Winter Term - Week 1 - First Week Back!

As I reflect on my first week back student teaching, there are definitely several things I would do differently in my classes. All throughout Monday I caught myself doing what I just learned NOT to do. Such as not giving clear and concise directions, giving too many verbal directions and not enough visual, and not fully explaining the “Why” of my lessons. As a result of this, I have been spending more time on my directions and making sure I have posted them either on the whiteboard or doc cam for my visual learners. I also made sure to clear up any questions about the directions given by asking “What questions can I answer” or “What is unclear about the directions”. This past week I have also worked hard to post objectives and goals for each day’s lesson and to go over those with my students. This seems much more formal than has been done in the past, however I am sure once I am more comfortable in the class and my students are more comfortable with me, that it will flow together more nicely. 

I was most surprised that between both of my classes, there was zero tension and refusal to participate unlike what I had faced at different times in the fall. This was very unexpected! A select few students in my 6^th period class that were extremely quiet in the fall, have really impressed me this past week by their level of engagement and positive attitudes! This coming week, I want to discretely drop them a note telling them how impressed I am. I believe this small act on my part will go a long ways with each of these students and help to build more rapport with them. I also started with a new class that I had not previously worked with in the fall. I felt no resistance to change but more excitement and positive energy. This was also unexpected but was VERY encouraging for me as this is my EdTPA class. 

I have also been working hard to implement Bell Ringers at the beginning of both of my classes. The first couple of days I had many questions such as “What is a bell ringer” and “How do we do this”. In the fall, my cooperating teacher gave students in all classes a “Daily Journal”, which students answered in their Ag notebooks. This week I have had students answer their bell ringers on a note card or post-it note, but I would like to use a different method for this. I have been wondering if I should have students create a Bell Ringer Book or have them write them in their Ag notebooks. This is something I plan to talk about more with my cooperating teacher. My student’s answers to all of the bell ringer questions have more than impressed me, but encourage me that they are learning the information I am teaching. Covering Parliamentary Procedure and Parts of Plants can be a lot to take in. 

Overall, I feel really good about my first back teaching! I am working hard to stay organized and find methods that work well for me. And I feel ready to pick up a third class this coming week!

Last week of Fall Student Teaching!

Monday 9/21/15


- During 5th period today (Ag 2 - Integrated Ag), I felt like I ran out of time with my lesson as I had a video I really wanted to show at the end of the lecture to help wrap up and add more meaning to the lecture. When discussing this with my cooperating teacher, she raised the question of should I have shown it at the beginning of the class to make sure I had enough time to show it. I agreed with this and some days and some lessons I feel it would be more beneficial and grab student's interest by showing it at the beginning of the class. However, today and for this lesson I thought it would be beneficial to the students to see at the end of class and help them to grasp/make sense of the concepts.

- During 6th period (Ag 1 - Intro to Ag), students were actually very focused and paid attention to the last of the information we needed to cover to finish up a unit and prepare for a test. Looking back I noticed I called on the same 5ish students to answer questions so next time I might try to move around the class more and call on different students. Classroom management is definitely an issue in this class especially because there is a variety of maturity levels. I ALWAYS feel like I am running out of time in this class. I try to teach bell to bell but I am not sure if maybe I am trying to fit too much into one class period. I have had some feedback from a couple of students that I move too quickly sometimes. I loved that I got this kind of feedback from my students, especially because they are some that don't normally answer a lot of discussion questions in class. I have also been struggling with giving too much time for students to finish assignments, too much class time. I am not sure how to balance this. If it is only a couple of students and they have had adequate time to complete their assignment then I know I shouldn't give them more time. However, when it is almost the entire class then maybe I am not being clear on my directions or not giving the students enough time. Something I need to work on.

