mechanics. The majority of the students have their engines all put together. We took a small gas engines class photo.. which was fun. I will really miss that class.

Thursday 
 I worked on a lot of assignments for Penn State in the beginning of the day and created a schedule to make sure I get everything done by the deadline. I enjoy the time to myself to get everything done. I talked to the class about their hiring process to be able to complete the mock interview on Monday.

Leadership - Today in class was a we need to get things done day. I created a list on the board of things that they owe me and I had them write down three things they wanted to accomplish on a sticky note. I then managed the classroom and answered questions related to the assignments and worked through getting their stuff done. A lot of students got a lot done during the time that we were there and it was generally a good day. At the end of the class a student told me to have a nice Easter and then I realized that I had kind of been jumping down their throats and I felt really bad about that. I told them that I wanted them all to have a happy Easter as well. I don't hate the class, I am just frustrated that things are not going how I envision them in my head. One student, who is kind of a challenge, brought be a cupcake today. I think things have come a long way with this particular student.

In ag mechanics I worked on grading everything that the students had completed in leadership class. It was good to use that time because it also motivated the students to work hard as well. There was a PAAE meeting in Harrisburg.... and I left with more than enough time....but I got lost like three times because I am not use to going to Cameron street from the Harvey Taylor bridge...so that didn't really work out well for me. I need to make sure I know where I am going next time. The meeting was interesting, it was my first time at one besides the northern region. It went well and i got to see a lot of the teachers that I had developed friendships with. The student that came for SOCS stayed until the meeting was over to see Mrs. B and I. His politeness always amazes me and I hope others learn from him.

Friday 

Today we didn't have school! So I enjoyed my time at Penn State catching up with friends and working on my Penn State assignments.


Sunday, April 13, 2014

Week 12

Monday 


8th Grade – Today we cracked open eggs and looked at all of the different layers in an egg. Mrs. B taught the first class so I could see how the lab works. I taught the second class. We cracked open the eggs and the students talked about the different layers in their groups and then Mrs. B cooked the eggs and make scrambled eggs. (The way to an 8th graders heart is through food). I love it how interested they are in learning. The groups were actually on task and interested in looking at the different layers. One student that is super cool in second period thought one of his friends said something mean about someone else and started telling him off. It was cool how he didn't have a problem standing up for someone that he is not friends with. I still do not have all of their names memorized. There are so many of them and I don’t see them that often….it is really bad. I really need to get on that, even though I am only going to be with them for five more days.


Leadership- Today there was independent work and they created posters about identifying weeds and why it is important to be able to do that. Most groups got done within the allotted time. There was a moment in class where Mrs. B made the ag business class be really quiet and my whole class got silent and started whispering and shushing each other. It was super interesting how much social pressure plays a role in a classroom. Tomorrow we are having a guest speaker and I forgot to remind them about it. I hope tomorrow goes well.


Ag Mechanics – Mr. Stollar and I are concerned that they are not looking up their torque specs despite the both of us hammering them about it. Today they had to look up all the specs in class before they went out to the shop. For those of them that have been writing them down as they go, it was really easy for them. For others, they had to actually look them up in the repair manual and write them down.

Tuesday

8th Grade- They had PSSAs today so we only saw the one class for a little bit of time. We did a wildlife activity that they had to finish from the previous unit. This kept the classes from getting far apart from each other.

Leadership - For my community based unit, I am doing local and global hunger. To cover the local hunger I had a volunteer from the Dover Area Food Bank come in to talk about their purpose and who they help in the community. It was a casual presentation, she sat at one of the desks and talked to the students about how it works. We learned about how much the federal government and the state, and how much the DOVER COMMUNITY donates to the food bank. We discovered that yearly they give away 300,000 dollars worth of food. Most of which comes from the Dover Community. We also learned about the other resources that they have at the food bank and how they help families out. The students also got to learn how despite the people getting food from the food bank that they can still be hungry since they can only go at certain times and get a certain amount of food. The lady went over time a little bit and went into their lunch time. The students glanced at me and saw that I was waiting for a pause to interrupt her and thank her for her time. I am SO proud of my students for not being rude and getting up or starting to fidget. They just waited until I could get her attention and thank her for her time. After lunch they worked on their projects then we reviewed what the Dover Food bank representative talked about.

Ag Mechanics - Today they had to find the answers from a previous state small gas engines exam before they were released to the shop. The students complained that I gave them too much book work for a shop class but I just said too bad so sad and Mr. Stollar said that I cleared everything with him before I taught it in class. The students told me I needed to not be so salty. (goofballs) We then went out to the shop and they worked with their engines.

Wednesday

8th Grade - Today we learned how to measure horses and what hands means. I had an old tape that measured a horses height and weight. It has been sitting in my barn for a long time so it kind of smelled. First period thought it was really gross and didn't want to touch it, but second period didn't mind and were really curious about finding out if anyone was a pony height - they had a lot of fun with the tape. They had to complete a worksheet on it and find out their partners height in horse hands.

Leadership - Today they took an agronomy quiz and started their project on how to grade agronomic crops. I tried to relate it to a lot of their SAE projects as to why it is important information for them. The students today were so hyper and I believe it is because they had to eat a different lunch because of the 8th grade PSSA testing. I was getting frustrated that I was getting observed and they were being crazy. I had to yell at two students (and ag business silently cheered for me, I saw them creepin and looking at me). After a little, they then settled down and got to work. I believe I am going to let them correct their tests for half credit. I want to make sure they know the information since it is basic soil science and will help them out in future classes.

Ag Mechanics - Today they had to analyze a senario about a local grandmother bringing in an engine to their shop and requesting that they fix it. The students had to look up parts on the computer, be able to calculate their wages and figure out tax. Taxes was something that they struggled with and they didn't know how to calculate it. We then went out to the shop to work on the engines.

Thursday 

8th Grade - We learned how to analyze what is in a pet food bag and why it is important to keep track of an animals diet. The then had to work in groups and travel around the room and analyze different feeds.

Leadership- Today was a committee day. It is really hard to get some of the students to follow through with their ideas. Two students are really creative, but they never get anything done. They were working on writing a letter to the 8th graders to have them join FFA and they wrote in there that they had to take an ag class to graduate (which is a lie) but they didn't want to exaggerate how exciting FFA is and why they should be involved. I kind of got mad with that, they just don't make sense and the FFA president that is also in that class agreed with me and I had her try to help them to create a better letter... which was supposed to be due that day.

Ag Mechanics - We reviewed shop safety today and talked about how it played into the small gas engines competition. They then went out to the shop. WE had an engine run today! And of course it was the group that slacked off the most.... oh well. They did a good job and they were like are you happy now? We slacked off a lot, but we were the first ones to finish and it actually ran. I am very happy that it started, I just wish they would have a better work ethic! I worked with the other groups and they told me to not be so salty. I don't exactly know what makes me salty but it seems to be the word of the week. At least I don't hear Ms. Snapchat as much. The students also asked again if I was going to teach there and I said there was not a job and they said to take Mr. Stollars job when he retires and I said that was not for five years, so they told me I should just hang out in Dover until then and get another job. Good gravy, I like that they want to keep me around, but they are goofy.

Friday

Today I traveled to Juniata to watch my friend Mrs. Annette Sprenkel teach. She did a good job of sounding super calm and confident in front of her students. Annette had good rapport with her students, and they all seemed happy to be there. It was enjoyable to see a different program in the state. The amount of diversity in the agricultural programs are always really impressive. How their school is set up is very interesting since they are attached to the middle school and the students have to walk down from the high school. I really enjoy their bulletin board that tells the students about what is happening in the program and what they can sign up for. Another student teacher, Val, was also visiting and we went over a lot of the Penn State assignments that we know that we need to work on for the next three weeks. It was a good day end of the week activity.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Week 11

Monday 

8th Grade - I thought today went a lot better! I thought that had I much more energy and was asking 8th grader questions and interacting with them on their level...but then Mrs. B said my gentlemen in the back were still talking during most of the class. :( dang it. I can only improve though and if I felt like I did better today, maybe I will actually start improving.

Leadership - They did group work today to come up with different games and worksheets to learn how to identify seeds. I tend to hover a lot during group work and they just keep asking me questions rather than working in their groups and doing the work themselves. So today I forced myself to sit behind the desk and manage from there. It was hard to do this. A lot of the groups did not think very far out of the box and it was annoying to me. But, I guess they will get annoyed tomorrow when they have to do the same thing over and over again. A student was sassing me later on in class, I really need to learn how to be firmer and follow out my threats. I also need to be more organized so the student knows when they are going too far and I will have proof for mom and dad that their child is acting up.

