Another busy week in the books! At this point in my student teaching experience I have been teaching a full course load for 3 weeks. As I said in last week's update, juggling all of the responsibilities of being a teacher comes with many challenges, but finding a routine and becoming more confident in my content knowledge and teaching abilities has been very helpful to my time management. Looking back at my weekly growth goals from the past 7 weeks, I feel that I have definitely become stronger in many areas.
Some peaks from the past week include...
1. I wrapped up my time in Mrs. Oberholtzer's Vet Science 1 class and all of my students passed their unit assessments and created wonderful end of unit projects. Last week I felt a little discouraged because I felt that 1 of the half groups had missed something along the way, however after reflecting with the class and on my own teaching I was able to fill those gaps during our review prior to test day. I realized a big issue was clarity in my questions from last week. I made sure I was organized and prepared for their review day, and we saw some great outcomes. Saying goodbye to these students was more difficult than I anticipated, but their feedback on my teaching and enthusiasm in the classroom left me feeling even more validated.
2. My Ag Mechanics class started finishing up their Plumbing unit by completing their plumbing square projects. These end of unit assessments are not only a test of what the students have retained over the unit, but also how well I have taught them the content. Occasionally, I find myself worried if I was able to truly reach each and every student, but as they completed theory quizzes, tested the projects and filled out the "customer invoices" I was extremely happy to see that each student was able to show off the knowledge and skills that my unit objectives pointed towards. Additionally, I created a more organized system for students to complete lab and theory notes for our next unit (electrical circuits) and students already seem to be more invested. I think this is a combination of excitement from being able to create something in the shop and the new and more organized structure.
3. Additionally, I have been making some great progress with my Small Gas Engines class. Each student is 100% engaged and on task during our work time. Additionally, I have been very intentional with my questioning strategies to get students to think more critically about our theory content and apply it to our lab days. One benefit of the hybrid schedule we are on right now means that while we are in person we have much smaller class sizes. This allows for a lot of one on one time with students if they need it. Right now I am able to move between students and offer individual advice or instruction during their engine disassembly. Reflecting on my current teaching strategies, I realize that in the future when our class sizes are larger again I may need to adjust and preform more whole class demonstrations and take more time to review before allowing students to work independently, as I will not be able to move through each student as quickly.
This upcoming week will present a new challenge as I go back to Penn State for three days for a seminar. Writing sub plans, preparing students for my absence and preparing myself for returning to students that I haven't seen in a while will be new and difficult. While a break seems nice, it actually comes with a lot more work and will definitely test my time management and organizational skills. Check back next week to see how it all turns out!
#psuaged21
How have you seen yourself grow over the past 8 weeks? What are some of your biggest worries regarding sub plans and being absent from your classes?
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ReplyDeleteHi Elise - I have thought about the exact point you mentioned in your blog next week. We only know "pandemic teaching" which is hard, but also has some perks like smaller class sizes. I often wonder how I would handle a larger class. I know that with practice we will figure it out, because really if we can handle this year, I think we can handle *almost* anything. Keep up the great work! I am also interested to read about your agriculture mechanics classes and the projects they are doing.
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