A Blessed {Teach} on the Block! #15weeks

When I came home this past weekend, my sister asked me a question for her homework: “If you were to describe in one word how you feel right now, what would it be?” Blessed.

For the past 15 weeks I have been blessed to be a student teacher at a great school called Walter Biddle High School in Philadelphia. For 15 weeks I have gotten to know over 50 students in my classes, several student leaders, amazing agriculture and non-agriculture teachers, all the while working as a Penn State student teacher with a graduation date that is quickly approaching whether I want it to or not.

I am blessed because for the past 15 weeks:

-          I have taught classes in Enviornmental Science and Small Animal Science

-         Attended several field trips to aid in my classes

-         Handled over 5 different rodents, rabbits and dogs

-         Planted over 5,000 plants at a local CSA

All while teaching full time, coaching a Cross Country team, and organizing a Scrapbook club for the FFA chapter.

I am blessed because I have been able to teach some the most unique and special individuals I have ever met and help make a difference in each of their lives whether I knew it or not. Although this chapter of my life is coming to a close, I am excited for the new doors that are opening for me. After graduation I will be leaving to go to Senegal to serve as a Peace Corps Sustainable Agriculture Agent. Scary thought to be leaving the country and my kiddos behind. However, as much as an impact people say that I did at Saul, Saul changed me as well. I learned from them that:

-         I can make a difference no matter how tired the job makes me. My job is important no matter how much I want to binge watch Netflix, get frustrated because I feel defeated, or because I didn’t get enough sleep the night before because I was worried about them. I can make a difference because of them.

-         Agriculture is great way to connect people. The CSA (Community Supported Agriculture Program) at Saul brought together farmers and a school to guide them through this process of Farm to Fork.

-         Diversity of student demographics is important to know. Although the job can be “Drawn” (lame/tiring/crazy/Philly Talk), getting to know my student made for a better lesson that they would understand and be able to relate too. Gucci?

-         Being transparent with my students and parents will always be important no matter if I am a teacher or not. I need to let people know who I am and what I am doing for support in a program.

My 15 weeks at Saul High School has made me grow as an individual, a teacher, and a friend. I realize now that I choose the right job and I will continue to have a passion for agriculture education no matter if I am in the United States or Senegal. It has been surreal that this student teaching experience is over, however my life is entering into an important time for me to bring my agriculture education knowledge to a global level.

I am blessed because I have gotten to know great people at Walter Biddle Saul High School and grow to be the teacher I am today.

I am blessed because Penn State has allowed me the opportunity to have life skills and agriculture education knowledge for me to share with Senegal and the world.

Cheers to this experience and many more that are to come. Until my next Oh So Sweet Mission, thank you for reading!

Feelin’ Pretty Super {Teach} on the Block! #weeklyblog #psuaged16

This week was the second to last week here at Walter Biddle Saul High School (insert crying emoji here). Although my emotions certainly caught up with me realizing that this is it, I am excited that I have one more week left at Saul and I am going to make it count!

Usually I give you the Pros and Cons of me week on this blog, but this week I wanted to shake it up and do a picture blog about what happened this week followed by notes about what was happening in the pictures.

Beginning with Saturday, Saul hosted some fantastic National FFA 360 conference facilitators to lead Saul students and Midd West students about “Lasting Impressions.” Due to the snow that some schools faced, we had a small turn out BUT the facilitators enjoyed actually talking to the students one on one and getting to know them! Why the capes you may ask? Just because there weren’t a lot of students does not mean we couldn’t play a prank on the facilitators! 

BEFORE we planted some tomatoes this is what the green house looked like! 

The "crew" that did an awesome job planting and working together as a team! 

BEFORE we planted all the basil, the students had to line up
the rows to make it even for all of the plants to fit 

Right before we plant, we drop all of the basil to make it even
by alternating the plants for infinite growth and space for
each bed. 

Oh yeah the hospital... This girl can not walk and talk at the same time.
Me falling on concrete = a swollen knee, an MRI, crutches, and a smile! 

As we continue on with the week, planting, planting, and more planting had to be done to prepare or greenhouses at Saul for some tomatoes and basil to sell this summer. My students and I all worked together to plant all of this and even some lettuce in the field to help our CSA and tie together our Root and Germination units that we were working on in class! OH and there was a hospital run between all of this happening. Talk about super busy. 

