Final Inspirations from Ms. Herath

Before I left Erie, I spent some time with the assistant principal Ms. Herath. She asked me a few questions she looks for in an interview and was very kind to offer me some advice and words of inspiration. She also took the time to answer a few of my questions. I could tell you all the basic questions she asked and my responses, but there is one big highlight I just need to say that sums it all. 

The infamous jar of rubber bands!

One of the questions she asked me is "What do I think makes me unique?" I told her about my time spent with Red Creek Wildlife Center. She was pleased with my answer, but then proceeded to tell me she brings with her a jar of rubber bands to every interview. She then pointed to the jar on a shelf in front of her desk. I gave her an intrigued smile and asked, "Why?" 

Ms. Herath replies, "That jar of rubber bands reminds me to always be flexible with my students. A rubber band will stretch when needed but return to its shape once it's job is done. You will also notice that the rubber bands are of different shapes, sizes, and colors. This is to remind me that every student is unique, and will need flexibility in different ways." I sat there in pure awe. So much emotion and passion in just a few simple statements. I was so moved by her passion. She told me I can borrow her idea any time, and I surely do plan on it. 

Ms. Herath asked me for a selfie! #instafamous

Tool ID SLO

With the short time I had left to complete my SLO, I had limited options. I decided my best choice was to complete an SLO on my Tool ID unit. I started by administering a pretest to see what my students knew. As I assumed, most of them did poor. I however was quite surprised that a few did get get about 1/3 correct. 

In previous years, students just had small black and white poor quality pictures. They wrote names and definitions just on a lined sheet of paper. I came up with a different teaching method that I thought would better suit my array of students. I found new pictures and designed them in a flashcard format. I gave students the blank cards and had them write the names and definitions on them. 

I divided the cards into 3 chunks. I taught the first chunk, about 60 tools, then reviewed with games for 3 days. I then taught the next 60 tools, then reviewed both the second and first chunk. I then completed the set totaling 187 tools. I then reviewed the set as a whole. I then administered there post test. 

The students overall did a lot better. I was quite pleased! There was on average of almost a 20 point increase on the ID score and over 7 on the definitions quiz. I definitely suggest making flashcards of various styles whenever possible. It definitely helped my kids. 

As one door closes, another will open

  

That's a wrap folks!

Looking back, I can't believe how fast time as flown by. Merely 15 weeks ago, I entered my classroom as a teacher for the first time. I have learned and grown so much, in more ways then one. I proved my strong will and determination to keep fighting against all odds.

Due to my brother's untimely death, I feel like my experience shifted quite dramatically. At least I can say that no one will ever have an experience like mine (hopefully, knock on wood). I will admit I struggled a bit in the beginning, as would any person entering into a strange and new environment. I got more comfortable within a few weeks and I felt like I was starting to really get the hang of it. I really felt like I was starting to connect with my students and get them to start to engage and interact with me.

Returning almost 3 weeks after the accident was really hard. But I came back to Northwestern, as this is my dream. I worked very hard to get to where I was and I wasn't about to quit. There were hard days and good days, and all those days in between. With my cohort and friends beside me, I fought with my heart and made it through. Would I say I was at my best? No, but I'd say I gave my best effort with everything I had left to give. I got right back to working with my freshman doing a milk defects lab. Doing a hands on activity with them was reaffirming and helped ease my transition back into the classroom. I honestly felt like I almost had to start all over again, and at an accelerated rate. This was difficult, but necessary to continue in the pursuit of my passion.

My student's taught me so many things. I learned that sometimes you just have to discipline. Sometimes your classroom management just isn't enough for certain students. I learned that some student's are capable of great compassion. A few of my student's helped keep a smile on my face everyday, even on one of those bad days. I learned that you might never know who you connected with until your time with them as ended. Yesterday, shortly before the dismissal bell was set to ring, one of my freshman students came to see me. She was one of the "I'm too cool for school" kind of student's. She suffered academically and tended to be disruptive in class. She walks up to me and says "I just wanted to say goodbye before you left", then started to hug me. I was so surprised and caught of guard by this student. I never knew that on a subconscious level I was connecting with her.

I will end this blog with two of my favorite inspirational quotes, as I hope I have inspired some of my student's, I will hope they will continue to inspire others.

"When the world has you feeling like a weed in the garden, know that someone out there see's you as a wish in field."

Visiting the Alma Mater, oh the memories

I got to return home for Northern Lebanon's FFA Banquet. I also spent the next day visiting my ag program and seeing how things have changed or remained.

