Am I really half way done?

The previous had been  very interesting, from my flash drive eating itself (again!) to traveling to Penn State for the second student teacher seminar, I had a lot of fun teaching my students this week picking up all of my classes as well as celebrating National Agriculture Week!

Ag 7 was a continuation about plants this week. We talked about germination and set up a lab. Half of the class will be growing their corn seeds in the dark (we have placed them in a cabinet in the room) and the other half of the class has their seeds in the light next to the window. I had my students come up with hypothesis about what they think will happen to their seeds as they grow in the conditions that they were randomly assigned. We will be checking our seeds in 5 days (Tuesday!!) and then we will conclude our lab experiment in 10 days. I was not really happy with my teaching this week in my ag 7 class. I feel like I lectured too much and got away from being really hands on. I am not sure why this happened, but I know I need to fix this next week because I could my students were not really feeling it.

This week I also picked up both CASE AFNR classes.We shared our Water Stories, which were really good, some a lot more interesting than others, but they were very creative.  We are also starting the Ag Mechanics Unit and kicking things off with scale. I am happy that I am tapping into those skills that I learned in AEE 350 but teaching scale is really hard, especially when you are no math wiz yourself. So far my students seem to be handling it well but we did a few issues with remembering how to read rulers (apparently after 5th grade that skill is no longer relevant.) Needless to say we have been doing a lot of practicing and making sure we have the skills we need to move onto the next step which will be to design birdhouses. I am really excited to see what type of designs they come up with, from their water stories I can tell that some of them will create some very elaborate designs.

Finally in Ag 8 we have been transitioning from Conservation into Animal Sciences. We talked about invasive and native species here in New Jersey and also began talking about insects. I got my students really good this week too. I told them that I had insects for them to try at the end of class. They were on the edge of their seats the whole time wondering what "bugs" I was going to have them try. Unfortunately buying insects to eat is a challenge around here but they were just as excited to get gummy worms (this could be a great interest approach as well!)

I cannot believe that my student teaching experience is almost over. I have been having so much fun and learning so much from Dr.McLean and my students. I have enjoyed working with the FFA and the officers. Everyone has made me feel so welcome. I will be sad when the experience is over. I am super excited for the next two weeks because we will be practicing and competing in The Environmental and Natural Resources CDE event at Rutgers, and working on a lot of other FFA things as well. I have a lot of projects coming up with my students and I am really hoping to get them outside to our ecology center soon too! Hopefully the weather stays warm!



Quote of the Week:

The more hands on the better

This past week I really tried to step out of my comfort zone. I tried a prezi and tried to do more hands on note taking with my students.

We also had another FULL week! Woo hoo!!!

First up are my 7th graders, they were learning about plants! We learned about the parts of a plant, the parts of a flower, the parts of a seed, seed dispersal, and seed germination. I thought class started out really strong in the beginning of the week with my hands on notes. Monday the students created a flip book for the parts of the flower and Tuesday (with the idea/inspiration coming from Dr.McLean) I created a flower in which the students would write down the name of the flower part and the definition of that part on the back of the petal.  This way they have an interactive way to study their flower parts. I must say my 7th graders are VERY artistic!  Wednesday I gave them fill in the blank notes, everything went really well except I had a tiny brain malfunction and forgot that they were 7th graders and not college students and  had a part for them to take notes as I was speaking. (Ooopps!)The blank looks on their faces were indication enough for me and the next day I made sure that I did not do that to them. This is also something that I am going to work on this upcoming week as well.

(Parts of the Plant)

(Parts of the Flower)

(Even one of my life skills students had fun with this :) )

CASE AFNR it was all about water! We learned about precipitation and how it creates run off and streams and lakes! We used blue food coloring and small mountain like diagrams! Pretty cool stuff! The kids had a blast with it and were using their iPads to record what was happening as they were doing it so they could go back a rewatch their results! We also wrote stories as if we were water droplets. As you journey through the stages of the water cycle you got to come up with your own way of how you got to where you were and how you will get to where you are going next. Some of them are very creative for example we have one water droplet that ended up as Lebron James's sweat and another that has ended up as horse manure. I cannot wait for story time on Tuesday when we get to hear the stories and see some of the visuals that they students came up with. I cannot wait to share those this week too!

