Week 4: Knowledge Application Through Hands on Creation

Welcome back to my blog! Week 4 of student teaching was full of many great adventures!

Some of the highlights from my week include guiding my students to apply the knowledge gained into the creation of visual representations! My Introduction to Agriculture course identified their interest in animals early on, so I decided to use that feedback and start a unit focusing on animal science. After identifying the need for animal science, we started to learn about specific animal systems. While focusing on the skeletal system, my students were able to apply the skeletal anatomy and create their own 3D or 2D model of an animal of their choosing! These students did a phenomenal job of being creative and bringing a unique perspective to their models!

                   

In my Animal Care II course, we focused on learning the various breeds of livestock and identifying the major characteristics of each breed. The student's creativity was so impressive as they each created a beef breed "dating profile!" This was just one example that was a fun way to learn the logistics of each breed, but also relates the information in a meaningful way!    

Swine Breed Mystery Review Game!

Applying new digital learning platforms in the classroom! 

Another highlight from my week included welcoming my Penn State University Supervisor, Dr. Foster, to the school for my first formal observation. It was so great to welcome him into my cooperating school and gain constructive feedback on how to continually improve my teaching. 

                                               

Some of my goals heading into the next week include pushing my students through more rigorous content. As the teacher, I want to push myself in my lesson preparation to continually look for every opportunity to expand on concepts and then encourage my students to think critically about the content. I also want to improve the quality of questions that I ask during each class and to be as purposeful with every part of the lesson. These are all big goals that I will continually work to improve upon throughout my career. 

Reflecting on the week as a whole, I am really proud of what my students were able to accomplish! It was a great week of making memories, and I cannot wait to see what week 5 has in store! Stay tuned to see what the journey brings for the fifth week of student teaching!