FFA week breakfast and super power capes for all of the teachers!
Not pictured: Bacon and Pancakes (SO GOOD!)

Ms. T and I dressed up as twins for "Twin Day" at Saul

Start of the Color War! 

As the week continues, we say HELLO its FFA week! Wow, what a super cool experience it is to be apart of a school with over 500 FFA members! This week was filled with awesome moments like: Color Wars, Teacher Appreciation Breakfast, Capes for all of the teachers, and so many more fun activities! As a future FFA adviser and agriculture teacher, I was able to gather some awesome ideas from the students and from this awesome week! 

Overall Thoughts for the Week: 

This week was filled with its ups  and downs and I am so happy to be a part of a school that celebrates agriculture in a unique way. Not only did I have to balance teaching, planting, FFA Week help, and "run" around on crutches all week, I got to feel what an actual agriculture teacher is like with a full schedule. Next week, will be the same except I will be saying "good-bye" to some students who have made an amazing impact on me as a teacher and as a person. I cannot wait for the activities and events that are going on next week INCLUDING a special secret Pancake Breakfast that I am hosting for my students as a treat! 

Stay tuned for next week Ag Ed Fam! 

Not Ready to Leave {Teach} on the Block! #week13 #psuaged16

Working in the Greenhouse at the CSA

Can we just take a second and realize that it is the end of week 13? Like holy guacamole, this is real. My student teaching experience has two weeks left and I don’t know if I am ready to let go just yet!

Moving on from my pity party, let’s talk about this past week. Per usual we are going to break down the week with the pros and the cons from what I did in my Animal Science and my Environmental Science classes.

Pros

Animal Science: This week I really challenged my students and brought them around Philadelphia and around Saul’s campus. What was going on you may ask? TONS of fun stuff! At Saul, our lamb herd was ready to start having their lambs which occurred ALL week and is still going on (Check out Saul’s EWEtube here). I was able to tie in what we were learning in class with some of the Animal Science students to look at different situations that could happen with these young lambs. On Thursday, the USDA was hosting a career day that my students were able to attend for half the day. They were able to explore different industries in the USDA and potentially see themselves working with this organization. Last but not least, my students still had their original chores that they all completed and we even had room to start discussing our next project which is an animal welfare debate... more to come!

Tuesday Night Lambs!

Environmental Science: The week got even more extreme for theses seniors in my class! From our class visitor from Morris Arboretum, working at our local CSA, and then mixing their love of basketball with environmental education, my students were all over the place! After my visit with the famous Dr. Foster, it really stuck out to me that I need to start pushing my students and myself in doing different lesson plans that get me out of my comfort zone. What better than having this week to practice my teaching and my lesson plans?! So that is exactly what I did. Of course it was a lot of fun and games, there was still work that needed to be done. My students had to transplant over 2,100 plants of lettuce at the CSA and were responsible for different parts of the area from broad-forking our greenhouse to planting rows of peas, my students were busy!

Cons: For this week, as much as I don’t like to admit it I was pushed a lot out of my comfort zone. There were classroom management issues, my school went into crisis mode, and I was pushed from lack of sleep from volunteering to check on the lambs every night at 11pm and 2 am. I was getting into the swing of things and it really caught up with me.

Overall thought: I am lucky to be at a school that has challenged me as a teacher and a person. Although there were the stresses from the field trip, the animal lab being broken into, a school in crisis mode, and work that still needed to be completed at the CSA, it made me realize that THIS is what agriculture teachers do. They bounce back and adjust their auto-pilots because there is still a job to do and that is to TEACH. We are responsible for these students and we have a job to be the best agriculture teacher that these kids have.

Bring on Week 4 and the lambs that are not born yet! I am ready for you!

Thanks for reading Ag Ed Fam!

I’m not in Philly anymore! #visitingTate #psuaged16

Lampeter-Strasburg Senior High School is a welcoming school in the middle of Lancaster, Pennsylvania that has an exceptional agriculture program with of course an exceptional agriculture student teacher that goes by the name of the one and only Mr. Mason Tate. On March 22^nd I had the opportunity to get out of the city and explore a high school that was different than mine that offered their students a unique opportunity in agriculture.

