Week 12

Monday 

8^th 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 8^th 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.