A Great Week to End a Great Student Teaching Experience

I honestly don't think it has sunk in that I have completed my student teaching experience. But I have, and it has truly been an a great experience full of learning and fun. I'm thankful to my students, Mr. Fellenbaum, Ms. Slates, and the Penn Manor community for helping make my experience one that I'll always remember with fondness. Like always, this week was full of learning, but it also had a bittersweet feeling about it. Check out the highlights from this week:

1. Rebuilding a small gas engine is problem solving at its finest.

This week I was excited because I was able to get my students started on rebuilding their small gas engines! They are given a lab packet with a general procedure, but students must use their engines manual to rebuild their engines correctly! This takes a lot of critical thinking and problem solving because the answers aren't written out for them (well they are, but you have to search for them). As always, I find it interesting to see how each of my students handles that challenge. Some definitely have more of a fixed mindset, while others express a growth mindset. But by Thursday, all of my students were making good progress and really seemed to be interested in completing their rebuild correctly. 

My engine diagram and my awesome students who made it!

Thursday was my last day teaching Intro to Ag Mech, and my students surprised me with desserts and a group of my students had spent a ton of time during homeroom making an engine diagram for me to take to my future classroom! It's awesome because you can see the piston/valves/crankshaft functioning together!

 

2. Rain Gardens - Intro to AFNR Style!

On Friday we took my Intro to AFNR students on a trip to install the rain garden that they learned about in class two weeks ago! It tied in perfectly with our soil science and plant science units. While it was a bit chilly, everyone worked together and got the job done - all while having some fun! My students in both Intro to AFNR and Biotech surprised me with cake and ice cream, and each of my Intro to aFNR students took the time to share the most meaningful thing they learned from me and wished me well in the future.

Installing the Rain Garden!

I learned so much from my students and I'm thankful to have gotten to know them this semester. I look forward to seeing some of them again at State Convention this June! And as for my awesome cooperating teachers, I'm glad to say "see you soon".