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.

Half way there!

This week has been one for the books. From my first FFA week as an "advisor" to my second interview I have experienced it all. This week was full of stress, highs, and lows. I got to see a different side of our FFA officers and saw that its not always rainbows and butterflies and that sometimes you need to step back and let kids learn their own lessons the hard way. Now the week wasn't horrible, just stressful with a dash of joy to end the  week. (well more than a dash more like the cherry for next 35+ years of my life)








I have had my fair share of meltdowns this week and I am really excited to end the week in Harrisburg for ACES

Teacher Appreciation Dinner

The key to my happiness is not how successful I become but rather how much fun I am having doing what I love. This week it set in, and it's set in stone, agriculture and education is where my heart lies. On Thursday I got a call, and I accepted a job as an Agriscience Teacher at Union City High School in Erie PA. I know wow, the rest of my life! But it is what I love and because I love it I know I am going to be successful in life.

Now less about me and more about the fun we had for FFA week! Because lets face it, this experience is for my growth but more importantly it is for them: the kids, our next generation.

Ag Career Day

I have a lot of time on my hands today, well more time than I am use to. Although we are at ACES we left on Friday before lunch so last night I got a full nights rest and I got to wake up after the sun rise!











This week we had a lot of fun, not only in the class room but in the shop and through out the school celebrating National FFA week. A few highlight of my week

Taylor with her dog for small animal science
presentation

• Getting to dress up and see all the faculty dressed up with the themed week! From Camo to Ag Career day I have seen a lot of dressed up students, and all out Educators & Administration 
• More Breed presentations in Small Animal Science
• Ear Tagging lab in Intro!
• My First observation 
• Serving up Ice Cream 
• Traveling to ACES
• A quick visit with Dr. Foster @ PSU 

Quick visit to the learning resource room with the rabbits

I had such a great time this week, I learned a lot about officer teams, running FFA week and how to handle hard situations. I am learning so much from such a wonderful FFA advisor and mentor, Mr. Honeycutt, and I am so thankful that he will be continuing his mentoring as I start the next chapter of my life at Union City and starting Union City FFA!  So heres to a great weekend at ACES in the advisor role, a safe trip back, and a week full of seeding and pesticide education!

SAE: I thought I had seen them all

We all know what SAE's look like, ya know a few pigs here, working at the local feed store there, collecting research on butter fat. Well I thought I had seen them all, and that I understood them all. Well surprise I was wrong! I had an amazing experience seeing a very non-traditional SAE and see some service in action!






Julie Edwards is a Freshman at Northwestern High school, by day she is a wonderful student who is always attentive and answers questions. By night Julie is a Jr. Volunteer Fire Fighter, and she truly shines here. Julie's SAE revolves around her training and time spent at the fire house, either on calls, training, or cleaning equipment. Now you may wonder how a Volunteer Fire Fighter is ag related, well Spring field VFD has a mobile ag rescue unit that Julie has worked with.

Julie getting into her full dress

Another new part of SAE was our visit: we visited at 9 at night! Why so late you ask? Well we had to wait for Julie to be completed with training and actually at the fire hall not out on call. I had a chance to sit down and talk with her and I gained a lot of knowledge of how VFD work and what her role in the department was. As Julie gets older her role will change and she will take on more and more tasks. I now understand Julie a little more after getting to see her in her element! She is defiantly a star student who spends her time giving back to her community and developing skills that will last a life time!

And isn't that what SAEs are all about? Preparing ourselves for our futures? My time here on Northwestern SAE visits is going to be different than the SAEs I completed at home. And I am grateful for the wide range and experiences these students are gaining through SAEs through Albion FFA.

Julie and Mr. Honeycutt

 Julie plans to continue her work at the Springfield VFD. She would like to go to go to college however she isn't she for what yet. She knows however she wants to continue her path towards becoming a Volunteer Fire Fighter!










Julie spends a lot of time studying her packet to make sure she is always safe and understands what she can and can not do as a Jr. Fire Fighter

My First Snow day!

Wow week 6! This experience is flying by, I am still just getting into the hang of this whole teaching thing. I have picked up most of my classes and teaching a full day is very tiring!

On Monday I was set to have my first observation, I came into school on Sunday night to get the class room ready and make sure all my copies were made, the desks were neat, and my posters didn't fall off the wall like they always do. After all my work was complete I packed up and set out for McDonalds to down load youtube videos to share in a few of my lessons. Once I got set up Mr. Honeycutt called and informed me of our two hour delay, I was disappointed I know we haven't had many yet but I still felt so far behind in my lessons and units. As the night wore on I learned that I was about to experience my first snow day, not due to the large amount of snow  but rather -40 weather instead.

I had a lot of fun on Monday, my mother just happened to be on her way to Erie so I met up with her and had a nice day with my momma  =)

We pushed off my visit till next week and its a good thing because we had a 2 hr delay on Tuesday! Now with all this lost time I have realized that school isn't perfect and that I really need to be flexible.






