Taking a Deeper Look During Week Seven

 Reflecting on this past week has me in shock as it is hard to believe that student teaching is halfway through! There have been so many great experiences where I have been able to grow and challenge myself to become a better teacher! Let's take a closer look at this past week and the lessons that I was able to take away. 

Celebrating National FFA Week with our blue and gold!

I tend to be extremely hard on myself and strive for perfection. Although I know that nothing will be perfect, I strive to do my best with every lesson I teach. This week I realized that I was so caught up with all of the ways that I could have done better, that I neglected to reflect on what went well. I found that the confidence that I wanted to build was falling apart because of my over-critical self. I know that this will take time to recover from, however, my goal is to be more reflective on the good parts of my lessons and teaching abilities instead of being as critical of myself as I have been. 

There were numerous highlights from my week that I would consider to be victories in teaching. In my Animal
Care II class, we connected the skeletal system to the muscular system in animals. To better understand the various types of muscle tissue, I conducted my first microscope lab activity. The students were able to discover and reflect on the functions and significance of each muscle tissue as they all impact the anatomy and physiology of animals. The students were able to accurately reflect on how the various muscles impact the animal's health! I would consider this lab a success! 

                                                    

Ready to enjoy our edible soil profiles! 

Another example of enhancing my students learning would be in my horticulture class. We are learning about how soil science is the foundation for the horticulture industry. This week as we learned about the various horizons in a soil profile, we were able to create an edible soil profile and identify the characteristics of each soil horizon. As the students ate their soil profiles, I was able to receive effective feedback as I asked them to identify what horizon they were eating! This was another interactive way to enhance the learning objectives in our daily lesson! 

As I reflect on all of the positive takeaways from this past week, I do want to be mindful of the ways that I can be a more effective teacher. My main goals for this upcoming week are to use our learning platform more effectively, reflect equally on the positives and opportunities for growth in each lesson, and finally connect each lesson/activity/unit in a more cohesive manner. I want to continue to push my students to critically think about the content that we are learning and to connect each lesson and activity to the ultimate end goal in the class. I know there is always room for improvement and I want to continue to strive to be a more effective teacher every day. 

This week has surely taught me many important lessons and I cannot wait to see how week 8 of student teaching goes!