There's No Such Thing as Normal

There is no such thing as "normal". This is something that has become a reality for me for the past three weeks that I have taught at Mifflinburg High School. Not once has my week went as planned, and to be perfectly honest, I have thrown my Unit Plan out the window, as so much has changed that it is no longer helpful. This week was no different. It began with a snow day on Monday (which I loved as a student, but hate as a teacher!). It was a nice chance to catch up on some work, but it threw the rest of the week off.

On Tuesday morning, we had a two hour delay. I had planned on teaching electrical calculations to my electrical class that morning, but after listening to them complain last week when I taught them the West Virginia formula (W=VA), I second guessed myself. After asking Mr. Kessler what he thought, he told me that it doesn't matter if they complain because it is important to teach them that other subjects can be incorporated in agriculture. I decided to stick with my plan, and the students willingly participated in the activities.

I gave a safety quiz during my third period welding class and then taught them how to set up the welder. In my fifth and sixth period Introduction to Agriculture class, students practiced their public speaking skills by choosing speech topics out of a bag and creating an impromptu speech. This was a fun activity and got them more comfortable speaking in front of their classmates.

I also picked up my Wildlife unit on Tuesday. This class is made up of only six students, who all seem extremely well-behaved. I simply began by introducing myself and my expectation posters. We also defined some key terms.

Wednesday was a "normal" day. Welding went well, and students learned how to cut metal. During third period, we reviewed some basic electrical safety. I showed a short PowerPoint and then had students identify hazards in certain situations. This class was probably my most interesting class this week. One student was telling me about a video that he had seen over the weekend, about a man who was immune to electricity. He was insitant on showing me the video, and I told him that as long as it was appropriate, he could pull it up at the end of the period. I was extremely skeptical and didn't know if it was a good idea.

While I was teaching, I noticed two students seemed to be disrupting one corner of the room. I asked them to be respectful and pay attention, but the behavior continued. I noticed that one student seemed to be getting very angry and saw him make an inappropriate hand gesture toward the other one, and that was my breaking point. I immediately sent the student into the hall to cool off and continued with my lesson. Once I got the other students situated and working on their activity, I went to the hall to check on the student. He was sitting outside the door and looked extremely upset. I explained that his behavior was inappropriate and tried to get to the root of the problem.

When I got back in the classroom, we went over the worksheet. With about 5 minutes to spare, the student asked again if he could pull up the video. With much hesitation, I allowed him to. It turned out that the video connected wonderfully to what we were doing and I was able to use some of the things in the video to help drive home my lesson. This taught me that I should be open to student's suggestions, and that sometimes, what they bring up can really add to your lesson. After class, I talked to the other student who was involved in the incident.

Fifth and sixth period (Intro to Agriculture) presented their Creed speeches, which was interesting as many students seemed hesitant but did a great job. Seventh period, during I taught my Wildlife class about classifying systems and animal taxonomy.

I was apprehensive for welding on Thursday, as I taught the students how to strike an arc and allowed them, for the first time, to actually weld. They were all very eager, and acted in a responsible manner throughout the class. I was very impressed. During third period, I had my electrical class start working on safety brochures. I allowed them to use computers to generate the brochures, and expected them to use MLA formatted citations. I don't know what is with this class, but they must like to complain, because that is all they did about making these brochures. Despite their complaints, I worked through it and many of them got the majority of their brochures done within the class period.

We continued with the Creed speeches during fifth and sixth period. Everything went well during fifth period, but sixth period was a whole other story! A few students in the class were being extremely disruptive and disrespectful during their peers' presentations. I ended up moving a few students and even had to sit between two of them to keep them from talking. I was disappointed with their behavior, but doing these simple things seemed to help combat it.

However, that was not the only trouble that I had. Another student, who is usually very withdrawn and resistant, refused to present his speech. I told him that it was not an option and that he could wait and go last. After everyone had finished, he still refused; this time being extremely rude and putting his head down to ignore me and his classmates. I did not push him, but approached Ms. Spurrier about this after class. She said that she would write him up because this is not the first, and certainly won't be the last, time that he acts this way. So, I did. I felt awful afterwards, but I guess this is a step in the right direction, as my discipline skills need some work. In my mind, I still have a chance to break through this student's shell, and that is something that I am hoping that I can do while I am here. I have kind of made him my own personal challenge this semester.

Seventh period's Wildlife class went well. I was nervous about my lesson, because I was incorporating a game (Food Chain Rummy) and I wasn't sure how it would go. It turned out that the students really enjoyed it, and one even mentioned that he would love to play this game again. That made me feel really great and I'm glad that I am taking risks and trying new teaching techniques.

Thursday after school, I stayed to help with the local SAE book competition. I was really overwhelmed at first, because the section I was given to evaluate seemed confusing. However, after I got the hang of it, it wasn't bad and I was able to breeze through the books. I am glad that I had this opportunity, as I had never experienced this before and it will be something that will be helpful as a future teacher.

Today only contributed to the unusual week I had. We originally were to have a different schedule today, to accommodate for a talent show at the end of the day. However, we had a 2 hour delay. So, this meant that we did not have morning classes. I did not teach electricity or welding, because of this. However, I did teach my Introduction to Ag classes, where I gave students a chance to work on their prepared speeches. I also taught my Wildlife class. I had planned a game for them, taken from the Project WILD book. I was nervous, again, for this activity because I wasn't sure how students would respond. It ended up that they enjoyed it, which was a relief! We had about ten minutes left at the end, so I let them make food webs out of the cards from the food chain game yesterday. This worked out well, and I was impressed with my ability to think on my feet.

Overall, I am really enjoying student teaching. While it has been a challenge for me to teach topics that I am uncomfortable with, handle student misbehavior and conflict, and plan around some crazy schedules, I feel as though I am growing. I can certainly see myself becoming more comfortable and confident in the classroom, and I am making great connections with my students. Teaching is a lot of work, but all of the hassle has been completely worth it, thus far.

It has been wonderful seeing students understand some concept that you are trying to teach them. For example, in my electrical class, there is a student who, from first glance, one would expect to be a "slacker". On Tuesday when we were learning electrical calculations, he came to me and asked me to explain it to him. He tried to understand it, and took that extra initiative to come to me for help. When he finally got it, he was so pleased with himself and I was so proud. Not only of him, but of myself as well, as I felt like I had actually taught him something! These little moments might not seem like much to students, but to teachers (and student teachers, alike!) they are what matter and I cannot wait to have more moments like that within the next 12 weeks!