Banquet was beautiful. It was great to see the many accomplishments and activities the chapter completed through out the year. They also honored by brother during the banquet, which was so thoughtful and amazing. My brother was made into an honorary member, so he will always remain on Northern Lebanon's FFA roster. The mechanics chapter trophy was also renamed in his memory, and will always serve as a reminder in the ag program. The chapter also presented us with a gift some of the students had made. They took a piece of metal and cut it out in the shape of one of his derby cars. They then placed a flag in the background, as my brother loved the american flag. There plaque and the cummins "C' made for us by the CTC Diesel Tech kids have plans to be hung above the garage door in our breezeway. As Steven spent most of his time in the garage.

The next day was a great trip down memory lane. I spent my day seeing what a school day in the NL ag department is like 4 years after I graduated. I also got to see it from the perspective of a teacher, and no longer a student. Ill start by saying there have been some additions and updates to our department! We have an almost fulling functioning kitchen in our shop now! This is a great benefit to our food science class. There also have been some artistic updates. One of the students was very artistic, and got permission to paint a mural on our wall in the shop as well as some additional art on the brick pen in the barn. The mural is beautiful and really brightens up the otherwise white plain brick. 

One last thing I will talk about was my time spent with our freshman. The greatest recruitment tool we have as a chapter is the fact that every pair of freshman gets to take care of and raise rabbits. The students love being able to get hands on with an animal and have some ownership in there class. While I was there, we spent some time bunny bonding and helping to socialize our rabbits. I really hope I get to implement a very similar project in my future classroom. 

Making bonds with science class (chemistry bonds, get it, haha)

I got to spend some time with Mrs. Murray who teaches general chemistry at Northwestern High School. She also teaches one class of environmental science, which manages the recycle program at the school. She is the adviser for creek connections, which is a group of student's that help monitor the local water quality and conduct independent research on conservation of watersheds. She co-advises PJAS (Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science) which is a competitive science research project program that has a regional and state level competition. She jokingly referred to it as a science fair on steroids. She runs a service learning group where students have the opportunity to participate in activities to better serve the community. 

The day I visited, we had many leading questions. Where does chocolate come from and how is it made? What are the characteristics of cocoa butter that makes it unique, including polymorphism of crystal structure? What does it mean to temper chocolate? Why is tempering necessary and what happens if its not done correctly?

She prides herself on purposeful and proactive teaching. Making sure there is never an opportunity for down time. Students are always engaged in something in her classroom. When she notices a student is not being productive, she utilizes proximity very effectively.  She also when needed, will redirect there attention as a whole, as to not single a student out. 

She tried to connect with the students on a cultural level. She was trying to make them realize how chocolate connects us on a global level. She gave them voice and opinion on the subject. She also fed them chocolate (who doesn't love chocolate). This lesson helped to build upon prior knowledge using something concrete and real items to describe an abstract concept they had been discussing in previous lessons. 

In general, I think the students were interested in the lesson. I mean, you got to eat chocolate, who wouldn't be. Her students stayed focused on the tasks they were given and seemed really intrigued by the lesson. When they got stuck, she tended to offer advice, not answers. She has a good rapport and respect from her students. This makes classroom conduct and labs easy to facilitate.

Why'd the chicken cross the road? To get to the Fire Station!

I got to explore some cool SAE's during my time here in Albion. This trip took me to a fire station and to a local home of student.

Drake with one of chickens

Drake has explored a variety of SAE's. His first SAE involved employment at Albion Home Sales and Services. There he cared for and maintained the various trailer rentals that the establishment owned. That summer, he decided to try his hand at landscaping with his neighbor. He currently is employed at Camp Fitch YMCA as a dishwasher. He has been there since Thanksgiving. Also somewhere in there he wanted to try his hand at raising chickens. He built a solar powered heat source for his chickens! How neat and ingenuitive! His flock includes an assortment of 20 chickens.

H.P. Weldon Farm Strawberry Crops

At the fire station, I got to talk to sister's Julie and Brooke Edwards. The oldest sister, Julie, has four different SAE projects. These projects include her horses, working on a production crop farm, and serving as a firefighter in the Springfield Volunteer Fire Department and 2017 Albion Area Fair Queen. Julie has a Quarter Horse gelding that she competes in local 4H shows with, typically in gaming. She also works at H.P. Weldon Farms, a production crop farm that also raises beef cattle. She works with maintaining and harvesting crops, along with some customer service when needed. Julie has also been a volunteer firefighter since she was 14 years old. She is a certified firefighter and vehicle rescue technician, with hopes of becoming an EMT in the next few years. Finally, Julie serves as the 2017 Albion Area Fair Queen, a title that she holds passionately in hopes of advocating agriculture to young people in her community.

