Saying Goodbye.

"Life's a dance you learn as you go, sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow"

-John Michael Montgomery

     The quote above is from a popular country song that was released the year before I was born. I grew up singing to it but never thought it would be one of the few things in my life that still hold true from way back then. The older I get the more I realize how much I don't know. I keep thinking I have it all figured out and then all of the sudden it hits me that I'm not even close.
     I decided when I was in high school that I wanted to be an agriculture teacher. I was one of those kids that was in the ag room every free minute I had. Mrs. Sparks was a wonderful teacher, and I wanted to be just like her. She encouraged me to become an agriculture teacher but warned me it was hard work. That hadn't stopped me before so I kept going.  My options were to go to Penn State or Delaware Valley, but when I visited PSU I knew it was the place for me. Before long I had 2 years of college under my belt and was packing up to come to State College where the real fun began. Dr. Ewing, Dr. Foster and Mrs. Rice were my three greatest influences at Penn State. I am still amazed at how much they do every day to prepare teacher candidates to be teachers. Each one puts so much time into help the student teachers and soon to be student teachers that it's amazing. This brings me to the Fall 2014 semester. I had been told that semester in particular would be difficult, that may have been an understatement. That semester was the hardest time of my entire life and I am glad I made it through, but I didn't make it easy on myself. However, I know I had to go though it because it began to change my perspective immensely. It wasn't just my knowledge of how to be a teacher that grew, it was my perspective of life. Finally, on this journey we arrive at the whole reason for this blog post, student teaching.

 

     After making it though the Fall semester I had decided I wasn't going to be a teacher. I was going to make it through student teaching, try to learn and have fun but there was a huge disconnect for me. I call it the storm before the calm. When I arrived at Juniata Valley I was like a fawn that didn't know how to walk and I was nervous, a lot. I began teaching a 7th and 8th grade rotational class and an animal science class that had mainly seniors. I was not a great teacher by any standards but after about two weeks I began to feel comfortable with daily routines. I realized was getting better at managing a class and adding in different questions to prompt students. I then became a little braver and would throw out an e-moment. Some worked wonderfully and others made the students stare at me funny but it was okay because tomorrow was a new day. My influence at Juniata Valley was Mrs. Russell. She amazed me at how easily she could control a class, get along with students and still manage to respond to the hundreds of emails she got in one day.

     The thing I struggled internally with was how some students acted and their lack of motivation. I was able to get along with most of them but some students made it very difficult. I know just look at it as a learning experience. Everything can't be wonderful all of the time. Motivating students who are difficult is something I hope to constantly work towards in my teaching career. I really enjoyed my time a Juniata Valley and I realize now that I want to be a teacher. I had a moment about half way through student teaching where it hit me that this is what I am supposed to do. Yeah, it was hard but I truly love teaching and look forward to what the future brings. It was really hard to leave on Friday. I had to say goodbye to many students and staff, and Mrs. Russell. All of which I have grown so close with, I really felt like a part of the school even for that short time. There are so many experiences and people I will never forget.

Finally in the shop!

With my second to last week wrapping up we are finally getting in the shop! This is an exciting time for the students and myself as well! Today also happens to be our banquet. Center piece making, present wrapping and certificate printing is in full swing. It still amazes me how one teacher could get all of this done and still teach!

Something I have noticed about my teaching is that I need to do better at setting up for my classes. Since we've started in the shop I have one class working on small gas engines and another doing welding, soldering and cutting. I had done some prep work to get the shop ready, but I didn't do enough. Most of the students who started with soldering had never done it before so I spend a long time giving a demonstration to them. I had to spend a good bit of time in class just getting materials ready. The way to combat this will be for me to think through exactly how the class is going to go and what they will need.

I think the students were impressed with how much I could help them with the engines. There were quite a bit of students who knew a lot about engines from previous experiences,  but still needed some assistance. I was originally worried about how well I knew the engines and whether I would be able to answer their questions or not. It turned out really well and I feel much more confident about my abilities.

Lost Hollow Farm

"Lost Hollow Farm - Where the cows are red and the tractors are green."