Ag Mechanics - They are so smart when they actually shut up. I am also running into the problem that everyone is disassembled, but they do not have all of their parts in. So there is a standstill. Mrs. B suggested creating a bulletin board for them to have things to do during the class period. It can be employable things and practical skills that they can use. It will be posted for them to work on their time.

Tuesday 

8th Grade- I don't know how to do this class. I think because it is so structured in Mrs. B's way, that I just do not feel comfortable with how it is laid out or the points to touch on. Today we did the butter lab. Mrs. B did the first class and I did the second class. I had read over the lab materials, went over their worksheets, I thought it would be okay. But then she started comparing the milk fat percentages with the milk fat in milk vs cream and the price differences. My brain was not wired to work that way. I did the lab portion of the class correctly, no one broke anything. However, I stumbled through comparing the prices and talking about fat percentages. I am also having a rough time because I do not have everyone's names down. I typically learn peoples names by having interactions with them. However, I don't really have one on one interactions with the eighth graders. The classes are only 40 minutes and it is a lot of lecture rather than group work or activities. I am really frustrated with myself in this class because I am not living up to the best of my abilities.

Leadership - I liked my activity today. Before lunch they went through everyone's stations and competed in the activities for seed identification with agronomy. We developed a winner and the students went through and self graded themselves on how they think they did on their projects based on creativity, usefulness, and quality. Afterwards, we have a powerpoint that showed different agronomic plants. The students guessed what the plant was then we talked about it. This went pretty well. Except I am being bad. I yell at some students more than others for phones and I am not really being fair. I wasn't totally noticing I was doing it until Mrs. B pointed it out. I am really going to have to work on this because I don't want to be unfair and I don't want to cause frustration with my students. I am not satisfied with how this class is going. I need to step up my game these past couple weeks.

Ag Mechanics - Today since the engines are taken apart, and we are waiting for parts, I did a speed round for a powerpoint of parts. I didn't read off the screen, I kept clicking unless they had questions or I asked them questions about how things worked together. I then assigned them ten parts and tools that they had to find in the shop then present to the class. This went well. Some students complained, but you cant please everyone. The second half of the class I allowed them to continue cleaning and tinkering with their engines. Tomorrow, we will complete the other fifty tools and parts. Although, I am slightly concerned that my shop represents a zoo sometimes. The students are always really hyper since it is the last class of the day and they actually get to experience things hands on.

Wednesday

8th Grade - I felt like today went well, but I wasn't totally satisfied with it. I was still pretty frustrated. However, Mrs. B said it was my best class yet! So at least I am improving. We learned about shearing sheep today. I dug out my ANSC 201 notes so I would have the technical background knowledge. I got a cotton kit from the Family and Consumer Science teacher as well as wool patterns that the students could pass around. Mrs. B also had shears and brushes for carding the hair. I also learned that angora rabbits can be used for wool also. New fact every day. For first period I gave them assigned seating and that worked much better, the whole class was paying attention for once. Second period, there is this one student who is so cool, he sows! I really hope he joins the agricultural program next year at the high school.

Leadership - Today was a committee day. Today everyone had a sticky note on their desk. I instructed them to put their cell phones away and that I did not want to see them for the rest of the class. If I did or if they were off topic they would get a camel on their sticky note. Each camel was a one point deduction. Some of the students got multiple camels, but it was a way for them to visually see what they were doing wrong. For the ticket out the door, I wanted them to write how they accomplished their goals. I was expecting a paragraph. I got a sentence. I was upset with their work, but Mrs. B said students like to take the path of least resistance. So I am giving them the opportunity to fix their answers tomorrow at the beginning of class.

Ag Mechanics - For the first half of class the students found the second half of the tools list created for the carer development event. Mr. Stollar gave a twenty minute presentation on the caburation system, comparing the old ones to the new ones. Students engine parts did not come in. I told my students that I want them to be started before I leave or I will feel like a total failure. But it is not going to happen until the parts start to come in.

Thursday 

8th Grade - Today we learned about Pearson squares for determining the fat percentages of ground beef. First period I took too long to do my explanation. I need to work on being clear and concise. Also with writing on the board. I need to get better handwriting and organize myself on the board better. Second period went better again. Mrs. B kept making weird faces and it was kind of freaking me out. I felt like I was doing a bad job and I was getting really frustrated with how I was doing with explaining math. Turns out, she got bored watching it twice and her throat was kind of hurting, so I really need to not look at her unless I have a question. The students also asked me if I was a junior or a senior and where I wanted to teach and what I was going to do with my life.

Leadership - Today we worked on our media products. For the first half of class I had the #dlead4hunger on the twitter feed on the front of the board. The students enjoyed watching their tweets showing up on the screen, however it was a little distracting so I took it down the second half. A student requested to have the camels again today so instead we had moose. Only one particular student got moose. Most of the groups were working well together and getting a lot of stuff done. One group packed up with 12 minutes left in the class. This made me really mad especially since they have a lot of stuff to finish. I yelled at them for it and they didn't understand why I was upset with them. I found out a particular student doesn't really like me and is counting down the days until I am gone.... I can't wait to hear how that goes since Mrs. B is more strict with them than me.

Ag Mechanics - I found a small gas engines career development event test, so I printed out the first thirty six questions. I told the class to get into pairs and told them the team with the most correct would get a prize. We had a football, water bottle, cards, and a bag. The class was quiet with everyone working hard on the paper, it was actually quite impressive. The test was also worth 20 points for a grade. One team was especially passionate and stood over my shoulder while I graded their test. After they were done, we went out to the shop to work on the engines since some of the students parts came in.

Friday

8th Grade - Today we learned about the female reproductive track of a hen and the different layers of an egg shell. I had them try to label the parts with groups in their notes, then we completed it on the board as a class. I talked about all of the different layers and their purposes. When then read the notes together and had then completed an activity. They picked different parts of the female reproductive track from a cup and had to stand in that spot. Someone was the mapper and had to make sure everyone was in their correct area. The narrator had to tell the story of what was going on. One person that was the yoke traveled down a line though the different reproductive areas and got different parts added on such as the albumen and shell and shell membrane, then was hatched out at the end. The student were funny because none of them wanted to say vagina.

Leadership - Today we worked on SAE projects. I played music during class if they stayed quiet and worked, that worked pretty well, didn't really have any problems today. I worked with a student who's original SAE idea fell though and wasn't going to work anymore. I also helped another student start to set up the display case. Ag Business figured out how much money I am not going to make when I start teaching.

Ag Mechanics - The students parts came in today so we started putting our engines back together. Monday I am going to incorporate another aspect of the career development event. However, today since we had a 5th period and the day was shortened, I figured it would be good to get a lot done on the engines to get them reassembled. The students like to pick on me too much because it makes me smile and they like that. However, they like to swear or pretend swear because then I yell at them about it.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Week 10

Monday

8th Grade - First period is always my rougher period. There is a lot more students, they are a lot more talkative and I never feel prepared. I really need to work on this. A lot, it is not fair to them that my first period kind of stinks, but my second period is good. That is what happened today, my second period was better. I tend to be a lot better second period because I know what worked and what didn't work with first period. I really need to work with getting my first period better. I am going to create a seating chart to try to break up my boys in the back and see if that will get them to listen a little bit better. I tend to teach to the front of the class because the students up there are engaged and want to learn, where as my outlying students are not as interested and engaged in the lesson.

Leadership- Today I had the students complete a little bit of little professor. I had each table working on a different topic, we had soil ph, nutrients, nutrient deficiencies, and how plants take up N, P and K. The groups worked together and created presentations to teach their class about their topic. I believe this worked okay, I am having some issues with groups working to the best of their abilities.

Ag Mechanics - Today we worked on getting our engines cleaned to be able to put them back together. I had talked to one of my students and Dr. Ewing about how to get this one stinking piece off of an engine. They both suggested that maybe there was a little piece of the back of it that could be loosened with an allen wrench. THERE WAS NO SUCH THING! And the grinder was not really working, so then they had to use to torch to get it off. The one student that I was talking to last week said he would be in my class today to work in his other class and help me if I needed it for that engine. I wanted to let the group work on their own engine, but they didn't know how to use the torch, and the student that promised me that he knew how to use the torch....did know how to use it, but he wasn't the best at it so I had the student that came to help them, work with the other students to get the piece off. It is amazing how much the other students respect this one student. I mean I know he is a senior, but he is really just a relaxed guy that everyone likes. I was happy to have a helper with that project. Mr. Stollar and I kept ourselves busy helping other groups and aiding them as they cleaned their engines.

