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 practicing right after my demonstration when it is freshest in their minds. The rest of the week was spent with students practicing soldering twice each and then getting ready for the "real deal" soldering for their plunging squares. I spent the past week preparing students for the Animal Anatomy & Physiology Unit, and it was harder than I thought. It was full of definitions and terminology, animal systems, and dissection expectations. I have also been spending a lot of my time reviewing information and trying to figure out the best way to plan for the fetal pig dissection.
I learned so much from running part of the FFA Officer Team meeting this week. I love that the Officer Team at Pequea Valley truly practices autonomy when coming up with events and preparing for each scheduled activity. I got to really connect with the officers and learn their personalities and how they function as a team. I led discussion in National FFA Week, which was a lot of fun but also taught me what I need to work on when leading others when planning. The week ended with a great SAE visit at Hoobers Inc located in Intercourse, PA. This was a paid internship SAE, and I learned so much about how to encourage students to keep working hard and I also learned about what questions to ask the student when I am on the visit.
GLAG (Global Learning in Agriculture) was the perfect way to end the week. I spent my afternoon learning all about how to be inclusive, bold, and create harmony in agriculture! I loved seeing Tweets from the #psuaged21 crew about what they were learning about through GLAG, and I am excited to continue to watch and comment on the On Demand sessions next week and weeks to come.
Each week, I am trying to focus on ways to improve and seek help from others. I am planning on observing a science teacher at Pequea Valley this week, starting the fetal pig dissection, and learn more about Horticulture! I want to focus on areas where I do not have much knowledge in to get better and be able to help my students. #psuaged21, what are some ways that you seek help or advice when you feel like you are lacking in a subject area?
Hey Micheala!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post! I love hearing about all the amazing things you are doing with your students. As for your question... When I feel unsure about any content area, especially if I have done my best to research on my own, I reach out to my CT. They are always ready and willing to share knowledge and resources when needed. Also, I have found that youtube videos are actually very helpful for a quick crash course on some info ( but be sure to find some from more credible sources). And as a plus you can sometimes use these videos in your lessons as interest approach or as part of a web quest worksheet.
Good luck next week!!
Michaela,
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you had a great week of experiences. I like the reflection on how you can change up your demonstration/student practice to be more meaningful/immediate. These are the types of experiences/reflection that will make you a more effective teacher. This is such a great time of growth as an educator and I know you are taking advantage of the opportunities being provided to you. It was great to visit this past week and watch you in action :-)
It is great that you got to visit a student for their SAE program. This is very important for you to practice at this point in your educational career, as these visits mean so much to the student, the employer, and the community. SAE is critical in truly building the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of your students in agriculture! Keep up the great work and it looks like you have many more great lessons planned for your students.
Dr. Ewing
Hi Michaela - I also struggle with my demonstrations. I feel like there is never enough time to do all three steps to the extent they should be done. I usually end up combining steps 1 and 2 into a collaborative example (if that makes sense), but I find the students have more time to practice on their own this way. I am excited to hear about how your horticulture class goes, especially that hydroponics portion :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice on the demonstrations! I understand what you are saying, and I will definitely try to implement this!
DeleteSometimes I forget the craziness of our week and all that we accomplish in one week! I love that you are willing to jump in with us in whatever we do or wherever we go! One of my favorite things about being an Ag teacher is all of the different and diverse things we get to do and teach about. One period we are dissecting pigs and the next period we are in the shop showing students how to solder. We get to teach an array of learners that have passions and interests in different subjects but all to learn more about AG! We have a pretty cool job :)
ReplyDeleteLearning content is something you will always be doing as a teacher. Every year I learn more about my own content and then integrate that new knowledge in my courses to make them better - you will never stop learning! To help with structure and organization of content, I like to first gather the resources already out there. I review textbooks to see how the chapters are organized, look at syllabus from other Ag teachers on Communities of Practice to see how they organize their content, and then begin to piece the big ideas together. Once I have that structure down I then look at specific content objectives, learn that content myself and decide the activities, lab or strategies to help disseminate that information in the classroom. If you feel like your are lacking in a subject area set specific time aside to research, read and gain the basic understanding of the content. This basic knowledge of your objectives will help you think of ideas to teach them too. Keep up the great work! We are happy to have you at Pequea Valley!