Reflections on Student Teaching ATHENS Style

 I had the privilege of student teaching at Athens Area High School in Bradford County, PA, under the direction of Mr. David Steinfelt (agriculture educator) and Dr. Laura Rice (university supervisor). I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and grew both personally and professionally.

I had an incredible time at Athens and learned an amazing amount! I learned about topics like pesticides safety and electrical wiring, I learned teaching strategies in a shop and classroom setting, I learned about communicating with students and other teachers, and I also learned a lot about myself! This experience was exciting, exhausting, exhilarating and life changing all at once, so the question is how can I share all of that in one blog post? Well, here are the top three things that I learned at while student teaching at Athens!

1)      Treasure the Light-Bulb Moments

Students sometimes don’t understand or they won’t listen or it has just been a really bad day. It is so important to recognize and treasure those Light-Bulb Moments!

Note on a unit reflection!

One of my students who didn't seem to care much in my Introduction to Agriculture class wrote this on their unit reflection on the unit about Careers in Agriculture! I was astounded by this, and count this as a victory! Later in the reflection they wrote "Thanks for teaching us," Wow, I will certainly treasure that unit reflection.

Yes this is a literal light-bulb moment! It is so easy to go great job know let’s grade this sucker so we can move on! NO!!! Celebrate this moment with your students, this is exciting stuff my friends!

 

2)      Its all about the Kids and the Community

There is so much drama, politics, and other shenanigans in education. Which is unfortunate, but the truth. It is really important to remember that in my classroom, Agriculture Education is ALL ABOUT THE KIDS AND THE COMMUNITY! It is very easy to get caught up in other things but the most important things are my students and the community that my school is in. Bottom line, no exceptions… Kids and Community. We need to be educating students so that they can succeed in any future endeavor, and we also need to be meeting and exceeding the needs of our community.

FFA Officers representing Athens FFA at the local Tractor Supply Store.

Here are students representing our chapter at the local Tractor Supply Store… BOOM Kids and Community!

Students walking to their next workshop at a leadership conference!

These are some of my students at a leadership conference for FFA. Seeking and providing opportunities for my students is very important.

3)      Remain Flexible!

The life of an Ag teacher is pretty crazy sometimes. We have field trips, competitions, guest speakers, events, exams, and so much more. It is really important to remain flexible. I was so upset one day because we just did NOT get enough done with the Horticulutre class. After discussing with my cooperating teacher we had an Ag Mechanics Class that was running ahead of schedule help us out in the Greenhouse, and it was a win! The Greenhouse was better, the students enjoyed the change of pace, and all was well.  We were even able to discuss how plumbing relates to horticulture via irrigation and hydroponics! It was a win win.

Dairy Judging Events are fun and exciting but require a field trip!

 

Here are some students at a Dairy Judsing Competition… which happened to be on just about the busiest Friday ever! It’s alright, sometimes you just have to roll with it!

If plan A doesn’t work, there are plenty more letters in the alphabet!

Changing up the room can make a huge difference! Remain flexible and don't be afraid to change

One day it just wasn’t working… so we had to change up the room a little and go from rows to a circle. This might sound silly or simple, but hey we were flexible and it worked!

I truly had an incredible time at my student teaching placement, and am so thankful to Mr. Steinfelt for sharing his classroom with me!

Thanks so much for reading

Best

Sarabeth Royer