  

 

My second SAE visit with a student was with Delaney Musser. Delaney is a 7th grader who hasn't started an SAE record book yet, but is extremely involved in agriculture. Her older siblings have all been through the FFA program and have record books. Delaney is very active in the day to day activities of the farm. She is already used to being in the show ring with her heifer, calves and dairy beef.

 

Delaney and I talked about the possibilities of her SAE project. It is looking like she will have an entrepreneurship SAE with one of the animals she shows. She was working with her dairy beef when I arrived at the farm. Delaney and her sister Stacey showed me around the rest of the farm and I had the opportunity to learn a lot about how a dairy farm works.

 

First we fed calves and I learned about hutches. The girls explained that every cow, calf, and heifer had a name and a number. They were known by their name though. Whenever a cow has a calf the calf's name will start with the first 2 letters their mother's name did. It was so amazing to see how everyone knew each cows name. Stacey then explained how each of the younger kids had a job that they did everyday. The kids rotated everyday so they wouldn't have to do the same thing 2 days in a row. The kids who were still in school had evening chores throughout the week, but not during the mornings because of the early school day.

After finishing the feeding we went to the milking parlor where I learned about how they milk their cows. This was an extremely foreign concept to me. Each person on the farm has one main area that they cover. Delaney and Stacie care for the younger calves. Mark and his Mom do most of the milking. Mitchell makes feed, handles the crops and fixes machinery with his Dad. The farm is a first generation dairy farm and they are extremely proud of that. It wasn't hard to see how dedicated each and every person was to the farm. Thank you for reading!







Beef, Turkeys, and Bunnies. Oh My!

My very first SAE visit! As I pulled up the driveway for my first SAE visit with a student I was extremely nervous. I had a visit with Brooke Emery who is a senior at my cooperating center. She has had long standing SAE record books on a variety of animals. She really enjoys showing her multitude of animals, and so does her brother. She has plans to go to college in the Philadelphia area. She hopes to one day become a coordinator for an elderly home focusing on different kinesthetic activities. My visit was conducted on March 2nd.

Brooke's family owns a small, but very busy farm. They have a large variety of animals mostly because of showing. Their beautiful home is tucked back off from the main road on a little hill. To prepare for the visit I printed out different SAE materials with information and a worksheet for her to fill out. The worksheet asked about what her SAE was, what her goals were for her SAE, and what her goals were for her personally in the next couple of years of her life. I really enjoyed talking to her about her future and how much she's been doing with her animals.

Brooke's current SAE is on her market lambs. She also shows beef cattle, rabbits and pigs. It was extremely evident that her whole family cares very much about all of the animals they have. It was really wonderful getting to meet and talk with her whole family. Brooke works with her market lambs really often to get them show ready. She is very passionate about her market lambs and all other animals she shows. Even though the day was a bit dreary, it was great to see her lamb and how she works with her. Thanks for reading!

What drives you?

What gets you out of bed in the morning? I'm not talking about your alarm that wakes you from your slumber. I mean what gets your butt out of those warm covers and crevice you've created? What motivates you to fix your bed head, brush your teeth, and get out of your hobo at home clothes?

For most college students, in their senior year like I am,  it's a grade to pass a class. I, however, consider myself an exception to that stereotype. I get out of bed for 4 main reasons: students, agriculture, horses and now cows. Only within the last week, have cows been added to the list of reasons I jump out of my bed.

First, the students. I get out of bed in the morning so I can be a teacher or do something to support my teaching done at Juniata Valley High School. Whether it be lessons, professional development, grading, or most importantly teaching 5 days a week, I strive to make my teaching the best it can be at the current time. I still have so many years before I begin to prefect my teaching regime, however, everyday I am getting just a little better with everyday teaching. At this point I know my classes well and know what to expect. I know what works well with some classes and not so well with others. All of this I have found out through trial and error.

My favorite lessons are the ones that I can make hands on in some way. For example, welding with crackers and peanut butter. It was good to go over different welding positions and joints with the students. However, it was great to give them crackers and have them practice the joints and welding positions with a partner. It was fun, reviewed the material, and got a little food in everyone belly.

