After The Honeymoon Is Over

Monday -  In my tweet last week I declared the honeymoon was over and I was referring to the student teaching experience from both my perspective and that of the students. As some of my cohort responded in encouragement "it does get better." I think I had a glimpse of that this week with Mr. Anderson providing the guidance I needed at a time when I needed it. Flexibility and pacing have been a challenge to me, which might be understandable in the beginning of the student teaching experience but, becomes frustrating when you are at or near the half way point in the student teaching calendar.
I have tried to be flexible incorporating Mr. Andersons insight and recommendations into my approach. He is great at pointing me in the right direction and patient in allowing the time to find a way that works for me and the students. I continue to get valuable survival skills in additional to the skills necessary to developing my craft. I get to share in Mr. Andersons daily challenges, moments of satisfaction, points of recognition, administrative respect, and the students unfailing, earnest, enthusiasm for agriculture education.

Making Snow Load Testing Engaging!

Tuesday - Part of my student teaching experience requires facing the challenge of behavior modification for one of the moodle modules. I initially thought I would work with a student who has an IEP and might pose a behavior challenge associated with his background. I was wrong. That student simply needed recognition even though they chose to hide out in the back of the room. All it took for this student to be recognized was inclusion and contribution to our daily session.
The student who Mr. Anderson and I have agreed to single out for this assignment has turned out to be the "perfect" example of what a teacher might face year in, and year out. Part of this assignment requires a daily record of my attempts to encourage constructive, participative, positive behavior. That might look good on paper and fit the assignment structure but, in my case it will be impossible to do a "daily" journal of my attempts when this student is absent, seen dodging class with swag strolling out the door on his way to our class, and spending the associated time in In School Suspension. While challenged, I do feel up to the task, though it might literally not fit the boxes on the form but, this kid doesn't fit the box in general. Fortunately, I can identify with him in some ways and respect where he might be coming from. Below - harnessing student creativity in a Lincoln Electric FFA themed Design Your Own Helmet Contest to fund and equip your ag. program with helmets and money for the winners. This one might just put us in the running!

Wednesday - Today was a good day and my Greenhouse section felt like a pretty solid delivery. I felt like I started to dial in on some of the guidance Mr. Anderson has given me. Interestingly, it took me until this point where I felt enough comfort in this experience to let go of the reigns a little and focus closer on some of the advice I have been given. Another aspect of that is developing some semblance of a planning horizon versus struggling to adapt my plans to the students level.
I thought it was interesting to see the students in ag. mechanics get frustrated with the lap weld after they have developed solid techniques running beads and doing butt welds. I encourage them to recognize the frustration and develop effective strategies to tackle the new weld. I feel like this is a good experience to work through because that is the type of approach they will need in adulthood.

Thursday - Today was another good day using a similar pace and time management strategy that worked pretty well for me yesterday. The students in ag. mechanics continue to experience some frustration with the lap weld but, view the frustration as a challenge to overcome with practice and good old fashioned persistence. It really makes the experience worth while to guide them through the process toward competency because you start to the development in their faces and in the guidance they seek. I used an imaginative lead in to a hands on activity that challenged the students imagination while at the same time reinforcing the material we were exploring.

Friday - Today was the first observation by my University Supervisor. I did not necessarily feel nervous but, I did put a lot more pressure on myself to do a solid job for myself, my supervisor, and represent Mr. Andersons' efforts in my development. If I stretched my students minds yesterday with my imaginative approach, I blew their minds with a follow up today. I felt even at their age while we all knew it was an imaginary motivation, I had them questioning the reality of it and it was SO cool to see the energy we gained from suspending a little reality and harnessing our imaginations to engage in what is otherwise fairly dry subject matter anyone would be challenged to present.
I felt good about where I am at from the evaluation I got because it documents progress and points out areas of improvement that provide focus and emphasis for me in the last half of this experience. I feel up to the challenge and I have developed a comfort in the stretch that will help me hit the goals my supervisor and Mr. Anderson have laid out for me to become a highly effective educator in the future.