Tuesday 9/22/15


-  In 6th period we started a new unit about Oregon Agriculture and I was very excited for today's lesson because I had brought in different examples of commodities (some they could eat) and had a video to expand on Oregon Ag but nothing seemed to flow together very well. I thought that I had planned ahead and felt organized for the lesson but it just didn't go quite as I had planned. I know the students might not know that because I didn't say anything to them about, I tried to just roll with it and keep going. I understand even the most well thought out lessons won't always go as planned.  Today of course we had lots of technology issues, and it wasn't just in our classroom. The internet and phone systems had been off and on all day. Luckily I was still able to show the video through a phone on the doc camera which worked out perfectly as there was no commentary on the video, just background music.

- Today was also the day of my first formal observation from OSU and Dr. Croom came to observe me. I knew and had planned that he was coming so that it wouldn't distract me or throw me off when he got there however he arrived early and actually had the chance to observe both of the classes I was teaching at this point. I was excited for this because the two classes I am teaching have very different classroom dynamics and management. I felt we had a great conversation afterwards about how the classes went, and were able to discuss some questions I had and things to work on. He gave me some very positive feedback which was definitely motivating!

Wednesday 9/23/15

- I was FINALLY able to show the video for my 5th period class to help wrap up Monday's lesson! I first asked the students if they thought it would be beneficial to see it and HEAR it and then we had a short discussion to wrap up that topic. In the next lesson I was able to take them outside and discuss/point out concepts we had just gone over. It was great to get this class outside and out of the classroom. At the end of the class I incorporated an "exit slip/ticket out of class". This was something Dr. Croom and I spent some time discussing the purpose and how to incorporate them. I was excited that I actually had time to do this and it was reassuring when looking over them that the students were learning and understanding what I was teaching.


Thursday 9/24/15 

- Today I only had one class to teach (5th period) due to homecoming week festivities, and event this class was cut short. The students had a "noise parade" and pep assembly. I really enjoyed these and was impressed by the amount of student and community involvement! I was even more impressed that the ASB officers and cheerleaders had choreographed a dance to the new popular song "Watch Me Whip and Nay Nay" or "Whip and Nay Nay" (I have no idea what the song is called, HA!). And the students did an AMAZING job with it! Loved it!

- Today was also National Teach Ag Day and I was bummed that my class ran out of time and I was not able to do the fun activity I had planned.

- I was able to put together a contest type activity to help wrap up the soils unit I had been teaching. Even though the students had more information to cover to further prepare them for the soils contest coming up, I wanted to create a way that I could end my lessons/time teaching and also test them but not actually giving them a test. Candy bar prizes was a great motivator/interest in this activity!

- My day wrapped up with actually having more time to chat with my cooperating teacher about how my first couple weeks of teaching had gone, what was coming up, and finishing up my checklist. I am not sure how much time other student teachers were able to have to talk with their cooperating teachers but I did not always have a set time to sit down and talk. My cooperating teacher has a very busy schedule and 2 little kids that need picked up about an hour after we are out of school which leaves little conference time for us. Unfortunately, I was not able to completely accomplish everything on my checklist but made notes for when I return in the winter. My cooperating teacher will be at Fall Conference and we are planning to continue some discussions regarding what I will be teaching when I return, materials I need, and anything else that will be going on that we can plan for.


First month of Student Teaching: CHECK! :)

First Week Teaching 2 Classes!

Student Teaching - Week 4 - First week of 2 classes!

     Monday 9/14/15 

o   My second class I began teaching has a mix of 8^th graders, Freshman, and sophomores. This is an intro to ag class. This class is challenging in the form of classroom management. There are very different maturity levels among the students. Overall the students are pretty good in listening and following directions but there is a specific group, which I have discussed with Beth, that are constantly having a side conversation. I have given several warnings and split them up and I think I am at the point of needing to have a personal conversation with the students. This class definitely tests my patients and makes me grateful for my other class which makes them look like ANGELS! Ha!!

