Week 8 Student Teaching

Leveraging Student Rapport

You've Heard it a Million Times:

Having student rapport squashes classroom management issues, motivates students in your classroom because they want to succeed, and again displays for the student that you care for them. Now completing week 8, student rapport is pretty strong with some students. I want to share a story about one specific student which I have developed rapport with and how it unexpectedly helped me in the classroom.

The Student with the Nickname:

During my first week in Small Gas Engines, while I was learning names, one specific student told me a nickname (rather than his given name), later he confessed this is not his name on the roster and it was all a big joke, which is fine because that class does joke a lot. I now refer to this student as his given name AND his nickname (which is a mouthful to say) which he appreciates and finds humorous. 

This student got into trouble around week three, for a presentation in another ag class, that was done with others students in small gas engines. Bowen corrected the issue and addressed professionalism. Later, around week six, another presentation was due in the other ag class, and the small gas engines were discussing it. My nicknamed student stated "If you don't take that meme (which was inappropriate) out of there you can take my name off the project" to his friends. I noticed this and after class thanked him for standing his ground and displaying professionalism, which he was glad I noticed the improvement. 

Then, which this rapport that was built through humor in the classroom, professional recognition of successes, and constructive feedback, he did something that I did not expect.

Student Body Self Regulation:

While completing a task that had to be submitted with their groups, a student stood up and walked to a different group. This student is notorious for being off task, so I checked for a submission and didn't see one. I decided to say something to the student to get him back on task. The student responded with apparent rudeness that it was already completed. With Schoology lagging I final saw he did complete the task and was okay, I apologized for telling him to get back on task and let it go.

Meanwhile, my nicknamed student called the rude student out by saying "Dude, she just asked you a question you don't need to give attitude." 

In this instance, it was appropriate for him to call out another student and the issue wasn't severe. I appreciated the student's effort to regulate the room so that I didn't have to. It carries a different meaning when a peer calls a student out for not following the expectations of the classroom. 

This Leads to a Question:

Leveraging student rapport is great and has many benefits. Although I worry this will lead to students claiming I am picking favorites or the student "defending me" when others act up when they shouldn't intervene. How can I keep student rapport in check?

Week 7 Student Teaching

National FFA Week as an Advisor

This year I celebrated National FFA Week in my new capacity as an FFA Advisor and Student Teacher. Although the week was limited due to yet another snow storm I learned many things.

FFA Spirit Week

Having a spirit week is a great way to identify supporters and members of the FFA in your school. Dover had Blue Tuesday, Flannel Wednesday, Gold Thursday, and Official Dress Friday. On social media I noticed other chapters have an FFA Tee Shirt Day, Camo Day, or Agriculture Businesses and Supporters Day which participants wore logos of their favorites. 

Supporters Luncheon

Dover FFA hosted a faculty luncheon on Friday, where they enlisted the help of an OAC member to roast a pig, as well as frying catfish in the ag shop. FFA Members volunteered to bring in the other foods, and volunteered to cook, greet, and serve faculty during their lunch periods. 

This is a perfect way to reward people who support you year round as well as gain supporters by inviting them into your program. 

Recruitment Activities

Although the snow foiled our plans, we had the intent to visit all 6th graders in their science class and the officers would teach an agriculture lab in honor of FFA Week. By displaying agriculture as a science, the opportunities available in Ag and the FFA, and networking underclassmen to upperclassmen making joining agriculture classes and the FFA a lot less scary. 

Student Teaching Week 6

Wait, When did I last see my Students?

This week, I saw my students for a total of 8 hours... Monday and Tuesday they were out due to a snow day, Wednesday we had a 2 hour delay, and Thursday was a 3 hour early dismissal for inservice data collection, as well as having Friday off for in-service professional development. 

Current mood regarding snow days...

I need advice:

When I see my students next, how do I assess the forgetting curve? Where do I pick back up, or how much content should I re-cover?

I have been guilty of moving too fast, and here we are days out of class, and I fear my students are losing content at large rates while I get my feet under myself as a teacher!

My Thoughts/Plan:

Until I get your awesome feedback, I've developed a forgetting curve plan to aid in recovering information. We had covered Breed ID from the National FFA Vet Skills Handbook and Animal Terminology, because of this I feel a day dedicated to review is necessary. 

I doubt my students looked over their terminology or breed during their time off, and seeing that the knowledge hasn't been used at deeper levels of understanding yet, I feel it would have a higher likelihood of being forgotten. 

Therefore, review group games are in store for us on Monday to get a formative assessment of how much they have forgotten. IN addition to re-learning the material!

