Teaching Bluejays: Seeing Success (Week 7)

My 7th week consisted of a Monday off, and a bit of craziness along the way. In the end, It was a typical crazy week in the life of an ag teacher, but there were students with plaques at the end of it, making the struggles seem worth it.

As I mentioned in the last blog, I was challenged to act as the second teacher for 2 days while Mr Turner was out. Well, he fell ill on during his time away. When I arrived Tuesday morning, I found an email from him saying that he would be our that day. On Wednesday, he came in but could make it and had to leave around lunch time. Now it did not necessarily mean that I had to drastically change my plans, but just like the two school days prior, it meant more time as "the guy", teaching my slate of classes independently, without the safety net of another teacher in the room. I am starting to shift my mindset from succeeding as a student teacher. to succeeding as a first year ag teacher. This was excellent practice, and I am now feeling even more comfortable with teaching a full load each day.

I will also throw in a quick note about our advisory council meeting. It was a pleasure to meet everyone, and there were several comments to both Mr Brown and myself from the members saying they were impressed with my progress. Along with the meeting came some great stories on how they have used the advisory council to advocate for the program in the past.

Wednesday was also my second observation from Dr Foster. The biggest issue we found and tried to tackle is lesson planning. I find it hard, at least in this step of the journey, to write plans for days and days in advance. It leads to me preparing somewhat last minute. Right now I can make it work really well, but I can not let that be a habit to continue in the future. I do enjoy how much more relaxed days can be when I have everything placed, and I know there are days that will force you to take that preparedness for granted.
Also, I can not for the life of me teach from a lesson plan through out the class. For each class I know what I want to, and I make it happen. I dont need a lesson in front of me to remind me. The craziness in my mind makes sense to me, but not really to anyone else. What I should do is keep a clearer lesson plan paper trail for the sake of next time I teach it, or others who may need to utilize it. Right now writing detailed lesson plans is busy work, a necessary evil. I need to find some sort of format or groove to make it a more worth while preparation.

Overall with my observation, I know that it was more of an average to below average day. With that in mind, the feedback I received gave me confidence moving forward.

On Friday, I could see some of the fruits of my labor. We hosted the area public speaking CDE competitions, which I have helped Mr Brown set up and plan. I have also been working with our 3 creed speakers, which I am proud to say that out of 11 total participants, those three placed 1-2-3! (Get out the broom, we have a sweep!) We are sending many students to the regional competition, and I cant wait to keep working with them!
These smiling faces say it all. I love being a teacher and a mentor and I'm thankful to be doing this every day, where I am doing it. Week 7 is gone already, almost half way. Bring it on!