Brooke with Mack

Brooke also completes an SAE on her horses and working on a farm. She shows at local fairs and in 4-H competitions. She competes in 3 summer qualifier shows, and if she does well she advances to districts and then states. She competes in gaming, showmanship, and english pleasure classes. She also works at H.P. Weldon Farms, where her main task is picking strawberries and corn during there harvest seasons. During the off-season she helps with general tasks around the farm.

Julie telling us all about the trucks!

Almost there!

Another week in the books! I have been working extremely hard to complete my Community Based Unit and SLO in the time I had left. It's gunna be a run for the roses, or should I say degree. Haha. I can stay up night after night, but I can only rush my students so much. I can only hope and pray for the best.

My freshman student's and I have been working hard on learning our tools. We are making flash cards to study from, and it seems to be helping the students. My ENR student's are working hard at building our cages, the one base is complete, and the other is almost complete. The tops will require the student's to think about shapes and measurements to make sure the doors shut properly. The new study method for landscape appears to be working better for some of my student's. I am still having trouble managing others, but sometimes you just can't win them all.

Another thing that happened this week was the PAAE Region Meeting. We carpooled down in a van, which provided me an opportunity to chat and listen to various teacher topic conversations. (I also LOVED not being behind the wheel for another long drive. Haha.) Once there, I sat with Mr. Seaman from PSU and Mr. Brammer, the adviser for PA FFA. It was nice to chat with the both of them about my prospective job in Maryland. Mr. Brammer even offered to help me out if I ever wanted to get my Maryland students involved in something in PA. I look forward to seeing where this career takes me, and I look forward to really getting my life back on track.

Week 12 in Review

Happy Easter!

A short week prior to Easter break can lead to unmotivated and restless students. As a student teacher we learn to battle through these types of situations.

My freshman finished up there meat unit and we took our tool pretest. There scores of some of my students were better then I expected, but over all the scores were low. Which is totally fine, leaves more room for improvement!

I co-taught large animal for two days this week. We completed a concept map for balanced rations and then learned how to figure out dry matter matter equations. The students seemed to really grasp it and I was quite pleased with how the lesson went.

In ENR, we wrote up the plans and materials list to build our hawk live trap. The students will have 3 days after break to complete the build. After that we are starting bio fuels! I'm quite excited to start this lab based unit!

Landscape is getting better. This new method of approaching the content is seeming to work better. Some students are still given me a hard time, but with such a bland topic, it's hard to get everyone.

My highlight of the week though involved something outside of normal class time. A student reached out to me for guidance and counsel when she needed help. It felt good to realize I had truly developed a bond with my student's, that they felt safe to come to me.

Getting Back in the Saddle

Did ya miss me? Haha

I had to take some personal time off from my student teaching. I lost my little brother unexpectedly in a vehicle accident. This tragedy hopefully will serve as a life lesson for all my brothers classmates and my students. Slow down. Buckle up. Put the phone down.

However, I have now returned! I have fought to get to this point in my life and my brother would not want me to quit now. 

So.... what happened during Week 11?

With Mr. Honeycutt gone with some students to SLLC. The substitute and I worked with classes either completing work around the shop or watching the movie "Farmland". I had heard many things about this movie, but had never had the opportunity to watch it myself. After watching it (about 5 times) I saw the truly amazing value of the movie! It offers so much personal insight into the lives of various types of farmers! Definitely will personally use in my future classroom and I highly recommend it to others.

The highlight of my week was the lab I completed with my freshman classes. We learned all about milk defects. I made various jars of contaminated milk. Then we played some Russian Roulette to find the good jar of milk. The kids really seemed to enjoy it!

Half way through this marathon!

First off! I'm half way there!!! YEAH!!!!!

So last week, phew. I'll tell you what, I'm glad to see it in the past. Not only was it:

1. FFA Week
2. A 3 day week

3. I was also extremely ill with the flu. Yuk! (No worries, I'm happily on the uphill recovery!)

So unfortunately, I don't have much to say on the classroom front. I only missed a day and a half, but the rest is honestly a blur.

However, don't fret! I still have something of interest, so keep reading! Haha!

On Friday, we celebrated and thanked other teachers and staff for their continued support of our ag program with a very delicious breakfast! And yes, there was pancakes with some good old fashioned maple syrup! Yum!

Julie & Josh cooking up some sausage!

Let's dig in folks!

Last,but certainly not least! I end my week with supporting some of my kid's in there drama play! They were amazing! And funny! I love a good laugh, and these kid's pulled off some fantastic one liners and parodies! They did a 3 part mini series, with my personal favorite being the one called "The Actor Games". Imagine the hunger games, but with different styles of theater being the "tributes". With of course, high school drama coming out on top! Sorry Musical and Shakespearean, but she got you beat! And yes, even you Silent Movie...

One heck of a busy week & ACES weekend

Just give me one second to catch my breath..... phew.... ok. 

So I'm teaching all classes but two now. Unfortunately no real exciting updates on the classroom front. My horticulture students have continued observing there lab and completing other tasks in between. My freshman continue along with learning animal science. We played a review game of breed jeopardy on species we've learned so far and it went pretty well. I think the students will ace animal science. My first week with ENR went pretty well. The student's seem interested and willing to learn the content. My landscape class and I are chugging along with pesticide certification.

On Friday, It was time for our Mock Interview Seminar with PSU. It was great to have these test runs to learn what to expect. I learned so many interviewing, resume and cover letter skills. We also had the opportunity to talk to a school from Maryland who came to pitch there job position to us. I fell in love with the job and I will continue to talk to them and hopefully get the job! Wish me luck!




Last but certainly not least, it was our chance for ACES weekend. We took 5 underclassmen down to Harrisburg, not far from my hometown. I think it gave them some insight of how far I truly am from home. Haha. Unfortunately, 1 of our girls got really sick on Saturday and Mr. Honeycutt had to drive her back home. It gave me however time to really bond with the student's. The teacher workshop on the Chesapeake was cool and was perfectly matched with one of my passions. I wish it however would have been a little better organized and more informative. The student's and I met up for dinner and shared a delicious meal. It never disappoints. After dinner was the dance, I was so surprised to see my shy underclassman girls jump right in the crowd. I even convinced 1 of my boys to join them on the floor. I joined my cohort mates to people watch and monitor on the sidelines. We came to the conclusion however that even thou we couldn't join the students on the floor, who said we couldn't have our own dance crew. We got down to many line dances and joined in the fun from our sidelined position. It was nice to have a little fun. Afterwards was reflections, and I had to comfort one of my student's who it hit really close to home. I understand her pain, and we talked it out for a little afterwards. I hope maybe seeing that I am human with a really caring soul will continue to help my bond with the students.

Craig & Kasey

Hailey & Summer

Holy Smokes, it's been a month!

Wow! It's already almost the middle of February! Time sure flies when your having fun (and/or really busy)!

This past week, I tried new things with some of my classes. With my freshman, I tried having them make flashcards instead of filling in charts or notes with breed characteristics. They seemed to enjoy it so much better! Of course there was those few students that didn't care to participate, but it is there loss. The freshman have continued to teach me this lesson, and I still struggle with it sometimes, but I now know it is not my fault. As long as I put in my best effort and do everything in my power to reach these kids, that is all I can do. If they choose to still be arrogant and defiant, the best method is to just to pay them no mind. Sometimes they thrive on fighting back, so as long as they aren't bothering other students, I don't feed that attention.

Freshman making their poultry flashcards!

Landscape had there first Fun Friday this past week. Hopefully now they'll be more attentive during the week. This Pesticide Certification has become quite a drag for all of us, so I enjoyed the break on Friday as well. The next section is PPE, which since it is something I'm more familiar with, I'm comfortable in adapting the material quite a lot while still being sure there getting the stuff they need for there exam. This hopefully will make the week go better as well.

Horticulture has been going along quite well. Besides the lessons taking a lot longer then I initially planned, the class has been great. The student's are very cooperative and social and just makes the environment so comfortable, even though it's a subject I'm not so strong in.

I look forward to starting my ENR class this week. We swapped units so instead of starting with Bio-fuels were starting with Wildlife! While I looked forward to Bio-fuels as it involved lot's of labs, I'm excited to start Wildlife! I'm very passionate about Wildlife and I might even help coach some of the student's for the Wilflife CDE! I also plan to utilize my Project Wild curriculum and I look forward to seeing it in action!

Me & my buddy Cookie! She's a Barred Owl!

Classroom Management Win!

One more week down! I picked up another class this week, Horticulture. We hoped right into doing some germination labs and will start another one tomorrow. We have 2 types of seed, corn and soybean, from 2 different farms. We will have the opportunity to do some great comparisons between the two. 

My two sections of freshman were my highlight this week. We watched the Temple Grandin movie, which if you haven't seen, I highly suggest you do. Great movie! But besides the movie itself, I implemented a new classroom policy, and it worked perfectly! I bought a small wooden crate from Walmart and told students that anyone that gave me there phone, would get 2 bonus points. So they could either miss 2 questions on the movie sheet or if they got the questions, it was straight up bonus. I also put my phone in the crate, to make it fair between the student's and I. I would say I easily collected almost every student's phone.  I will definitely implement this in my future classroom. 