Second, agriculture. I have found a strong advocate for agriculture inside of myself that I didn't always know was there. I believe it is one thing to teach agriculture everyday, and another thing to  live and advocate for agriculture every day. My middle school students helped me realize how much I loved agriculture as a whole when we talked through the FFA creed. We popcorn read around the room and then went through each paragraph and broke down some of the difficult sections. We stopped at the second paragraph to discuss inborn fondness and the equivalent word we used was a passion. As I talked to the students through examples of inborn fondness that they could relate to I realized that agriculture was one of my passions.

I also had this feeling when I saw a PETA advertisement on the internet. The advertisement was picture of a man holding a bloody sheep and it said "Here's the rest of your wool coat." This upset me very much because the part of the public that doesn't know about sheep sheering won't understand the sheep doesn't actually look like that when they are shorn properly. It was such a powerful advertisement but gave off such an uneducated message that will in turn give agriculture a bad name. I saw this advertisement on Facebook and thought about sharing it and writing out just how I felt. But, I gave it a minute and decided that I was just going to educate people for the next 40 years of my life. I know that the education is the best way to combat incorrect adds such as that one.

Horses have been a life long passion of mine. Within 5 minutes of meeting me people tend to pick up on my love of horses. The reason I took my very first agriculture class in high school was because I loved horses and I could learn more about them there.

My most recent addition to the reasons I get out of bed is dairy cows. Last Thursday I did an 2 SAE visits. The second SAE visit was to a dairy farm and every since them I have been extremely interested in the dairy industry. My blog to follow will be about my entire experience there.

Thank you for reading and here are some additional pictures from the week!

7th Graders reading through the FFA opening ceremonies.

2 teams raced to dress their welder.









A homemade reticulum.

A homemade rumen.

A homemade abomasum.

A homemade omasum.

Trying to determine what part of a ruminant stomach he's touching.



We have... how many weeks left?!?!

Once again time has amazed me. With my forth week concluding, I can't help but wonder where the time has gone? How did I go from a junior that was scared out of my mind at the thought of teaching kids to now teaching a full week by myself?! I have fallen into a routine, but I continue to push myself to find ways to engage the students more and more.

This week I have been looking at different ways to get students to review information that we have covered in class. After introducing new information to students I always do some type of review, practice or extended thinking within the lesson. I have been using a kahoot game, flash cards, student written stories, songs or poems, video clips and worksheets to complete this task. I don't feel as though these are getting stale but I want to do more. I have this awesome sheet that has different ways to check for understanding and I often find myself referring to it for new ideas. I also like doing review games. One thing I have noticed in group review is the students who pick up information quickly can be over-powering. I have tried to ofset this by making these games more individually based but I am not sure I have mastered this yet. I plan to look for new ways and refine the ways I have to review material.

Obviously, classes are all very different. One thing I didn't focus on until this week is making each class tailored to what works best. 3 of the 4 classes I teach are taught for 2 separate periods a day. I noticed that one class does really well with group work while the other does not. My one class in particular are a very great class. They listen contently, do what I ask of them and complete their work. We have learned about different systems of the body previously and it was a very teacher centered classroom. This week for the digestive system I made it a student centered classroom and it worked out very well. However, when I did this with another class it didn't go well at all! It's more work for me to plan differently for 2 classes that I am teaching the same material. However, I find it to be a much better use of class time which makes it more than worth it.

Do you have what it takes?

"I am enough of a realist to understand that I can't reach every child, but I am more of an

optimist to get up every morning and try" - Preston Morgan.

What do 80's soundtrack music, squealing baby pigs, dirty horse tack, bingo, and auction strips have in common? That's part of what is going on at Juanita Valley! As we jam out to some 80's rock the auction slips and money are being counted from the past Saturday. With sales up into the thousands there is a lot of checks to cut! We are also baby sitting two piglets! This is perfect for 2 reasons. The first being the swine unit we just finished in 2 of my classes. The other being the fetal pig dissection that we will being doing next week. It may be a tad morbid to think of pig dissections when the cute little piglets go running around the shop. However, a major part of agriculture is animal production. The majority of our nations consumes meat products. Granted, we don't dissect pigs for the production aspect. We dissect pigs to exam the bones, muscles, and other systems of the body. I want my students to see first hand how what we are leaning on paper is applied in real animals. By better understand the inside of the pig we can create better pigs for agricultural production and in turn the nation.

