Week 12: Thrive and Remember WHY!

And then it hit me…. I only have a total of 13 instructional days left to bring my best foot forward for the benefit of my students. It hardly seems real that this semester is quickly coming to a close. In fact, I'm quite certain that just a few days ago, we were all piling in a school bus headed to the Farm Show Complex for Mid-Winter Convention.

With Easter Break knocking at the door, it made things a little easier to look at week 12 and these last 13 days with my students in a positive light. As my feet hit the floor on Monday morning this week I told myself "remember why you started." I may have only had three days spent in the classroom instructing and facilitating, but Week 12 reminded me to continue to thrive and finish strong.

As always, I will share a HIGH (some of the best #UndeniablyDerry and other dynamite moments), a LOW (something I wish was better, but can’t change so I learn to grow from the experience), and a TIP (something that encouraged me to continue to grow my roots in agriculture education).

Nothing is more exciting than seeing
motivated students complete
projects before break!

High:  I was super worried about coming back to the classroom after being absent for a week. However, I was greeted by smiling and happy faces that were glad to see that Ms. Wasson was back! Additionally, it was easy to bring my students back to my daily routine. This is why I am thankful for motivated students that are well adapted to my classroom procedures and expectations. In all honesty, when I first began my student teaching internship, it was difficult for me to implement bellworks, interest approaches and ticket-outs. This is because these were not regular procedures that were used in lessons from my cooperating teacher. However after 11 weeks of teaching, my students have defiantly become adjusted to these new teaching techniques and share often how they enjoy the variability and differentiation within the lessons. It is awesome to have this positive feedback because it reinforces to me that I am putting my best foot forward (thriving) in instructing and facilitating engaging lessons … And I just might be leaving an impact.

Low: Substitutes are great. However, coming back to a classroom after a full week with a substitute can be a challenge. Although I left sub plans with detailed instructions, I found that activities and worksheets were not completed. I was truly confused and somewhat frustrated when I noticed this. I read the notes left from the substitute, and I was shocked with what I was informed about. To begin, some of my students were resistant to the substitute and were not respectful. Second, some of my students convinced the substitute that they had not learned about a topic, so they could not do the project assigned. Therefore, Ms. Wasson decided to assign an apology letter to the substitute as Bellwork on Monday. To say the least, I was highly disappointed in my students. However, I realize that I cannot expect things to go ‘perfect’ while I am not there to facilitate the actions of my students.

Tip: Thrive and remember WHY you started! As the weeks quickly go by, it would be easy to get caught up in counting down the days until the end, but that does not mean you give up before the finish line. I encourage #psuaged18 to continue to thrive and remember why you started before this experience comes to an end. Don’t just wake up every day with the mindset of crossing another day off the calendar. Wake up ready to own the last few lessons, and leave an impact. So you can say that this experience not only impacted you, but you impacted your students.

Unique Weekly Moments:

Watching the other
Ms. Wasson in action!

FFA Benefit Auction - On Tuesday the Derry FFA held their Benefit Auction. For the past two months FFA officers and members have been contacting local businesses for donations of items to be sold in the auction. At 6PM the high school Cafeteria was filled to maximum capacity with 133 bidders and 155 auction items.

Birthday Celebration – I celebrated my 22^nd birthday on Wednesday. This was my first birthday  

celebration that I was not surrounded by family or friends. However, my students showered me in well wishes, off key signing and an abundant amount of goodies!

Cowanesque Valley Visit – On Thursday, I spent the first day of my Spring Recess observing a fellow cohort member - Ms. Wasson at Cowanesque Valley High School in Tioga County, PA.  It was exciting to watch my sister in action instructing and facilitating students, while utilizing multiple laboratories within the Agriculture program. Check out my blog about the visit!