A Week of New (and exciting) Experiences!

On Sunday night, as I pulled out of my driveway, I couldn't help but to be upset. I was scared and nervous, yet excited at the same time. All of these emotions were fueled by the fact that this would be the first night that I would spend at my very own apartment, the first time that I would be away from home, and my first experience student teaching.

Although Sunday night was rough, Monday was much better. I arrived at the school, and was surprisingly way more relaxed than I had expected. We loaded on the bus and traveled to Farm Show. My cooperating teacher did not attend Farm Show, but Ms. Spurrier, his partner teacher, did. Exploring Farm Show with her was a great experience and allowed me to get to know her better. I also got to see some of the behind-the-scenes work of Mid-Winter Convention, which was interesting.

Tuesday was my first day in the classroom and the last day of the second semester for the students. I mostly observed, and helped where I could. Students questioned who I was and I got the chance to get to know some of them, which was a nice opportunity. Towards the end of the day, Mr. Kessler and Ms. Spurrier were talking about the new semester that began on Wednesday. Before I knew it, it was decided that I would begin teaching on Wednesday. Originally, they asked me to pick up Public Speaking, Welding and Electrical Wiring. I just didn't feel comfortable with that, as I was planning on staggering my classes to gradually begin teaching. After some discussion, we agreed that I would teach Public Speaking beginning Wednesday, begin Welding on Thursday and then Electrical Wiring next Tuesday. Tuesday evening, I stayed after school with Mr. Kessler and we helped the Safety Bowl Team practice for their competition on Wednesday (they won 1st for FFA and 3rd for 4H!!!).

Although I did feel that I was being thrown in the ring too early, Wednesday went extremely well. The public speaking unit is taught in an Introduction to Agriculture course, so many of my students are Freshman. There are two classes of Introduction to Agriculture, so I get to teach my lesson twice a day. Let me tell you, everything that I have heard about Freshmen is true! They were talkative, rowdy and easily distracted. Although I assigned their seats, many of them were still able to find a buddy to talk to. I worked through this, using a firm approach. Ms. Spurrier was also very helpful, sitting in the back and helping me control the room. I laid out my procedures, expectations and consequences for the class and reviewed basics, such as defining the Creed and a little bit of Creed history.

On Thursday, I picked up the Welding class during second period. The class has about 15 boys in it, and they were all taken back when Mr. Kessler told them that I would be teaching them how to weld. After one student questioned me, Mr. Kessler bragged that my "specialty" is overhead Arc (which I have never even done!), so the bar is already set pretty high! The class went well, and the boys seemed pretty well behaved, although they were talkative. I reviewed my expectations, procedures and consequences and we defined welding. I also handed out a worksheet for the students to gauge how familiar they are with welding. I am hoping that this gives me a better idea of the skill set and comfort level of my class.

My Introduction to Agriculture classes also went well. We learned the first paragraph of the Creed and discussed some characteristics of good public speakers. I had done some re-arranging of my seating chart, which seemed to help control the talking and rowdiness. One student in particular continued to be goofy and disruptive during class. Upon Ms. Spurrier's recommendation, I pulled him aside after class and talked to him individually about his behavior. I think that this was a good approach, and I am hoping that I see improvements in the near future.

Today, I continued with Welding and Public Speaking. In the welding class, I emphasized the importance of welding through a scavenger hunt around the shop. I challenged them to find as many welded items as they could, and they seemed to enjoy this activity. I then showed them a short clip that talked about how welding is used in society, and then discussed the video. Finally, I asked them to write one paragraph about why welding is important in their lives. Some students worked really quickly through the paragraph, and were done almost ten minutes early. I used this time to get to know the students, and ask them about their SAE's. I was disappointed that I did not utilize the whole period and ran out of material, but I hope that this was an opportunity for me to make connections. I need to make sure that I have a plan B for all of my lessons from now on. I also need to work on my confidence in this class, as well as my discipline. Next week, I plan on going in strong and being firm in my policies.

On the other hand, I feel as though I did a nice job with my Public Speaking class today. We learned about overcoming the fear of public speaking, by showing a video. I also reviewed a short PowerPoint and asked them to fill in guided notes in their Know Books. I think that these Know Books are working extremely well! After we reviewed the second paragraph, I had them work in groups to decode scrambled words of the creed and answer questions about the second paragraph. I then asked them to volunteer to present the first and second paragraphs to the class, and had more volunteers than I was anticipating!

One thing that I have utilized in all of my classes so far is a participation check sheet. It is in a table format, has the days of the week running down the side and two columns. For each day, in the first column, students write the answer to the bellwork and in the second column, they write what they learned today as a ticket out. I collected those today and will utilize them to help me determine participation grades for each student. So far, students have kept them and have filled them out. I am hoping that this continues because I think that they are a nice way to keep them held accountable.

Although this week brought upon a lot of new things and has thrown me for a few loops, it certainly has been a good first week. I see myself becoming more and more comfortable here and as I get to know students and get into a routine, I am enjoying it more and more. I'm looking forward to next week!