Marvelous Life of Michaela

As I am writing this blog and reflecting on this past week of student teaching, I'm left wondering what even happened. It was one of those weeks where one day you woke up and it was week 5 of student teaching and by the end of the day it is already week 6! This past week started with no school on Monday, and ended with a snow day and a virtual learning day (because of the snow). So with only one full in-school session and another half day of in-school learning, I don't have many days to reflect on, but I do have so much to look forward to! Recap of Week 5: Students are still working on soldering in Intro to Ag Mechanics, and I am realizing how hard it is to have students in completely different places in the shop. I know that most of that has to do with COVID, but I also know that this could happen any year with sicknesses, sports, etc. It is hard to manage students in a shop that are ready to move onto the next project, and still have some that need a demonstration to start th...

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAEs) are the perfect way for students to show off their skills, knowledge, and work in agriculture! I have learned about SAE in college and lived it in high school, but I have never gone through SAE through a teaching perspective. This past week was the first time I was able to experience SAE as a student teacher and it was such a great way for me to learn about how to communicate with students when it comes to improvements, praises, and recommnedations with their SAEs.  This student had a Paid Placement SAE at a local store in Intercourse, PA. We (my ct's and myself) went to this visit after school hours when the student started his shift. This student was so excited to share his job responsibilities with us, and we were able to get a tour and to speak to his work "mentor" and supervisor. The student was continuously praised for his hard work and willingness to help out in any way. His mentor walked us through the store and facility ...

Each week of student teaching seems to go by faster than the last. As I spend my Friday reflection on week four of student teaching, I can't help but to smile at all the activities, meetings, and observations that took place. Thus far, I have only been teaching Agricultural Mechanics and Veterinary Science and they both have been going great. I will soon be adding Horticulture to the mix!  My highlights from the week include:  A soldering demonstration Preparing for a fetal pig dissection An FFA Officer Team meeting My first SAE visit (to view this blog, click here) #GLAG21 On Tuesday, I started teaching Ag Mechanics with a soldering demonstration so that the students could watch and ask questions about soldering before they practiced for themselves. Unfortunately, time got the best of me and my demonstration ended up taking an entire class period. If I could do this differently, I would try to condense this demonstration or set up stations so that the students could start pra...

As week three of student teaching comes to an end, I wanted to take time to reflect on the things that I need to work on and the things that are going well. The end of last week into the beginning of this week was all about COVID, quarantine, and snow days, which ultimately means adapting lesson plans for virtual days.  Monday came and went quickly with a SNOW DAY! This was my very first snow day as a student teacher, and while we will have to make up the day later in the year, it was a great way for me to plan and organize better for the week. I felt a little spoiled that day! Tuesday rolled around and became a VIRTUAL DAY, because the weather was still not that great. Again, this was a day that spoiled me a lot because I was able to complete work from home and I only had to be available for a student to meet with me for two 45-minute sessions (and no one showed up...). I did try to adapt things for a virtual day so that all students had access to their work, but it really was not...