Tuesday

Today I went on a field trip to Penn Tech. We toured the forestry, horticulture and diesel mechanics departments. These students are so impressive, they were not on their phones at all, listened to the presents, shushed other students if they started talking. They are a very mature group in that aspect and know then to act grown up. They did not ask a lot of questions, but I think that they were also just soaking it all in. A student in my ag mechanics class was especially interested in the diesel mechanics. The tour guide said that the major fills up really quickly and after he said that he came over and asked me very seriously and politely if I could help him apply so he could get on the list. I said that I would and I also told him to talk to the tour guide teacher, which he did, and got a business card. He asked him how much tuition was and his eyes kind of got big with the answer, but I know there will be a lot of scholarship opportunities for him. There was also a Penn Tech student that kept talking to me that I asked a couple questions about regarding scholarships and other campus life and I called the student over and he was very attentive to who I was talking to and I encouraged him to ask questions as well.  I am really happy for this student and hope that he will actually go to Penn Tech after he graduates. I think it will help him acquire a bright future.

On the bus ride home some of the students sat closer to me to talk. We exchanged fishing and hunting stories and they told me some nice areas to go hiking in the Dover area. I asked Mr. Stollar if I needed to schedule a oil change or if you are just supposed to show up at the shop, which then started a discussion with my students and they all want to change my oil, but I don't know if I trust them thatttt much. They were also yelling at me for not knowing how to do it myself and how dare I. They also asked me a lot of technical questions...that I did not have answers to. Probably should not have asked about engine related things in front of my engines class. Oops.

Wednesday

8th grade – they are taking the PSSAs right now so I did not have to go over there and I got two full periods of prep. I was super excited for all that free time alone….little did I know I was so popular. A girl that has an independent study with Mr. Stollar came in to get a computer and her and I got started talking about horses and her future plans and being a college student and if she should create a horse judging team for states. She then decided she wanted to work in my room since everyone was being productive in the shop as well. Then another girl came in to talk to Mrs. B then stuck around, we talked about her SAE project and she helped me prep since she can sign onto a school laptop and print to the ag room. They are both great girls and I am glad that they can seek me out and talk to me. The one especially needs a good female role model.

Leadership- Phew. Today, I actually yelled. Like really yelled. I kept kind of yelling when students were not listening to their peers when they were giving answers. I then really yelled when a student jumped across another one to grab cookies.  I guess the ag business students told Mrs. B that I did a good job and that it was about time I yelled at them. I then yelled later on when two students were messing with each other’s projects and started to shove each other across the classroom. They decided they were going to stop and that they did not want morning detention to learn how to sit correctly in a chair. But besides all that hog wash, I think I actually did a good job with reviewing today. I decided to cut an activity in half and finish it tomorrow because I didn't think there would be enough time to do it justice, so I had the student’s complete three questions for a ticket out then we reviewed the objectives and their ticket out as a class. I tried really hard to not get angry with the student but with the situation, I think they found that out, because I didn't get hostile to the rest of the class. But, of course they also had to be extra bad this week when I have already been battling a head cold. Some of the students told me my face got really red and I said well it is kind of hard to yell when you can’t breathe as it is.


AG Mechanics – Today we kept cleaning out engines as well as start to reassembly them. I helped a student look up what he needed to do in order to apply to Penn Tech, and I talked with each of the groups to see how they are doing. Tecumshe look really weird on the inside, like random parts and I’m like dude, I don’t know what that is. Yesterday the students saw me send a snapchat so now some of them call me mrs.snapchat and they keep trying to stalk me on social media outputs. However, they will never find me. Muahahaha. Mrs. B suggested having the student’s snapchat each other engine parts then they have to identify the part within the 10 seconds of seeing it. The ag mechanics class is really goofy. I really get along well with the students now, I just sometimes feel like I am not in control because I don’t know everything. But that is what this experience is for, to learn along with the students. And, I am at least impacting them with small social skills because I have had conversations with all of them and know about their lives and their stories.

Thursday

8th Grade - PSSA testing so I stayed at the high school and worked on assignments. Mrs. B stayed behind today as well rather than traveling.

Leadership- As part of the bellwork it was to ask them what they learned yesterday. A lot of my gentleman had smart answers such as to not jump across the room or shove each other. This made me laugh, and I told them I meant content wise. I got two really great answers. One from one of my interesting gentleman and one from a girl. They essentially said they realized how many people were dying from a lack of food and how they have never realized it before. That is the answer I was looking for. I want my students to think about more than just themselves and how to feel bad and have empathy for other people.

Ag Mechanics - I have finally reached the sweet spot with them! I brought the extra candy with me to their class. Today we went over why torque is important on engines. Our frequent visitor to class had the correct answer, so he got a snickers. Then everyone wanted to talk and we had a really good discussion. We went out into the shop and kept working on cleaning our engines. The students fixed the cleaning station in the back, so there was a bit of a line of students to start to clean their engines. Other students were ordering new parts for their engines. A group asked me to help them use the puller to get the crankcase off. I have never used one of these and for all the other groups either they already knew how to use it or Mr. Stollar worked with them. It was with a super friendly group so I was like ehhh we can learn by trial and error. We were working on it for a while, mostly laughing that we had no clue what was going on, then two other gentlemen were sent over and they were like we got this. Except when they said this, it wasn't mean, it wasn't with them rolling their eyes. They just got to work and demonstrated how to do it. It is amazing how much rapport works with students. Class is so much easier now that we all work well together. The students want to tell me about their lives. They also were trying to guess my age which was quite funny as well. I like this class a lot now.

One student in ag mechanics was walking back from lunch and I waved at him while I was waiting for my leadership class to come back and he ran up to me and gave me a goofy hug, and I gave him a one arm pat. I am glad that he was in a good mood since he was at his grandmothers funeral yesterday. He is a gooofy kid. I am so happy that my ag mechanics class is going so much better now.

Friday

8th grade- Stayed at the high school and did work. Students visited, maybe convinced them to bring me coffee Monday because they love me and miss me in horticulture class.

Leadership - Its Friday. It is always so weird how much students personalities change on Fridays. Some were doing a really good job at paying attention...that typically don't, while others that are usually really good, were off the wall hyper. Today I went over the rubric of what they will be graded on for the Developing 21st Century Ag Advocates unit. Aka my community based unit. Students will be posting on twitter and instagram about #dlead4hunger and will be sharing facts and what we are doing in our class to fight hunger. They will also be completing blog posts and working on a group project that includes either print or digital media to get students to bring canned food into our classroom. My interesting child is assigned to take the minutes for class every day. He does just a good job with derailing me when I am trying to teach. I really need to get meaner with him. His questions are not relevant and he is distracting.

Ag Mechanics - Well while Mr. Stollar is out at the Bahamas....my students were checking out the substitute. I am glad she kind of hung out in the office rather than in the shop. That would have been too many distracted boys. But we did our regular intro, groups worked on their projects. I told them today would be the last day for cleaning and everyone must be ready to reassemble on Monday. I gave individual demonstrations on how to measure the piston ring gap and talked about why it is important. Mrs. B and I came up with a way to review before the students leave for the day. I decided it was not worth herding the students back into the classroom and trying to get them to shut up in order to review....so instead, I have flash cards of parts and tools that I quiz the students on. Today was the first day trying that and  lot of them got really into it, which was exciting.

5th Period - A girl from horticulture class came to meet with me to discuss her creating an SAE project. She currently comes on weekends and stays after school sometimes to take care of the plants in the greenhouse. This girl does a lot of cool things and I think she would be a great asset to FFA which she is not currently apart of. I think I have her pretty hooked, but I really hope she sticks with it. 

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Week 9

Monday 

8th Grade - I observed them again today. They are a different breed, I swear. It will really be interesting. It is cool that I get so many different experiences to really be able to compare middle school vs high school. I will start teaching tomorrow as we review for the animal terminology quiz.

Leadership - Today we started my community based unit, Developing 21st Century Ag Advocates. Today we learned about local and global hunger. For my interest approach I split the class into highly developed countries, developed countries and developing countries. We had our own version of a hunger dinner, expect it was with peanuts and m&ms. A student in the ag business class gave my starving countries cup cakes which I had to confiscate! They are supposed to be starving and sharing three peanuts among them...not eating cupcakes! We then read 5 different stories of situations across the world about starving families. I had the students read the stories and another students capture their responses on the board. We then looked up hunger statistics. I ran out of time for my lesson because we had a two hour delay today. :(

Ag Mechanics - I talked a lot with my aunt, who is a teacher, this weekend, and we think the best way to approach the class is to have it really student centered and have a lot of it be inquiry based. Now, I have changed my bellwork to an essential question or two of what they need to be able to answer by the end of class while they take apart their engines. Today they were supposed to be able to tell me why their flywheel was important. I told them to look it up in their manuals and figure it out. I then went around to the different groups and quizzed them on it and explained why it is important and how it works. There are so many different engines in that class...they really need individualized instruction. They also pay attention better since they are learning more in a one on one environment and they have the engine right in front of them to be able to reference and be like ohhh so that is what she is talking about.

