The Top 10 for Week 10

Here's 10 crazy things that happened during Week 10...

1. New Classes

2. Tractor Driving

3. Rabbit Breeding

4. Maple Syrup Production

5. Running Engines

6. Career Fairs

7. Growing Grading Piles

8. Teach Ag! Essay Contest Preparations

9. Burning Shop Towels

10. Oh, and Burning Maple Syrup

No joke, that all happened. And all in one week. Let's break it down. I'll be sharing a high (some of the top notch, #thebestofmiddwest and other dynamite moments), a low (the not so glorious, wish it couldn't been better or those "you'll have that" kind of moments) and a tip (something of the Teac{HERR} Way that I learned or heard that should be shared with #psuaged16 and friends).

Testing the sugar content of our
sap sample

High: Student progress. I am a firm believer in holding students to a high standard; pushing them to focus and to put their best foot forward. Here's what I've learned about possessing that philosophy, sometimes students don't appreciate the pushing. Until the end. As we neared the end of our engine overhaul unit, this week has been full of lots of engines starting up. One group in particular was ready to get up and running on Monday. This particular engine team needed lots of reminders to stay focused, but when they buckled down they could be quite productive. When Monday rolled around and they had acquired the proper fluids for their engine and were ready for the big start-up, my heart smiled big time when they weren't going to start the engine without me. Maybe this is just my sappy interpretation of the moment, but it seemed as though my constant pushing had paid off as they wanted me to share in their victory of accomplishment. I'm proud of these kids and the progress I've got to witness in the last 10 weeks.

Boiling the sap down
(Be careful, it burns fast!)

Low: Here's the thing, don't write your lesson plans in pen. They'll change. I picked up our Agriculture Biology class this week and we jumped, both feet into our genetics unit. Starting things off with the infamous concept of punnett squares, I was reminded of the importance of knowing your students and intentionally planning those formative assessments to gauge where they're at and what specialization they may need. This Agriculture Biology class is a unique course and is preparing students to take the Biology Keystone Exam in May, because of that it is so crucial that I am constantly checking for understanding. I owe it to them to lead them into this somewhat daunting exam prepared.

Tip: Here's what can get frustrating with the public school system... today's students never have an opportunity to express themselves. They sit in their cookie cutter desks with their cookie cutter laptops and listen to cookie cutter lessons to prepare them for this big (dare I say cookie cutter) test day-in and day-out. No wonder we see behavioral issues or unmotivated students? It's unfortunate; however, that what seems to be the only class that allows student to express themselves; to learn in whatever way best suits them, is in our elective courses. It's as if our students desperately need these classes and too often then not our administrators deem them "invaluable." This observation made me want to fight for these students even more, to express the uniqueness and value of my program to my administrators and co-teachers and to ensure that I'm daily teaching to the audible learner, the visual learner and the kinesthetic learner.

Get those kiddos outside!

Simply put, I love the adventures that each week here sends my way. From fires, to student projects, to crazy count-downs telling me we're almost done with this wild ride, I'm just really thankful.

Simply put, each week brings new challenges to the table, week 10 was no different. Here's to providing my students with may the only opportunity they have to express themselves, to learn the way they do best. 

Until Next Week, K. Janae