When I first arrived and got out of my car, there was farms everywhere so my expectations were high about what was to come when touring their agriculture program. As I walked through the school there was an entire side of the school that showed off their FFA accomplishments and projects in the windows at the school to show off their FFA pride. When I arrived at Mr. Tate’s classroom, he was in the middle of introducing the class to the Dairy Science unit that they were just beginning.

Continuing on with his day, he had a break to prepare for his shop class that he taught with seven high school boys in attendance. Boy, was that fun watching Mason get into his element! I am not one for Agriculture Mechanics (I’m trying, I swear!) but the way that Mason explained certain welds to students or helped coach them up on whatever project they were working on, it was great to see his perspective on how we handled his wild high school boys.

After the Ag Mech class, we then moved onto his Veterinary 2 class that actually got Mason out of his comfort zone from what I noticed! It was nice to see Mason being pushed into this class of (yes all of them were girls with one boy!) and seeing him go over materials to deliver an awesome lesson for his students! Watching Mr. Tate teach was a real treat!

One big take away that I noticed from his class was the way that his white board was set up! It is not something that I implement in my class but it is an objective/assignment board to keep him on task and ready to go. It was nice to see that it helped him and his students for what was going on that day!

Overall, I had a fantastic time at Lampeter- Strasburg. It is awesome watching Mason develop since knowing him at Penn State to where he is now today at the student teaching level! I am confident that Mason will do great things in and out of the classroom for his students and I know he will make a FANTASTIC teacher in the future.


Keep up the awesome work Mason! I will see you soon!

Travelin’ {Teach} on the Block! #week12 #weeklyblog

This week flew by as fast as my car did down the Pennsylvania Turnpike (seriously people it was like NASCAR). Not only did I travel to Lancaster Country for a PAAE meeting, I traveled to State College twice in one week, in one car, all by my lonesome! So without further ado, wave the green flag and let’s break down the week with our Pros and Cons.

Pros

Animal Science: Wow what a week that was had here in this class! From learning about diseases to completing our Community Based Unit of Instruction, my students were busy! Now, I am not one to know a lot about diseases and how they affect animals. A part from what I learned at Penn State I was clueless. So what do you do in this situation? Let my students teach me! My students worked hard on creating zoonosis projects and PowerPoints that they were supposed to complete and then present them in front of the class. Not only have I been student teaching, but now my students have been able to see what it is like to be a teacher for a change!

Environmental Education: My students got their green thumb on this week! After hanging out with our Jenks students (4^th-5^th grade students) and teaching them how to plant and transplant.... my students were asked to create a daring task of transplanting over 1,860 kale plants in our community CSA! What an experience that was! Planting the CSA was hard work and it was challenging on my students as well but thanks to my Penn State education on handling students and using the rapport that I had  built with them already, it was nice to see an impact that we were making on the CSA to support the next harvest.

Cons:

I really pushed my students this week as well as myself. After traveling to State College twice in one week and traveling to Lancaster for the PAAE meeting, I was tired! It is amazing to see that the amount of energy I could have used in my lesson was spent driving the car up and down the turnpike. Although there weren’t any major cons in my teaching this past week, I wish I could have had a couple of more hours of sleep to put that in my lessons that could have been stellar!

Overall, this internship is FLYING by! I cannot wait to see what this week has to offer, including seeing the famous Dr. Foster back here at Saul High School!

Thanks for reading AG Ed Fam!

Buzzed about Bees {Teach} on the Block! #week10

Wow. 10 weeks down and 5 more to go. Can you say crazy?! Being in Philadelphia with my students has been one crazy journey and I love that there is still more time to be creative and have a great time with them!

Without further ado, let’s break down this week’s pros and cons in each class shall we?

Pros: This week, I was pushed to get out of my comfort zone and research things that I had never had any interest in at Penn State.