Tuesday 

8th Grade - So today I taught 8th grade for the first time. We reviewed the terminology for the animal science quiz they have tomorrow. I also got to be a real teacher all by myself. Mrs. B had to give a presentation for the high school students to help them pick classes for next semester. She got someone cover her 8th grade class while I taught. However, I think that the person that was supposed to cover forgot, because they came for the last ten minutes of their second period. The classes went great though. I had them review their notes then we did a group activity where they had to fill out the chart without their notes and without talking. Every thirty seconds they switched the paper and either filled in the charts or changed their classmates answers depending if they were correct or not. After that we started reading the second part of their notes to learn more about the uses of animals. I had the students read then we talked about the products that come from the large animal industry.

By the end of class I was really happy with how everything went. I also got super hyper and happy with how the day went and Mr. Stollar and the one girl that has an independent study during our prep period laughed at me and said they wanted some of my happiness.

Leadership - I am not happy with how this class is going. I feel like I am not as good as a teacher as what I was when I first started with them. I think I need to be more confident. It is not that I am feeling unconfined, but sometimes Mr. Stollar tells me that I am too relaxed and too chill. I need to be more assertive like how my horticulture students told me for my teacher surveys. Mrs. B wrote down that one of my star children gets me derailed. Which he can be quite distracting. I think I need to be more organized about....I don't even know. I feel that it is hard to get class started since I wait for them to finish their bellwork then I have to regain their attention and ag business is talking, but I need them to focus on me rather than what the other class is doing. I just need to be better with this class. I think it will go better the next two days because we are doing similar things as to what I did in horticulture class, so I will have already taught it once.

Ag Mechanics - This class went really well today. My one student that is typically so loud and just so full of energy was actually quiet today. It kind of freaked me out. But later on in the class he called me over.... and his repair manual was open without me asking! He was having troubles getting his cam gear out of his engine. I helped him look up the directions in the repair manual and together we looked at how to do it and I told him to try it and I would come back later. He got it out by following the directions. I was so proud of him for going to his repair manual first rather than asking me. Another group with a techumseh engine had a part on it, I have no clue what it is, we couldn't find it in the repair manual, we worked on it for a long time, none of us could figure it out, but one of the senior boys that has work release was in the shop working on homework for another class was in there and I called him over since he liked to tinker with things. He solved our problem in two seconds. The students I was working with and myself all did a face palm at the same time. How on earth had we missed that simple step??

The really good thing about ag mechanics I think is that the students are realizing that I don't know everything... but that it is okay, because I will work with them and help them look up things in the repair manuals and we will find the answers together. They sometimes tease me like "you don't know what this is??" and I'm like dude, I have never worked with a techumseh or a honda engine before. And they let me go and we figure it out.

The one problem today in class was that one group was not doing their work. And these students are the ones that are really "interested" in small gas engines. They had worked on a truck for the first part of class, but didn't ask me about if they could or not and when I asked them about it they said that they asked Mr. Stollar because he is the real teacher. I said no, I am the teacher until I leave in April, you have to direct those questions towards me. I don't know what to do about those two. I am going to make them work closer to the other groups tomorrow.

Wednesday

8th Grade - So I couldn't really speak today. I kept saying words wrong and kind of slurring them together. Don't worry, it was just a Jeanne moment, not anything else. A student said goggles as something that people typically wear for food safety and I started writing google and we had a laugh about not writing google. They had a good time taking their quizes and a lot of them finished quickly and correctly. The girls are really funny, they hush the boys in the class. One of the boys asked me if he was my favorite but I told him I am not allowed to have favorites. I was honestly nervous about teaching 8th graders but it is going really well so far. Although, I guess it is the honey moon period for them. Hope it stays positive.


Leadership - Class went well today. It was a CDE day so we were learning about agronomy. I four stations set up around the room. One where they had to look up their homes on the soil maps, another where they had to prep for a lab tomorrow, another where they practiced using the soil triangle, and lastly one where they completed a soil ribbon test. The students were mostly on task. Well, they all were expect for one individual who typically is not on task. However, I had a participation grade today and whenever I caught him off task he lost a point. By the end of class he was actually being focused. Another student that I use to have problems with, I sat her with a group of just girls and I am getting a lot more out of her. She is doing well. I think the students liked being able to do different hands on activities and I hope that this class can really start improving.

Ag Mechanics - Today we started to learn about carburetion. I had two of the students attempt to demonstrate a venturi, but they did not have a good enough lung capacity. After we went over the basics of carburetion, we went out to the shop. Three groups are done and they started to help the other groups as well. The students that I had issues with yesterday, apologized to me today, which is very mature of them. They said that they didn't mean it the way it sounded. They asked me for help with getting the cam shaft out of the engine today and I told them to look it up in the repair manual. They then at least got a repair manual out, and said that even another student got it out yesterday and was using it without me having to prompt them. They asked that student to help and I don't think they looked it up correctly, but group collaboration is good as well.

Thursday 

8th Grade- Class went well today. We went over how to ear notch pigs and how to correctly read them. I don't know how to relate to 8th graders, they are a different breed. They have a lot of energy....and it isn't negative energy...they are excited to learn this information. I need to join them in their excitement and need to be a little more chipper in the morning.

Leadership - We worked through our lab work with the different soil textures and layers. I am starting to really come down on a student that is always messing around on my class. I am trying not to give him an inch and trying to get him to work harder in class and try to make him not mess around so much. After that we went through a powerpoint and related it to our lab. There was also a sexual joke in class without the student meaning to, and the whole class started laughing. I forget what exactly I said, but Mrs. B left a note on my desk saying that I handled it well.

Ag Mechanics - I had emailed a Penn Tech Professor to ask him how a student should prepare to go to college and today I finally got an email back. I gave it to the student interested in diesel mechanics and told him to read it. I didn't really talk to him that much about it, but I wanted him to process it and think about it, then if he wanted to, we could talk about it. I helped other students take apart their engines. Today was kind of a relaxed day, some rest and relaxation. We then went to an assembly with the whole school. There was a teacher band which was really cool!


Friday

 If I was at school I would have been planning and working on grades from the previous marking period. Instead, I was in State College for the second student teaching workshop. It is kind of insane that we only have five weeks left in our cooperating centers. I know that it is going to just fly by. I really hope I am affecting my students in a positive way. I am going to throw myself into these next few weeks. The student teacher conference was really helpful and beneficial as we helped each other with lesson plans and learned about and practiced some of the many hats that teachers wear.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

SLLC

This was my first time every attending SLLC. I never went as a student, and now I got to experience it as an agricultural educator. It was a really cool experience, really tiring! I thought I was going to have downtime to work on lesson plans and the grading I brought with me....nope, it was basically go go go!

I really enjoyed talking with the other teachers, which can be found in my other blog about the professional activities that I attended.

The community service was an interesting experience. My bus had a lot of musical talent, courtesy of Mike's cooperating school, Cowanesque Valley. A lot of the boys had been in a musical together so they kept breaking out into songs from that as well as a variety of country songs. One of the boys, is actually the younger brother of a friend of mine from college. I asked him if she was his sister and he gave me the weirdest look, it was quite comical. He then introduced himself. I said my name was Ms. Case, then I said, Jeanne, then I was not really sure as to what I should call myself. I never know if I should call myself Ms. Case or Jeanne when introducing myself to students that aren't mine. Mike and I also got the job of washing the stairways.

I was thoroughly impressed with the speed of service at Hoss's. We were lucky to have been the first bus that got there and we got out of there in record time as well. On the bus, I tried to get one of my girls to sing along with the boys, but she was not into that. The dance was fun. I enjoy having my own little dance party in the back of the room with the other student teachers. SLLC was really different from ACES in this regard because all of my PSO friends were not there to dance with and the students that I brought are not the ones that enjoy when I make a fool out of myself and dance with them. So instead Cassidy and I line danced by ourselves in the back of the room.

After the dance and reflections, I helped out with courtesy corps again. It was a good experience, working with seasoned ag teachers and hearing stories of different teaching experiences. It is also good to hear how to correctly tell students to be quiet.

