Reflective Teaching Lab-Juggling

Wow!..

I was very anxious about the topic I received for teaching in our first lab. I can not juggle and I had no idea how I was going to teach my peers to juggle. However, after looking over the lesson and understanding that I needed to only teach my peers the 'process' of juggling, I felt more confident in my abilities.

I felt prepared for lab in which I had all of my materials collected (balls to juggle with) and I had my Learners Satisfaction forms printed for each of my students and ready to use.

I felt confident and at ease in front of my peers. I felt prepared in my abilities to teach and convey the process of juggling.

After watching the video of myself teaching and taking in to consideration the feedback from my peers, I am satisfied with my teaching from this first lab. I feel I have improvements that I will make, and I will continue to do even better than satisfactory.

Some things I would have done differently, would include supplying different objects for students to juggle with. For next time, I could bring in 3 apples, 3 ties, 3 markers, 3 bowling pins, 3 balls (some of different sizes), etc. I think if I brought other objects, students would have an opportunity to try different ways of juggling. Maybe juggling with one object is harder or easier compared to another object. Also I think this would give my students an opportunity to set themselves apart from one another, maybe one student is better at juggling one object and not another. Lastly, if I used a variety of objects I think it would have made the class more experimental and my students may have felt more excitement and anticipation to participate with each set of objects.

Some thing else I would do differently, is to include a video demonstration of a professional juggling. I think this would be beneficial in giving the students an example of how to juggle (other than myself) and it could have taught them proper ways of juggle where I could not. Also, this would have added structure to my presentation, in which the students would not just be juggling aimlessly for fifteen minutes.

I felt I displayed confidence in my teaching ability and had a good presence in front of the class. I feel I conveyed clear steps to the process of juggling. I feel I repeated the process a few times, to ensure that the students understood the three steps that are taken to juggle three objects. I feel, I walked around and assessed each student and check on his or her progress throughout the lesson. Lastly, I felt that I gave the students positive feedback for their persistence and participation in this activity.

Overall, I think this lab was a success. I feel that this lab was a building block in which it gave me the initial shock of 'what am I going to teach?' to feeling confident and able to convey the process of juggling well. I feel this lab will lead to improvements and it gave me thoughts to consider for any lesson that requires teaching an activity.

-Jenna

"If it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you." -Anonymous

Who is the Farmer's Daughter?

Growing up on a dairy and beef farm in a small community where my family is well known, my sister and I became accustomed to being the 'farmers daughter'. And since we are, simply a farmer's daughter the name just stuck with us.

Home to me is a small town, rural America in Orrstown, Pennsylvania. I grew up on a dairy, beef and crop farm. Early on I learned about the long days of farm life and all the hard work involved in a glass of milk at the end of the day. I have childhood memories of walking to the barn each morning to deliver a warm, crisp cherry toaster strudel to my Dad for his breakfast in between milkings. My brother and I had a few cows that became our favorites. My favorite cow was 'Baby'. She was a slow old Jersey girl, and Dad always brought her into the first tie stall so I could stand on the outside of the stall and brush her while he milked her. That was my favorite part of milking.

As I got older I was able to do more chores around the farm and began to enjoy waking up early and working with my Dad, brother and my uncles. My favorite time of year was 'hay and straw making time'. My favorite was straw because I was able to lift those bales and through them in the straw mound. I loved every day on the farm. And little did I know that this was only the beginning of my agricultural journey.

Fast forward a few years and in high school, I joined the FFA. I mostly just loved the Ag classes and the FFA was an added bonus. I enrolled in every horticulture class that was offered. I love being able to plant something and watch as it progressively grows and mature. That is success to me.

So it became time to decide what I was going to do with my life after high school. I had always wanted to be a teacher, I just could not decide on a subject I wanted to teach. After a few years of Ag classes and the FFA, I felt agricultural education was the ticket for me.

Today, I am a senior at the Pennsylvania State University where I am finishing my degree in Agricultural and Extension Education. I am beyond excited to graduate in nine months (I already have a count down to graduation day on my calendar....shhh don't tell my professors). I am ready to cross the desk and be the leader that gives students encouragement and opportunities to succeed. (And remember success to me is all about growth and development). I am ready to share my experiences, and my love for agriculture with younger individuals who have that same passion.

Fortunately, I am blessed to have the opportunity to student teach in five months (I have a countdown for that too) at Kennard Dale High School in York County. I am very excited to begin my teaching experience at Kennard Dale, knowing it is the perfect place for me to begin. I have great anticipation for what my four months of student teaching at Kennard Dale will hold.

I am thankful to have a great and loving support system of family and friends to guide me through this journey and I know in nine months, my dream of become an agricultural educator will come true. So with this blog, follow my experiences, my happy moments and my sad moments as I cross this finish line.

Much Love,
Jenna


"May the next few months be a period of beautiful transformation"-Anonymous