Animals Science: In animal science this week, I have challenged my students to the max by having a test and a project due in one week… (seems easy right? Not for these kids!). My students kept telling me that I was being “unfair” or challenging them when they had other work to do in other classes, but I stuck to my guns this week and told them honestly: My class matters too. A lot of students were baffled when I didn’t move assignments or I didn’t bend my will for them, but it was nice to see that when I stuck to my guns, my students did awesome work even though they were all in a time crunch! Although I was tough on them this week, I made sure to reiterate to them that they CAN do it, they just have to be willing to put the hard work in.

Environmental Science: Outside work is tough on any
person; however, it is a new sort of “dying” when it comes to making my senior work in our local CSA (community garden). Seriously, you would think that I was asking my students to jump through hoops and juggle fire when it came to working outside. What was the first thing that came to my mind then you may ask: An amazing teaching opportunity. At Saul, your major that you choose in agriculture becomes your job. You are expected to show up on time and do your work no matter what. If you are not there, it is like you are skipping work. It is a great concept that I designed to help shape my class and make sure that my students did the work that was asked of them.

Beginning every class when I knew we had jobs to do outside, there was a list of things that needed done and there were preselected groups that were already determined. You show up on time, you wear your work boots, and you get the job accomplished in the time asked of you. Easy concept. The first day that we did this, I simply watched to see what they would do, and if it was effective. Turns out, it was! Yes, there were still the reminders that they had to stay on task but for the most part my seniors did great and I enjoyed working with them!

One last Pro: This week, I have started working with some of my senior boys on a bee project. Now, if you know me, I am not a huge fan of bees, AT ALL. However, this was some of my student’s passions and they wanted MY help (out of all people though, come on kids!) So, I dug up some old bee suits, we went out and we looked at the hives that we already had in hopes of creating our own in the future. My student’s passions in agriculture made me get out of my comfort zone and I am so glad that I did!

Cons: As for the cons this week, nothing too dramatic happened. My students have been working as hard as they can even though spring break is right around the corner! Maybe there will be some event that will happen next week, but for now, it is all good here!

Overall, this week has taught me a lot. I need to get out of my zone more and meet my students needs because I am here for them! Although next week we only have one day (sorry #psuaged16 cohort!) I am excited for Monday and the awesome time we are going to have tomorrow!

Thanks for reading Ag Ed Fam!  

Good Weather and Vibes {Teach} on the Block #week9

As a student I loved field trips! Meeting new friends, exploring a different area, learning a subject matter that I had never heard about was always a lot of fun for me! This week I relived that same passion when I chaperoned a trip to Student Legislative Leadership Conference, also known as SLLC. Although it was a great trip, I hit reality hard when I realized that the week was not over and I still had to teach when I got back that week. After those three days of not being at school, you can bet that I was not ready to go back to reality.

Let’s break down the week, shall we?

Pros: This week was nice because I got a break to go to SLLC and spend some great quality time with some quality students! The students that I hung out with weren’t in any of my classes so it was nice to talk to new students and get to know them!

When I returned back to school, I had to prepare for the week and get my brain back on track to get into “teacher mode” which honestly was very hard because the weather this week was absolutely beautiful! Beautiful weather = Henry’s Got Crops is in full swing of motion! What is that you may ask? Saul has a unique opportunity that allows the student to see crops be grown in large amounts, knowledge on how to harvest the crops that are grown, and what happens to waste and how it is turned into compost! Pretty cool stuff!

When I saw what was happening, I honestly had an Ag-Attack and geeked out! Seriously people, I can’t make this stuff up! My students were learning firsthand how to plant rows of crops by hand and how to harvest the crops that were planted! After they harvested, they had a process of cleaning, drying and storing the lettuce that we were harvesting that day AND they did it as a team! Literal mind explosion!

Cons: The good vibes from the weather made it hard to create a positive learning environment for activities outside! The moment the students stepped out of the class into the sunlight, school was the last thing from their mind for my group of seniors. At one point I had to realize that I had a lesson to accomplish but how can I turn it around to have my students want to do the lesson while enjoying their time outside. Seeing that this could have been a losing battle, I brought out the big guns and decided to let the students walk around with their friends BUT they had to post pictures of what we were learning in class to our class InstAGram account! Everything from water erosion to conventional till was shared over our social media site under the @WBSaulEnviro account (shameless plug to check it out!) Turning a bad situation to something better made me realize that I might be getting this teaching thing down!