·    Tuesday 9/15/15

o   Started my day visiting and observing the Hermiston Ag Program for a couple hours. I had the opportunity to sit in on a FFA officer meeting, visit with Leah Smith, and observe 2 of Leah’s classes, ag business and ag science.

o   I would have liked to spend the entire day observing classes and visiting with both teachers to learn more about the structure of a 2 teacher program and the different classes taught.

o   So many different ways of ‘delivering’ the same information – so many options! This is awesome and sucky at the same time! Sometimes I am great with making decisions and going with it but when I see several different ways of doing something I don’t know what is the BEST or most EFFECTIVE way of doing it – I love and enjoy observing other ag teachers and their programs BUT I almost get overwhelmed because of the many different options and ways to do different lessons and how much information to give to students

o   I was very surprised and excited that Leah gave me a copy of her ag science lab notebook!!! I was not expecting that and I thought that was awesome!!!!! Very excited about that! I think this sharing of resources and tools is something very special about the ag teacher world and shows how close nit they really are!

 

o   I learned 2 major things today, 1) when doing a foldable notes activity, VERY specific instructions are needed and 2) some classes go by WAY too fast! Especially when you have to constantly manage your classroom – this takes a lot of time away from teaching and getting through the material with your students. I did not realize how wrong a foldable notes activity could go! LOL!! I thought the directions were pretty clear in my mind and pretty simple concept to grasp. I was wrong! Some students ended up with the craziest folds in their foldable and some came up with the correct end result. Some of the students simply made me laugh with their foldable and their comments. Oh well I guess!

o   Tonight was the first night of freshman parent teacher conferences however these were not your average PT conferences. Each of the freshman students were set up with 2-3 teachers for a meeting to discuss the expectations of high school, difference from middle school and all of the opportunities that are available to them. This is something brand new they are doing this year and I thought it was a great idea to help welcome students to high school, get to know them and their parents at the BEGINNING of the school year and help to set the standard for classes. We heard very positive feedback from these conferences so that is awesome! The community and parent support at this school is simple amazing!

·      Wednesday 9/16/15

o   During my 5^th period Integrated Ag class I had a surprise visit from the Head Teacher as he stopped by to check out our lesson and see how I was doing. At first I did not see him come in but when I saw him I got real nervous but told myself to just keep going with the lesson. I was so glad we were doing a fun and engaging lab (edible soil profile) and that the students were doing a hands on activity and taking notes at the same time. I was surprised with how much the teacher knew about this lesson and how much he enjoyed it when he was in school and was excited that we were doing it. Him stopping by and all he said was very encouraging and uplifting. I know every day or lesson will include an activity on that level when someone visits the class or is observing me but I am glad that was the lesson we were on to start out the visits! I had GREAT feedback from the students on that lesson and the reinforcement the activity had on the information I wanted the students to retain and learn.

·     Thursday 9/17/15

o   6^th period Intro to Ag (Ag 1), seriously challenged my classroom management skills leaving me fairly frustrated at the end of class. In this class specifically, I have several students that require additional learning assistance and finding the balance of helping them find success as well as the rest of the class is a challenge in itself. ALL of the students were extra chatty today which made teaching the last of the material seem next to impossible! Before class, I spent extra time planning how to use our time more efficiently so we could cover the rest of the material and prepare for the test on Monday. This class makes me feel rushed on a daily basis, and I need to strategize how to gear the students' energy toward the lesson/activity with the goal of using our class time more efficiently. I've noticed I need to be more strict when allowing students to leave the classroom (use the restroom, get a drink, or go to their locker, etc.) as well as on deadlines. I need to be more clear and concise in my expectations of assignments and of the students themselves. I think once these two issues are taken care of, more class time will be free to use in engaging the students in the lesson. I understand there are always special circumstances, so finding a balance is something I will continue to work towards.

·    Friday 9/18/15

o   Our half day work day was spent decorating for homecoming in the high school hallway. Actually, all of the students, middle school and high school were required to be at school for the 4 hours until their decorations were complete. All of the classes really went all out with their decorations and celebrating homecoming is a big deal here! In a small school you will most likely be asked to be a class adviser, help with sports games, or many other school activities that may not be pertinent to your job description. These kinds of activities are fun but HOLY COW are they exhausting! Ha!