Week 5 - Put to the Test

In my 5th week of student teaching, this was one of the toughest for me. I definitely broke out of my comfort zone while working with the Horticulture class this week during the start of our Floriculture Unit! We had quite a few struggles this week with early dismissals and delays, but we managed to get through the material. The hardest part was seeing the look on the kid's face when we had to tell them that most of our plants froze over night and we weren't sure if we would be able to finish our centerpieces and vase designs. I learned a lot about being flexible and changing plans at the very last minute. On Friday when class was just getting ready to start I had kids go to the greenhouse which we modified into a cooler for our fresh cut flowers to retrieve their started centerpieces. But, when the students got to their arrangements most of their flowers were frozen solid. As we brought them to the classroom it was pretty obvious most of the plants were going to need replaced. So Mrs. Weaver and I discussed it and decided to take the remaining flowers and start with our vase designs so that the aqua foam could thaw enough to finish the centerpieces with whatever plants we might have left. Fortunately most of the plants in our buckets survived and were usable, however because of the freeze we did not have enough carnations for the planned design. We gave the students creative liberties and helped make suggestions for appropriate substitutions for the flowers, and the students persevered and made some Awesome vases and bouquets!

Above are members of the class with some of the items produced during class!

 

 

In my other classes we had our Unit 1 exams. For a review in Ag Science, we had our very own quiz bowl! Most of the students had never even heard of quiz bowl, but by the end were really enjoying it. The winning team members received 3 bonus points on their final exam! They had blast playing and were pretty active in writing down questions during the review so they could study for the exam. After they took the exams and I had the opportunity to grade them, I decided that I need to talk to a few of the students one on one and figure some things out. I know of a couple of students who seem active when I approach them during class, however their exam scores reflect otherwise. I want to take the time to talk to them and see what is going on so I can better prepare them for the next Unit!

 

In Natural Resources we also took our final exam and finished our final projects. Because of the weather conditions through the week and the effect on class time we were not able to review as a class, during one of our wrap-ups I gave the class an opportunity to ask any outstanding questions on the material covered. They took advantage by asking pretty specific questions about what they thought might be on the test I assured them that if they were present in class and active in discussions that the test should not be a problem for any of them.

 

While making the exams for both classes I also had the chance to sit with Mrs. Weaver and discuss how to make modified exams.  This was pretty interesting to me, and I always wondered how it was done! Mrs. Weaver and I did the Ag Science modified exams together and then I work on Natural Resources on my own and showed her what I came up with. After making a few adjustments on my draft, the exams were ready to be administered.