I was really excited to get out in the shop and work with my Ag Mech bunch! Check out the videos below to see the four strokes of an engine! ( We have 5 engines, 3 really nice ones and 2 not so nice ones) So they preformed this in order to have first dibs on engines!



As you can see we had a lot of fun!


Some other things we have been working on in class would be our breed projects! We are wrapping
 up our unit on dogs and getting ready to start our other small animal unit (bunnies!!!) Students were asked to pick a dog breed, present on it, and than if they had that breed at home they could bring their dogs into class on the day of their presentation.

This is Kyle and his young beagle! His pup had a fun time tracking the rabbit who had hopped around the class room the night before

It was a really great experience for me to let the students teach! I learned a lot about dog breeds! Now we haven't gotten through all the presentations yet, thanks to snow days and 2 hr delays, however these past few weeks are all about flexibility!







I am super excited to travel down to state college next week and meet up with my peers to share out our experiences and learn a little about benefits, cover letters, interviews, and health care.

Teacher Inservices...How can we make them better?

What a week!I still cant believe its week 5!  I was planing for a full week then I was reminded that we only had 3 days of school! Talk about not being prepared...that is defiantly something I need to work on, checking schedules and getting dates right. But  that is a skill I have been working on for awhile now.

Classes went great, I am really having fun in class and I'm starting to relax in front of the class. As the days pass I am feeling more and more like an Ag teacher. I wake up every morning knowing I have the potential to change the lives of students. And for most people my age waking up at 5:15 every morning to go to "work" where we are unpaid would be a horrible idea, however, its the way I want to spend the rest of my life well expect the unpaid part that is.

Thursday was my first parent teacher conference ever. It did not go the way I expected it to go. I imagined every student who was scheduled to come in would arrive early with a parent and would be waiting in the room when we got there. That was not the case, of the 21 visits that we had for the day only 7 showed up. I was surprised to see so little parents. But this was my perfect world mindset, it became a realization that some of these students who act out or don't complete work at times may come from un-supportive homes and my not have the help they need.

My views on the students who did come also changed, I had the chance to talk about grades and behavioral issues with both Mr. Honeyctt and their parent(s). It was a great chance to have a sit down talk and help sort our issues out.

Friday was my first in-service day I was expecting a lot more than what I got. For some reason the workshops that were available were focused towards, Math, English and Science. So I thought hmm maybe I will check out the STEM workshop! Well when I got there, it just was not that exciting, it was very focused on the Science and less on the remaining components. Although I understand this workshop was meant for current teachers I could see where there was room for growth for those in the ag department.

Practice Makes Perfect- Assignment #9

As I complete more and more of my assignment's for the semester I am beginning to see how relevant they are and how they prepare us to enter the next chapter of our lives...in front of  a classroom full of children.

"Administrator Interview" Assignment 9

Now I thought I knew what happened in an interview, the types of questions that are asked, and what to bring to an interview. I was fairly confident in my ability to interview, practice, and keep my cool. That was until I got my first teaching interview...I had a mini panic attack..I started to doubt in my abilities, my strengths, and my people skills. We hadn't learned any of this yet, how was I prepared to enter an interview confidently and succeed? And then it hit me, why not have a practice round before the real deal? I talked with the Principle Mr. Shrieve and we set up a date and time the Monday before my interview, I gathered my resources and asked for help to develop my portfolio and on Monday I had my first Mock Teaching Job Interview. After the interview I gained my confidence back, I got my jitters out, and had time to review potential questions and re-vamp my portfolio.

The questions that were asked were not what I was expecting, I wasn't asked what my key qualities are, or what experiences I had. I was asked about

• classroom management
• If I wanted a student or teacher centered classroom
• How I worked with others
• My future goals for myself
• My expectations for my class
• How I would incorporate Math and English into my lessons
• How I would asses my students
• And what I would include in a lesson plan

The last and final BIG QUESTION!!!!! Why do you want to teach at _( insert school name) and what will you bring to the table?

Going into the interview I wasn't sure what types of questions would be asked, but after the mock interview I felt very confident in entering an interview. Once I had my first interview a lot of the same questions that Mr. Shrieve asked were almost identical to those asked of me at my interview.

I knew I would need to ask the administrator a few questions and I pondered them on my way into school, what things would I need to know to be successful at this school? What improvements would I need to make for myself to be better suited for the position? What do they look for in an employee?

I asked 3 questions: What does a typical day for a teacher look like?
How supportive is the school with professional development?
What are key qualities you look for in a teacher?

I discussed these questions with Mr. Shrieve, he helped me develop my articulation to make sure my first question didn't come off as when do I show up and how soon can I leave? He really liked my question about professional development, and helped me create better wording for my qualities they seek in a future candidate.

During the interview the one thing that impressed me the most was how calm I was, I thought it would be a very stressful environment however it was calm and Mr. Shrieve talked to me as if we were just talking in the hallway.


