Student Teaching

I am have an awesome time here at London High School. The staff and students have been excellent. They are very helpful. I absolutely love my cooperating educator Ms. Snyder. She has be very helpful in my transition from a student to a teacher. I am excited to take on more classes this week.

Teaching at London

I taught in London on Friday. The lesson went awesome. Each student was able to take away a loaf of bread to make. The students understood bio-products and polymers fairly well. I love Miss Dana Snyder, she is the best cooperating teacher ever. I am going to have such a great time with her next fall.

Cousin Shawn Graduates

Today I experienced the shortest graduation ever. My cousin Shawn graduated today. He was in a class of twenty-nine students. From the time the graduates processed in and recessed out the total time 40 minutes. It was a very interesting because the valedictorian and the salutatorian did not speak. This was the first graduation that I experienced this. Also it seemed to me that they had three different commencement speakers. All of them were fairly good but it was just interesting.

After the ceremony we checked into the hotel and immediately was sent to the basement because the tornado sirens were going off. This was also interesting because the hotel lost power. So when the all clear was given that the storm had passed we went out to dinner. Then came back and went swimming for almost 2 hours. I am exhausted but I still have a lot of work between now and Wednesday. So I guess I will get back to work.

Methods Final is over

Today I took the longest final in my college career. It was the final for my Methods of Teaching Agriculture. The surprising thing was I study for about 4 hours last night and I knew most of the information on the exam. I only struggled on a few things and I a fairly confident that I received an A on both the final and in the class. I know that I still have to complete one more unit before the class is officially over, but I am fairly certain that I can't get below an A on it either. I am glad that this quarter is almost over, however I will miss the people in my BLOCK as I student teach and prepare to entire the workforce. I know that they will be my colleagues, but it just will not be the same. I just want to thank all of my BLOCK mates for making the last 9 weeks the best 9 weeks of my life.

Graduation Sunday

My Alma Mater held graduation ceremonies for the 45 graduating seniors on Sunday. It is hard to believe that 3 years ago I was standing in their shoes. I can't believe that next year I will be graduating from The Ohio State University. The best part of graduation wasn't the ceremonies or the parties it was the knowledge I gained before I went to Graduation. My brother showed me how to change the brake pads and rotors on my car. It is not that difficult to do. All you have to do is remove the hub cap and tire. Then you unscrew 2 screws with an Allen wrench. Once the caliper in off you can remove the brake pads. Slip the new ones into place and put the new rotor on and you are ready to reassemble. It was awesome because he explained and showed me how to do it on one side and then he let me do it on the other side. It was a great experience and yes my brother is certified to work on vehicles.

Uncle Floren

On Saturday, I was able to travel to Huron, Ohio to help my Great Uncle celebrate his 90th Birthday. Not only did he turn 90 but him and his wife will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary at the end of the month. It was great to see all of my family even though I have never meet most of them because they live out of state. The last time that all of us were together I wasn't born. My Great Uncle Floren was more like my grandpa growing up because his grandchildren were out of state and my grandpa (his brother) died when I was pretty young. It just worked out well. I am so glad that I was able to help him celebrate this milestone.

CFAES Recognition Banquet

So last Thursday was the 58th Annual CFAES Recognition Banquet. It was awesome I had a great time planning the event. I was on the program committee and they looked pretty sweet. I am always amazed at how awesome the banquet hall looks before it was absolutely beautiful. Not only did I help with the programs I helped assembly the salad plates. It only took us an hour and a half to assembly over 600 salads. It was a great experience. I would recommend that everyone be on the committee next year!!!!

CFAES Recognition Banquet

On Thursday, The College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Science will be hosting the 58th Annual Recognition Banquet at the Archie Griffin Grand Ballroom in the Union. I was able to server on the Steering Committee for this event and I am excited to see how it will go. I helped design the Programs so if you are planning on attending check out my skills. Also if you have not already purchased a ticket you can do so by going to Ag Admin Room 100 or Kottman Hall 210 to purchase your ticket. Tickets are $10 each. It will be a great time to honor the students, and faculty of this college. I can't wait to see who wins the awards. It will be a great time so please come out and join us. The entire committee has put in a lot of time and work to make the Banquet great.

Relay for Life

This weekend has been very busy. Friday was SGAD (see previous post), Saturday and Sunday I spent my time walking for Relay for Life. Over the weekend I spent about 13 hours walking to raise awareness for Cancer. If you figure on average that a person can walk about a mile every 15 minutes, so I walked about 4 miles every hour. So, if you multiple 4 miles per hour and I walked for 13 hours that equals 52 miles. I would never have thought that I would walk that much in a 24hour time span. Lets just say Sunday afternoon I was exhausted. Even though I was exhausted I could not be more proud that I was able to help raise money for cancer research. As of Sunday when we had raised over $115,000 to be put towards cancer research here at The Ohio State University. I was so excited to be a part of such an awesome group. If you have not participated in a Relay for Life event you should because it is an awesome experience. I would also like to take this time to thank everyone who came out to support the cause.