This week I reflected a lot on involving the community and the support it provides. The community can really help blossom an agriculture program. It gives it that step above and support that a program needs to be truly successful. What are some ways to get the community's support? When you want something from someone you need to make it worth their while. They have to get something in return, it's just good business sense.

A perfect example of how the community and the program mutually benefit is from the FFA's auction that happens this past Saturday. The community brought their unwanted items to the fair grounds. When they arrived they got their number, bought a breakfast bowl and perused the items to be sold that morning. There was a large turn out of over 200 bidders alone. The FFA had 2 picnic tables, corn hole boards, and a saw for sale. The auction went straight from 9am to 1 pm. Most days I teach the kids in my class. However, last Saturday they were teaching me. Being from a horse farm I was very unfamiliar with a lot of the equipment that was there. I had my students and other members of the community educating me about what everything was! It was such a great day.

Going Once, Going Twice, Sold!

SOLD!

With the upcoming consignment auction approaching quickly, Juniata Valley FFA is in full swing. We are also in the process of getting all of the kiddos ready for the parli pro contest, finishing the Hoard's Dairyman judging, and doing SAE visits. With all this going on, I still find time to think about my teaching and how may day went on the ride to and from school.

I still have some students who challenge me everyday. However, the challenges effect me less. I have been working more on having a stern presence at times. After talking to some of the kids, seeing their reaction and observing my cooperating teacher I noticed something. She was great and all of the kids love her, but they know not to set her off. I don't think I've truly seen her get angry with them but there has been a few times that she would get her teacher voice out and it was obvious she wasn't happy. The students understand this. This is something that I noticed kids responded to. They understood the boundaries. Just like with riding horses, teacher have aids. When riding horses you use your seat, voice, hands and lower legs to guide the horse and communicate. When I have students that aren't acting appropriately I have learned to use my tone, language, volume, and my facial expression to the students they need to stop what they are doing. It may sound less than ordinary but it's easier for me to relate behavioral problems to that of horses. It really helps me get out of my way of thinking to explore other options and reasons for this behavior.

All it has been a great week. The chicks are growing larger everyday and so are the kids. I find myself trying to put little life lessons in each day. I really enjoyed SLLC with the 5 students who went. I loved seeing all of the blue jackets, the State Officers, and other agriculture teachers from across the state. My absolute favorite part were the meals. Sure, I love to eat but that wasn't why I loved them. I loved talking with our kids. Asking them what they learned, what they thought of the workshops, what they debated, and how they thought things could have been better. I love getting their insight on different topics. Even though they didn't absolutely love every workshop, they were so engaged and bouncing off the walls when I saw them. They really had a great time and so did I. Thanks for reading!

You might be an Ag Teacher if.....

The following pictures are a sample representative of what a week is like for an agriculture educator...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So as you perused the pictures I am sure you noticed some things that wouldn't be considered part of teaching. Well if no one has informed you I will, being an agriculture teaching is not like being any other teacher. When the kids pick out there classes and elect to take agriculture they aren't just taking a class they are getting an entire program. Yes, they will be in an agriculture class that educates them on agriculture, pretty standard. What isn't always realized is they have the FFA and SAE (supervised agricultural experience) to extend their learning outside of the classroom! The program is designed to get students out of the classroom to learn and be tested in ways other than with just pen and paper.

 

This week for my blog I am choosing to focus on the fun part of being an agriculture teacher. Sure we make lesson plans and develop new curriculum. Then we hatch our own peeps so the students can see and experience what they just learned in class. We grade tests, quizzes and paper. Then we go to CDEs (career development events) and the kids get to judge live animals and receive a score based on how well they did. We teach for about 42 minutes,  7 periods a day, 5 days a week. Then we take a bus of kids to tractor pulls after school, weekend leadership conferences, evening CDE contests, and we get up way before school starts to practice parliamentary procedure.

