Hay Bales and Teacher Tales

Week one is complete! This week was another week of learning and getting adjusted to the school routine. After the initial last minute drops and adds, the classes are pretty set now. The biggest class I will be teaching this semester is animal science 1 with 32 kids! After the initial scare of not having enough chairs, Mrs. B got everyone settled and comfortable. The smallest classes this semester will consist of 10 students in the plant science 1 course and eight in my small engines class.  This week consisted a lot of observing Mrs. B get the students introduced to the agriculture program, classroom, and shop. We also took the environmental classes out on a walk to the school woods, greenhouses and the maple house. Having the opportunity to be here in the fall semester when the kids first come back to school has been so beneficial. It has been great to see how they get initiated to the classroom and start getting into the flow of things and creating the year's classroom ...

I recently completed an assignment that consisted of performing mock interviews. This assignment was implemented to better prepare me for real interviews as I start hunting for teaching jobs post graduation. I was interviewed and received awesome advice and feedback from three individuals. Having a variety of interviewers was extremely beneficial as they all gave different but fantastic feedback. My interview team consisted of an agriculture teacher, a special education/ general teacher, and a dairy industry representative. During my first interview, we discussed a variety of questions that I never would have thought would have been asked but were extremely important to not only discuss but to reflect on after the interview. Some of these questions consisted of why do you want to be a teacher, why did you choose this school, what kind of teacher do you think you are and if I were to receive the job, what does the longevity of it look like. We discussed that often times, there is very...

After anticipating student teaching in the Wellsboro agriculture class for over a year, I am finally in the classroom! My first week of student teaching consisted of two days of teacher in service time and two days with students. Getting to experience the teachers very first day after summer break was just as exciting as getting to welcome the students in on their first day! If I was not nervous, anxious, and excited enough on my first day heading into school, the retiree welcoming committee standing along the sidewalks ringing bells, yelling, and smiling at all the incoming teachers was certainly enough to make it official. BUT, we were able to share that feeling with the students as the teachers did the same thing to them as they arrived on their first day. (Truly the high schoolers were less than impressed but the youngsters frantically waving and smiling back on the passing buses totally made it worth it!) I currently am only four days in but I am so thankful for my placeme...