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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

8^th 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. 

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.