Week 9: Community Relations

This has been a hectic week to say the least. This was also a week that highlighted community relation and how it supports an agriculture program.

This week we were dissecting in my Ag Science II-IV classes so my week started with a trip to Bixler's meats, the local butcher, to pick up some reproductive and digestive tracts. Even though we were learning about poultry in this class, the butcher didn't handle any birds and I wasn't able to have any of my students bring in any birds (live or dead) due to biosecurity reasons, so instead I was able to get tracts from pigs. I picked up both types of tracts this week but we were only focusing on the digestive tracts this week and I actually think that using the pig tracts instead of birds' actually provided a greater learning opportunity.

My students seemed to enjoy the chance to get their hands dirty cutting apart the dissection tract and while some of them were a little grossed out, most seemed to really enjoy it. For me it gave the opportunity to compare and contrast digestive systems across species with the tracts, reviewing some of the material they had learned in past agriculture classes.



This week was also my first of a few FFA banquets I would be attending this spring. In this area, there are several other FFA chapters within an hour's drive of Tri-Valley so each chapter invites their neighboring chapters to send representatives to their banquets and some other social functions. This week was the Upper Dauphin FFA Banquet and I'll admit that at first I thought it was strange to attend another chapter's banquet. This was not something we ever did at home. Then while attending Upper Dauphin I realized how great of an opportunity this was - through the simple gesture of inviting a few extra guests, the chapters were ensuring a friendly community bond was built amongst the chapters.

I had a great time at the Upper Dauphin FFA Banquet. It was a great chance to see how another chapter performed their banquet and allowed Mrs. D and I the chance to compare ideas and think of ways to improve our own Tri-Valley Banquet coming up in May. One of the highlights we both really enjoyed at Upper Dauphin's was that it was the 60th anniversary of the original FFA chapters in that area, and so one of their officers gave a beautiful presentation on the chapter's history. While not everyone would be able to give a presentation like theirs, I do believe that celebrating your chapter's history is another great way to continue to build the community relations within your own local chapter.

Overall, this has been a great week and a great example of the value of community relations to a chapter's success.

Week 8: Short but Sweet

So this has been another short week (apparently I jinxed myself), with two snow days, two delays, and an early dismissal. This week was my first week with the new classroom set-up; instead of the usual seven separate long tables in rows which used to feel like a maze whenever I would try moving around the classroom, now I have three pods of two tables pushed together, angled in the classroom to (almost) resemble a horseshoe facing my desk, with my seventh table at the front the class pushed agains the board to serve as my materials table.

Everyone's reactions to the new classroom set-up have been pretty amusing, and for the most part positive. When the students arrived Monday morning they were stunned to see change as it appears it's been a very long time since the room has been changed. While there are some mixed reactions, I prefer this new set-up so far, it allows me to move around and interact with all of my students without feeling like I am cut off from others. So far it's also made grouping easier, so now I can have more group work and have easier student discussions without feeling like they are talking over each other.



While we weren't able to get a lot accomplished in the classroom so far this week because of our weather, we did get a chance to work together and accomplish one of the chapter fundraisers and get a sweet taste of summer in the process. A new fundraiser the FFA chapter tried out this year was a strawberry sale. The chapter already has a citrus sale in the fall, but they decided to try it out this year and I think it was a great success! We sold strawberries by the quart, half-flats (4 quarts) and full-flats (8 quarts), and while the strawberries had a long travel from Florida north to us, their taste could have fooled you. They were a hit and we spent our Friday unloading, sorting and checking on quality control while also enjoying the extra strawberries that weren't quite up to snuff to distribute to our customers. It was a really good thing we ordered extras too, because we had teachers calling or running down all day who had gotten a taste of some of them and wished they had bought some.

So its was a sweet day of bonding with the few students I had that day (it was the State Wrestling Event so we had multiple students wrestling and many more students absent to support the wrestlers).

Week 7: Finally a Full Week!!

So it's now the end of week seven, can't believe I'm practically halfway through student teaching already. This is the first week in a very long time where I've actually had five full regular school days yet I feel like this week has flown by faster than any other. This week was national FFA week so the hallways this week were filled with wonderfully bright yellow signs attached to each FFA member's locker, which with a chapter of over 120 members makes for a great view as you travel the hallways. 

This past week has also been my first full week co-teaching the electrical wiring class with Mrs. D, which has been a great learning experience and confidence booster for me. While parts of the shop still scare me., I do at least feel pretty confident in my electrical wiring knowledge and in helping the students figure out how to properly wire parallel and series circuits. It’s nice to know I can pick up things at least a day ahead of them. 

Traditional & Modern forms of Candling Eggs

This week was also my first visit from Dr. Foster, thanks to the weather constantly pushing it back. Overall, I think it went well and I picked up some great advice on how to increase my structure and rearrange my classroom to help make navigating it and keeping everyone engaged easier. Also getting to watch Dr. Foster geek out with my students when they whipped out their iPhones to candle the eggs before dissecting them was pretty cool. And they all seemed to enjoy “talking shop” with him as they wired together their circuits and put the finishing touches on some of their individual projects during Practicum class. 

My boys showing Dr. Foster how they do it

DDF12's snippets of Tri-Valley

The remainder of the week just flew by, between exams and quizzes in a few classes and taking advantage of the opportunity to check out another program down in Lancaster one day after school, by the time Friday rolled around, none of could keep track of what day or period it was. The school day has become much busier now, with me beginning and ending every day teaching a class since I just picked up my 8th period Ag Science I class where we are completing our safety tests before we move out into the Wood Shop to begin our tool-box project. 

And now it’s Friday. The day I would normally not rush home after school because I know I can sleep in the next day, but not this week. Tonight, to culminate National FFA Week, Line Mountain, one of my neighboring high schools, is hosting an FFA Ice Cream Social which some of my FFA Officers are attending, so I may swing by to check out the school and hang out with my officers. I also get to spend a long Saturday with them tomorrow as we will be taking a group on a long journey down to Delaware Valley College for the CDE Practice Event hosted by the DVC Collegiate FFA Chapter. I’m looking forward to another Saturday with my kids and also some CDE time, as that was always one of my favorite parts of FFA.

So I’ve just spent time after school today completely rearranging the classroom per Dr. Foster’s advice, so we’ll see how my students react when they come back Monday. It’s going to be an adjustment for sure but I think it might work out really well with the new pod set-up and if not, I can always change it again next week! Looking forward to another busy FFA weekend and the start of Week 8!

New Set-up! So much room for activities!