My wildlife

You know you've been deprived of the outdoors when you get excited over seeing a squirrel.

I rushed to go get my camera so I could take this picture. Afterward, I realized, its just a squirrel.

My First Lesson!!

My first lesson went pretty well over all. There were some mishaps but over all I got good feed back.

So, about the mishaps. I have Windows vista on my computer which means I have to save my documents a certain way if I want it to be compatible with computers with an older version of windows on it. Well, after arriving at the school I found out that I apparently didn't save my slide show properly. It took half an hour to get it fixed but I was able to do my lesson.

My first time I taught about dairy evaluation was in one of the shops. That in itself wasn't a big deal, I would just have to talk louder. The problem was that next door, in the welding shop, they were grinding! Needless to say, my voice at this point can't carry over all that noise. But I got my point across and the students really enjoyed judging a aged holstein class at the end.

The second time around was a lot better. I wasn't flustered at all thankfully. I was teaching my dairy evaluation lesson in an 8th grade biology class. The kids were really excited because I had got them out of taking a test. They were all very attentive and involved and tried to answer all of the questions I asked them. It was great!

I got positive feed back from the teacher. She really liked my slide show with all of the pictures. She thought it was great. The only thing she said I should think about working on is walking around a bit.

I'm really glad it went well.

So, How's it goin'...

I know I haven't written a lot lately but I've been super busy. But fortunetly, Thanksgiving break is coming up so I'll be able to catch up on work then.

I have been observing at a school. The teacher I observe teachs agriculture and biology. I've learned a lot from her like you should let your students know who is in charge but also respect them and be friendly. Her students know that if they get caught throwing things in class they have to sweep and mop the entire classroom floor. I think its helpful to have a set "punishment" (for a lack of a better word) for certain things. Also, she has "the look" down. She only has to give a student a certain look and they know she means business. She has told us that when working with the younger students you should use lots of pictures, questions, and rewards (verbal or food oriented if they are working with it but mostly verbal) to help keep their attention. Unfortunetly, we are learning good tips for teaching junior high students but not high school students which is who we will be working with in the future.

I will be presenting my first lesson on the Thursday after Thanksgiving break. I think I'm going to do Dairy Judging My only problem is I'll be presenting to the animal science class first (high schoolers I've never met and don't know why I'm there) and then to an 8th grade biology class who has nothing to do with animal science. I'm kind of worried about it.

On a happier note, I've just taken an Agricultural Systems Manangment test over engines and hydraulics last week. I think I did pretty well. Here's to hoping.

Not much has happened lately though. School, School, and more School. I did however put up my christmas tree. Its pretty small but it makes me smile whenever I see it. I figure its a good way to bring the holidays in to home. Christmas is going to be a bit different this year. We'll be opening presents on christmas eve because mom is leaving on Christmas day for Alaska. I'll be able to spend part of Christmas day with Jon's family though so that makes it a little less sad.

To day Jon and I went to his Grandparents house in Indy for Christmas. I had a wonderful full time. They were all so nice. Jon's grandma was very interested in Dad being up in Alaska teaching. Both of the grandparents were teachers. They also seemed happy to hear I was going to be an Ag teacher. Jon's mom, asked how dad was doing after being sick, that's how we got on the subject. Jon's grandma was also happy to here I would be eventually visiting Alaska, which I'm excited about too.

Dancing with the Christmas Penguin

I figured Dad would like to see some christmas time cheer. Kennedy loves her penguin and what more could you do with a dancing penguin but dance with it!!

First Observation

Part of my EDCI 205 class is going to a school and observing their Ag class. Tomorrow will be my first visit. I'm going with Kaitlin and Sheila. The school we are assigned is Fountain Central in Veedersburg Indiana. Our teacher is Ashley Rice. She's been teaching for two years so I think this will be pretty interesting. I'll be sure to give you an update about my experience as soon as I can. It probably won't be tomorrow because i have a very busy day. I have a test, a quiz, my observation, and I'm going out to Monty's to take pictures of the rodeo club doing stuff. I also have a substantial amount of homework to do. I'll probably want to curl up and go to sleep when I get to my room.

OH! I almost forgot and I'm sad to inform you that Pomacia has died. On the up side, I got his replacement today. He's a blue mystery snail. I haven't named him yet so if you have any ideas please let me know.

Pictures from Florida.

A sun set from the condo. This is just one of many pictures I have.
This is one of the gators we saw when we went on our air boat ride.

Jon holding a gator.

Me holding a gator. Isn't he cute!

Critical Thinking

My first week of school has officially come to a close. I have come to one conclusion, this is the year for critical thinking. All of a sudden most of my classes are all hyped up about critical thinking. As a person who hasn't had to think critically in school, ever, it was a huge shock. I guess its a good thing, maybe I'll actually remember something (we call that learning where I come from). I'm sure I'll get used to it in a couple of weeks. I also have boat loads of homework. It's a lot of writing. Once I get started doing it I don't really mind.

I'm suprised at how organized I am this year too. Its kind of nice, keeps me busy anyway. Rodeo Club will be starting up next week. I'm looking forward to seeing all my friends. I'm looking forward to actually doing stuff with the club this year. I'm also thinking of joining some of the education oriented clubs too. They have one for everyone in the teaching program and also one for Ag Ed.

So far the living arrangements are working out pretty good. Sydney is working out nicely too. I'll never over sleep or be late for class. He wakes me up around 6:30-7 o'clock in the morning every day. Over all, everything is working out. YAY for things going right.

I'm going home this weekend to get some stuff I forgot at home and drop some stuff off. I haven't seen Kennedy and Jerralyn (I can never remember if its two r's or just one, same things with the n's) since I went to lunch with Brooke. So its been a couple weeks. I kind of miss them.

Well that's it for now I think.

Later!