 

Why do we do all of this "stuff"? The most important reason is the kids are learning, constantly. Even if it's a life skill and not necessarily agriculturally related, the students benefit from everything that is done. The other reason is for fun. Schools are becoming more digital and more centered on standardized testing. Although it can provide some advancements, sometimes a paper and pencil test isn't the best way to truly see what the student knows. I believe it's more beneficial to stomp around in a dusty pen judging 4 dairy cows than to watch them on the TV. I believe it's more beneficial to take the time and make our own playdoh, dye it (and our hands), and create brain sculptures rather than just having the notes and a quiz the next day.

 

My final comment about my week. I was talking to my 7th graders about agricultural careers this week. The bell work on the first day was what is the difference between a career and a job. A career is a lifelong pursuit, not just something you do for money. The bell work on the second day was to list and describe the career you want to have. I wrote everybody's career on the board and I was so proud of each and every one of them. I looked at these 7th grade kids that want to make the world a better place. I tried to elaborate on how each of those were wonderful careers and how it's something they should strive for during the rest of their life. I told them to take a minute and remember this moment and what they want to do. I told them to not let anything get in the way. As they went to work on their projects I welled up a little thinking about how awesome all of the students here are. Looking back now I may have gotten a little too deep with the class but they seem to take it well.

 

After that class was over and I was sitting in the room reflecting on the day and a little light bulb went off in my brain. This is what I am supposed to do. Sure, you would think I might have realized that after about 4 years worth of college and making it this far. However, I wasn't ever sure until that day this week. I have the ability to get up at 4:30 every morning, be the first one at school and the last one to leave. I get tired just like anyone else but I have never worked so hard for something quite like this. I haven't ever pushed myself this much because I wanted something. I push myself because this is my lifelong pursuit. I don't have a definite goal in this pursuit because I realize it will never end. I will never reach a point where I'm like "well I have enough experience and knowledge I don't need to keep trying." It will always be there driving me to get better. I learned a lot about my students this week and a lot about myself. Thank you for reading!

 

 



Mysteries of Teaching

What happens when you open an egg that was in an incubator, at 100 degrees, for almost 30 days? I'll save you the trouble of running out to your local farmer to get some eggs, incubating them and then cracking them open... It's just plain gross. I had one of the best, but gross experiences with 2 of my classes. We had tried incubating eggs, but the majority of them either weren't fertilized or didn't have the capacity to grow past the first week. So this is how the class went: I passed out plates and eggs, the kids cracked the eggs and the contents fell out, they gagged, and then I gagged. There was mass chaos right after the first egg had been cracked. Kids were laughing, they were grossed out and they were learning. It was bliss.

"What an Ag teacher does for her/his students," is what my cooperating teacher said after we had completed our incognito mission. After only 2 chicks hatched out of around 80 eggs the kids were a bit disappointed and well... who wants disappointed kids? Not me! So conveniently enough, the chickens and ducks were in at tractor supply! You can put 2 and 2 together. Ultimately,  we have happy kids and the chicks were donated.

I find that Ag teachers all across the board go out of their way for their kids in a way that can only be admired. That's why I truly believe that being an agriculture educator is a calling. Giving so much of your time, life, and compassion to making the lives of these kids better isn't as hard as I though it would be. The hard part is seeing how ungrateful the kids can be. They take a lot of what happens for granted, but I can't blame them! I was in their shoes at one point too. I didn't realize how much any of my teachers did for me, especially my agriculture teacher. However, I am more thankful now then ever for all of the teachers who have been doing this for years. I don't look at the kids any differently for this, I still think they are amazing it's just an observation I have made from the different schools I have had the pleasure of visiting.  Thank you for reading!

The Rising Sun

As I reflect on my week I see progress. I am nowhere near a seasoned teacher but I am getting better. It's a slow, difficult, but rewarding process but I am becoming more familiar with my classes, students, and material. I was interviewed this week by a student who writes for the paper. She asked me the casual questions like my background, why I became involved in agriculture and my FFA experiences. While I was thinking back to past memories I became a bit nostalgic when I though back to my FFA years. My proudest moment was at my Junior year FFA banquet when I was named FFA President and was finally stationed under the rising sun.

