Week Six & A Donkey Basketball Fix

FFA Team 1 was nothing
but net!

 Wintery weather can surely get the best of us. It only took a little bit of snow and ice to quickly turn week six into a very short, two-day week. Jam-packed full with re-adjusting students from a long President's Day and snow-day weekend, long days for Parent-Teacher conferences, banquet preparations, muddy hands after some soils labs and of course, the ever-popular event Donkey Basketball, week six did not disappoint.

High: Friday was a day out of the "office" for Ms. Herr as I made my way to State College for a mini-reunion with #psuaged16. I'm thankful for a program design that values and actively prepares professional development for my peers and I. Not only did we get to spend some quality time problem solving as a cohort, we revisited the importance of ensuring rigor in our course content and that we're teaching within appropriate realms of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development. I want to ensure that my students are most certainly not anxious and frustrated or bored and unengaged with their learning, yet they are being challenged right at the "sweet spot."

Low: Since I would be out for the day to attend our seminar in State College, I busily prepared sub plans for the day. In preparation to do so, I faced the reoccurring frustration of this experience in a weak point in our teacher preparation process. We have a jam packed four years at Penn State, each credit slot filled with just enough technical agriculture, general science and methods courses. The hard part is that all of that good stuff leaves little room for the equally important preparation in the area of diverse learners. It is on almost a weekly basis in which I face the frustration of feeling as if I cannot serve my learners who have varying needs of lesson adaptions and accommodations because I lack the ability to translate the SDI's (Specially Designed Instruction) spelled out on a students IEP. Don't get me wrong, I think that much of these skills have to be acquired through the learning process during the student teaching internship. But I am legally required to provide these services for my students and can't to the best of my ability because of the current course work in the area presents such a strong focus on English Language Learners (ELL) and little on the "average" learning with diverse needs and abilities. Granted, I am working alongside good coaches but would argue a strong need for increased preparation in this area for future cohorts.

Almost 500 people filled the stands for Donkey
Basketball!

Tip: By the advice of my cooperating teacher, my challenge for the upcoming weeks and an encouragement to you, #psuaged16 as well, when you state your objectives for the day, are you explaining the purpose behind it? Am I effectively communicating a "Career Connection" or "Agriculture Application?!" I'd imagine it surely leads to increased student engagement, stay tuned! I'm working on ways to display this "purpose statement" on my classroom board.

Simply put, there's no reason to discount a two-day week versus a five-day week. Both come full of new and exciting observations and adventures. I'm 

Simply put, the refining continues! Here's to the half-way point of this adventure! It doesn't even seem possible, time flies when you're having fun and teaching kiddos!

Until Next Week, K. Janae

Final Presentation: the Teac{HERR} Way

This is one goes out to my people. The ones that stood beside me, pushed me, stretched me, challenged me, cheered me on, laughed and cried with me. I couldn't have made it this point without each of you. So, thank you.

Next stop in this passionate pursuit of the "Teac{HERR} Way..." Midd-West High School!

Until then, K. Janae

The Teac{HERR} Way - Explore, Create, Discover

You may have been keeping up with K. Janae's High Fives lately, and if not, don't stress! Here's the latest. In that blog post, I stressed the importance of this desire I have to create a culture of curiosity in my classroom. I want my students to feel like they have the ability to create, discover and own their learning. 

Our contextual lab for this week helped me develop the skills to do just that. We dove into Inquiry-Based Instruction this week, and as always, I'll share my Gems (the good stuff), Opps (areas where I need to work on) and my Targets (my goals for next time). My targets for this lab were to Teach for the Modalities and Direction Follow-Ups. I'm sensing growth in some areas, but am fully aware that I've still got plenty of work to do.

 Gems - 

• Discovery Sheets. In efforts to help ease the process and be sure that each step of the inquiry process (question, evidence, explanation, connection, communication) was completed. I gave them pieces of what would then become their "discovery packets" as we continued throughout the class. This help guide and organize thoughts, and though we didn't get to the last step of communication in the lab, this packet will play a pivotal role in helping students share their findings.
• Literacy Connection. I didn't even plan this part! I paused the learning process at one point to talk through and review some key points and connect vocabulary to what we were doing that day. This led to continual opportunities for check-points, where I paused the learning and created 'marbling' as our word of the day. I also used effective questioning to help establish this cross-curricular connections. 
• Student-Led. I felt fairly good about my ability to allow my students to create their own question for the day. I was able to give them complete power to explore as the "experimenters" that day. Quite honestly, I had the fun part, I got to sit-back and watch and listen as they made observations and discovered differences in fat content in meat.