I was a little put off by the length of the interview, I had imagined the interview taking 45-60 minutes, or at-least 30 minutes. For some reason I had imagined since this was a "Big Kid Job" my interview would be comprised of more than 10 questions and a few comments.

One area I had to improve on was slowing down when I talked, I know I talk fast when I get nervous so I used the questions from the Mock Interview to help prepare myself, I was asked different questions however I used points from Mr. Shrieve's interview and by having these prepared points I felt more confident and talked a lot slower. One other area I need to improve on is summarizing my answers. With interview questions there is a lot of content I want to get out, I need to work on picking out the big parts and summarizing the minor details.

This Mock interview helped me tremendously! I am so glad I completed this assignment the week of my first interview, and I plan on working with the administration again soon to help me prepare for a second round interview and preparing a "bag lesson" to take in with me.

Week 4; The glitter begins to fade

"To succeed, you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you."

- Tony Dorsett

4 weeks, I've made it 4 weeks...means I'm cut out for this right? Hopefully yes, but I know I still have a lot of work to do before I enter a classroom. This week has had its ups and downs, both in the classroom and at home. I've completed my first interview, I've completed a few assignments, wrote some great lab lesson plans, took on a 4th class, and had a few bumps along the way.

Monday I had my second two hour delay,  we got about 22 inches of snow, I was better prepared to teach for my 3 classes. With only having 12 minutes in each class I used the time to work on organization of our binders and for students to either copy missing notes or gather notes and worksheets from me. Although we couldn't start our lesson I made sure we used the time to our advantage, since we worked on our binders Monday, I didn't need to take much time out each day to remind students about organization. Monday was also spent organizing my professional portfolio. As I put this binder together I realized that I am growing up, its a scary thought and I had a few moments were I doubted myself and if I am ready to take on the world. However, after some encouraging words from my friends I was assured that I am on the path to make a difference.

Tuesday was as close to "normal" as you could think

Working on the Maple Lines

Although no day is normal, I had a full day with the students. We began to take notes on poultry in Intro and continued work on our commercials in animal science. I learned a hard lesson in Intro and that is that I talk way to fast. I tried to slow down however I didn't make much success. I knew I needed to make a change and I did so by creating an "outline" of my power points so students would only need to fill in a few words and take notes on the "extra" nuggets. I think this change has made a positive improvement but I will find out on Monday when we take our poultry quiz.

 

Wednesday was the big day, my first interview, after class I packed up and made the drive to Union City. I was so anxious and nervous however I think I made a good impression. In fact today I just found out I made it to the next round of interviews. I am so excited and blessed to have this opportunity and I need to remember to simply let the chips fall where they belong and not worry or fret about what I can't change. Class on Wednesday flew by, my mind was not in the classroom and when I came back Thursday I realized that.




Thursday I came into school mentally exhausted and feeling slightly under the weather. I picked up
Horticulture and I didn't feel like my lesson came across the way I imagined. I know I need to really pace myself through out the day, teaching 4 pds in a row is a lot more challenging than I thought. As I take on more classes I am starting to feel the pressure to continue to teach and not have those nice little breaks. I spend a little more time preparing my notes and lessons and tried to make class a little more interesting for my freshmen. We spent time during the end of Ag Mech today to put away the electricity unit and gather the engines for Monday when I start teaching small gas engines. As we were putting away tools I found a few older books from 1918! I even found a story about Grove City Pa, it was an exiting find and read. I am always impressed with the large amount of books and resources teachers gather through out the years!

Two students working on their egg lab

Today was great! Not only did we dissect eggs with the freshmen, but we had a viewing party for our commercials, learned about food deserts and urban agriculture but I also had a chance to talk to the leadership class about some exciting projects we have up ahead. Intro was a lot of fun, we had a lab sheet to fill out as students worked in groups to look at the parts of an egg and their functions. Students used their notes from the class before to help decided the function of the eggs parts and their locations. Small animal science was a lot of fun, I was really impressed with the work these students had completed, I'll even share a few of these videos!

Egg lab!

Skittles home at last!

I then headed home for a much needed weekend with my four legged friends. At the beginning of November our yellow lab didn't come home. Over the past few weeks we have been following leads as to where she was. On Saturday my brother gave me a call telling me the news, they were bringing her home. It was a much needed boost that gave me the hope and strength to get through last week. Since I've been home she hasn't left my size, I am so happy that I have the chance to travel home to see her. I am excited for next week and picking up ag mech, for my first in-service day, and my first parent teacher conference.

Week wrap up

• I need to slow down when I talk
• I need to be mindful of how much I put on a slide and how much time I give students to take notes
• Even if I think a lesson is one day long, I usually have two days worth of lesson prepared...
• Students feed off of your energy, if you are having a bad day, they aren't giving you their 100%
• There is hope out there! 

Its nice to have someone sit with me after school to complete work