I took my position seriously and spent many hours after school helping my Advisor and doing odds and ends. It reminds me a lot of now! I wasn't always the best student and I couldn't always stay after but more often than not I was the first one at an event and the last one to leave. I find that I do that now with student teaching. I always talk with the janitors and maintenance guys, I find them to be wonderful people. The maintenance guys always joke with me about how I am the first one here in the morning and the janitor just today was talking about how I'm always the last one to leave the parking lot. I really appreciate that people have noticed how much time I put in.

In FFA the rising sun symbolized a now era in agriculture and the progress that we make day to day. I know that the Owl is symbol of the advisor, but I can't help but recognize how I relate to the rising sun just I did when I was in high school. I am experimenting with new classroom technology and doing my best to stay current with agriculture. I strive everyday to make progress with all the kids in my classes and to make progress within myself.

I think I will stay a rising sun for a while because I'm not ready to shine my brightest. I still have a lot of trials and tribulations to go through but I look forward to them and how they will help me grow. Thanks for reading!

Are you ready for ACES?!?

How do you get a room full of high school students to sit in their seats, listen to you, and all comprehend the directions that you are giving? How do you ask deep, higher level order questions to your class? How do you teach students who are all different ages and have different capabilities in the same class?

These are all questions I am asking myself after about a month into student teaching. I have the bell schedule down pat, the student's names are getting easier, and I am getting better at planning lessons. However, I find myself having the most difficulty with asking good questions that go beyond the surface of facts and knowledge. Delving into the "why" of things is proving to be very difficult.

By adding specific questions when I plan lessons I am improving. Even still, I find it difficult to think of those questions when planning the lesson. I have a goal to extend my students and my own thinking beyond facts and basic knowledge. I want students to be creating, summarizing and adapting with what they know and learn.


Currently, some kiddos, my cooperating teacher, and I are at the ACES conference. I have loved ACES since I was in school myself. I think it's a great opportunity for students and it can really spark their interest in FFA. I notice that every year I go I become more familiar with everyone involved. I find more people to say hello and chat with each year. I love that my network is growing and I really feel comfortable around everyone.

Thank you for reading and if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

Week 5

This week was normal in the sense of there wasn't a snow day, delay or early dismissal in sight! However, as a teacher candidate I continue to grow. I have begun to settle into a routine of when planning happens, how I manage the classroom and keeping up with the kiddos. What was different about this week was I had a visit from my university supervisor, my horse has had health issues, and I have been quite sick. This has created a set of challenges for me to complete day to day activities. I feel rather confident in saying that I have made it through the week and feel quite accomplished.

My big focus is on the visitation from my university supervisor. I had been fretting over this for quite some time. I realize that all teachers get visitations from their administration and that can be just as nerve racking. After spending a little extra time organizing and prepping my lessons I spent a while just thinking. I thought about where I was a year ago, or even where I was a month ago. I realized that the change has been incredible. I also think about how much more I have to accomplish. I know as a teacher, you must always challenge yourself to be a better teacher. Consistently strive to stay current in the world, in teaching practices, in technology and stay current with the students.

My lessons this week were good. They were informational, but something was missing. I need more 'why' in my lessons. I have how things work but I don't have the why they work part. After it being brought to my attention I can clearly see that my day to day lessons are lacking higher level thinking questions. Students are being challenged to learn general information, they are not being challenged to be critical thinkers. Being able to think critically is a trait that will follow them where every they go.

My challenge for the weeks to come is to create deeper questions, get students to apply their knowledge and to tie my lessons together in a more sequential manner. With these 3 key areas I hope to bring my teaching to the next level. Thanks for reading!

Week of Wonder

This week I called the week of wonder. As I've continued to teach at Juniata Valley High School I can't help but wonder what next like will be when I pick up two more periods a day. General things, such as remember names, learning the bell schedule, and daily routines are becoming easier. However, I still spend much of my time preparing lessons and grading. I predict that is how the next many years of my career will be. I hope to always be striving to make my lessons better and more engaging. I work everyday to incorporate time for the students to synthesize and review information while also incorporating some new information. I hope this will create scaffolding of information they know into what information they learn.

As far as personal relationships I find myself getting along with many of the students but I have a few who constantly challenge me. My goal is to stay fair, be level headed and continue to create the best lessons I can. I am also working on being a more prominent presence in the class. All of the students know me but some don't respect me. I am feeling more comfortable using different voice tones and volumes to get my point across for the curriculum and for discipline.

