And Then There Were Three...

In my last blog, I talked about my hunt for the perfect cooperating center and what I was looking for for my future student teaching experience. Trying to narrow down what schools I wanted to visit to potentially student teach at next spring was a very stressful idea for me. I was so nervous that I would look for schools that seemed good on paper, but did not live up to my expectations during my visit. I think it is safe to say that my worries were diminished as I visited three cooperating centers: Big Spring High School, Garden Spot High School, and Tyrone Area High School.

Each school was unique and had so much to offer. Tyrone Area High School had classes that were heavy in agricutlural sciences, and when I was there the students were doing a really cool project to help them learn animal anatomy! Garden Spot High School offered food and plant sciences to their students, as well as a general agricultural class. During my visit, I got to tour their HUGE greenhouse and watch their FFA Chapter conduct a chapter meeting! My visit to Big Spring High School was my last stop, and I got to sit in on classes and play Phase 10 with a few of the students! There were so many classes available there, like welding, FFA Leadership, Living on Your Own, and animal science. That visit is also when all the craziness began, and by that I mean the beginning of the Coronavirus.

I visited Big Spring High School on the Thursday of spring break and during my visit, the students and teachers were told to prepare for online learning, which only escalated so quickly. Having online classes has given me so much time to reflect on my visits to cooperating centers. In this mad time of quarentine and social distancing, I am so thankful that I am healthy and with my family and that I have under a year until I begin my student teaching experience.

I loved each visit and I am so excited to have my interview and begin the process of narrowing the three schools down to one!

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