With only Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at Oley Valley, the week really seemed to fly by (as it always does!). Unfortunately, while I was able to do some really need things in the classroom (pig ovaries, tofu... you know, the normal ag classroom stuff!), it was frustrating at times. The rest of the week was in State College for the Gamma Sigma Delta Research Expo and our cohort student teacher meeting.
Successes in the classroom this week-
Ag Environmental: We are spending 4 days learning soil basics, and they were a lot of fun for all the activities! With some of them having a good background in soils from the Middle School Envirothon, they were super engaged in the topic and loved all the visuals.
Animal Science: This week kicked off the start to the female reproduction system, and they are finally loosening up to all the "terminology." It helped adding some non-relevant side conversations to get them to loosen up!
Ag Biology: I finally got to begin teaching this great group of 10th graders. I really enjoy the class dynamic of this class. Since they all know each other fairly well, the classroom environment is control but comfortable--> important to the quality of learning! (I need to start thinking of ways to connect my Food Science class, but I'll talk about that next.)
SAE Visit- Dairy Production!
This trip included a visit to the largest dairy farm in the area! I love meeting the student in his home setting and meeting his family as well. Plus, I loved learning about the set-up of the farm, the various equipment, and new technology...COOL!!
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| Exciting Moment! 90 ft. span sprayer! |
Frustrations in the classroom this week-
Food Science: In connection to our Protein Unit, we spent two days making tofu: soymilk, then tofu. Unfortunately, they were so unappreciative. So much complaining, many students refusing to touch anything because they didn't like the smell, many students leaving their groups to do other things. The disconnect between students in this class amazes me in this 13 student group. Sometimes I wonder, isn't this better than taking notes?! Just strain the tofu!!
Tofu, well, I would not find this my favorite lab because I do not care to eat it. Did you ask Mr. Dysher if he has similar problems with this lab? I have sometimes looked for alternate labs when I saw that students were not at all interested in one I had originally chosen.
ReplyDeleteI think you will find the 10th graders to be an interesting class. The middle school background in the envirothon is always a big help on difficult subjects like soils.