I was very excited to start a new came with my 7th and 8th grade agriculture students. Since these students have had me for several weeks they are now comfortable in the class and often time become very chatty when it is unnecessary. One day I started counting and they were all quiet. That day I thought about it and what happens when I get to 3? Well, I couldn't answer my own question so I decided to make a game. When students won't be quiet, instead of yelling over the entire class I begin counting down from 5. When I reach 1 if the entire class is quiet and stays that way, they get a point. If even 1 person is talking, I get a point. I have had great responses! The students hold each other accountable. I don't have to use this technique more than once on most days. It has been a great week here in Juniata Valley and can't help but wonder what new success and challenges will come next week!

The Never Ending Winter!

Well as this week comes to a close, today was by far the most challenging day.  I was responsible for all of the classes today. That's 9 periods worth of students coming in and out every 42 minutes, with the additional students who come in the room instead of their study hall, students who want to buy beef sticks or tea, and students who want to paint projects. With a constant flow of chaos it really is a wonder how my cooperating teacher can manage it all and have time to plan anything! Of course there has to be curve balls like the internet not working and 2 hour delays.

As I found myself facing these challenges and others I became very frustrated but did my best to "keep my cool." I don't want my students to know that I am secretly freaking out. I found that teaching my normal classes were especially hard when I was responsible for all of the students, every period. There was a wonderful substitute teacher who helped me a lot with technology problems and keeping the kids in line.

So this week, my big take away is definitely juggling and flexibility. I am working on juggling the multiple tasks that come with teaching and being responsible for a classroom. Juggling tasks of teaching, preparations, and setting up saws and incubators. No two days are ever the same! Thank you for reading!

Week Two Tid-bits

Week two has definitely had some ups and downs but I'm ending on a strong note! This was the first week that I was responsible for teaching the 7th/8th grade rotational class and the animal science class.

My first class was the 8th grade class. I felt pretty good until I got in front of the classroom. I was very nervous because this was a brand new class, I didn't know any of the students names and I began tripping over my words. When I'm nervous I talk very fast, unfortunately I didn't quite plan enough for my fast talking nerves. I had 15 minutes left in the period when I was on the final activity! Luckily, my seasoned cooperating teacher was able to give me an idea to finish off the period. The last activity was to judge how well the students knew different breeds. I put up 7 different names of breeds and had students write what animal the breed was. This activity showed me that many of the students don't know different breeds very well.


I teach the same class each day for the rotational periods. I had the opportunity to teach this lesson again! After reflecting and realizing that I was talking way too fast, I worked on some questions and things I could bring up when we did the activities. I also felt more comfortable the second time around because I had already facilitated this lesson. I really like having the two periods with the same lesson.

My animal science class is a whole different kind of beast. All except for one student are seniors and the class provides students with a science credit. The students listen attentively, but the information is rather dry and I was finding it difficult to get the class involved in questioning. I added a go-get-it emoment to get the students up and moving and this seemed to help. I also found that when they were more comfortable with me towards the end of the week they were more apt to answer questions.

For next week I will be trying a new way of quizzing called kahoot. I found that the animal science students who are learning prefixes, suffixes and roots were really disliking the way of quizzing I gave. I also have started making them create flashcards to quiz each other. This is a tip I was given by my cooperating teacher.

One of the largest challenges that I am facing for the next week will be to get my 7th and 8th grade classes back on track. We had an early dismissal this week which meant that I didn't have my 7th grade class. This means that my classes are on two different topics.

I'm enjoying my time at Juniata Valley very much and can't wait to see what next week brings! Thanks for reading!

Week One Fun!

This was my first week at Juniata Valley Jr./Sr. High School and it has been fantastic. Monday was supposed to be a field trip to the Pennsylvania Farm Show, but ended up becoming a snow day because of the weather. I was really looking forward to seeing our 6 Keystone and 6 Jacket recipients, for Blue Juniata FFA, walk across the stage. 5 of the Keystone recipients still attended with their family to get their award. I officially started my Juniata journey Tuesday.

