National FFA Week

What a crazy week again.

     This week was jam packed once again. so many events and new things going on. My first person triumph for this week was really becoming one of the group. I was able to create some new relationships by working with two floral independent study students. They got really comfortable with me which made teaching them a breeze because they wanted to hear what I knew and about my experiences actually doing floral for a job. Today there was a fabulous moment where a student came into the classroom to specifically show me a project he had finished that he had been working on all year. He was so excited and I felt really privileged to share that moment of success with him. His bookcase was beautiful by the way.
  This week I started working pretty heavily and on my own with the independent study kids. I was able to teach them some basic floral design skills, and even some theory and thought process behind the business. Words cannot even describe how happy this made me feel this week, I got to teach in a relaxed setting my favorite thing in ag. One of my girls went to winter skills to compete at Bermudian. She came in second for the floral design component of the floral competition. Oh heck yes. She made it on the front page of the Gettysburg times.
  I helped out winter skills a ton. I actually was in charge of the floral arrangement component. Mr. Tindall came in and out to help me and it was the greatest experience. I graded all of the arrangements.  When it was over the students were allowed to come back in obtain their arrangements. One of the students wanted to know why I graded how I had graded their arrangement, so I explained everything to them and gave them suggestions to fix it. When I looked up I had maybe 20- 25 kids in a line that all wanted suggestions and to speak with me. It was crazy incredible fast floral craziness. I spoke with each one and evaluated their arrangements with them. I think the thing that really topped it off was the fact that my student competed against students that my ag teachers had trained. What a wonderful thing.
   This week I also had my first observation. I was able to speak with my supervisor and Dr.Ewing. That was priceless .I got so many really great suggestions. I felt like Penn State was really there for me. I think that all students should have the opportunity to meet with two supervisors if they wish. The amount of help you can get from meeting with your cooperating teacher and two other professionals at once is beyond helpful. It was also really cool to have them see a little known ag dept. My objective is to work on planning, and writing more complete impactful lessons. I learned a lot and am ready to work hard to get up to level that I need to be. It really hit me hard after that visit.
     I helped out with Agriculture Olympics today. The first thing I noticed was how hard that my students had worked in order to pull this off. I was so proud of them. When I walked into the gym the first thing I saw was that their entire school population was half of my graduating class. What a culture shock. But we had a ton of fun. The girls asked me to help them out with their posters, which was an honor. Their was an egg toss in which the girl missed and the egg splattered all over Mrs.Miller. oops!
Great week!!
  I was able to use the supplies I got from the creativity lab Laura. I used the foam to represent a landscape and the students used pins to signify elements in a landscape and the student created these crazy amazing ideas. They created keys with the designs as well so that I new what each pin stood for. I made one with them at the same time. It was a group activity. Theirs was way better than mine!
Happy National FFA week! Here's a through back from my career, which is why I am here

Pesticide suits are great for pie eating!