How a weekend with the students has helped me gain the confidence I need in seven classrooms.

The Journey of Student Teaching: Day 20


FFA Advisor Reflections: When a Weekend of High School Girl's Theme Songs Helped Give me the Confidence to teach in Seven Classrooms


Essential Question for this week:

  • What is something you learned while attending an ACES weekend?


My experience in ACES May have been a bunch of years ago, or how it feels as I write this blog but to me the big thing is the impact it has had on me as a teacher. For one I was use to seeing students only in the classroom. For example I have about four students in more than one class. But now I had the opportunity of being in charge of ... 40 students at ACES. That’s right - a whole lot of students. The best part about the trip wasn’t the number of students it was getting to see the students interact with each other like I’d hope. I saw that these kids though there were not a lot of students they got a long and had fun. I found myself laughing at how silly they would act together, or maybe those are just the animal Science girls that I teach.




The best part (or was it the worse part not sure) was when all 40 of them jumped into the air and shouted my name to be the contested for "Let’s Embarrass Your Ag Teacher." Even though I pay to teach them they attempted to embarrass me. Little did my students realize that growing up the music we listened too was what my sister listened too. So when I had to sing about it’s a party in the USA and how I would dig my keys into the side of a vehicle I knew those lyrics. Now if my students really want here a surprise they should have played some of the 90’s music that I typically listen too then they would have been surprised. Their attempts to embarrass me made me breakdown my shell a little and so they got to see that Mr. Dietrich can be a tad bit goofy at times. 
As I sang I slowly realized that those two songs would remain my theme songs for the remainder of student teaching . . .




What I liked the most about this weekend is I realized that the students didn’t want another teacher. They want someone they can trust and an Ag Teacher needs to break open their shell a bit if they want their students to trust them. I learned about my students as well such as that the girls in my 4th period animal science class can talk, and loudly too might I add, which now meant that I challenge them to use a louder voice to answer questions.



Going to ACES has given me the confidence in the sense that my students respect me as not just a teacher but now as an Ag Teacher. That was the confidence boost that I needed.

To Be Continued . . .



Comments

  1. Tiffany MoreyFebruary 27, 2018 at 1:03 PM

    George, so glad to hear that ACES was a positive way to help you build rapport with your students! You're exactly right when you say that students want someone they can trust. Keep being that person!

    ReplyDelete

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