My Tuesday started with a new desk to match my cooperating teachers, and my very own Blue Juniata FFA shirt. I spent the day helping in the shop, observing, and talking to the students. Starting Tuesday and continuing throughout the week, I made a connection with 4 students who were practicing welding after they finished their assigned wood project. I began giving them a few pointers on how they can make their welds better and it is amazing to see their progress from just 4 days! It makes me so excited to see them improving.

On Wednesday I spent more time in the shop with the students and their projects. I also had the opportunity to sit in on a science teacher's class. She began the class by going over an activity the students had completed the day before. Essentially, one student started with a "parasite" and then all of the students interacted with each other. After the interaction they were able to see how the "parasite" spread. I was so surprised to see this activity because I have a lesson with the same experiment! It was great to see the correlation between agriculture and the science class.

As my week closes I reflect on what happened and I look forward to next week. I am so excited to start the 7th/8th grade rotational class and the animal science class. I have finished my morning by meeting with the Principal of this fine school. He provided me with some wonderful insight on what he looks for in teachers when hiring and how he works with the teachers on a daily basis. Two things really stuck with me from meeting him. The first being his concept of "we". He expects his teachers to do their job to the best of their ability, but if their is a problem it is fixed together. If anything goes wrong he doesn't point the blame, he works with that teacher to fix the problem. The other big take away was how he thinks of his faculty. He has a background of coaching football and baseball. Therefore, he gave me the analogy of his teachers being the assistant coaches and his students being the players. If something goes wrong, he works with his assistant coaches, not against them.

To say that I have had a great week, would be an understatement. I already love the time that I get to spend here and can tell that April will come way too soon! Thanks for reading!

Science Teacher Observation

I had the opportunity to watch a ecology/biology class today, January 14, while they prepared for their test that is tomorrow. The teacher had many years of experience under her belt and this gave her a strong classroom presence and display of clarity.

Before the review began the class went over the activity they had completed yesterday. This activity began to sound very familiar as I heard the teacher prompt the students with questions as to what had happened the day before.

The students were looking into how a parasite spread from animal to animal. I don't know exactly how they conducted the activity, but the idea was that one student had the parasite and after contact two students had it, then four, and so on. I did the same experiment to show how easily disease can spread through a herd. I used water and white vinegar (which changes the pH), then a pH indicator to show who had caught the disease. The teacher called on students to read the question and give their answer. She would then call on another student for an answer or she elaborated and talked about the answer further. This was a great way for the students to show their answers and talk about them instead of the teacher giving the answers right away.

The rest of the period was spend reviewing for the exam that was tomorrow. The students began by writing their own definition of the word. This is a great way for students to review the terms. They have to internalize the definition in order to write their own.

Final Blog for Fall 2014

I distinctly remember looking at the lab packet the first week of school and being very overwhelmed. Looking through that 44 page book was quite daunting but what I didn’t expect was how much fun it was going to be. I found lab to be difficult to prepare for but it was fun to “play” teacher with my classmates. I also learned a lot about myself and teaching.

              The first lab I had to teach was on juggling. I had 10-15 minutes to teach all of my classmates how to juggle, and the worst part was, I can’t juggle! I had an instruction sheet that walked me through the steps and gave hints. When the day came to give the lesson it was a flop. Trying to teach “students” a motor skill when I couldn’t do it myself taught me an important lesson, demonstrations are important and directions need to be clear, clear, clear!

              There’s a difference in instructing a class and talking to someone one on one and explaining exactly what you want to tell them. I didn’t realize this until after lab. Sure, it seems like common sense but learning how to use variability and methods to teach high school kids is no easy task.

              This lab has forced me to reflect on lessons that I would have loved to walk out of the room and forget as quickly as possible. However, when we are required to write a blog for each lesson you are forced to think about how the lesson went, what you would change, what you liked and what you didn’t like. It was really great to bring to light my bad days and pull out specifically what needed work.

              This lab has without a doubt better prepared me for my teaching career. It showed me the areas that I truly need to be better prepared on, for example clarity in instructions. It has grown my confidence in talking in front of a group and it has brought me closer with my cohort. We had some great laughs and learning experiences in the AEE 412 Lab Course.