Marvelous Life of Michaela

I am sitting here writing this blog and trying to think all the way back to January, which marked my first week of student teaching. Back in that moment, I could never have imagined that I would make it through or that it would fly by, but here I am at the end of week 14 and I can't seen to figure out where the time went. I will always cherish the memories that I made along the way and how much I learned from my students and mentors.  When I was first approached about considering Pequea Valley as a cooperating center, my first thought was "how do you even pronounce that" and my second thought was "I have never heard of this school before." After my first meeting with Jasmine VanSant and Doug Masser, I thought that this could be a great place to student teach at and now that I have gone through this experience, I know that I could not have asked for a more perfect placement.  At Pequea Valley, I met amazing people and had the best students a student teacher could...

This week was my very last week student teaching at Pequea Valley High School and a fun one to end on. Right now, I am only reaching one class and it is the class that I taught the full 14 weeks. We had a HUGE event take place that I felt very fortunate to be a part of and there were many sad goodbyes and thank you's.  Vet Science was the class that I had from start to finish, so naturally, I began slightly attached to every part of this class. We had the fetal pig dissection, animal restraints, bandaging, suturing, and more! Every step of the way was pushing myself outside of my comfort zone and learning new content areas. This week, the focus was on suturing, which is one of the topics that I was most excited to learn. While we only spent a few days on this, I learned so much about knot tying and techniques. For this lesson, I performed a demonstration on how to tie a knot for suturing and then students practiced on rulers. It was a fun lesson overall, and the students were pros ...

If I could come up with one word to describe the past week, it would be "nonstop." Nonstop grading. Nonstop planning. Nonstop after-school activities. Nonstop long hours. Nonstop FUN! Each day was packed full from start to finish, and while it might have felt like too much as some points, it was overall a fun week and allowed me to get extra time with my cooperating teachers and students before I leave next Friday.  Daily Recap:  Two days this week, students in Vet Science got to practice bandaging dogs paws with 6 different fur-friends! My cooperating teacher brought in two of her dogs, two of her in-laws dogs, and then another teacher at Pequea Valley brought in 2 dogs (which happened to be one of my ct's dogs puppies from last year). While this added to the chaos of the week, it was really neat to get students to get real-life experience bandaging animals, plus who doesn't love having cute animals at their work all day?! Potty breaks with sisters Ivy and Willow! Yo...

I know I say this every week, but this week flew by! I might have only been in school for three days of the week, but it still went by quickly and realization is really kicking in that I now only have 10 days left of student teaching at Pequea Valley.  Tuesday started off with the classroom filled with delicious smelling pie crusts! The Foods Unwrapped students spent the Wednesday before (we were virtual on Thursday before the holiday break, unfortunately) creating dough for pie crusts to determine which type of lipid created the most desirable pie crust. The lipids in question were Crisco, butter, and canola oil. Before the lab, students had background information about lipids, types of lipids, and the functional properties of lipids. They also understood the differences between saturated and unsaturated fats and know which lipids are the healthiest, and which are not so healthy. Tuesday the students came in and we baked the pie crust right away so they could observe and taste the...

This week, I went fishing... okay, not really, but close enough!! On Tuesday, I went to a fish hatchery for an SAE visit, and it was definitely a fun one! I was especially excited to visit with this student and learn all about her SAE when I found out that she had an unpaid placement at a fish hatchery, because I have never been to one and don't know much about them either. I also found out that this hatchery is only 5ish minutes from where I am staying while student teaching! When we go to this SAE visit, the student explain everything about what a fish hatchery is, why they have one, and what they do with the fish when they are large enough to send off. We came at a time where she had to feed all the fish, which was another great thing to learn about. I learned that this particular fish hatchery is run by a group of individuals who volunteer their time to raise, care, and release trout into rivers and streams in the area.  While this is an unpaid placement, it comes with hours of...