Visiting West Perry

Different Program, Same Positive Impact

On January 18th I visited Ms. Winkloski at West Perry High School. During my time at the high school I observed Mrs. Miller teach a class, Mr. Hines teach a class, and Ms. Winklosky teach two classes.

When I visited I noticed quite a few differences between Dover Area High School and West Perry High School. First, the student body had a different feel. They were mostly quite and attentive and they enjoyed the project based learning I observed in Mrs. Miller's Class.

Additionally, it was a Friday, on a two-hour delay for snow. This could have affected their energy level. But, this quietness was quickly put to rest in Mr. Hines' intro course were they were learning Parliamentary Procedure! THE STUDENTS LOVED IT! They were awarded a certain number of points for serving as the chair, the secretary, debates, motions, seconds, and so forth. Once they got to 80 points they were no longer able to earn points, except for point of order.

Finally, although Ms. Winklosky was just starting out I noticed her ability to quickly interact with her students and motivate them! The students wanted to work with her and learn what she had to say about SMAW.

Although My time was brief, I was grateful for the opportunity to compare the schools, student body, programs, and teachers to my own experience. It is wonderful to be able to identify the benefits and drawbacks of the schools and programs. I feel this experience has made me better prepared to select a school i would desire to work at. 

Week 5 Student Teaching

"I already know how to do that"

A common theme I noticed this week was fielding the phrase "I don't have to do, that because I already know how to" or some variation of that. This phrase sparks frustration and even anger inside me. 

I respond with phrases like, "I'm glad you know how to do it, but it doesn't hurt to practice." or "Excellent, now you can help your peers figure out how to do that also." To which I have been ignored or I receive another excuse. 

What more can I do?

• I've explained the "Why" behind what we are doing (important to tests/grades, important in real life, important for the rest of the course.)
• I've asked them to be experts
• I've told them its not optional
• I've ignored them and hoped they'd come around when they didn't get attention

Nothing is more frustrating than wanting to help students that don't want to help themselves. 

I now realize I cannot get hung up on students that are negative and refuse to do anything, because I can't MAKE them do something. But, I surely can follow up with what they earned in grades and I'll have opportunities in the future to discuss why they should have put in the effort prior. 

ADVICE IS APPRECIATED! THANK YOU!

Week 4 Student Teaching

The First Summative Assessment

The Scenario:

In Large Animal Science we concluded our first unit "Animal Agriculture as a Science" within the early dismissals, 2 hour delays, and 3 hour delays. On Monday we conducted our inquiry based instruction egg dissection lab and finished the scientific method learning, Tuesday I didn't see the class due to an early dismissal, Wednesday I saw them for one hour and we worked on their lab worksheets and lab reports, Thursday I saw them for approximately an hour and a half and we played an extensive Kahoot which paralleled EACH question that would be on the test, and finally, Friday they took a 30 point, untimed, unit 1 exam which they were aware of several days in advance.

Because I love drawing correlations, I decided that the Bell Ringer (which I do every day in schoology, ungraded) was to complete a google form, assessing how confident they felt about the test and how well they prepared for the test. 

The Google Form Results:

The Results of the Test:

Out of 20 test takers (Three were absent, and one was a late add and will take the test next week)

• The Average Grade Received on the test was 80.44%
• Three students received a 100% 
• Eight students received an "A"
• Six Students received a "B"
• One Student received a "C"
• Five Students received below a "C"

Somethings I noticed:

Two of my students that earned 100% had expected a B. The students that did earned B or above paid attention in class or reviewed notes outside of class.

What I am Thinking:

I feel the test was an accurate assessment of their knowledge we covered in the class. I had matching, short answer, ordering, multiple choice, and one true/false question to assess different depths of knowledge comprehension. Additionally, I had them correlate the steps of the scientific method to the steps we completed in our lab, to display that we truly did experience every step.

If I could do this exam over again, I would have a short review game for Wednesday, in addition to the extensive review on Thursday. Granted, the bell ringers serve as a daly review of the content we had covered prior, and the closing with connections was a formative assessment tool I had used daily. I feel a short review a day earlier would give more time for repetition and another chance to handle the material for my less confident students.

My Question for You:

How do I motivate my students to perform on tests that don't care about their grade? I have students that don't necessarily care about the class, but apply themselves to meet academic requirements of sports. Although, I struggle to get students to see the value in performing well on tests.

ALSO

Two of my students (One earned a 29 and the other earned a 30) won't complete any other graded items and It is pulling teeth to get them to complete their lab report. How can I motivate them to participate in graded assignments OTHER than the test? They clearly know the material, why won't they practice it?

I plan to continue running this survey before each test, I'm also curious to see how their expectations change as they get more comfortable with the content and my testing style.