Promotion and Devotion

 

Wow what a week it has been!  National FFA Week at Lampeter Strasburg High School has come to a close and I am super proud of the job well done that the students did.  So let’s talk about the week.

To begin with I set the goal to have all my materials for the entire week ready to go by Monday afternoon.  For the most part I met this goal and it alleviated a good chunk of stress this week would bring.  I again am setting the same goal for myself this week.  Planning proved to be monumental this past week and whether it is National FFA Week or not having all your ducks in a row (for the most part) is super beneficial to the success of your Monday starting off on the right path and a continual upward climb than downward slope throughout the entirety of your week.

I want to specifically touch on three events that occurred during this past week.  The first was wear your official dress to school day.  While nothing has changed since I was in high school and we wore our official dress to school and many students complained and whined about having to do it.  Wearing your blue and gold corduroy jacket speaks volumes!  When other students and teachers see a swarm of blue and gold jackets you make a statement before even speaking to them.  You are a part of one of the largest and best youth development organizations.  You believe in the future of agriculture, enhancing your personal skills of leadership, group collaboration, public speaking and much more.  You learned that to live and work on a good farm, or be engaged in other agricultural pursuits, is pleasant as well as challenging.  You are an advocate.  You are the voice of modern day agriculture.

The second event was something my cooperating teachers informed me is a big hit every year and our preparation for it started well before National FFA Week.  On Wednesday the Garden Spot FFA chapter held an ice cream social for all the teachers after school.  The excitement and thanks received from faculty and staff was surreal!  Now think about this.  Where is your ag. classroom located?  Probably many of you like ours it is nestled way back in a far corner of the building.  So while we had all these teachers from other parts of the building corralled down in our wing we made the most of it.  Students’ projects from the vet science classes were out on display for the teachers to look at.  In my welding and electrical class we devoted a day solely for constructing different types of welds or electrical splices to be on display in the shop.  Anytime you get the chance to show off your program do it!  While it blows my mind the respect the other teachers have for my cooperating teachers.  I truly believe many of them really do not know what it is we do in the ag. department so that is why you have things like an ice cream social or teacher breakfast to show appreciation for all the days students have missed in their classes traveling to CDEs and other events.  And show them what it is you are doing in your classes.

Last was a farmer’s breakfast we put on this past Saturday.  The students did a phenomenal job delegating tasks and getting all the food and supplies around.  Again an event like this showed how much the FFA organization means to these kids getting up at 5am on a Saturday and the turnout from the community to support such an organization. 

While FFA Week only comes once a year that doesn’t mean you have to wait until then to show off all the cool things your chapter and students are doing.  Newspaper articles, bulletin boards, and school board meetings are all great ways to promote your program. 

Don't Be Bland... Use Some Salt & Pepper

Variability- apt or liable to vary or change; changeable.

As student teaching almost reaches the halfway point there are so many neat new experiences I have gotten to take advantage of.  As well there has been days of frustration, anxiety, and disengagement of my learners.  However, being able to bounce back and continue onward is vital!  Back to the word posted at the beginning of my blog variability.  I have found this to be ever so important when creating a lesson.  Just a quick recap my classes are 90 minutes and consist of vet 1, vet 2 and agricultural mechanics. 

I have noticed the “honeymoon” stage is over with my students.  While my students are very well mannered for the most part I am no longer something new to them.  I noticed this greatly in my first period class.  At the beginning of my student teaching the students were wide eyed and ears perked to hear what I had to say.  Now many students I notice are dozing off or not taking detailed notes.  At the end of each day I have looked back on my lesson and reflected how it went compared to how I would have liked it to go.  I want to keep my students engaged and find meaning to what I have to teach them.  So I have come up with a few strategies to incorporate this coming week to see if there is any improvement in my students’ attentiveness.

1.       With 90 minute classes I am going to incorporate one or two quick couple minute breaks in my lesson when I notice students becoming disengaged.  First period begins at 7:35am and I have completely overlooked not getting the blood flowing in my students in the morning when the first thing we do maybe a PowerPoint. 

2.       Sometimes throughout my lesson have the students find a new seat if engagement is becoming low.

3.       Have students work in small groups for even the littlest of activities.  This will get their minds thinking and provide just the thing you need to break up a lecture you might be doing.

4.       Incorporate short videos into your lesson.  I have found students are always very enthusiastic and attentive when you show them something on YouTube for example.

