Good Afternoon,
Monday- Today was an interesting day. The Principle visited each of my classes today to inform the students of the current situation at Cumberland Valley. The students took the new well as they know we all will be here if they need anything. Immediately in Leadership we began discussion options for spring trip so that way the students would have something to look forward to. The students are excited and have been coming up with fun activities that we could check out. The Animal Science class viewed a powerpoint. I think I did a good job of asking and prompting questions at the class to keep them thinking about the content. I have some really smart kids in the class so I need to challenge them to think deeper. Landscaping had a workday to meet with groups in order to do their forma presentations tomorrow. We discussed what a formal presentation looks like and what both the presenter and audience should be doing during it. For tomorrow I want to prepare an evaluation for each student so they are paying attention and taking note to the presenters. In SAE students worked on finalizing/ editing proficiency applications as we discussed what a asset and non- productive asset was.
Tuesday- In Leadership today we worked on finalizing teachers luncheon and preparing speeches. I continue to do mini lessons on speeches and that seems to offer a good break between actually learning and working on speeches. In Animal Science students started working on solving dry matter equation problems and % nutrient per feed type. Students struggled greatly with solving the math problems and understanding the why behind some of the problems. As we got into it I realized that I needed to do more rechecks so I would ask students after a certain point to stop and do a quick understanding check. This helped but it was still a struggle. Landscape had time to wrap up presentations and started to present. I was pleased with the content as we stress more about what a formal presentation should look like. In SAE students worked on proficiency applications.
Wednesday- In leadership students worked on speeches and putting their content into words. Animal Science we continued working on the math problems. Before the class I sat down and looked more into some of the whys and results behind the problems. At the beginning of the class I started out explaining key concepts. I think this helped students in there understanding. I was still struggling with kid shutting down because "they are not good at math". My goal was that they understand the general concept. In landscape students presented career presentations. The speeches were good yet there were some really poor presentations. My goal is to help these students put together stronger formal public speeches. In SAE students were still working on proficiency and understanding how to sell themselves as an individual and what they and their SAE is capable of.
Thursday-
In leadership half the class is working on writing speeches while the other is working on peer editing and making improvements based on content. I am disappointed with their progress as I feel they aren't being very productive. I struggle to keep them on track despite continual walking around, I threaten to take points away and I'm literally not sure what else to do some days. I think a lot of this goes back to the week they are having and the current substitute. In Animal Science we took an open note quiz on the previous section of feed stuffs. We peer graded the quiz and I was glad we did because we were able to make a stronger connection and clarify material. In landscape we began with a powerpoint on Introduction to Floriculture. Again my 5th period class was way off track (same students as leadership) and I told them I would be changing their seats tomorrow. When comparing my 7th period class we accomplished a lot more by getting through the powerpoint and getting a good start on the on floriculture history project. In SAE we are still working on finishing and peer reviewing proficiency applications. The progression was good today as they are realizing they need to be completed tomorrow.
Friday-
Leadership worked on submitting speeches. All students were to time themselves to see where they were at as far as time wise. If they were low on time I helped them find areas to expand on. I was surprised with how many were completed in order to submit for the area contest. In Animal Science we finished reviewing conclusion questions and making a stronger connection despite the vast conclusion and shut down over the math problems. It came to the point that honestly they get the general concept which is what I wanted but its not worth any more struggle. We moved on to the pearson square but everyone seems to be on the same page. In landscape we did a mini landscape/ florial design/ terrarium. This was a good wrap up to landscape and intro to floriculture. Side note in 5th period I changed seats, it didn't go over and a student walked out guidance. They will get over it and I talked to guidance to make sure the student arrived at guidance. They supported my decision to change seats for classroom management purposes. SAE is finalized their proficiencies, I am pleased with the quality for the most part.
Plan for Week 4
Monday- Leadership- Sub in for SLLC- perfect speeches, what does a good speech sound like?
Animal Science- News article and essay
Landscape- History of Floriculture
SAE- update AET
Tuesday- Leadership- Sub in for SLLC- extemporaneous speeches, topics provided.
Animal Science- Byproducts BINGO/ what are cattle by-products
Landscape- History of Floriculture, Paper flowers
SAE- update AET
Wednesday- Leadership- How to write effective thank you notes
Animal Science- 5.5.1
Landscape- What materials are used in Floriculture?
SAE- Hunger Banquet Planning
Thursday- Leadership- Communication Activity- Signs for Petting Zoo/ Prep
Animal Science- 5.5.2
Landscape- What flowers kind of flowers are in floriculture?
SAE- What are Goals?
Friday-
Leadership- Petting Zoo
Animal Science- Petting Zoo
Landscape- Petting Zoo
SAE- Petting Zoo
Kate, you continue to show growing strength in your planning. I encourage you to keep implementing differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all student learning levels. Be sure to utilize teaching techniques like Problem-based learning and Inquiry Based Instruction to increase accountability for student learning.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to see you show more growth in your reflection. You do a great job of explaining what you did, but I am going to push you for next week to not regurgitate what you did in each class, and really think about your struggles and why you think they are occurring. After you have reflected on your struggles and why, think about how you want to address these issues.
I know you are doing great things at CV, but I really want to see more of a reflective blog entry from you next week!
Laura