Tuesday morning was fun as well. I got to see some of my Farm Bureau Friends again, and it was great to watch the students interact with the legislators. The room was packed with blue jackets. It was wonderful. I actually sat with Abby's group of students since mine was full and I got to talk to them about the FACE conference and ag ed since one of the girls will be going to Del Val for it.

The truly great thing, was talking with the girls about what they got out of the experience and what they learned. They really got a lot out of it and can see how what they learned related to them. The one girl wants to get so involved now. She wants to run for the state officer nominating committee this year, state officer later. She wants the Dover chapter to start doing more community service. It was great! She got good things from the conferences and this is what the conferences are all about, what they are for.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Week 8 - Phew I'm tired.

Monday and Tuesday at SLLC

Wednesday - I'm tired. I'm mentally tired. My brain hurts.

Horticulture - So, I actually stayed in this class today. The first half we went over the jeopardy game. I wanted the students to know what will be on their exam. After our game was done we went out to the greenhouse and started working on more plug trays that the students had picked up and we were planting. I love being out in the greenhouse because all of the students work the whole time. They even get started on their different jobs without me having to nag them about it.

Leadership - I can't decide if I liked how class went today. I went over the creed speaking scores, did my interest approach, and had them work on their project researching the different commodities across the country. The students on task. I called students up one at a time and we went over their grades, how students thought the class was doing, if they had any questions about the class. I also encouraged some students to compete in the CDE for the creed. They told me they would think about it. So many students in this class actually work hard and try to do a good job, however, some of the students really just feed off of each other and enjoy the attention they get from each other. I am going to change seats again Monday to get other groups to work together. My goal this week is to really make my class relevant for one of the students, that isn't a bad kid, but doesn't understand the that these soft skills will actually be helpful to them.

Ag Mechanics - Well, turns out some of the videos that I left them didn't work. And only three of them completed the worksheet. So, we finished the worksheet then did a demonstration on how to test our spark plug. After we went over the steps to follow as we take apart the engines we went out to the shop. I think class went okay today. It is just so hard to get some students to work sometimes. Students that completed the worksheet I had go around and teach their peers. And they legit did teach, they wouldn't just give them the answers. I went around as well and helped the students figure out the formulas. I really need to study up on engines.

Thursday - 

Horticulture - this class is seriously my favorite. And..... I'm pretty sure today was my last day with them... forever... So sad. But, I told them they could come visit me in Mrs. B's room and I will be conducting an SAE visit at the one girls farm this Sunday, and another girl confirmed that Monday is the FFA meeting. I gave them their test for the hydroponics unit and a rubric for them to grade themselves. I also gave them a couple open ended questions for them to answer about how they liked the different activities/ what they think could be improved. I am really interested in reading them, but I am going to wait until I have all their grades submitted like I promised. After everyone was done with their test and their papers were handed in, we went out to the greenhouse. Everyone works together so well. These students may never work together again in another class or even during the classroom portion, but out in the greenhouse, everyone is working and they are working together. I love it. I am going to be sad switching to 8th grade, but I will be able to keep track of the progress in the greenhouse when I visit after my other class periods or during 5th period. I really want to start one of the girls that comes in on the weekend to water with a practicum skills SAE book. Time are good in horticulture class. :)

Leadership - my brain is not working as fast. I know in my other blog that I said I had developed teacher eyes, but they are gone. I have not been picking up on things as fast and the students are starting to get rowdy. I need to start being more assertive and firm. There needs to not be as much side chatter. We made an awesome map of the agronomy crops across the country to get an idea of how diverse the subject is. Tomorrow we will work on committees, I will have more time to work on classroom management during this time.

Ag Mechanics - well, it went well. Didn't go as planned, but it went well. I had the students do their bellwork and we were working on filling out one of the worksheets that had all of the specs on it...I walked out of the classroom to help a student find their make and model engine on their number then all of the students trickled out and started working on their engines. When I was in the classroom, I noticed that a lot of them were done already anyways so they were going to be allowed to go out soon regardless. Mr. Stollar and I just ended up walking around and helping students with their engines. I am still having problems getting two individual students to complete their work. I emailed a professor at Penn Tech that teaches in the area that one of the students is interested in majoring in. I think if I get proof that it is important to do your work that I will get a better response rather than just telling that individual that they need to do it. I also don't know if I should even fight the battle in the classroom of making them listen. They work much better in the shop when Mr. Stollar and I work with them. They ask questions, they listen, the converse about the subject. In the classroom I get hostility. It is interesting.

Friday - 

Exploratory Ag (8th Grade) - Today I just observed the 8th grade students finish a test and start working on their animal science terms. I will start to teach next Tuesday. This will definitely be an interesting experience because I get to teach the same thing back to back! I am looking forward to the new opportunity.

Leadership - today things went a lot better. I explained that some of them need to redo their manuscripts for the speeches because they did not include resources or a cover page or other aspects that were easy points on the rubric that they had for a long time. I also reviewed the class expectations with the students to make sure they are refreshed on what I want from them. We then had a committee meeting and the students got to practice PARLI PRO!! This took a while, but it was one of the first times, and it will get faster with time.

Ag Mechanics - I told the students if they actually listened the first part and did their bellwork that we would be able to go out to the shop sooner. This actually worked. They stopped talking and listened while I reviewed what we were going to do for the day. I think this will start to be my approach. EVERY ENGINE IN OUR SHOP IS DIFFERENT! Like, really different. Like different types of engines, different models, different everything. One engine is so old that the armature was inside of the flywheel. This will be a very educational experience for me, but it will also be really hard. I also prefer working with the students in smaller groups rather than in front of the whole class.

5th period - (FFA) - I allowed two students who did poorly on the creed redo it so they could be passing. I then went to the end of the officer meeting since we will be having an FFA meeting Monday. I wish I could have been at the whole meeting but duty calls.

Professional Events - ACES and SLLC - It's not just for the kids!

As I traveled with my chapter to Harrisburg for the conferences, ACES and SLLC, I got to see the "teacher" side of things. Instead of attending workshops and meeting people in blue jackets, I sat in a conference room, meeting other teachers and learning about various things that could help me out in my teaching career.

At ACES conference we learned more about AET, a new record keeping process, that will not go away and will start to faze out the Pennsylvania Record book. This was very beneficial since I am teaching my leadership class how to use it as we start to plan our SAEs. I also plan to use it eventually when I have my own chapter and will have all of my students on it rather than using two different record books. Mike Woods also gave a presentation on  National Chapter awards and how to be successful with them. This helps to advertise your program and get recognition for all the AWESOME THINGS YOUR CHAPTER DOES! It was also just a great professional experience to talk to the different teachers from across the state and figure out what they do with their chapters and AET. There is always something to learn from someone.

At SLLC I helped with grading the proficiency awards. I helped Mrs. B and one of our students fill out his in specialty crop production, but it was really beneficial to see other applications. In Pennsylvania there are a lot of opportunities that are not taken advantage of with proficiency areas that do not have any applicants in. Now, I can take this knowledge that I have learned and help my future students gear their SAEs to different proficiency awards, for them to get recognized and awarded for their hard efforts.

Another professional activity was a discussion with the teachers about where we want Pennsylvania Agricultural Education to be in the next five years. It was really interesting to listen to the different opinions of the new teachers and the ones that have been teachers for more than fifteen years. I also got resources for soils from a teacher that was grading and had extra packets with her.

Later, the Pennsylvania Department of Education sent a representative in to inform the teachers about Student Learning Objectives (SLO). These are becoming a requirement that school districts are starting to have their teachers do. She gave us resources that we can access on-line to help us out with forming them for our classes. She talked about having students complete a mock customer interaction and sales presentation where they earn at least a 75%. This aids with the students professional growth especially if they are staying on the farm. I frequently remind my freshman that are in my leadership class that they need to know how to talk to their customers on the farm if they are going to take it over. It is important to be able to show what we are teaching in our classes and how we are evaluating our students.

Through the professional development experiences I have learned a lot more about Pennsylvania Agriculture Education. It was also interesting to talk to Mr. Stollar about what we learned at SLLC because even he, who was at the old guys table, still learned more from just talking with other agricultural teachers. I think that just really goes to prove that there is always something to learn no matter what.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Week 7

Monday -

TODAY WAS ONE OF THOSE FREAKING DAYS! We had a two hour delay, I left to get at school really early to get a lot of things done.... but the roads were covered so I had to drive really slow. I felt unprepared for classes and my students didn't want to work. AND, did I mention, it was my first day teaching a full load??

