How hard is it to find down time? (Week 11)

This is a really short week with only 3 school days. Students are wound up, teachers are stressed, and Easter is right around the corner. The grading period ends on Wednesday and Easter break begins! With that being said, there is so much that needs to get done in so little time...

Adv Engines working on the engines brought in by the community

• Time management isn't something I normally struggle too hard with. I come home from school, get my work done, and relax. Now that FFA activities are picking back up, it's time for contests and late nights to get the work done. This week has been jam packed with events. Monday night was the student teacher get together, Tuesday night is the public speaking contest and online meeting, and Wednesday my break begins. I have to keep up on lesson plans, grading papers, and getting students caught up in class. Trying to manage all this can make one person go crazy.

Cleaning carburetors in Adv Engines

• Solution! I have found that if I break up my work between school and home I can get way more done. Trying to get the papers graded at school keeps me from loosing them in transport. I save my lesson plans and online grading for at home. I spend time during my prep periods with students who are preparing for the contests. It is a busy day. I realize that this is only dipping my toes into what a full time ag teacher does, but it's important to manage your time now than to struggle later. 

Until next time,

Ms. Yoest

The wheels are turning (Week 10)

So, I never thought it would take this long to try and fix minor issues in my teaching styles. Week 10 is over and done with. All 5 days I spent trying to perfect the way I taught my electricity class. During week 9 I had some errors that I fixed, but I knew that wasn't enough. I still had students standing around in my class while the rest were taking credit for their actions. Here are some snapshots from my week...

• Lows: Students were still doing nothing during the class. These students are trying to wire mock bathrooms. They are broken into two teams and each has their own bathroom. There is limited work space for the amount of students enrolled in the class. I tried to give the students a "role" and become more hands off. That didn't work. 

• High: As I sat at my desk on Wednesday pondering my thoughts, it finally clicked. I was on the right track with giving students a job, but I didn't give them the right jobs. Here, I was getting so frustrated with the students when it was the way I was facilitating it. I assigned a foreman for both teams, wire runners, and cable preparations. After day one of this, I brought it full front for the students. I asked them why we had foremans and what it was like to work for one. 

This class was finally coming together. After two full weeks of trying to perfect my facilitation, I finally got it right. It still isn't perfect, but it is much better than it was. Students even came up to me after class and said that Thursday and Friday went so much better. Most of my student teaching experience I was able to solve issues in a matter of 2-3 days. This was the first time I failed for almost 2 weeks straight. It is going to take me years to perfect my teaching, but I have came a long way thus far. 

Until next time,

Ms. Yoest

State Legislative Leadership Conference 2016

This was one trip I never got to attend when I was in high school. This was a new experience for me. This conference was all about the legislative systems. We took 2 students with us. It was a 4.5 hour drive to get there. There were so many high points to attending this conference. I got the experience of a lifetime.

• Judging proficiency awards takes time. I helped all day on Sunday to look through and judge these applications. I got to see all the hard work that went into these applications and books. This is something I can take with me wherever I go. 

• I learned that you don't always need to be serious. There are times and places to be serious, but it was nice to have fun with my students and cohort members. We made the most out of our trip to Harrisburg.

Enjoying the weather and playground after community service

Community Service at a Harrisburg Church

• Lastly, I learned to take opportunities and run with them. We decided to go to the capitol building to meet up with the legislatures from Lawrence county. We discussed the bills that were going through the House and Senate at the current moment. It is important to try and meet up with your local representatives. It got your name and cause out to them personally. They remember you and your stories. 

Representative Sainato giving us a tour of the Capitol Building

I took away so much from just these 3 days in Harrisburg. I loved every minute of it. This experience as well as my others are starting to add up. There are 6 more weeks left of student teaching. It is time to make the most of the rest of my time at Mohawk. 

Electrical Fail (week 9)

I have another very short teaching week consisting of only two days! It is week 9 and I still have so much to learn. This week in particular I had a super rough lesson in electricity. I thought I had it all planned out the way it would work. Well… it ended up going very bad. Here is what happened.

•  Monday and Tuesday were spent at the State Legislative Leadership Conference. A substitute teacher was in charge of our class those two days. I left my lesson plans in their hands… and nothing got done. I learned that no matter what you have prepared and how well it is prepared, it is up to the substitute teacher to instruct the students to get the work done.

•  Wednesday was my first day back. The students finished up their projects and are beginning to work in teams to wire mock bathrooms. They are to work in two groups to estimate the amount of wire needed to complete the bathroom. They were to take string and run it the way they would run the wire to calculate the correct amount of footage. I was afraid to cut the string too short, so I just had one group working and the other one sitting. (here is where my lesson starts to turn for the worse) The students in the non-working group just sat there and didn’t get any educational value from the other group working. Tomorrow, I am going to have the students try it again. This time, I am going to split the ball of string for both groups to work.

 

Although the week is not over yet, I had a learning moment within the first day. Tomorrow is a new day with a new start. Time to get back on my feet and try again!

Until next time,

Ms. Yoest

Becoming confident in the classroom (week 8)

It is the 8th week of student teaching. The honey moon stage of teaching has come and gone. For the most part, everything is going well! The students are having fun, learning, and being very respectful. Well... except for a few students. Here are some highs and lows from student teaching.

• Lows - I have some very disrespectful students in my classes. I have tried everything from giving them zeros to taking away the "fun" activities. I have been talking with some individuals and they have gave me some great ideas. One idea I am going to try is calling their parents, or threaten to call their parents. Keeping the parents in the loop of the child's behavior and grade in the class might help the situation.

• Highs - I am becoming reinforcive as an instructor in my welding class. Students are starting to drag their feet because they are either never in class or always going to the nurses office. I had some individual talks with students to try and get the ball rolling. Most students it has worked on. I have been working on the courage and finding the right words when talking to students about their participation. 

I can't believe week 9 is right around the corner. We are over half way done! This week was just as much of a learning week as the others. I continue to grow as an educator and a mentor for these students and I am loving every minute of it. 

Until next week, 

Ms. Yoest