Overall it was a fantastic week that pushed me enough to continue making this experience a positive one for me and my students! Let’s bring on the double digits for week numero 10!

Endurance driven {Teach} on the Block #week8

Some may not know this about me, but I love running. You get lost in the motion and even though it is not fun in the moment, the feeling after is like no other. You feel confident and you feel ready for the day because your endurance and pain tolerance to push yourself is getting stronger. Now, I know not all teachers are runners however they have an endurance that I wish I had! Teaching classes, staying late a running clubs, organizing events, and still having a personal life is hard! This week, I have been pushed to my professional breaking point, I tried new things in class with a webinar, and unfortunately I had to deal with my honeymoon phase being over in my classes.

Are you ready to hear about the week? We are going to break it down into two parts (per usual) into our pros and cons BUT I am making sure to get the full picture, I will include both of my classes in these categories.

Pros: This week I was stretched to the limit by creating different lesson plans that helped students get the “big picture.”

Animal Science: I have loved Play-Doh since I was a kid, so why not incorporate it in lessons? I decided to create a lesson that incorporated my love of a kid activities into my reproductive lesson. Although this was a weird lesson for me to teach because I had never done it before, by incorporating that fun activity with Play-Doh it was comfortable to a talk about and the students relaxed as well!

Environmental Science: This week I did something different and decided to incorporate a webinar in cooperation with my class. The Peace Corps was doing a webinar about foods around the world! To bring that in to my class, I decided to intertwine my soil unit with a food activity that taught my students how to cook healthy foods with on a cheap budget. This activity was a great time for me to work on how I structured a hands on activity that the class could participate in and then wrap it all together.

One last fun activity that we all did was go to the Philadelphia Zoo all day on Friday! It was a great time for me to see some more parts of the city and hangout with my students outside of the classroom with of course an assignment attached to the trip!

Cons: This week, was a little stressful with all of the activities that I had planned and added on top of that my university supervisor was visiting. Can you say stress overload to the max? I had to breathe and get through this week to make sure that I could keep my sanity in check. Even on the day where my professor was visiting my lesson was a complete flop! It made me realize that you can plan all you want, but sometimes lessons don’t go as well as you would think.

Moral of the story this week? Smile and wave. Some days you need to fake it till you make it, where others your lessons go just as you planned. Teaching is a certain type of training that will put your teaching endurance to the test. All you have to do is keep training for that dream job, perfect lesson, and know that you are making a difference in the lives of your students everyday.

Thanks for reading Ag Ed Fam! Bring on week 9!

Half Way There {Teach} On the Block! #Week7

Students creating the Digestion System

When I was in high school I loved half days and teacher in service days. No school, no pressure... Or so I thought! Now that the tables have turned and I am on the other side of the desk, these days put my lesson plans and scheduled plans on stress overload. This week I had two half days because of parent teacher conferences and no school on Friday due to professional development workshops for teachers. Side note: We did NOT celebrate FFA week this week due to the fact that Saul does their own celebrations later on in the month of March!

Without further ado, lets break down week 7!

Pros: Even though the days were short and there was still work that needed to be done, I am proud of my accomplishments getting the class on track to reach my personal goals for the week. I am going to break up my pros this week by class!

Animal Science: Although the week was short, it was perfect time for me to try out an inquiry based lab for my 10^th graders about the digestion system. We were working on the monogastric system for the past week and I thought to tie it all together they could show me the system with simple items such as crackers, soda, bowls, spoons, a plastic baggie and a pair of nylons. I am SO happy that it worked out and it pushed me as a teacher to ask those questions to make my students dig deep and think about the answers without me giving it to them!

Environmental Science: My students used to hate going outside. They would whine, complain, and sometimes not even participate. This week however, they wanted to go outside. Thoughts: What was in the water?! When they all told me they wanted to go outside, I was able to get really creative with my lessons and do some hands on activities to tie in my soil lessons with actual...soil! A lot of fun and a lot of learning this week!

Cons: This week was a great learning experience for me to get my head in the game and focus on teaching with limited amounts of time. The only con that I have this week is the limited time that I wasted due to getting students on track on those half days. Focus and attention activities needed to be adopted on those days to get my students on track!

