This week I started teaching another class: Animal Care and Behavior. It is a class with 28 freshman in a room that seats about 24, so needless to say, it is kind of packed in there. I started off teaching livestock selection and identification and went with the aspect of judging. It was a fun unit for me and I think the students enjoyed it. We are now moving on to different breeds of livestock and how they are selected. I'm currently working on scheduling a tour of the ISU Meat Lab for the class. My horticulture class continued with their unit and prepared themselves for their first quiz by Ms. Driscoll.
This week was fairly basic. Nothing too new or exciting. Though, on Wednesday night we had our rescheduled district review night in Grundy Center. It was a good chance to meet other ag teachers and learn the judging process. It went pretty smoothly and didn't lead to a terribly late night. We are getting ready for our CDE's so we have been having lots of practices, most before school, some after, and Sunday evenings. Luckily for us and for the students, our sub-districts got moved back a week so that means an extra week of practice. Friday there was no school for the students for staff development...
Week 5: February 14 - February 18
This week was pretty much the same as last week The Animal Care class continued to learn about animal selection and identification and the horticulture class prepared for their first quiz. On Thursday I prepared for a sub as I had other obligations to attend to. The thing I learned though about having a substitute that is an ag teacher (aka Mr. Davis), they won't do what you tell them to so you'll have to be pushed back a day anyways. CDE practices have been continuing, along with another one this Sunday. The kids are getting closer to being ready.
Things I learned this week:
- Sometimes you feel more like a baby-sitter than a teacher
- Students aren't motivated to learn and bad grades don't phase them
- Paper towels start on fire with a torch (duh...)
- There are more important things in life than teaching, school, work, etc.
- We all need to remember that we have families and friends that care for us and would like our attention once and a while too.
- If you want to be happy in this profession, you can't make it your life