All I can say about the ending of week 11 is UGHHHH! Because of Easter break, Pequea Valley has an awesome 4-day weekend. With a short week this week and long weekend coming up, we have a lot of labs, activities, and units to wrap up. Food science students were supposed to bake pie crust (more on this later) and horticulture students were supposed to continue to build hydroponics systems. Unfortunately, like every other day this school year, we had an obstacle thrown at us via email on Wednesday after school. One word; COVID. What does that mean?? It means a last minute shift to a virtual learning day to end the week, and no more labs/hands-on activities.  Huge shout-out to my CT for bringing me coffee today!! It was the perfect way to start a virtual learning day! As a college student, I understand the frustration and lack of motivation on the student end of things when it comes to virtual learning. Now as I shift to a teacher's perspective on virtual learning, I know all the effo...

This week was definitely strange, crazy, and different compared to any other week with my student teaching experience! We all know how the COVID-world works; you never know when you will be virtual, who will be quarantined, and how each day will play out. This week was certainly no different, as my ct was quarantined all week and we were focused on wrapping up the third marking period! There were subs, fire drills, animals, and many labs, and while it was hectic at times, the students learned so much and wrapped up the 3rd marking period!  Monday started with a lab in food science and hydroponics systems being designed and built in horticulture. In food science, students used direct specification to create small, fruity gelatin balls that burst in your mouth! This was round 2 of this lab since it didn't work the best the first time they performed the lab. We found out that grape juice doesn't work that great, but the lab was successful (and very delicious) the second time aroun...

Each week of student teaching, I feel like it is going to be too much and that I do not know content well enough to teach it. By the end of the week though, I have been feeling proud of what I have accomplished. Since I have been teaching a full load, I have added two classes I don't feel very confident in: horticulture and food science. Even though it has been a struggle with these classes, I realized how much I am learning while teaching. One of fellow cohort members, Elise, tweeted this week asking #psuaged21 what they were learning from their students and I realized that I am learning so much in every subject. My students are so smart and want to learn and explore subject areas which only challenges me to learn with them! For example, I was about to teach a lab on making candy from different sugars which challenged me to study carbohydrates and the stages of making sugar. From assigning these labs and other assignments, I am able to learn so much that I hope to take into my own...

When deciding which cohort member I wanted to visit virtually, I decided to go with someone that teaches at a school very far away from mine and a school that I thought ran things differently than Pequea Valley. Who might that be you ask? Why, Megan Royer! I was very excited to visit Miss Royer virtually and learn all about a school that is so close to New York, it might as well be a part of that state! Like always, the day I chose to observe or have someone observe me always turns into a crazy day! I visited Athens when they had a half day, so the entire day was a “Go, Go Go!” kind of day, but one I can relate to and appreciated seeing. On top of that, the school was playing the wrestler matches for a few of the school’s students that made it to States. I was also excited to visit Miss Royer because I knew she had lots of fun and exciting projects going on and wanted to compare and get ideas for future courses I might teach!   Miss Royer teaching many courses throughout the day, a...

Week 7 of student teaching was one of those weeks that felt like it was going slow each day, but now that it has past, it felt like it flew by. This is officially the end of my first week teaching a full course load. I know am teaching Vet Science, Intro to Ag Mech, Horticulture, and Food Science, with Food Science being the latest course I pick up. The week was full of trial and error, projects being almost completed, and a few half-days to plan for! The Into to Ag Mechanics students wrapped up their plumbing projects this week, which completed the unit! They each got to test their creations that took weeks to complete for each of them. Their plumbing squares included pex, cpvc, copper pipes, galvanized pipes, and polyethylene and then at the end they tested to see if their square would have any leaks in them. It was a successful testing day and no none had any leaks! This was such a fun project to work on and I can confidently say that this will be one of my favorite things that I di...

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...

Week two has been an interesting one, that is for sure! We started off the week working with animals (live and stuffed) and ended with two days of virtual learning due to COVID cases. While each day was filled with ups and downs, challenges and successes, I think that I am started to get a hang of the online school grading and assignment platforms and learning most students names and personalities. This week was all about clarity (from Rosenshine and Furst Effective Teaching), and for this blog I will discuss times in the past week where I found myself lacking in this area. The first "oh crap" moment was small, but really got me thinking about how I communicate with students, whether that is verbally or visually. For our lab, I split students into two groups by handing out two different colored sticky notes. They were blue and pink and each color was labeled 1-8. When I went to dismiss my students, I told them that the blue group should go to the shop and the pink stay in the...

