1 Month Down!

    We are truly into the thick of student teaching as I sit down and write my reflection from week 4 at Oley Valley. This week was filled with teaching new content and making sure I am prepared for the next day. I got to learn new lab techniques related to animal science and biotechnology, which I will definitely use in my future classroom. I was also joined by a few visitors this week that provided me with great feedback and a glimpse back into Penn State life. 

    My fellow cohort member Riley, came to visit me on Tuesday and observe me teaching my three current classes. It was nice getting to catch up with her and hear how her journey has been so far. She provided me with good advice that she has learned through the start of her student teaching and overall it was just nice to see a familiar face while teaching. Dr. Curry, my university supervisor, also came to observe me on Thursday to provide me with feedback and update me on how I can improve as a teacher. Overall, the visits both went well and I got great feedback on what to improve upon as a I move forwards in my student teaching journey. 

    My interest approaches are an element of my lessons that I need to work on enhancing and making more engaging. I don't want to fall into the habit of grasping my students attention by just showing an interesting video. In the future, I will work on incorporating more realia or engaging material into my interest approaches that students can physically interact with or watch me demonstrate. Another aspect of my teaching that I will work towards improving is my ability to ask more thoughtful and rhetorical questions. After reflecting on my teaching with Dr. Curry, I realized that I tend to keep my discussions surface level based on the content, instead of trying to get my students to reach that higher level of thinking. To aid in this process, I am going to make notes of more thoughtful questions I can ask students during discussions and hopefully it will eventually turn into a habit as I teach more and more. 

Ginger getting an ultrasound in Vet Tech.

Students showing off their tests strips.

    Once again, student got to practice taking ultrasounds on animals in the Vet Tech classes. One of the students brought in her 2 year old pregnant lab who was around 38 days in. The students estimated around 9 puppies and it was really cool to get to see them use the machine to find the puppies. In the Animal and Plant Biotechnology class, we learned how to use lateral flow strips to test for GMO ingredients in different food samples. These tests are the same type used for certain Covid test, so it was interesting to see the relevancy of them as we learned how to use them. 

    This upcoming week I'm picking up Food Science, which I am really excited about! I am starting my unit on proteins and I have some really cool labs planned that I hope the students will enjoy. We are definitely getting into the full course load of student teaching, which is very intimidating but exciting. Planning and preparation is the key to success when it comes to teaching the new content I'll be picking up. I am still trying to find the balance between working on lesson plans and finding the time to take for myself. If you have any advice on how to find a balance then leave a comment down below. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and stay tuned for next week's post!