This week was an eventful one, to say the least. I wrote a student up for the first time and had to send a few to the office. It ended with Delaware Valley College leadership conference on Saturday.
My meats class has become my favorite class. Not just because of the material, but because of the group of kids I was given. They are a well-behaved group for the most part, and they really are interested in learning about meat! We have our meat judging CDE coming up soon, and were able to get 5 kids to sign up.
Horticulture only has 8 students, but they are also a good group. We have been working hard in the greenhouse planting our ornamental flowers to sell in April, and finishing up the landscaping class's project of building a walk way.
Ag Science used to be my favorite class until I picked up meats. It is all freshman except two seniors. We our finally out of the cells and genetics material, and the kids are coming around. Some of them are frustrated with their grades. It is puzzling to me that I put so much time into the lessons and they still do not understand the simple material. They also don't read directions. I sometimes put answers in the directions, and they still miss them. At least they are finally learning to read the directions!
Environmental science is still my most frustrating class, and being my last class of the day makes it no better. The students' seating chart has been working wonders, and the students are a lot less prone to talk to one another. They are, however, more prone to putting their heads down and trying to sleep. I had to write a girl up for being insubordinate when I asked her to put her head up 3 different times, and to put her cell phone away 3 times. I told her she was going to get a zero on the assignment, and she said "Yeah, I know. I don't care". She then proceeded to watch videos about illegal drugs. I don't understand why it is so hard to just be compliant.
The week ended with a 3 hour drive to Delaware Valley College to participate in the CDEs being held there. We had a student place second in job interview, and 2 placing third and first in agronomy. I helped the kids practice for their CDEs in the previous weeks, so it felt extra good to see them succeed. I actually cheered out loud when their names were called at the closing ceremony. One thing I learned is that 3 hours in a van with 6 high school girls is a true test of patience.
Tyler, I'm so glad to hear of the joys you are having teaching. All teachers have areas where they see for improvement. I am delighted to see you are able to this as well. Something to keep in mind when preparing for classes that refuse to engage is to make them WANT to be engaged. You want to make sure you are establishing a felt need. When preparing a lesson, look at the material as if you were a high school student. Ask yourself, now why/how would I find this material interesting? How does it relate to me? How can this apply to real-life? Don't be afraid to try new approaches to disseminating the material too. Try more inquiry based approaches, increase the students accountability at the end of class. You are continually growing as an educator. Continue to work hard at preparing thorough, full lessons and using variability, you'll see the payoff in the end.
ReplyDeleteKeep doing great things!
Laura