Opps -

• Student Frustration. This instructional method is so student-led, I become simply a facilitator. I need to be cautious not to rush my students in the process, but to help by asking guiding questions. I don't want my students to become frustrated or unmotivated in the process, I want them to be empowered to feel as though their learning is their own!
• Scientific Content. Inquiry-Based Instruction is built upon the scientific method. Though I had my students create a hypothesis and record data, I didn't follow through in my content with some "scientific" connections. If I was doing this particular lesson again, I'd want to utilize some of those check-points to talk about chemical changes that are occurring or the structure of lipids/fats.
• Felt Need. I want to be continually asking myself if I am truly being purposeful with my activities in my lessons. Looking back, I should have spent more time revisiting the responses the students shared on the board before we dove into creating a hypothesis and helping them understand the power they have as "experimenters" and connecting what was learned earlier in the unit to this discovery day.

Targets - 

• Learning Check-Points. As I practice Problem-Based or Inquiry-Based Instruction, the more I realize that there can be some power in freezing the process to connect where we've been, where we are and where we're going. It's a tool that I hope to continually implement in my classroom. 
• Higher-Level Thinking. Inquiry-Based Instruction takes patient conditioning of my students to be comfortable and aware of the process. However, I think that this method is a great way to enhance and develop critical thinking and creativity in my students and push them to make cross-curricular connections and think a higher level.
• With Purpose.This has been a target a few times for me in this contextual lab experience, but it's something that I want to continually work at. Am I being purposeful in my planning? My students absolutely deserve it!

Simply put, this lab was different then others, a little trickier too. But I am confident in my desire to create a classroom environment where my students are conditioned to discover and explore. 

Simply put, I am excited to play a role in the uncovering of student's passions through teaching methods like Inquiry-Based Instruction. 

Until next time, K. Janae

This is one goes out to the first day of school.

Faithfully, at the end of every summer, I ask myself "what did I do these past three months?"

I mean obviously I did stuff. Like I got my appendix out, adventured to Mississippi, spent time with my favorite blue corduroy jackets, worked (a lot). But what did I actually do. Who did I invest in? Did I spend my time wisely? If it was my last summer ever, did I make it count?

Faithfully, at the end of every summer, I am ready to start fresh. I crave the routine of school, a change in social atmosphere, the chance to learn new things. 

Faithfully, at the end of every summer, I boldly declare lofty goals and work to realign my priorities to get the new semester off on the right foot. 

So this one goes out to you - whether its your first day ever, your last first day (that's me, yikes!) or your first day in your own classroom - if you're like me, busily attempting to crank out a "plan" for this next chapter in your life in efforts to make it the best one yet, this goes out to you. 

---

Dear, freshmen, seniors, parents sending them off, teachers, and all of you in between. 

May your new semester, new year, new environments be challenging. May it require to think, and think hard. May it push you further and grow you exponentially. May it encourage you to take risks and to not be afraid to fail.

May your new semester, new year, new environments be full of people who not only build you up but fill you up. May you stand beside people who call you to a higher standard of life. May you be joined by people who make you laugh and laugh often. 

May your new semester, new year, new environments call you to "stay humble, but hustle hard." May it require you to be authentic and transparent. May the stress of what may lie ahead not pull you under. And in the midst of it all, may you not forget to live fully. 

May your new semester, new year, new environments be led by these wise words from my man Kid President... "Try this, take a breath. Isn't that amazing? It's called breathing! You're going to do it a lot, but no one knows exactly how much. So enjoy it! Pay attention! Take brain pictures! Because amazing things will happen every day. You're going to do so much! But it's not about what you do, it's about who you are. You, you're awesome!"

Simply put, remember this in your new semester, new year, new environments, whatever it may hold...

you are capable

you are brave

you are significant

you are strong

you can do it.

Simply put, here's to a new semester, new year and new environments. Here's to stretching and learning, laughing and life-doing.

Let's rock it out, K. Janae