During this week I was a student teacher, hired Agriculture Teacher at Solanco High School, substitute, Lancaster County ag teacher, and back to student-teacher. All these roles made me realize that an ag teacher does more than teach 6 classes a day, 5 days a week. All that they do is for the betterment of their students regardless of the sleep they lose or time away from family.
Student Teacher
I had enjoyed my student teacher role this week as I had made connections with students that normally get overlooked in the crowd. I felt a sense of purpose as I moved through this week. Instead of just being a teacher, I stepped into the role of being a mentor to those that need someone to talk to. Even though a mentor role is a little nerve-racking at first, I believe that it is impactful for any student. Moving back into the day to day teaching, I had a great week teaching Power Machinery, Welding, and Ag Business. I am definitely not a professional, but I am making progress in my methods of teaching.
Hired Agriculture TeacherOn Monday night I had attended the Solanco School District Board meeting. During this meeting, they had voted on the approval of new employees. Since I was offered the Agriculture Teacher position, I was on the list of new employees. As of Monday, January 27, 2020, I will be a teacher at Solanco High School contingent upon receiving my certification after graduation in May. I am excited to continue my journey after student teaching at the district I student taught.
Substitute On Tuesday, I stepped into the role of a substitute teacher for Ms. Andrews. I had taught a full schedule of courses, and I enjoyed the pace of the day rather than just observing or writing lessons. I had the chance to get a preview of what my day will be like in a couple of weeks as I start building up to a full teaching schedule.
Lancaster County Ag Teacher
Thursday evening I had attended the Lancaster County Ag Teachers meeting as a guest. At first, I wasn't sure what the meeting was going to be about, but as the night went I understood that it was intended for all county ag teachers to come together to bring updates. The meeting covered the Lancaster County FFA events, PAAE information, PA FFA information from the board meeting, and record book grading at the end of the meeting. As I enter my new role in the fall as a Lancaster County Ag Teacher, I am excited to be a part of the group.
Rounding Out the Week
This week has been crazy, mind-bending, shell shocking, and one of the best I have had so far! I am learning more about my students as well as how to manage/maintain an agricultural mechanics laboratory. I am looking forward to week 5!
Questions
- How do you handle the work-life balance to meet the needs of both your family and your students?
- What are some strategies to keep students engaged in the laboratory (ag mech lab) if they are ahead of the class?
Luke,
ReplyDeleteGreat questions. I have found that having a spouse/significant other that understands your commitment to being a great teacher and advisor is important. With that said, you definitely need to focus on your family as well. Good communication with family members on what you need to do related to work, especially any evenings and weekends is critical. Additionally, I have found that including family in activities, when possible, is also important.
For students that are faster workers/ahead of the class for some reason, it is important to help them find enrichment activities that they are interesting in completing. These could be anything from doing research on an area that is important to the content, but that the entire class may not get to. Any type of credentials/certifications that you can provide would be good. Example: have a student in your engines course complete a certification with B&S, have a student in your welding class research what it would take to earn an AWS certification, have a student in soil science work with a local farmer to obtain soil samples for testing and have that student demonstrate to the class how to complete the analysis and/or sampling procedures.
Dr. Ewing