Teaching hard concepts and confidence building

     Every week comes with positives and lessons learned during these experiences. So here are mine for the past week. 

    We started our lesson on photosynthesis and cellular respiration this week in plant science. I was not expecting to take almost full week on these topics but I’m glad that we did. The students seemed like they really caught on to it and that makes me proud because these are more complex topics to learn about. One thing that I’ve been working on is being more animated during instruction because the students remember moments like that. Ms. Marsh has been pushing me to try it out as well, and I did. I asked the students if they think plants are nice (all of them of course said yes), then I hit the table and yelled no they are selfish and only make oxygen because it's a byproduct of photosynthesis and they don’t care about us. This actually worked because now the students know how I feel about photosynthesis and plants and we will see if they remember that moment on their exam... it's their bonus question! 

 

    In Ag mechanics I learned that I hate table saws, not because they scare me or I don’t know how to use them but ours seems to break every time we use it. Unfortunately, that is part of working in the shop, things break and you have to figure out a way to work around them. we were trying to cut slits in our wood working project to be able to slide the top and the bottom boards into it. Well, the students ended up having to hand saw them until the saw could be fixed. Luckily, we are able to use the wood shop as well so some students were able to cut them on that table saw. 

 

    Also, from Ag mechanics I’m working on learning more skills myself and being able to feel more confident in teaching my students. Sometimes I am learning exactly what the students are learning before they do and it's something that I want to work on. So, Ms. Marsh and I will be working on setting up a professional development event for me so that we can go into the shop and work on my skills. 

 

    I am super excited for this upcoming week for National FFA week! Dover is doing some pretty cool events throughout the week. Each day is a spirt day for the students, we have a teacher lunch that the students make, and a Hoss’s night. I’m excited to share next week what all the students put on throughout the week! Happy National FFA week.