Time Flies When You're Working With Great Kids

I'm not going to lie, I am getting ready for the end of this semester.

But at the same time I'm not. It's not because I'm tired of this teacher life. It's just that I'm ready for graduation and more job seeking and "big kid" world. You see, I LOVE what I do. I love the sphere of influence I have in this job. I love the daily challenge of this job. I love these kids. Quite simply, I'm ready for my own classroom. I'm ready to continue on this passionate pursuit of a brighter future for agriculture's tomorrow through today's youth.

Each day of this journey reminds me of how fortunate I am to have the opportunity to serve these students as their teacher for a period of time. I am incredibly thankful for all that they have taught me, the laughs that we've shared, the challenges we've overcome and the growth I've gotten to witness.

Chalk talk in Agriculture Biology - tell me the difference
between DNA and RNA

Week 14 was off to a storming start. I had the opportunity to join Mr. Bittner in Harrisburg representing PAAE at the Pennsylvania State Council of Farm Organizations "Cornucopia" Event. I enjoyed the opportunity to visit with other passionate agricultural commodity and special interest groups on behalf of PAAE. We busily worked outside, soaking up all the sunshine we could this week. The greenhouse, raised beds and school farm are in full swing production and ma
ny other fun projects, this week has been a good one.

As I have for the last 13 weeks, 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).

High: I got to attend an IEP meeting this week for one of my students. I've mentioned this student before in my blog. This student a pleasure to have in class, he has a smile on his face always, is a hard worker and participates to the best of his ability, all things that I appreciate about him. Mr. Bittner sits on this students IEP committee as his regular education teacher. Mr. Bittner asked our student to present a set of oral reasons he wrote for our Equine Science class for the IEP committee. Our student was quite proud of himself as were his parents and it was an awesome way for the other members of the IEP committee to see what he is doing in his agriculture classes and how successful he can and has been there. Three cheers for student success!

Low: I don't really justify this as a "low," simply as a really awesome growing experience. I have had the opportunity to teach an Agriculture Biology course while at Midd-West. It's definitely been a challenge. I've discovered a different art of planning through this Biology class. A type of planning that doesn't let me plan a week in advance like I can with other classes, a type of planning that requires intentional incorporation of Keystone vocabulary words. I've learned through this class to master effective planning and master the art of learning my content before I teach it to my students and mastering the art of gauging my students ability and comprehension of content knowledge. Now, I use mastering lightly, because it will take time till I'm truly a master at these concepts; however, much practice this semester has helped me gain much confidence in these areas.

Tip: Quite simply, finish strong. Somehow, somewhere we got ourselves to our last week of student teaching. It doesn't quite seem possible. I have regular conversations with students about leaving next week, sad conversations to have but a good rem
inder of how blessed I am to be here.

Simply put, I'm thankful that there's still challenges even in these last few days. Challenges that keep me fresh and relevant has I (hopefully) make my way into some job interviews in the next few months. 

Simply put, how am I possibly in the last week of student teaching?! Here's to finishing strong in this last few days and savoring each moment with these awesome kiddos.

Until the last week, K. Janae

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

K. Janae's High Five - Here's to being anti-boring!

I don't think I've met a single teacher who has made it their life long goal to be boring. Seriously though, life is way to short to be boring. There is not an ounce of me that wants to be a boring, front-loading kind-of teacher. Here's five things I've realized about being an anti-boring teacher...

1. Engaging lessons take intentional planning.

• Intentional planning means intentional goal setting. In the classroom, those goals become referred to as learning objectives. Learning objectives are designed to include a behavior, a condition and a criterion. Traditionally, we write them so they can reside in our unit plans, our lesson plans and then get posted in our room so we can help guide the day and show our administrators. When my students see the objectives posted in my classroom, I want them to see more then just a daily goal for me to teach them. I want my students to see a learning objective that explicitly describes what they will gain from that day. Throughout my Pinterest escapades I've seen teachers from various grade levels share designs for how they post their objectives in their classroom. I'm intrigued by a design similar to this one... Thoughts?
  

2. Interest approaches are like breakfast.

• I'm guessing that at this point you're saying, "what's an interest approach and what in the world does it have to do with breakfast?" Well, allow me. What do we know about breakfast? That is arguably the most important meal of the day. We know that a good breakfast helps us set the pace for the next 23 hours of our day. Like breakfast, an interest approach or an anticipatory set plays a huge role in setting the tone for the rest of class. Protein gives you the energy to knock out your to-do list, interest approaches ignite the excitement for class.

3. Model the behavior you want from your students.

• Dave Burgess claims in his book "Teach Like A Pirate" that engaged students are less likely to be trouble-makers. He says "misbehavior usually indicates boredom, overwhelm or lack of connection to the material being covered." If I'm bored, or boring, my students will be bored. If I'm preoccupied with other life matters, then my students can be preoccupied with other issues then class. If I want my students to be engaged, I have to be engaging. I have to more then just show up. I have to be wholly present; 110% ready to take on that day and to take them to new and exciting places. I owe them at least that much.

4. You can't be engaging until you know what engages.

• Number one priority should not be getting students excited about Forest Ecology or Entomology or Ruminant Digestion or Electrical Wiring. Yes, that is so very important, but let's focus more time knowing them and their interests and passions and then let's make connections between their interests and your interesting topic of the day. Imagine how much more engaging your classroom would be?!

5. Being engaging is different then being engaged.

• There's a lot to be said about the teacher who puts their party hat on, parades into class with the music jamming and teaches plant propagation while standing on a desk. Okay, so that may be a little bit extreme, but clearly that teacher is unbelievably passionate and way excited to teach about grafting. Here's the thing, I want to be passionate and exciting and wild and progressive. I want to be a mover and a shaker and be totally different then any teacher my students have ever had. But I also want to know them. I want to be engaged in their life and passions and dreams. I want to push them further and call them higher. It's one thing to be effective, its another to be affective.

Simply put, I want to be anti-boring.

Simply put, I want to be a teacher that is more then engaging. I want to be engaged.

Here's a High Five from You to Me, K. Janae