5.       Don’t be afraid to act a little goofy.  Students don’t like a teacher who stands up there at the front of the room and lectures for the entire class period in the same monotone voice.  They have enough of them.  Don’t be one.  Move about the room!  Use all areas of the classroom.  I have noticed my students pay much better attention to what I am telling them when I float about.

Mock Job Interview Reflection

Thursday morning during my prep period I conducted my mock interview with the principal of Lampeter Strasburg High School.  I had previously met Mr. Spencer when he came up to Mid-Winter Convention to observe our seniors receive their Keystone Degrees and freshmen receive their very own blue and gold jacket.  I really wasn’t nervous for this “interview” to take place.  I mean heck if I went in there and crashed like a plane all out of fuel over the Rockies or crushed it like a half court jump shot as the buzzer rang it really didn’t matter either way because this was just a mock interview.  However, I went in there like I would if this was the real deal and what I experienced and learned in those fifteen minutes will be carried with me for future interviews.  And allow for me to add my own personal touch to future interviews.  Here is a brief overview of my “mock job interview.”

1.       Mr. Spencer is a Bradford County native!  While I realize you won’t always have some sort of personal connection with your prospective employer.  Making that personal connection helps to get your interview off to a cool confident start.

 

2.       The questions asked are everything we have heard up until this point.  My first question out of the gate was why did you choose to become an educator.  Know what you want to say for this question it is the foundation of the rest of your interview.

 

3.       What does a typical lesson of instruction look like of yours? 

 

For this question I drew on what we had been taught at PSU recognizing the modalities of learning and multiple intelligences.  Having an activating strategy, bell work to get the students thinking about content we would be covering for the day, and incorporating variability.  Mr. Spencer provided me with an acronym to use.  E.A.T.S.  This stands for Essential question; Activating strategy, Teaching methods, and Summarization he said use this and then provide examples. 

 

4.       How do you incorporate technology into your classroom? 

 

This for each and every one of us is different.   It is the future of the 21^st century classroom.  Be prepared to provide specific examples.  Like testing online providing immediate feedback.  Using videos, bringing in guest speakers to name just a few.

 

5.       A student of yours received a 58 at the end of the semester.  What grade do you give he/she and why? 

 

Thankfully before I answered this question Mr. Spencer informed me that there is no right or wrong answer.  After I provided my response he said you want to make sure that you are doing everything you should be doing so that it doesn’t get to this point at the end of the semester.  He said things could include talking to the parents or guardians, making sure you are implementing all the correct accommodations and adaptations if the student has any.  Also, offering extended assistance either before or after school or during RTII/Flex time. 

6.       How do you make sure you are reaching all of your students throughout your instruction? 

 

For this response you want to make sure you are aware of any IEP’s you may have in your class.  Get to know your students.  Build a rapport.  Create your instruction so that your students can apply it to a real world scenario.    

 

7.       Make sure to have questions to ask when the interview process is over

Keep on keeping on #psuaged16!

Grading is Difficult... Incorporate A Rubric!

This week in my welding and electrical class I began grading the work my students were doing for more than just completion and participation points.  My welding and electrical class is a really good group of guys.  With only seven in the class small group work and individualized instruction is the way to go!  These seven gentlemen have very little experience welding and it has been a challenge for some of them.  However, at the same time they take right to the tasks I assign them and give it their whole hearted effort.  Which I stress to them is all that I ask.  It is an awesome feeling when they come up to me and say “Mr. Tate how does this look?” or “Mr. Tate can you give me some advice on how to make it look like it does on the poster?”  The no quit attitude they have as a class is stupendous.  And the smiles on their faces when they are given a word of encouragement or praise on a job well done makes me smile as well from ear to ear.

So here is a quick run-down of the class there are two freshmen, three sophomores, one junior, and one senior.  With every grade level represented in the class it is fascinating to observe the class dynamic.  As a whole they help each other and work well together when given a group assignment. 

As I stated earlier I began grading my students on how well they could do a specific type of weld.  Grading them has been a challenge because each student is at a different skill level.  Using rubrics has made it that much easier although!  It blew me away how their self-evaluation lined up almost exactly with where I felt they stood in the class right now.  Each student honestly and whole heartedly put in their best effort and did not cut any corners.  As we continue on throughout the semester I want to continually make the point that as long as they give it their best it is all that I ask of them. 