In 8th grade we talked about animal diets and I used guided notes for them. They seemed to become a little more interactive with this but things really took off when we talked about predators and prey. We made an interactive flip book! The students really seemed to enjoy it, especially those in my class of 9. They really got into the coloring and designing after they wrote down all the content. I hope to try some more things with them this week that are "out of the box" because they are such small classes I really want them to interact and get moving. In Ag 9 we also went to the media center to create out Wildlife Fact Pages. Each student was able to pick an animal that interests them and they had to create a one page fact sheet about the animal and include components like a food chain, the habitat of the animal, what their young are like, etc. We used a new type of technology called Doctopus. I know funky name right? It is just like google docs and sends the project directly to the students. It allows for easy grading at you can monitor your students progress throughout the class. It makes for an easy way to remind students to stay on task because you can have eyes on everyone at once! (Check back this week for a sample of a few of those projects!)

(Examples of the Predator vs. Prey Foldables)

And finally we get to the MAJOR excitement of the week HORTICULTURE EXPO!!!! This year we took 12 entries with us and 10 students (that was nothing compared to what the high school took!) and we loaded onto a bus and headed to Mercer County Community College. I saw first hand what it was like to be a Middle School Advisor at my first ever CDE!!! I also learned that it is always good to be prepared, I had a ziplock baggie full of tape, a glue gun, glue sticks, wire cutters, scissors, and extra price sheets, they definitely came in handy (shout out to Caleb for suggesting an ag teacher tool kit last semester!)  I think my favorite part of the day was seeing all of our FFA members wait in anticipation to see if they placed or not and them rushing up to Dr. McLean and I to tell us how they did and they kicked some behind! They compete against high school students and out of the 12 entries that we took 10 of them placed! We walked away with:
One 1st, one 2nd, two 3rds, two 4ths, four 5ths, and whole lot of comments from the judges! I was so proud of them and I could tell that they were happy because all their hard work paid off. Way to go Middle School FFA!! I also enjoyed myself throughout the day speaking with different teachers and advisors. It made me feel so special when someone would come up to Dr. McLean and I and say "How are you enjoying your experience? You really are learning from the best!" It made me realize how fortunate I am to be able to take part in this unique experience. At the beginning of student teaching I was sure that I did not want to go straight into the classroom that I wanted to have other hands on experiences first, now I am not so sure, who knows maybe I will wind up in the classroom right after graduation after all!?

(Dr. McLean helps students finalize their entry)

(my first attempt at a panoramic picture)

(The classroom with some of the entries)

(The entry that won 2nd place, he made this in an air filter)

(We have a girl who was wearing her mom's FFA jacket from Mississippi...so awesome!)

(So I wasn't in FFA but I can navigate my way around Official Dress and making sure everyone looks nice!)

(Attending a workshop)

(heading back after a long day)

(and last but not least the "advisor" shot, cameras, tool bag, and candy in hand)

Inspirational Quote of the Week:

Define the word "normal" and a week filled with spirit!

This week I finally had my first full week of school but it was anything but normal. What does the word "normal" even mean as teacher??

Last week a full week was a breath of fresh air. I felt like I finally had a chance to accomplish everything I wanted to. We started the week off in Ag 7 with finishing up our New Jersey Agriculture Products Project and What is Agriculture unit. On the day the students presented I randomly selected names to go, this worked out well but I could tell some students were on the edge of their seats waiting for that dreaded second for when their name was called. After all the students presented I was so proud of all the work that they had accomplished. Each of them looked up information on an agriculture product that is produced here in New Jersey. The students themselves seemed to really enjoy the project and found out a lot of interesting information like "cows can smell up to 6 miles away" even I did not know that one! After we presented we kicked off our FFA and Leadership unit. The students learned what a leader was and participated in a Who am I activity where they were only allowed to ask each other yes or no questions to find out which leader was taped to their back. My students also participated in a mock CDE event and a mock Opening Ceremonies competition (a CDE event specific to New Jersey!) My 8th graders enjoyed a golfing simulation that compared to the new US Farm Bill and a puzzle creation activity to show how all the pieces of the Farm Bill fit together as one whole solid piece of legislation, next time I do that activity I will make sure I give them a puzzle template because I think it will help them focus more on the content rather than what their puzzles look like which seemed to be what was happening. On the other hand my students were actually having fun and they were really engaged in the content and asked lots of questions about what we were learning.

(8th Grade Farm Bill Puzzles)

(7th Grade FFA Emblem Maps)

(7th Grade Who Am I Leadership Activity)

 As we rounded out the week I decided that this upcoming week I wanted to be more hands on with the students and more interactive. I wanted them to get up out of their seats, move around, and really experience what we were learning.