Horticulture- Today, a bunch of my students did not come, and those that came didn't have very much energy. I take my vibes off of my students a lot, so I didn't have a lot of energy. And our classes were cut to only an hour. And I forgot what time class ended. And we were in the greenhouse. So, my students were late to second period because we all lost track of time. The students were starting to plan how to create their hydroponic systems. They started recording their materials, hypothesis, and title. Tomorrow, I hope to be a little more mentally organized and to have more energy!

Leadership- I have given my students weeks and weeks and weeks to complete their speeches. Did I mention weeks? Today, I gave them time to do the finishing touches on their speeches and really get to the nitty gritty parts of the speeches. Did they do that? No. They stared at me and said they weren't ready. Instead of using the time that they had to work on their stuff they just complained and tried to write petitions about how unfair it was. Some students actually used their time wisely and I spent extra time with them helping them out. I told the students that refused to work that it is really easy to grade a zero.

Ag Mechanics. - this class went well. I explained the bellwork procedures as well as the rules for the classroom. We then went over the four strokes of an engines and did the exercise that Dr. Ewing uses with the three students representing the intake valve, piston, and exhaust valve. Some of the students really got it while others did not catch on as fast. We then worked on horsepower and used an activity that I found on CoP. The students carried medicine balls 100 feet across the shop while they were being timed. This got them out of the classroom. (I didn't want to cold shock them by having them in the classroom for the whole period when they were use to welding the whole period). It went well and one of the students that is really good at math, went through the different steps on the board to help his classmates. Overall I think it went okay for a first day.


Tuesday - Today we went over a quick mini lesson about plumbing so the students would have a basic knowledge of how to create their hydroponic systems, we then went to the greenhouse for the students to actually start creating their hydroponic systems. The majority of the students were engaged and working, I had to keep directing a student back to working with his group. The individual kept getting distracted by their phone and headphones. A lot of students kept asking a lot of questions and "what if we try this?" or "I have an idea..." which I thought was really great since they were getting into the lesson. I feel like it could have been a bit more structured....but today I just also really wanted them to get a jump start on their projects. I feel like I am learning right along with them, which kind of stresses me out since I don't know the answers to everything.. but the students are really forgiving and we are learning together. Friday will be my last day with them since I will be at SLLC Monday and Tuesday. This kind of bums me out since they are a great group of students and I will not see a majority of them in other classes.

Leadership - class went well today. I laid out the ground rules for the public speaking in the class. The students drew at random to decide order that they would go in. All the students gave me their best, a lot aggred that they could have done better. Two made it through the whole speech, which really made me happy, because I was scared for a while with how they had been talking in class. I had them write a reflective piece on it afterwords to tie in what they learned. Tomorrow the prepared public speakers will be going.

Ag Mechanics - So today we were doing tool part identification. For my interest approach I started pulling parts out and asking them to tell me what they were. They could not tell me what a majority of them were, which was the desired reaction. And I was like okay, so I guess we need to learn about this today. We then watched a video about the different parts of the engine and went through a powerpoint while pulling out the different engine parts out of the bucket. The students then decided to pick on me and test what I knew. Now, I know about engines.....but I am not a fast thinker with them and I was kind of stumbling a little bit, but then it switched it on them. They were asking me questions that they knew, so I made them answer and explain. Which they did, with joy. I also jumped off the sinking ship of tool id and started on a worksheet they will be completing the next couple days. I again had two different students explain on the board how they got the different formulas for horsepower and peer teach. So, this class stressed out, but I talked it over with Mr. Stollar and Mrs. B, but they said I was fine, and the students are nice. It is definitely easier knowing that the students do respect me and that they were just good naturally teasing me rather than being nasty about it. I AM going to have to really be on my toes for this class and do my research so I will remain on top of the information and stay prepared.

Wednesday -

HUMP DAYYYYYYYY! 
Today we operated on a two hour delay schedule...except in the morning since the students were being dismissed two hours early.

Horticulture - we continued working on our hydroponic systems. We reviewed what we need to have on them as a class before going out to the greenhouse. In the greenhouse, the groups got to work and stayed on task. They kept working together and helping each other out with their different strengths. Class was only an hour today, so I wanted to make sure we got to work on the hydroponic systems. The next two days will be half time in the classroom and half time in the greenhouse.

Leadership - today we started the prepared public speeches. The students did well. We did not get to finish everyone today due to the shortened schedule but we will finish the last three tomorrow. The students did a really good job at listening and asking questions. I told the students that they could get bonus points for good quality questions.

Ag Mechanics. My brain does not think fast with ag mechanics. Like really slow. And math is not my strong suit. The students like to test me to see how much I know. This is causing a problem. I get flustered with my lack in math knowledge and technical skills, especially when they keep asking me. I believe if I was working with them one on one it would go better because I would have more time to think. However, I don't because I am in front of the class with everyone looking at me. The student that is really good at math and everything is the one that keeps bombarding me with questions. Previous to me starting this class, I got along with him. I think he is frustrated with my lack of knowledge. I feel like I need to have a one on one conversation with him to see if he would be willing to help me with the technical portions of the class. I need to work my butt off for this class. I wanted this challenge, it is one of the reasons I picked this school, but now I need to step up to the plate.

Thursday - Today in horticulture class we learned about indoor pollination. I made guided notes to make the powerpoint go a little smoother and to not have to wait a lot for the slower writers. After we finished the lesson in class we went out to the greenhouse. Some of the students were finishing up their hydroponic systems, so they started on seeding other plants. I like to keep everyone working. Some of the students were discussing different ways to run their hydroponic systems so it was good student collaboration.

Leadership - We finished more of the speeches before lunch. One student did not complete their speech or bring it with them so they introduced themselves to the class and said that they would have it tomorrow since they were unprepared. After lunch we worked on committees and they got a lot of stuff done. I floated around a lot and worked with the different groups.

Ag Mechanics - Last night, I prepared a lot, I did all the math homework, I had a friend from college double check my math and micrometer readings. I wanted to be prepared today. The student that I had talked about yesterday came up to me before class started and apologized about yesterday. Apparently his math teacher said something do him ( I have never met this teacher as far as I know, and we speculate another student mentioned something). Anyway he seemed really genuine and I explained where I was coming from and that I was worried that I was frustrating him and he said he just wanted to make sure the other students didn't get confused. The end result was that we were cool and everything was fine. I attempted to go over the micrometer worksheet on the board but I feel like I never have their attention, so I ended up just traveling around the classroom and teaching in groups of three or so. This worked so much better because I was able to take my time and make sure that they really understood it. The students wanted to do well, they kept coming up to Mr. Stollar and I to make sure their answers were correct. Next, I have them a list of things that they had to use the calipers on in the shop. I had them work in groups of two. I traveled around to different groups and made sure they understood how to use the calipers correctly. The student that is really good at math, pointed out that I asked for the width of the table and asked if I wanted depth instead. I thanked him for my typo and went around to the different groups and told them about my mistake as well. I get so frustrated with myself when I mess up. I really need to work to make sure he doesn't think I am frustrated with him because I should never get frustrated at a student for being intelligent. I should promote him so much for that. Which I did, I had him do the ag mechanics CDE, which was his first CDE, and he got first place. As I traveled around to the different groups I got to get a lot of rapport with the students and really work on them with that one on one basis. At the end of class I was not as anal about them gathering around the door and instead went up to them and talked to different groups of them. Hopefully tomorrow will be like today and go well.

Friday - Horticulture went well today. I had the students read an article about global hydroponics then we had a discussion about it. It was good to have the global part because a lot of students did not even know what continent England or Israel were on. We then went to the greenhouse to plant plug trays as they came in today. All the students were on task and the operation ran smoothly.

Leadership - my students seemed extra squirrely today and like they did not get along. I don't think I did a good enough job of connecting the content with our activity of building towers out of spaghetti and marshmallows. Mr. Frederick sat with one of my most active freshman boys, which I think was good for him, since he had an authoritative figure with him constantly.

Ag Mechanics - Today went better again. I met with Mr. Stollar before school started that day and went over my math problems again. I also had them out in the shop for a little bit to test the compression on their engines. In the classroom I went over the piston displacement formula on the board then assigned them a problem. I traveled around the room and made sure that all the students understood what was going on. I then handed out a quiz for them to complete. It was to show me what they had learned throughout the week and it was the end of the introductory unit. I want to start tearing our engines apart next week. I think that this class will be much better when I can work with the students in smaller numbers.