Yesterday the students were given the task of completing a butt weld and given a rubric to self-evaluate themselves before turning it in.  Before we went out into the shop we spent some time discussing the theory of a butt weld and what makes a desirable butt weld.  The students were given ample amount of time to practice on scrap metal and provided the expectations for the assignment.  While most of my students worked diligently and on task.  One did not.  He did not create a butt weld, but more so just layered his two pieces of metal together with welds.  At the end of the period I spoke with him asking why he did not create a butt weld.  His answer was “this is a better stronger weld and I didn’t want you to be able to break my weld on Monday.”  I left our conversation at that.  What made giving him the grade he deserved was he himself allotted the points I was going to give him.  The takeaway is that a solid well produced rubric leaves no gray area.  And when questions do arise why a student received the grade they did.  You the instructor can give specific examples of why he/she did. 

Thinking About Having a Guest Speaker... This is for You!

Wow this past week has been a whirl wind of instruction, chapter FFA meeting, back to school night, and winter pep rally!  It might sound crazy, but I’m beginning to get used to this organized chaos.  The rapport that I am beginning to build with my students is phenomenal.  I can’t begin to say how thankful I am for the guidance and wisdom I am also receiving from my cooperating teachers as well.  I also witnessed the significance of back to school night and having an open line of communication with the parents.  While all these things left a lasting impression on me this week.  There is one thing I am super ecstatic to share with you.  That would be my career speaker panel I had come in on Friday afternoon for my vet science 2 class.

I began this event back in the fall semester preparing for my student teaching experience.  When people within the agricultural community came in to talk when I was in high school or in college during club events I greatly enjoyed these events.  My first unit of instruction in my vet science 2 class was terminology and careers in the animal sciences.  I began researching local companies, veterinarians, and talking with community members to begin to formulate a list of possible speakers.  When I got to Lampeter Strasburg I immediately began getting in contact with these people.  It was amazing how interested and supportive these people were willing to try and make it work in their busy schedule to come and talk to the students.  The big day finally came this past Friday and I must say I was blown away by my students’ interest and attention to the speakers the words of wisdom my speaker panel gave to the students and the overall success of the guest speaker panel.  So… you’re probably saying to yourself MASON who did you have come and speak?  Aaron Harris a recent graduate of Penn State and old roommate of mine came and spoke on behalf of Land O’Lakes.  Dr. John Kreider came and spoke on behalf of Eastern Lancaster County Veterinary Clinic.  Matt Hershey spoke on behalf of Select Sires.  Jeff Peifer spoke on behalf of ABS Genetics.  A Bradford County native!  Dr. Bill Braungard spoke about his experiences being a large animal veterinarian and his work formulating dairy nutrition rations with Cargill.  Dr. Gregory Martin spoke on behalf of Penn State Extension.  And John Frey spoke about his work promoting the dairy industry and providing support and resources to dairy farmers through The Center of Dairy Excellence. 

These seven men hit all the key points I wanted them to talk about to the vet science 1 and 2 classes and FFA members.  They spoke about their experiences in their chosen career field, educational background, working hard, and networking with everyone you come in contact with.  While everything went off without a hitch at least to those in the audience, but I filed a few things away for the next time I do an event like this.  Oh and by the way my cooperating teacher was away on a field trip with a student who won a scholarship so it was me in the room with the sub.  Here are a few takeaways…

1.      Preparation is crucial!  These events do not happen overnight!  With good planning you can pull things like this off, but you have to make numerous phone calls send emails align dates and times to work with everyone’s schedules and have answers to the questions they might ask when you are on the phone with them.

2.      Notify the office.  Let them know what is going to occur on the day of your event.  Notifying the office made things go much smoother. 

3.      Inform your speakers to wait in the office until a designated time when you will come and escort them down to the classroom.  I did not do this and I was running back and forth down the hallway picking up my guests.

4.      Name tags for your students make everything much more professional. 

5.      Having your students create meaningful questions and researching the companies that your guest speakers work for beforehand makes for much more of a purposeful discussion.

6.      Allow for time at the end of your guest speaker panel for them to give one final closing remark.  I kind of got cut short with time because of our winter pep rally.  I was busy making sure we got through a few of the students questions and did not allow for any time for the guests to make any final remarks

7.      THANK THEM!  Show them how appreciative you are of them.  Make sure to get email and postal addresses!