Becoming the Ringmaster




On the journey to becoming an agricultural educator each student is required to complete a 15 week student teaching internship. During those 15 weeks we will work with a cooperating agricultural educator at that school. In order for each individual student and cooperating teacher to have the best experience possible it is important that each of us create a positive connection prior to student teaching. One way Mr. Curt Turner and I are working to establish our working relationship is through reading Juggling Elephants by Jones Loflin and Todd Musig. 

 Throughout my life, especially during my college career I have come to realization with my attributes as well as my weaknesses. Often times I find myself "biting off more than I can chew." I have always been the type of person to get involved where ever I possibly could. The book described it best by stating " the result of juggling elephants is that no one, including you, is thrilled with the performance." As I continued to add more things to my plate I wasn't happy with the time I was, or for better words the time I wasn't able to dedicate to each of my endeavors. In the past couple of years I have found myself becoming overwhelmed and forced to choose what really means the most to me.


Thus far in Juggling Elephants I have connected with literature more than I have connected with any other book in the past. "The ringmaster has the greatest impact on the success of the circus," my life is indeed a circus at times and as the ringmaster I get to make on the decisions. I have determined its time to take charge of the most important things in my life and put my all into them.

As I continue on my journey towards becoming an agricultural educator, I take time to reflect how the ideas in this book will help me in the future. As many know an agricultural educator is not a 9-5 job 5 days of the week. Ag teachers put in the extra hours before and after the normal school day to ensure the success of their students. I will learn to juggle the hectic life of an agricultural educator and a personal life through experience. However, this book has provided me with inspiration that I can and will be able to handle whatever life throws at me.

I look forward to taking what I have read so far in this book and continuing to implement it into my life. Check back in to hear the wisdom Loflin and Musig continue to share as I learn to "Juggle Elephants" during my journey of becoming an agricultural educator.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The BIG bad TEST

Image
Announcing there is going to be a "test" to a classroom full of students you are sure to receive many different reactions: I bet there's a student with the look of shear panic across their face, a look of hatred, and maybe if you're lucky a student who doesn't appear to be phased by the announcement. Looking ahead to what my teaching career will look like I want to avoid the panicked and angry expressions of my students as I tell them their will be some sort of evaluation in the class. Evaluating students is one of the most important tasks as an educator but it doesn't mean your students should fear the thought of what they believe the word "test" means. Instead, I have all intentions of reinventing what the word "test" or "evaluation" means. When it comes to teaching in an agricultural classroom, there is so many ways to evaluate your students, often times in ways that don't seem like a "test." As an educator I pl...
Read more

Differentiating Instruction

Image
"Choice makes the young adolescent's desire for control and freedom possible- without the power struggle. Choice builds confidence and fosters independence. Choice tells students their interests are important and allows them to demonstrate responsibility." - Hume. No two students are the same, their learning capacity and style mimics those differences. Allowing students to make choices in their individualized learning helps to reach of their learning needs. Student's learning can be catagorized through readiness, interests, and learning preferences. Student readiness. Each student needs to be evaluated individually to understand where each student is coming from academically. Just like in this cartoon every animal is not capable of climbing the tree, it is my job as an educator to overcome those obstacles. Interests. Each student has their own interests, connecting those interests to concepts creates a deeper interest in the content being learned. Learning prefer...
Read more

The Power of Group Teaching

Image
From day one of my teaching journey, this semester, the importance of variability has been stressed over and over again. In order to keep students engaged in material, teaching techniques should continually be changed. This week we are taking a look at the importance of changing it up with group teaching  techniques. I would stretch to say that group teaching is the most common teaching method used in agriculture classrooms, therefore there are many different techniques to be used to better connect with each student. Check out some ideas that come to my mind when it comes to using group teaching in my future classroom. Technology:  Technology plays a vital role in today's classrooms, especially in a group teaching setting. During my student teaching experience I will be utilizing power-points that students are able to view on there 1-1 i-pads provided by the school. With students having access on their individual i-pad they will be able to create their own electronic notes ...
Read more