Winter Term - Week 4

FIRST WEEK TEACHING ALL 7 CLASSES = COMPLETE! :)

One of my personal goals for this week was to work on not getting too stressed out and I think overall I did pretty well on reaching that goal. Monday I worked hard to keep things simple yet effective in my classes and at the end of the day I did not feel as stressed as I have on previous days. Actually, I did not feel too stressed at any point throughout the day. However on Tuesday, I felt very stressed! I am noticing that it seems like for every calm, productive and successful day, there is a stressful, not so prepared day. I need to continue to remind myself that I will not always be completely prepared and that it is okay. I think this will be something I continue to work on for the next few years. 

I am learning how much time it takes to plan, set up, practice and prepare for a lab. It takes a lot of work! I have given two demonstrations so far in two different labs and I felt myself giving a ton of verbal directions and circling back to make sure I covered everything I needed to. I know I definitely need to spend more time practicing my labs ahead of time as well as creating more than one back up plan for the days when something unexpected happens. For example, when several of your students forget to bring a pop bottle for their hydroponic system…

Something that has been going well is I have noticed more and more students asking me questions, content related and personal, instead of my cooperating teacher. This is huge progress I believe because I think it shows that students are becoming more comfortable with me as their teacher and are respecting that. Sometimes I don’t have the answer for them and fall back on my cooperating teacher which is helpful this year but I know next year it will only be me. 

I also want to come up with three or four extra activities or flex activities that I can implement in any of my classes for days we finish the lesson early. I feel as though I have exhausted the activities I have been using for this.

Some strategies I need to work on is containing my frustration when students test me. I felt as though I came close to reaching my breaking point this week with one specific class. I have identified a few select students who have decided to continue to test me and I say bring it on! I know in the future I will have students who will test me in different ways and will challenge my confidence and knowledge as a young female agriculture teacher. 

Last but not least, my class of 8^th graders continue to challenge me in increasing their levels of enthusiasm. They do what is asked of them and complete their assignments. I understand this is a required rotation class for them, but I still want to find ways to get them more energized about what we are learning. A lot of that comes back on me and my lesson planning. Something I am continuing to work on. Maybe I will get some new ideas to test out next weekend at the workshops. 

Week 3 - 4 classes!

This week was my first opportunity to create lesson plans for a sub (aka my cooperating teacher). I learned that...SUB PLANS ARE SO HARD!!! This was my very first exposure to how much work it takes to be gone for one school day. I am glad my first sub plans were for my cooperating teacher because she was able to help me fill in the blanks. I will have the opportunity to create sub plans at least one more time, possibly two or three more times, depending on upcoming contest results. Next time I plan to have a template or guide for creating my sub plans and be more prepared!

Another “first” happened for me this week which was getting to write my first referral for a student. I thought I had handled the situation in class appropriately. However, we were greeted the next morning by the custodian asking if we had an elephant stamp which of course we did, and it was missing. There really is a difference between teaching a class and observing a class. Even when you think you know what your students are doing, sometimes you don’t. Not only in this class but in all of my classes, I need to bold the boundary line to ensure students understand expectations and what is acceptable. 

There are always things that I would do differently…hence why I am a student AND a teacher :)

Something I am trying to work on for this week is finding that balance of planning and researching/reviewing content. Finding that line of what I am okay with having done for the day. I need to take  better care of myself mentally and physically.  

Winter Term - Week 2

As this past week was the last week of the semester, I have definitely learned a lot more about proficiency schools and their policies. I can see the positives and the values of a proficiency school, but at the same time I understand and have experienced first-hand the frustration and “blurred lines” of a proficiency school. In a way it seems to encourage the idea of not working hard the first time because students know they can just retake the exam or makeup the assignment. Now this is not true of all students, however I have really noticed this recently as many students have been frantically making up assignments and tests to raise their grade. My question is, how can we motivate students to continuously work on their grade throughout the term instead of the last day of the semester? It is my understanding that weekly progress reports have been sent home in the past, however this has stopped in the attempt to go paperless. Is there more as educators we can do, or is the responsibility at this point solely on the student? 

The third class I picked up this week has a grand total of three students in it. My other two classes have 13-14 students. This has been a huge adjustment for me. Every day I felt that class just seemed to go at a much slower pace, it was very quiet, and there are hardly any management issues. There always seems to be extra time left over at the end of class no matter how I plan it out. These three students are each very VERY different. There is never a doubt in my mind that they are not with me on the material or interested and if there is a question, they ask it. I feel as though the energy is quite low compared to my other classes. This is challenging for me and I am not sure how to increase the energy of the class and environment. Maybe it is just me and I need to adjust…