Friday, January 22, 2021 completed my first official week of student teaching at Pequea Valley High School, and it was great! I got to start teaching 7th period Vet Science on Tuesday, and for the rest of the day I was observing Mr. Masser, Mrs. VanSant, and the students that I will be teaching in the weeks to come. I spent the week observing, teaching, and navigating Schoology. I was also fortunate enough to attend the Lancaster County Ag Teacher meeting and an FFA officer meeting to start off my student teaching career! When I first walked into the classroom and saw the students, I wondered how I was ever going to learn the names of the students. Knowing names is very important and I know that by communicating with each student by name, I am able to build a better connection and positive environment for everyone. To tackle the task of remembering names, I created a DIY seating chart in my notebook. When I learn the name of the student, I wrote their names in my seating chart and each...

Words cannot fully express how baffled I am that the semester is over. In just two short days, I will be giving my final presentation before I am shipped off to student teach at Pequea Valley! Our last lab was probably my favorite one because it was about something I am very passionate about- FFA.     FFA.org has amazing "Life Knowledge" lessons for teachers for middle, high, and advanced high school that highlights units in FFA and SAE. I had so much fun searching through the different lessons and units to find one that I wanted chose to teach the cohort for the final lab. After going through the units available, I went with the "ME" unit which included lessons that are meant to build leadership and character.      The lesson I chose was "Understanding Values, Beliefs, Character, and Integrity " I thought this was an important lesson to share because it exemplifies what it means to be a great leader. This lesson was 50 minutes long, so I nee...

At the beginning of the semester I wondered how I was possibly going to make it to the end, and it is crazy to think that I just finished my second-to-last teaching lab. The semester flew by and ready or not, the 2021 AEE cohort will be well on our way to student teaching. While each lab is different in many ways, they all have prepared me for different methods, techniques, and strategies to utilize in the future.  Engage. Explore. Explain. Extend. Evaluate. These are the 5 E's are very important in inquiry based learning for instructor and students to utilize. For the inquiry based learning lab, I decided to use the global issue of pollution for my students to research. I thought it would be a fun idea to take an issue that so many know about and teach my students basic statistics and the evolution of pollution. I decided to use a PowerPoint to help students establish a baseline of the knowledge that they would be elaborating on later. After giving my students that information, I ...

 It is crazy how fast the semester is flying by! In the beginning of the year I thought that our problem-based approach lab was years away and, like most things have, it really crept up on me.  We had two different groups that went either October 7th or October 14th, and I was in the second wave. I will say that after watching the first group of 4 go, I was a little nervous to do my lab. I thought that everyone that went the first day had amazing labs and set the bar very high for the rest of us going the following week. Maddie brought Gus in, which always makes class more fun! Elise had an amazing welding lab, Alyssa had a plant science lab that was equally challenging and interesting, and Megan had a fun way to get us moving around the room and thinking about ways to help "the barnyard."  For my lab, I decided to focus on my veterinary clinical rotations unit by having an end of the unit scenario lab. I thought that having a problem-based approach to wrap up the unit an...

The Struggle is Real... The whole point of an interest approach is well, to keep it interesting. This past week was our Interest Approach Lab, and let me tell you, when I say I struggled, I really mean I struggled. Our cohort was challenged to create a 5-10 minute interest approach that we would give to one classes, and since we had so much time, it was to be a hands-on, unique one. For a solid week I over-thought everything and blocked my brain from thinking of anything creative for my interest approach. I tried so hard to think of anything I could relate to a Vet Science "Careers" lesson (since I already had a lesson plan for this created) and it was beyond difficult for me.  It was challenging to think of activities that would be short, have any value to the students and lesson, be hands-on, and get students thinking about careers that can come from taking my Vet Science class. I did eventually find my inspiration; a McDonalds Happy Meal that my sister and I played with. C...