Friday, February 28, 2014

Week 6

Monday -  Horticulture class went well. There was a student that did not want to participate again, but we worked through it. The students conducted hydroponic water tests and we analyzed them to see if they are suitable to grow our plants in hydroponically. We had a good discussion that tied in everything that we have been talking about thus far.

Leadership - today I had a work day, the students peer reviewed each others speeches, learned how to work echalk and worked on other homework for the class. I gave them ample opportunities to ask me questions or voice concerns about the class that they may have. I did not receive any type of those things. My student teaching time has been pretty easy since my students have not been hanging in their homework. They are going to get a glimpse of mean Jeanne tomorrow so they know that I ma serious about making my assignments count and if they do not hand them in, they will fail the class.

Ag Mech went well. The students continued to work on their welding and we started reminding them to bring engines in to work on for next week.



Tuesday - Horticulture class went really well today. We had a inquiry-ish lesson today. We were creating primitive hydroponic systems like that the Aztecs did. I gave them directions, but I changed some of the supplies based on what we had available in the shop. Some of the students followed the directions, some of them tried their own version of the project. The students were a little frustrated initially that it was not all laid out for them, but as the class period went on they got more creative and I believe were really enjoying the work. Only about a third of the groups finished, so we will be finishing it up before class another day this week. I think it was really good for them to be able work through the problem themselves and complete the trial and error since that is what they will have to do in the real world. They need to learn how to figure things out for themselves.

Leadership - Today I had to be a little grumpy with the class and put their nose to the grind. I am having problems with students completing their homework at home. They just don't hand their assignments in and thus, are doing bad in the class. I have them their grades today, which lit the fire under some of their butts. I told them that I would work with them during homeroom or during 5th period, but that they had to schedule it with me and that I would not hound them down to make sure they had everything. They are in high school and they need to have that own personal responsibility to make sure they are passing their classes.

Ag mechanics went well. One of the students said I was cool. I keep teasing two of the students telling them that they better pay attention to my small gas engines lessons so they will be able to get first place in the small gas engines career development event.

Wednesday - In horticulture class we went to a local nursery. At the nursery students were able to learn about potential job opportunities and see what what we are talking about in class REALLY does relate to the outside world. We recently talked about pH in class and the nursery owner asked questions and talked about how important it was for them to keep track of pH in their operation. I will discuss with my students tomorrow about what we learned there. I really want them to see that connection and why, I do what I do. The students behaved really well during the trip. I kept track of who asked questions about what and how many times they spoke.

Leadership - we went over the POA today and created committees in class. For the powerpoint introduction for the POA I had one of my squirmy students be my clicker to change slides. This really helped him out, however, I did have to actually yell in class today because the individual kept taking his friends stuff and was out of his seat when he was not supposed to. I am going to have a chat with him tomorrow to let him know that it is not acceptable behavior and he will get morning detention if he does not shape up.

Thursday - Horticulture - Apparently today was the day to miss. I had four students missing. Today we reviewed what we learned from the field trip and talked about how what we are learning in class related to it. After that we headed out to the greenhouse for some students to finish their chinampas (Aztec hydroponic systems). Groups that finished early work on transplanting the geraniums that we got yesterday from Trail Nursery. They learned how to properly prepare the soil for transplanting, making sure it was moist but not too wet, how to break up the bottoms of the plug trays then transplant them into the larger pots. I taught a set of three students how to do all the steps first. I then traveled around the room and worked with various groups of students at different stages. Later in the class period I heard the first group that I taught explain to another group how to transplant.... and they did it perfectly. It make me really happy how well they were listening. The class went well, they followed all the procedures correctly, cleaned up, and had three minutes remaining before the bell rang. We went over what we were going to do tomorrow, and if they finished their class work efficiently then we would have more time in the greenhouse.

Leadership: Today we finished the reading of Wilber and Orville Wright. The students took their last quiz and most of them finished it in two minutes (they're crazy). We then had another Socratic seminar. These are really interesting because it forces the students to answer the round robin questions. There was not as much individual participation, but that will come with time I guess. I am thinking about assigning other reading assignments so we can have more class discussions and see if we can get more people to participate.

Ag Mechanics - I worked more with the students on their welds and discussed what they did wrong and correct. I think that I am gaining good rapport with them despite not being their main teacher. I am glad that they have opened up to me a little more as the weeks have gone by since I think that will make it easier to transition to being the teacher next week.

Friday - Horticulture- today we went over different hydroponic systems then went to the greenhouse. I assigned groups today so the students could get use to working with other people. I did not have many issues while they were working with each other. One student did not really want to participate but I will keep working on him. After the students presented with their groups about the different systems, we went to the greenhouse to continue transplanting. One student was just kind of standing there and I asked him if he wanted a job. He said that he did, so I sent him back to work with another student and fill pots. That was the first time that the student seemed actually interested to be in class. I am hoping that it will continue as class goes on and he becomes more engaged and will eventually become active in FFA.

Leadership class - today we messed with AET. I really should have spent some more time on the system before trying to explain it to the students. We got a decent amount accomplished, but I did not feel as prepared as I could have been. I also wish that I would have talked with my teacher a little more about what she wanted them to complete or leave alone. One of the students thought it was "cool" that I was not even facing him and still saw that he took some thing from one of his friends. I told him to give it back and he is like but, uh what? How did you see that?? You were not even facing my direction!. Muahahaha I have teacher eyes now, so he better watch out. Only three students sent me their speeches for me to review, so I hope that everyone else is prepared for Tuesday and Wednesday next week when we will be going over speeches in the class. Ohh and a student made me so proud today. I asked one to help one of their table group mates with AET and he did! Without complaining! And he was really nice about it! That is something that really makes me happy.

Ag Mechanics - the students started to bring in their engines today. Others have again been showing me their welds and talking about them.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

ACES - Paving the Way

ACES has always been a conference near and dear to my heart. It was a place where I actually got to meet and interact with other chapters from across the state and get to hang out with my cousins chapter. This weekend was the first time since high school that I have been back to the conference and it did not let me down.

The maturity of my students will never cease to amaze me. Knowing what my adviser had to deal with along with horror stories from other teachers, my students are very well behaved. Earlier in the week my leadership watched an etiquette video that was created by a national officer. I heard the students in that class educating their fellow chapter members about the proper etiquette for the dinner -- this made me excited that they were actually paying attention in class :p! Some of the gentlemen needed a little extra prodding and reminding that the napkin goes on their lap, but they complied with my and my fellow teachers wishes and did what we asked. They do not understand it now, but the soft skills of proper manners that they are learning will be so beneficial to them later in life. Whether it is a dinner or lunch meeting with a boss or clients, or sitting down with their significant others families for the first time. Knowing how to properly conduct ones self is vitally important and something that is not typically taught in the classroom. This is one of the many advantages of FFA.

I also saw the maturity at the dance. I never felt like they were not conducting themselves properly. Some of the students had wanted me to teach them how to line dance but they did not feel comfortable going to the front of the dance floor where I was with the past state officers, so I found them later after talking to Mrs. B. They also played a swing dancing song where I taught two of the gentlemen how to correctly spin a girl in a circle. When I was checking the students into their rooms later that night, a comment was made that "the boys actually danced this year!!". I am happy that the students enjoyed themselves at the dance and got a kick out of that comment.

The students then continued to impress me at breakfast the next morning. Only one comment was made for them to put their napkins on their laps then one of the older gentlemen started policing the rest of them, which was most likely to tease Mrs. B and I, but hey it got the point across. They were also really good about paying attention to the state officers and not being on their phones the whole time. It is these little things that really makes a student more employable.

Besides being thoroughly impressed with the students I worked with, I also learned some other things while I was there. 

1. Other teachers are always there to help (i.e AET record books) I already knew this fact, but it was reinforced over the weekend. 
2. When students know your expectations, great things can happen. All of our members conducted themselves in a manner that made me proud to call them mine. 
3. It is okay to dance like a fool. I drug a past state officer with me into my group of students to dance to gangnam style. I heard my students go "look at Ms. Case, look at Ms. Case" which really made me laugh. 
4. Ya snooze you loose with getting seats at dinner or breakfast - either have a plan to all sit together or force the students to practice talking to people they do not know and meeting new friends. 

ACES was a really great experience and I will have the members who went talk about it in class and promote it to the younger students for next year. Now, I am looking forward to SLLC in two weeks at it is my first time going!