Monday we had yet another SNOW DAY!!!! I think I can speak for all of us when I say that I am sick of snow and I am ready for things to warm up! Hurry up spring! Tuesday we kicked things off with creating goals for ourselves. We talked about the importance of goal setting and then I had my students create a goal poster for themselves. They had to give me one goal that they had for Agriculture Class, one goal that they had for the remainder of the school year, and one goal that they had for their life. The only rules I gave them were: 1. you have to include the 3 goals I specified, 2. make it unique to reflect your personality, and 3. use COLOR! The students seemed to really relate and get into this project and were even more excited when I told them that I would hang them up in the classroom! In Ag 8 we talked about conservation and completed the Bear Survival Activity that the 2014 Student Teaching Cohort did with the PA Game Commission during our Orientation in January. The kids could not stop laughing and they all really got into their roles as well!

(7th Grade Goal Posters)

(8th Grade Bear Survival)

Wednesday was my first day flying solo, well almost. Dr. McLean was out and there was a sub but I took on my full course load and we dove head first into diversity by participating in Archie Bunker's Neighborhood (the Middle School version.) I decided that some of the content was very sensitive and needed to be eliminated so I created a version that still got the point across but was easier for the Middle Schoolers to digest. It was interesting to see the dynamics between each class. The first class noticed right away that the Purple group had a bigger space and were being treated "better" than everyone else. Statements like "this game is so unfair" and "is this to teach us about fairness" flooded the room. This turned into a great discussion after the activity was over. Some of my 7th graders even came up to me and said "Ms. Rigg can we do this again someday? I really liked it." In my AFNR class we began our Water World Unit and I kicked it off by doing the Project Aquatic Wild: How Wet is Our Planet Activity. Both classes seemed to enjoy this and it really helped to full the discussion that went along with our Nearpod powerpoint. This was only my second experience using Nearpod (an interactive way to create powerpoint presentations that allows students to take small quizzes, draw, and answer questions throughout the lecture) and I was proud of myself for the way I handled everything and thanks to my students for being so understanding and helping me with some of the glitches. Finally we rounded out the day with my Ag 8 class. We also were doing the water cycle in this class and they also enjoyed the How Wet is Our Planet activity and asked some really awesome questions to go along with the discussion as well. After school on Wednesday I also ran my first FFA Meeting! It went really well! I was proud of myself and the students were really awesome for it! Shout out to my officers and the other members for being so AWESOME!

(7th Grade participating in Archie Bunker)

Thursday,  the first day I was being observed by Mrs. Rice. I was so nervous but everything worked out way better than I expected. I was so thankful for Mrs. Rice's feedback on the questions I had for her and she also challenged me to think outside the box and try something that I normally would not try. I am not sure what that is going to be yet but in the words of Ms. Frizzle from the Magic School Bus I really do want to "take chances, make mistakes, and get messy" because like Mrs. Rice and Dr. McLean keep saying this is the time to try new things because student teaching is all about learning. During Thursday's classes I conducted 3 activities with Ag 7 on communication. The first was called Captain on Deck where we focused on our listening skills, the second was Whisper Down the Lane (or Telephone as my students boldly informed me that Whisper Down the Lane was outdated) which not only built on our listening skills but also worked on our verbal communication skills. Finally we did the Human Spider Web which focused on listening, verbal, and non-verbal communication. The students really saw the value of verbal communication because I told them that they could not talk. I think that this worked so well for them because they asked lots of questions about it and even asked me (on Friday) if they could do it again because they really want to figure out how to get untangled! Ag 8 also had a fun day with learning about Habitats. We created Habitat ID Cards and I used them to challenge their thinking. I placed an animal up on the smart board and they had to agree as a group which habitat it belonged to! This went over well in both classes. I think that interactive activities are going to be the key for both of these classes. My first section is a class of 6 and it is like pulling teeth to get them to participate and answer questions. In my second class I have a student that shuts down when he is not doing a "fun activity" I know that we will not always be able to do activities but this is something to keep in mind as we move forward.

(7th Grade doing the Human Spider Web)

(8th Grade Habitat ID Cards)

Friday was our last day of spirit week. Blue Grey Day...and it was quiz day for my Ag 7 and Ag 8 classes. After they were done quizzing Dr. McLean created one of the coolest challenges for the students to compete and win points for their teams (Last names A-L was the Blue Team and M-Z was the Grey Team.) We used National Geographic's Weird But True Facts.We would ask the teams a question and whoever answered first correctly won a point for their team. The team with the most at the end of the game won points.

It was a very interesting last two weeks but I am super excited for the week ahead! We are going to be taking our FFA members to the Hort Expo on Friday at Mercer County Community College! (Lucky the Ducky might even come back and make an appearance or two?!)

Inspirational Quote of the Week: