#8 How can technology affect the learning process?

Technology has a great affect on the learning process. It can be an important tool to enhance the process and allow a teacher to reach students in a new way. Since all students do not learn the same way then it is ridiculous to think that we can teach them all the same way. I have some students who cannot stand to learn from the textbook and want to have their hands on the subject. I also have students who need to see it in writing and be able to read it themselves. Technology allows me to reach the students and engage them on multiple levels. The issue then becomes finding the technology that engages them and promotes thinking and learning. They use technology more than any other generation so the best way to teach them is to integrate what they use into our classrooms while introducing them to new things.

As we approach the end of 6 weeks.......

Somehow six weeks of this school year have already come and gone. It seems like the other day we were all coming back with our new teacher clothes getting ready for the kiddos. I think that it is important to reflect on the first few weeks of the year and see what is going right and what is not going so well.

My students are collection of characters that keep me on my toes everyday. I always thought I wanted the classes with all of the smart kids. This year I have realized that having the most academically minded students in class is not the best thing for my class. Yes I do think that it is important for students to be focused on their grades. But the kids I have the greatest success with are those kids that are struggling in their core classes. These kids are not interested in literature or math but in going outside and getting their hands dirty.

In these first weeks I have realized the importance of identifying what each kid is going to be good at after high school and building upon. I don't believe that everyone is meant to go to college and it is important that we try and develop a skill set for a student that will help them get a job instead.

So as I ramble on the things that are working are the hands on lessons that allow the student to do manual labor and develop new skills that will help them survive in the real world. I am teaching them to change light switches, fix their lawn mower, and repair sheetrock to name a few. These things are skills that you cannot learn from a textbook.

There are still somethings that we need to work on. I need to integrate more reading and writing into my lessons to develop that set of skills since they are just as important. I need to do a better job of planning and find new ways to reach all of the students. We'll see how it turns out in 6 more weeks.

Sustaining Technology

Having the latest and greatest technology looks great when you put it in the newspaper and on your website to show people what you have. But the more important factor is the use of technology to enhance learning and keeping it in use. The best way to sustain technology is to find technology that works with each classroom instead of purchasing things that teachers will not use. The technology must support the curriculum. Also the teachers need to have the proper professional development to allow them to be trained to use the technology. Innovations can only be sustained if they are viable options.

#5 Changing Gears from the First year to the Sixth

I began teaching 5 years ago on an emergency certificate with know clue as to what I was doing. My style was sporadic at best and at the end of my first year I contemplated doing something different. I was very knowledgable in the subject of agriculture but all my knowledge was not necessarily book knowledge. So I thought I should just follow the textbooks since that is what all teachers do. Right? The students were bored and to be honest so was I. Something had to change and change quickly. I was great at growing, building, and fixing things but not teaching them. The fifth year program I was in was great for teaching me reading strategies and special education issues but not how to teach agriscience. So I went to the administration and asked to take my program in a new direction. I was granted that freedom as long as I taught the reading strategies.

So in my second year I began to develop my style. My style was going to be to teach the students by working with them on developing skills that they could not get in any other classroom. We became a working class that produced results on everything that we were given. I was showing the students how to build, grow, and fix things the way I was taught. This seemed to be a great plan until the idea took off and I got a reputation for working well with difficult students and the counselors started packing my classes with more students than I could handle. Then my style change again and I was forced to rethink everything because my style was not suited for 30 plus students. I reverted back to my sporadic style and lost a lot of control with the students.

I have used many styles over the years with mixed results and mixed feelings. I thought teaching was a lot easier than this. I was lucky enough to marry a very good teacher who has helped me develop my own style and even with 30 students I am finding success. She has shown me the things that a teacher learns in a traditional education program. My style now is a mix of the working class and the traditional classroom instruction. There is not a lot of down time to get bored in my class. I have learned the importance of engaging the students every minute. Maybe this style will stick with me. I want to be a great teacher I am just trying to figure out how to do that. Never stop trying to improve.

#4 Technology in Ag???

Most people think of agriscience education as hammers, nails, plants, and animals. As true as this is when it comes to subject it is not that basic. Agriscience is the pinnacle of technology in all aspects of life. A majority of the advancements in medicine, food, transportation, and modern comforts we have today are a result of technological advancements in agriculture. So in my classroom I push to use the same technology that has made agriculture great. I have abandoned the lecture and preach approach for the hands on learning with the technology. In my landscape design class we use CAD design software to generate 3D landscape plans that allows the student to design the plan and then view it like a customer would see it. This same software work in my construction class to put students in the contractors chair and build a home from scratch.

I have the newest turf equipment that allows students to operate cutting edge mowers and sprayers. Students use apps on their phones provided by Dupont to calculate mixing loads and calibrations. Other apps we use allow students to identify weeds and possible treatment applications from their phone or ipod. I am trying to show them that the answers are at their finger tips and how to properly use it.

Technology is not just in the computer lab anymore. Its outside and playing in the dirt too.

#3 The Early Bird gets the Worm

As a teacher and a bus driver I get to see the school before it comes to life with students and long after they go home. This year I have begun to look at things differently and pay attention to the small details that make a school some place special. Long before the sun comes up I see the parking lot full of teachers' cars already getting the day started. I pass other teachers on the road heading to start their day. Seeing these things has made me realize that teaching is not a job, it is a passion. How many people show up to do their job hours before they are actually supposed to? Not many is what I have come to realize. Are they doing it for overtime or to get tenure? Well we know the answer about the overtime. But its not just new teachers that are there. There are veterans of 20 years putting their time in before the sun to make sure that they are ready to give their best. We work with great people that really care about what they do and the students they do it for. I'm proud to be part of a profession that is motivated by quality instead of money. I challenge you to show up early to your work because someone notices that extra effort even if you don't think so.

Why I want to be an administrator

Why do I want to become an administrator? It definitely is not for the money or the title. It is all based on the idea that I can impact a greater number of students with my actions. Sure, I am going to miss the teaching aspect of it everyday. But I believe that I can make a positive impact on the lives of every student in the school rather than my 90 plus students each day.

I grew up the son of a principal and a teacher. I saw my father change the culture of a school and make it one of the top schools in the system year in and year out. At the time I had no clue how big of an impact he was making on that school and community. As an educator now I can admire what he did and the long lasting impact he had on the teachers and children he worked with. He believed that everything he did was in the best interest of the children. He walked his own path and everyone began to walk with him and not behind him. He has shown me the good and the bad of education. He has shown me that one person can make a difference and that no matter where a student comes from that they are capable of achieving great things. I always thought that being an administrator was dooming me to dealing with negative things like angry parents and misbehaving children. Turns out that I can choose to make them negatives or turn them into positives.

Choosing to become an administrator is choosing long hours and stressful situations that are out of my current comfort zone. But I look at it as choosing to make a greater difference on a larger scale. So bring on the stress and the long hours. I'll see you at the door every morning with a smile on my face ready to make sure that school is everything that it should be and more.

First Real Blog Entry

Today we had a great speaker come to the school and speak to the students about having a plan for your life and that nothing is impossible. As much as it was for the kids it really struck home for me. I have never been much of a planner and have really just been a reactor. But in the past few years i developed a plan and so far it is really making a difference in my life.

The speaker talked about three important factors in a person's life and how the plan should be based on these three things. The first thing is the body and how you have to take care of yourself to be able to withstand the obstacles you face. In the past 4 months I started going to the gym and have lost a much needed 40 lbs. This has allowed me to do so many new things that my weight previously slowed me down. The second thing is my brain. I have been pursing a degree in administration and have learned so many new and great things that have made me a better teacher and a better member of the faculty. The last thing was relationships. I got married over a year ago to the best person I know and I am a better person because of her. She has greatly changed my previous plan but all for the better.

My plan has meaning now because it is shared with someone who supports it. I hope the students took something away from the speaker because I know I sure did. You never know what you may learn at school if you just listen.

Rain Rain Don't Go Away

Today has been full of rain and for the students it was dreary and gloomy. For me it was beautiful. As a turf manager at my school the rain is a wonderful thing. Grass benefits greatly from natural rain rather than irrigation. The students have not heard this lesson yet but I hope we have many more rainy days that I can use this as a positive instead of gloom and doom.