Friday, February 21, 2014

Week 5 - Happy National FFA Week

Monday - Horticulture went pretty well today. I had the students sit back in their assigned seats that Mr. Stollar had made earlier in the semester. I didn't run out of content today! I beefed up the lesson and added more group activities, and I even had a paper for them to read at then end of class if we got to it. The students behaved well, they answered questions and completed the lab. I just feel like we have not reached that sweet spot that I had the second day last week. Maybe it is due to the fact that we had a four day weekend and now they had to get up early again and it is their first period. I did have two students totally disengage today. That kind of bummed me out since we were doing hands on activities, however it is an interesting situation for the one student and the other is rather close to the first one. I will continue to watch them throughout the week and try to get them engaged in class. Sometimes there are outside factors that the students cannot control and I don't want to make them feel bad. However, if it becomes a regular habit, it will be addressed.

Leadership class went really well today. The students were engaged and when they were working on their speech outlines they were actually quiet and working on their work! Which, is to be expected, but I was still proud of them. I did not have as many problems with talking and phones today either. With the snow days, I reminded them that their outlines are due tomorrow. It will be interesting to see how many I get. They tried to pull well you only have us like 20 minutes to work on it in class, and I said yes, but you have had a lot of time to work on it at home and I expect it tomorrow. So we will see how it goes.

Ag Mechanics went well today. Some of the students like me to look at their beads and talk to me about technique, which I enjoy. A student that I typically talk to in that class seemed upset, or not their usual self, and they were not using the correct welding gloves, so I had to enforce the rules. By the end of the class the student seemed more like normal, which was good.

We finally had an FFA meeting today and it was good to see how the officers worked together and how the members reacted. I think that there can be a little more excitement and enjoyment about being there rather than just the facts, but I don't really know how to change it. I will think about how to jazz it up a little bit while I am here.


Tuesday - Today we had a two hour delay so my classes were only an hour long rather than almost 90 minutes.

Horticulture class went well. The students finished their labs from yesterday. The soil had settled and separated in the jars enough for them to be able to measure it and complete the math problems on it. I should have spent more time going over how to complete the math to make sure that the students really understood it. That is something that I will have to focus on the next time we complete an experiment that involved math. We then connected the experiment to what we were going to talk about for the day and that is the importance of pore space in the growth medium of plants, and then the different types of growth mediums for  hydroponics. Each student had to research a different growth medium and create a poster on it; the students will then complete a gallery walk around the room. The two students that were disengaged yesterday were more engaged today. Instead of getting mad at them I would ask them to join a group, so they joined a group, but they didn't move yet, so then I went to another group and talked to them before coming back, then I asked them to please move, and I walked away again, and they moved. I think that by me not jumping down their throats that they were not as engaged in class as the other students and giving them there space that they were more receptive to me. The rest of class I did not have a problem with them and they were working on their projects just fine.

Leadership is always a fun time. Today we learned about how National FFA week was started, what the Dover chapter is doing this week, and the importance of official dress. I tried to incorporate different activities and facts into this to make it interesting and engaging. I really have not had any problems with them so far this week in regards to excessive chattyness and phones. I hope that this continues. We also went over how to talk to adults since they will be helping serve the lunch tomorrow to the faculty and staff at Dover HS tomorrow during the teacher appreciation lunch. I hope that it goes well and the students enjoy themselves and also learn more about the people that work at their school.

Ag Mechanics was fine. One student kept coming up to me to show me their beads. It is a work in progress and we discussed different techniques for him to try and to make sure that they kept their stick close to the metal when welding.

For National FFA week we had our own version of Hoss's night. Some students and parents joined us at a local Hoss's and we had dinner together. I found a floral shop close by and went there with Mr. Stollars wife and she helped me pick out flowers for the students to create boutonniere and mason jars that were going to be used tomorrow at the teacher luncheon.

Wednesday - Horticultural class went well, we spent the time preparing for the National FFA Week Teacher Appreciation Lunch. The students signed up for the different sections to help out with. One student helped with creating logos for the mason jars so the winner of the flowers would understand what is going on this week in the Ag Department. Some students helps to create flower arrangements in the mason jars. They learned how to create appealing arrangements with an odd number of flowers in the jars to make them appear nicer (its a floricultural rule). Then the rest of the students helped to clean the shop and move the shop tables away and set up nicer tables and chairs for the teachers to come down and enjoy lunch at during their lunch period. After all the mason jars were prepared then the students helped to decorate them with ribbon. Everyone was working on something at one time and all the students were engaged, especially some of the ones that are not typically engaged and I think I gained some ground with some of those students because they did a really good job.

Leadership did a good job today. I read the students the riot act and explained how I wanted them to behave. They acted very well and I was really proud of their behavior. A lot of the students were greeters for the teachers, while others served some of the food and informed the teachers about the flower center piece raffle. I will praise them for their good behavior tomorrow so it will happen again and they know what I expect.

Ag mechanics was spent cleaning up from the luncheon. The students helped clean up and I got to work more with the class in giving directions and directing them to help with different things.

Thursday - Horticultural class went well. I really need to find that sweet spot of balance between the academic students and the students that school is a little tougher for them. I was waiting for students to finish their posters on different growth mediums. I also had a problem when it took some of the students longer to write down what was on the posters than others and the academic students got really bored with the slow pace. I also forgot that my stuff from dropbox was moved yesterday and when I went to load my powerpoint it was not there and I had to improvise with a random powerpoint from off the internet. Phew. All students were engaged at least and I did not have any behavioral problems.

Leadership class went well. They took their reading quiz in about five minutes and most did not do well, maybe they will learn to read the book a little more closely and to actually take their time completing the quiz. We then talked about upcoming assignments and when their speeches are due. We also had a group collaboration about SAE ideas since they need to bring them in tomorrow. After lunch Mrs.B ran a Socratic Seminar. It went well since it was the first time for most of the students. It was cool to hear their different opinions and to dig deeper than the simplicity of the group.

During mechanics I helped a student in the office prepare for the interview CDE that she would participate in the evening. I helped her format her resume and cover letter. She ended up getting 1st place! The two students in mechanics class that I convinced to do the mechanics CDE spent their time brushing up on electricity.

We had CDE's at a neighboring high school. The students all had fun in their individual contests and learned a lot. I got to catch up with Tyler and Casi as well as meet other teachers in the area. One of which graduated from Penn State with my FFA adviser! I helped Mrs. B with the dairy products and evaluation CDE and plugged scores into the computer. I really need to prefect this whole excel thing while I am here because it will be really helpful when I am an adviser.

Friday - Horticulture: Sometimes I think my students just pay attention to me because they like me. Today is a 5th period day so the class was shorter and we had a fire drill so that took up time as well. I wanted to go over greenhouse procedures with them and to teach them how to plant seeds and the proper way to do that. I had various students help me with getting water and lifting soil into the bin, but I don't really think they got the importance of making sure there are not clumps in the soil and that it is at the proper moisture content. Granted, I don't think I really paid attention when I worked for my parents at that age and just listened to the directions without trying to understand the importance or why aspect of it. I then demonstrated how to plant seeds and had two other students demonstrate as well, but it is kind of hard to keep everyone's attention during demonstrations like that. I don't know how to fix it. I do however, like the procedures that I set up for the greenhouse. There is a chart for the students to fill out in the greenhouse to keep track of what is being planted when and who is doing the planting. There is also a sheet for them to self grade their productivity, cleanliness and how well they worked with others. I will enjoy seeing how that works out for me. My goal for next week is to be REALLY prepared for class and to have it exciting enough to keep all students engaged and for them to learn and enjoy what is in the class. I am glad that I set up the greenhouse protocol today because a lot of planting needs done and the students that work fast can work out there and it will give me more time to work with some of the students that academic does not come as fast -- while keeping everyone happy.

Leadership -  I did not accomplish everything that I wanted to. I am also having problems with students turning in assignments that I need them to. I mean it is affecting their grade negatively but they do not have that work ethic developed yet since a lot of them are freshman. We are going to be going over a lot of stuff Monday to review and make sure everyone is on the same page. I feel like the issue is stemming a little from my clarity and a little from their work ethic/ lack of organization. I want to help them to become more organized so all of us will have a better time in class with out all of that frustration.

Ag Mechanics - Went well. Some of the studnets keep coming up to show me their welds and we dicusss what they can improve and how to do that. I talked with another student about bringing in an engine for the next unit that I will be teaching. It is important to remind them a lot about that now so they will remember to bring the engines in. He asked if he should bring a tractor engine in and I said ohhh nooo. SMALL gas engines, SMALL! :)

Today was a 5th period day so all of the FFA students were in the ag end. I got to meet some of the other members that I have not met yet and talk to them about the different career development events coming up in the spring and trying to spark their interests.


This week was over all a good week and next week will be better. Cheers to the first full week of school!