Overall, this week was nothing to complain over! In the teaching world you will always have those good and bad days, but focusing on the good has been keeping me in check!

Student teaching is half way done and I can’t wait to see what is going to happen in week 8!

The 6th ACES #studentteaching

Agricultural Cooperation Establishes Success. What a mouthful, but what a powerful event that impacts the lives of our high school students through agriculture leadership activities and learning.

This year was my 6^th year attending this conference, but it was different to me in a HUGE way. This year, instead of being a student in the blue jacket or being a facilitator for the workshops, I was an advisor of 43 amazing Walter Biddle Saul students.

The theme this year was “Past, Present, and Future. Telling Our Story.” What a great theme to educate our students about FFA, agriculture, and leadership.

We started off the week arriving at the Harrisburg Sheraton in a sea of Blue and Gold jackets with the hope of a great weekend. Even though it was Valentines weekend, my students were excited to be there and meet new people.

While my students were in the workshop, I had a great opportunity to learn about drones and GPS systems that we can use on our agriculture fields. Although it was a very interesting workshop, I was anxious to get back to my students and see how their days were going. As I snuck out, I took a couple of pictures of their experiences in the workshops which are down below!

As the day concluded and the students enjoyed an awesome dinner followed by a dance, I had to step up my advisor game and scope out the hallway after curfew. Luckily I was with my fellow student teachers as we scoped out the halls and let students know that curfew meant lights out. It was funny to reminisce about when I was a student and I was on the other side of the door. Folks, it was ironic that I was the enforcer and not the instigator!

The following day as ACES, we all concluded with a community service workshop and wrote letters to kids and students at Penn State for THON this weekend.

Overall, this trip was an incredible experience and I am so happy that I was able to spend time with my students outside of the classroom. I feel as a teacher we forget that our students have personalities outside of the classroom and they can be kinda fun to hang out with in a relaxed setting. Being a part of the transition from student to facilitator to student teacher/advisor has been a great way for me to see how I have grown at the same conference that I have always loved!

I look forward to many more journeys as an Ag teacher and I look forward to SLLC next month!

Thank you for reading!

Advice Seeking {Teach} on the Block! #weekfive

“Adventure is out there!” One of my favorite quotes from the famous movie “Up!” was an inspiration to me this week. This week I was able to represent my school at a meeting with a student, start teaching my Animal Science class, initiate our classroom instruction in a greenhouse, and attend ACES 2016 with some stellar students.

With all those activities you would think that it was a relaxing week and I had everything together huh? Well yes and no is the answer to that! Let’s break down week….5!

Pros:

Listen, I consider myself to be an animal lover don’t get me wrong. However, rodents and other small animals intimidate me especially in a teaching scenario. This week was the first week I was teaching my Small Animal Science class. These students are expected to know how to handle, clean, and care for these animals that we have at the school. This week I was a student, a teacher, and an observer (talk about a lot of roles!). In high school I was involved in agriculture classes but I never learned how to handle rodents, rabbits, and dogs in a classroom setting. Teaching the students but still making sure I was watching the entire classro

om was a great learning process that I am glad I was able to take on this week!

The next thing that happened this week was this suburb girl went into the big city of Philadelphia to attend the Philadelphia Urban Horticulture Societies quarterly meeting with an FFA student. This was a role that I haven’t played before because typically I was always the one in the FFA jacket! My student and I learned a lot about how urban agriculture plays a role in the city and we were also able to share out with others what we were doing as well at Saul High School! Talk about an awesome night!

Although the week was over, I wasn’t done yet! I was able to hang out with my students this past weekend at the ACES conference in Harrisburg! If you want to know about that experience, read the next blog that is going to follow!

Cons:

This week wasn’t as crazy as last week and I honestly feel that it was one of my top weeks since being here at Walter Biddle Saul High School and for that I am certainly grateful. However, I have noticed a “con” that I think will affect me in coming weeks.

In my Environmental Science class, we teach students about urban agriculture and implement it with our land and greenhouses that we have available. As awesome as it is to have all of the resources and accessibility to a working farm, my students are less than pleased to go outside during classroom time (crazy right?!). My students do not like going outside and some will sneak off and not present for the remainder of class until we go back inside.

