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.