Week 6: A Shortened Week with Lots of Learning!

           Week 6 began just like every other week of student teaching so far…with snow! Elizabethtown did not have school on Monday in order to observe and celebrate President’s Day. On Tuesday, the school district had a two hour delay due to snow. I believe this makes the first day of every week since student teaching a two hour delay! I picked up another class and will now be teaching second block agricultural mechanics as well as third block aquatic resources! In ag mechanics second block, students practiced butt welds and turned in their best weld for grading. There are 17 boys and 1 girl in the class so I was a little intimated but I think the course will run just fine! In aquatics, we continued with water volume problems. Students solved for the volumes of the fish tanks in the aquatics lab before starting a water volume project. I heard many moans and complaints as I walked around to answer questions and assist students. At the end of the period, I felt a sense of accomplishment because I was able to answer questions and help students understand the mathematical component!

            I started off second block ag mechanics with my first teaching lesson on Wednesday. I did an introductory lesson on electrodes. I was a little nervous because it was my first time teaching this class. While I have been observing and interacting with the students over the last several weeks, I did not know all of them individually yet. The class consists of 17 boys and 1 girl. I was a little intimidated to be honest because I felt like some of the boys knew more about welding than I did; whether that was entirely true or not I was unsure. The lesson went pretty well overall, although I did notice that I spoke too fast in the beginning. I think this was because of my nerves. This lesson required some time spent after school reading up on electrodes and talking with Mr. Anderson in order to make sure I understood what I would be teaching.

            In aquatics, students worked on their water volume projects from Tuesday’s class. I struggled a little with this period because students finished at different times. Several students were finished early in the period, many of the students finished throughout, and several students used the whole period because they really struggled with the mathematical equations. I had another assignment for students to work on as they finished their water volume projects. Mr. Anderson also took the students who finished early over to the aquatics lab to clean the tanks. I stayed in the classroom and worked with students individually who needed assistance with the project. The class went fairly well overall but I need to figure out how to balance all of the learning abilities in my classroom!

            On Thursday, I had an awesome lesson planned for ag mechanics. I utilized the edible electrodes lesson plan from Lincoln Electric and my students loved it! I adapted the lesson to fit the class period and didn’t use every worksheet provided. I began the lesson by showing a “How Its Made” video on electrodes. I then transitioned into a worksheet which allowed students to practice breaking down the numbers on an electrode. I then moved into different metals used in electrodes, their properties, and then had students draw the 6010 electrode before they were allowed to create their own and eat it! I had students do the same with the 7018 electrodes. My students were very excited about the lesson and enjoyed the hands on component. In aquatics today, I began teaching students about stream flow, the last topic in the water calculations unit. I again faced the same problem as earlier in the week with some students finishing quickly, some taking their time, and others not catching on as fast. Students only had a few minutes to get started on the project today and will finish it tomorrow. I have a worksheet and another activity planned for tomorrow in hopes of combatting this problem. I also completed my first SAE visit after school which was very informative and a lot of fun!

            I will not be teaching tomorrow because I will be at Penn State for our February student teaching cohort meeting. Mr. Anderson will be teaching my classes for me. As I look ahead to the coming week, I have a lot of exciting things planned! I will be bringing an officer from the PA Fish & Boat Commission in to aquatics on Monday. He will be talking about stocking with the students. We will be finishing up our water calculations unit on Tuesday with an in class assessment. We will begin talking about water quality and start completing measurements to finish up the week. In ag mechanics, students will continue to work on lap welds. I will teach students about joints and they will begin working on t-joints to finish up the week. I have some more interactive, hands on lessons planned and I’m excited to see how things play out!