 So agriculture educators, here is the question that I am going to pose to you: 

“What are ways that I can make my students accountable without threatening the grades? 

and.... 

“How can I make them see the value of what we are doing to show that it is relevant in their futures?”

I hope to not have this as a “con” in later weeks, so I would appreciate some input from all of you!

Reflection for the week: As much as I hate to quote TSwizzle “Shake it off!” This week was a great week and although there were some classroom management problems that I dealt with, I am now seeing that I have been changed from this experience. No longer am I letting these down days get the best of me. I have challenged myself to push through obstacles and not get worked up over the tiny things. As well as I am now starting to think like a teacher and notice problems before they happen and address them!

I can’t wait for next week to come and I look forward to reading your responses to my questions listed above! 

Always Learning {Teach} on the Block #weekfour

At the Union League in Philadelphia

Time flies when you are having fun. A common saying that most of us have been told whether we were having fun or not. 4 weeks in, and boy have I learned a lot. From helping run a field trip, to managing my classroom, to the never ending task of grading mountains of paperwork before grades were due this week. Yes my Ag Ed Family, I now hear your cries that an agriculture teachers work is never done.

So, let’s talk about week four.

Pros: Sometimes you have to role with the punches, be okay that you are on an emotional roller coaster, and never forget to shake the day off and come back the next morning fresh and ready to go. This week, my 12^th grade Environmental Science class was invited to go to the Union League in Philadelphia to accept a brand new compost bagger for the school! It was an amazing experience for the students to see what it is like to eat and sit in a formal setting and be able to communicate with people that are making a difference in the agriculture community.

Another awesome thing that started this week was starting the infamous FFA Scrapbook. The amount of work, cutting out paper and photographs, gluing and taping, is enough work for any group that would want to take it on! So, me planning ahead, decided that this would be the perfect time to start on the project. Bring it on scrapbook!

Last but not least, teaching for a full week had made me realize that teachers have a certain endurance that not typical people have. This week has made me realize that I am not at that teaching endurance just yet.

Cons: “You are not in Cumberland County anymore,” were my exact thoughts for this week. Growing up, I was very privileged to be taught how to act with adults and in a professional setting. My students were confused and even angry that there was a dress code that they had to adhere to on the field trip to the Union League. One student in particular decided not to wear the FFA Jacket and tie which angered me because that jacket meant so much to me in high school. His grade was impacted and in the future I do not think we will have the same issue.

Another issue that I witnessed this week was a teacher’s worse nightmare. Issuing out my first quiz, a fight broke out in the hallway and everything stopped. Students ran to the hall to watch, some stayed, but I personally entered into fight or flight mode. Running out to the hall, I helped a teacher separate the two and then left them to deal with security officers. All in a matter of minutes chaos erupted all around and I had to deal with it.

Overall thought for the week: Life goes on. After the fight broke out and I walked back into the room with my class, I realized that there was still a quiz that needed to be finished. Calming the class down and finishing the quiz I was able to turn the class around, get our work done, and teach till the bell. This week has taught me about how I personally deal with conflict, how I can turn my class from chaos to calm, and has ultimately made me a better (student) teacher this week.

So cheers to last week and your many challenges, you will not be missed. I will be looking forward to coming into school on Monday with a brand new set of eyes and clean start to the week.

Motivated {Teach} on the Block #thirdweek

"We are doing what with trash?"

Where does the time go? It has been three weeks at W.B. Saul and it has gone by quicker than I can even comprehend. With the crazy week of snowfall (thank you Snowstorm Jonas), activities that I wanted to implement in my classroom, and the reflections that happened after each of my lessons, this week was a whirlwind.

Let's talk about week three, shall we?

Pros: Being flexible in the classroom is a trait that I had to be best friends with this week. After the students all came back to school on Wednesday because of the snow, we had a lot to cover to catch up where I hoped we would be at the end of the week. That being said, we are no where close to where I want to be right at this moment. As crazy as this is for me to say this, I am glad!

"Trash Talk" about what the students saw around the school.

This week I have included more hands on activities than I thought would be possible. You want to know what some cool things we did?

- We were talking about waste management and the importance of recycling. What better way to survey a place than digging in some dumpsters and writing what you see? Yes my Ag Ed friends, my students were digging through some dumpsters and thinking of ways to improve the school.

- After noticing the amount of recyclable products that the students were throwing away, I wanted to show the students that although it is going to the recyclable plant, it still can have a purpose! I had my students demonstrate that even though it is in the recycle bin we can reuse what is thrown out for good! So,  we did the classic Egg Drop where the students had to protect the egg with O

NLY recycled goods.

Recycled Egg Drop Creations

- Watching the motivation that these students had for recycled goods, I wanted to channel that energy into something positive. Hence the creation of the letter and poster project. This Friday I challenged my students to write to an organization or person about helping fund a project to help the school. What's cool about it, is that the ideas that they had were incredibly unique because of the area where these students come from.

I have been inspired by their efforts and find it motivating that these students want to see a difference in their community and they are proud of their school.

Cons: Yes, these activities were great and I was so motivated to think outside of the box and get these students out of their seats. However, there were some things that I would have liked to change. I believe that although the games were fun and exciting, my time management and my directions seemed off leaving some students confused about what the project was going to be. Once I explained to them one on one, they seemed to understand and get "self-motivated" for what they were doing.

"WE Can Do It" here at Saul!

Overall thought of the week: A friend in my cohort said it well, "This student teaching experience is humbling and has made me realize my flaws." These were my exact thoughts of my week. Although I am creative and passionate about teaching, I have to realize that I have to admit that I messed up with a direction set or admit to myself, yeah that lesson was a complete flop.  But it has only made me stronger in realizing that I WANT  to be here and I WANT to see my students fuel that spark of why they liked environmental science in the first place.

So, here's to next week and the challenges that you are going to throw at me. I am ready, and I will win.

Mean {Teach} on the Block #secondweek

Do we seriously have to sit there?

Second week down, thirteen more to go. This week has pushed me out of my comfort zone as a teacher, student, and as a person. I have been learning more about myself as each of the day’s pass on and I am so glad that this internship is allowing me to have this opportunity to do so.

So without further ado, let’s break down week two!

Students at Morris Arboretum!

Pros: Walter Biddle Saul High School has a diverse set of experiences set up for their diverse learners. After this week, they have shown me that they truly care about their students and are doing their best to prepare them for career success. In what ways are they doing this you may ask?

-          My 12^th grade Agroecology class takes a field trip every month to Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia to learn about urban environmental science.

-           The NRCS sent representatives to work one on one with some lucky 12^th graders by reviewing their resumes and telling them about some AWESOME careers that they can do in the future.

-          My 10^th grade Animal Science class was able to make dog treats and test their treats out with some lucky canine friends.

-          The school held a Food Science Dance on Friday to show off some of their student’s hard work in organizing an event, creating the food (which included a blender that could only be operated by riding a bike), and yes there was even a student DJ that spun some great tunes for the students.

-          I was able to work one on one with a parent who needed help to get a scholarship for her daughter to go to college next year and be the first person in her family to get an education outside of high school.

Talk about an amazing event filled week!

Six 12th graders in an NRCS workshop!

Cons: Although all the events listed above were great for the students and the staff, there were some cons for this week. If you read my blog last week, I was worried about my classroom management style and what it would be like for the first time teaching in front of my seniors. Well, it was an interesting experience for the books. For the first day that I started teaching, I had everything ready. There were name tags for the students so that they knew where to sit, there were the rules on the board, and there was even a little bit of candy because it was the first day. Well my friends, the students were less than pleased about the seating chart. The looks on their faces about how I betrayed them honestly made me laugh about how worked up they were getting about the littlest of things…. a seating chart. So, instead of letting it get to me, I started my lesson and made it to Friday.

Overall thought of my week: Don’t let a seating chart get you upset. It was funny to think back and remember that I used to be in high school once as well and I would have also been peeved if I had to be moved from my best friend in the entire world. But folks, here is the thing I had to remember. Life goes on, my lesson needed to go on, and if the worst thing that happened to me this week was a seating chart, then I was doing pretty darn good for myself.

This semester is going to be a hard learning journey but I know that I can do it because of the passion I have for teaching and the desire I have to help all of my students succeed. I cannot wait to see what happens next week at WB Saul!