My last class of the day... Landscape. Still trying to figure them out. Teaching Pesticide Certification is not the most enthralling thing and I know that, but I'm running out of idea's. As a kinda last ditch effort to encourage student's to participate is by making every Friday a Fun Friday. Meaning we won't do Pest Cert  on those days. But rather a 21st century skills based lesson, either using a game or Life-knowledge lesson. Hope it works. Wish me luck.

Also, the groundhog saw his shadow.... so hope I don't get buried in anymore snow!

Freshman Initiation!

Another week under my belt! Things are chugging right along! The freshman classes are getting better! We have moved into a topic that I am way more comfortable in, which is making my teaching much more natural, and the student's definitely seem to be enjoying it much more as well. We have moved from Career Prep to Animal Science! I am getting better at managing both the freshman classes. I have noticed that each class has their very own unique dynamic. The first class is more behaved, but not as social. Trying to have group discussions and an interactive class with them is difficult. The second section is almost reversed. They tend to be quite rowdy, but when able to successfully manage and direct the energy, the class discussions are fantastic and they are very willing to participate! I look forward to the more lessons these two classes will teach me.

We all know that each chapter does things there own way. Coming from my own ag program, I already have my own views of how I've seen things done. My home chapter gave out there Greenhand degree's at our Chapter Banquet at the end of the school year. Here in Albion, they give them out now at there own Greenhand Meeting. I was looking forward to this meeting, and it was quite nice! Definitely something to consider in my own future program. It gave me a chance to be social with parents and other local supporters! I also got to say the Adviser part of opening ceremonies, so check that off my list!

Folks, we're not in college anymore (kinda)

I have completed my first week of actually teaching! Besides a few minor kinks working themselves out, it couldn't have gone better! As some of you know, technology and I are working on being friends, and I'm slowly learning the benefits of google classroom. I have two sections of an intro class, and we completed resumes and cover letters with google classroom. I really liked not having to worry about losing student papers and the simple convenience of it. Also it was nice to be able to monitor student progress. Another thing these (mostly) freshman will teach me is classroom management. Let's just say, it's gonna be good. Haha.

Another class I started teaching this week was Landscaping, where we are covering Pesticide Certification. I have been looking forward to this class. It requires covering a lot of content in a short period of time, but that activities that go with it are fantastic! The activities help make difficult topics much easier for students to grasp. This past week we completed a Bio-magnification activity, and it really seemed to benefit the students, the light bulbs went off! This coming week, there is a pheromone activity and I really think the students will get a kick out of it!

One last thing Id like to say. I really enjoy having my own space in our classroom. I decorated and organized my desk to suit my needs and organization style. I have a quote box, where everyday a new inspirational quote is shared. I also have a little easel where I either post a daily riddle or the "holiday of the day." I thought these things were more for my benefit, but I have had many students stop to read the quote or ask me the answer to the riddle. It has created a great opportunity for a fun and open conversation between me and my student's.

Thursday's Riddle: A slender body, a tiny eye, no matter what happens, I never cry. What am I?

A needle

Ready or Not... It's Time to Teach!

Week 1 is already over! Between the flurry of Farm Show and moving to Erie from across the state, it went by so fast! This week gave me the opportunity to get a jump start on my various responsibilities as a student teacher, as I was not yet teaching this week. I got to start building some fantastic bonds with students and fellow teachers and administrators! I had applied for a $500 grant back in October from CHS for Albion's new Sugar Shack, and I won! I met with Business Manager Melanie Floyd and Yvonne Teed, our Director of Curriculum. They were so pleased to receive the check and were grateful to see such enthusiasm in helping to improve the program.

Pictured Left to Right:
Melanie Floyd, Katie Smith, Yvonne Teed

This was a great way to end Week 1. I look forward to the many more weeks to come!

Did someone say Farm Show?!?

It's that time of year! People from all across the state (and some even farther) come to Harrisburg Pennsylvania to view the spectacular event that is Farm Show! My students made the journey from Erie Pennsylvania to be a part of this amazing event. My students had the opportunity to complete a goose chase while visiting Farm Show! With the prize of milkshakes, it wasn't hard to convince them to compete! Goose Chase is a scavenger hunt app where you can create missions for others to complete. The missions could be anything from...

Take a selfie with a state officer

Take a picture of you riding your favorite tractor

Take a selfie with the sow and her piglets

and so many more!

Despite the weather and the long drive, Farm Show was quite an adventure! But alas, it was time to head back home! Till next year!