Tis the Season

Maple season that is...

Maple season is a new concept for me, and I think I have found the right place to learn about it. So far I have learned the parts of an evaporator, how an evaporator works, and how a reverse osmosis machine works! I am really excited to learn how to tap trees here next week as well as how the sap collection process works. 

 

 "Each of us has about 40 chances to accomplish our goals in life. I learned this first through Agriculture, because all farmers can expect to have about 40 growing seasons, giving them just 40 chances to improve on every harvest." Howard Buffett 

This week was quite an adventure, and I had a few moments where I really felt like an Ag teacher. On Monday I started my first true full week of teaching, I started off with leadership and getting a member of the month and SAE of the month started. Since we are also learning about Parliamentary Procedure I passed out charts and students had to make motions, vote properly, and used correct discussion. All week we worked on getting ready for our next chapter meeting, the student of the month board, and learning Parli Pro. 

In Intro we started the week off with an unit exam on Animal Science. Although I love animal science I was excited to finally end the unit and start something new! We kicked off my Food Science unit with a strawberry DNA extraction lab. I had a few mishaps with getting all the materials ready and organized, however I think I have a pretty good reason for not getting to school the extra half hour early that I had planed on. On Monday night I drove into downtown Erie and picked up two female rabbits that we are going to use for our breeding program. So Tuesday morning involved me chasing rabbits around the bathroom trying to get them back into the carriers. Other than lack of preparation the lab went really smoothly and all students really enjoyed it! I tried a new method of breaking students into groups and it worked effectively as well.

 


















Wednesday we had our pig roast meeting! This was my meeting to help run, organize, and prepare. I even got to say the advisor part during opening ceremonies. Which was a real honor for me and helped me realize that I can do this! During school on Wednesday we started getting ready for Maple Syrup, Pesticide Education, and completed a fun experiment in Horticulture.  On Tuesday in Horticulture we learned about what plants need as well as what fresh cut flowers need to last. Wednesday students were presented with an inquiry based lab. They were given a scientific hypothesis chart, a flower, and access to a wide variety of additives. Students than had to create a "plant food" to add to their fresh cut flower, and decided where the best place to put the flower. After students created their own mixtures, we talked about what a control was, and than created a few only using water and placing those flowers around the shop and greenhouse and classroom. Finally I created my own using the store bought mixture (shh the students don't know). Each day this week students have been recording any changes in their flowers and making observations. The experiment will end next Friday, and the winning flower gets bonus points! 

Thursday began the real prep day for maple syrup. We had to get the evaporator cleaned and ready to run. I learned that in an Ag classroom with so many "irons in the fire" some days you have to take what you planed on doing and modify it to make sure that you don't lose any of those irons. So instead of reading the rest of chapter 1 in Landscaping we went out to help Mr. Honeycutt and I read to the students and asked questions as they cleaned and prepared the evaporator. Students also had the chance to teach me! They showed me the different parts, explained how they worked, told me about their experiences with maple production and helped me understand why this means so much to them and why it takes so much of their time.


Today (Friday) was AET Friday. SAEs are a big part of a complete program and I wanted to take time and focus on AET and help students get hours and entries in. I logged onto my AET and step by step showed students how to add "books" add hours and log in entries. I had a lot of fun today talking not only about my own experiences but also about the opportunities students had if they had awesome books! I wrap up today finishing the door which is my bulletin board for now, preparing for next week, and trying to find a new male rabbit to breed our does with. You ask why do we need to buy a male when I have one? Well I'm glad you asked let me tell you about my adventures with Judy and Falicia (not sure on the spelling on that one). Big Booty Judy weights in at 13 pounds (we checked) if you don't believe me I'll show you the marks and bruise on my arms. Falicia came in at a whopping 12 pounds. Do you wanna know how much blaze weights? 4 pounds he weights 4 pounds, so sadly he will not be able to breed our does and I am back off to Erie to pick up a Buck who is a Flemish Giant cross just like our does. So hopefully next week we will be breeding rabbits, tapping maple trees, starting welding, and hatching chicks! 

And that is why I felt like an Ag teacher this week. From housing two giant rabbits in my bathroom, grading 50+ unit exams, and getting my hands (and shirt dirty) from cleaning an evaporator. I wouldn't change one thing about my life, and I can not wait to see what lies ahead of me.