SGAD

Last Friday, I had a opportunity to participate in the 13th Annual Miki Zartman Scarlet and Gray Ag Day (SGAD).  I love participating in this event because it give me a chance to promote agriculture to students who have no idea about agriculture. For those of you who don't know SGAD brings about 600 students in 4th and 5th grade to The College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Science. The students will attend various sessions, I was able to teach a session of food science. In my session the students were able to rehydrate food and we talked about why it was important to dehydrate food. I throughly enjoyed my lesson. Not only did I get to teach students about food science, I was able to teach them about 4-H and the impact it had on my life. I believe that SGAD is a great program and I can not wait to be on the committee next year to help plan this outstanding event.

FFA Convention + State Band and Choir Contest= Awesome Weekend

This weekend was a great. I was able to be a judge at the AgriScience Fair on Thursday. I was a judge for the Natural Science category. The students had some awesome projects and there were a couple of students that projects blew me away. Then I had the opportunity to help plan the Ag Engineering CDE. I helped with the team event of laying a concrete block corner. Our group ended up moving about 120 concrete blocks. It took us an hour and a half to get cleaned up. Overall the students enjoyed the contest, but we were exhausted.
On Friday, I had the opportunity to work registration at the FFA Convention. I enjoyed seeing and talking to the students and the FFA Advisors while working. I also on Friday got the chance to get out of the Convention mind setting and was able to watch another love of mine the OMEA Band and Choir State Contest at Gahanna. I am glad there were some scheduling conflicts that allowed my high school to be able to come to Gahanna to perform because I was able to go and watch. It brought back some great memories from when I was in high school and competing the the contest. The Choir received an Overall Superior Rating and the Band received an Overall Excellent Rating. Overall I am proud to say I am an Alumni of both the band and choir. I am also proud of the members in my FFA Chapter that received their State Degrees. I am proud to by an Alumni of the Arcadia FFA as well. It has been one awesome week.

Excited to Teach

Last week my classmates and I had the opportunity to teach a lesson on agricultural engineering at Barrington Elementary. I also was able to teach this lesson at one of the Elementary's in Canal Winchester. This was a great experience because I was able to teach to students that were excited to learn about what I was teach. Not to hurt any of my BLOCK classmates' feeling, but these students were much better that you all. After teaching these two lessons I remember exactly why I want to be a teacher. I want to improve the lives of the next generation. I am so excited to teach at Scarlet and Gray Ag Day because those students will be just as excited. Scarlet and Gray Ag Day is next Friday, but there is so much that needs to be done before then.

Another email that was sent to me.

Bill Gates ~   This should be posted in every school or kid's bedroom. Love him or hate him , he sure hits the nail on the head with this!   Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about eleven (11) things they did not and will not learn in school.   He talks about how “feel-good, politically correct” teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.   Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!    Rule 2 : The world doesn't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself. Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both. Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss  Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: They called it opportunity. Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them. Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were: So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room. Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. *This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life. Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. *Do that on your own time. Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs. Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds… Chances are you'll end up working for one.   If you can read this... Thank a Teacher. If you can read this in English... Thank a Soldier! And for life and everything else you have... Thank God!!   Now.... think about this and smile ...

IT'S WHAT YOU SCATTER

This was an email sent to me and I wanted to share it with all of you.

I was at the corner grocery store buying some early potatoes... I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily apprising a basket of freshly picked green peas.

I paid for my potatoes but was also drawn to the display of fresh green peas. I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes.

Pondering the peas, I couldn't help overhearing the conversation between Mr. Miller (the store owner) and the ragged boy next to me.

'Hello Barry, how are you today?'

'H'lo, Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya. Jus' admirin' them peas. They sure look good.' 

'They are good, Barry. How's your Ma?'
'Fine. Gittin' stronger alla' time.'
'Good. Anything I can help you with?'
'No, Sir. Jus' admirin' them peas.'
'Would you like to take some home?' asked Mr. Miller. 

'No, Sir. Got nuthin' to pay for 'em with.'

'Well, what have you to trade me for some of those peas?'

'All I got's my prize marble here.'

'Is that right? Let me see it', said Miller.

'Here 'tis. She's a dandy.' 

'I can see that. Hmm mmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go for red. Do you have a red one like this at home?' the store owner asked.

'Not zackley but almost.'

'Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way let me look at that red marble'. Mr. Miller told the boy.

'Sure will. Thanks Mr. Miller.'

Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me.

With a smile she said, 'There are two other boys like him in our community, all three are in very poor circumstances. Jim just loves to bargain with them for peas, apples, tomatoes, or whatever.

When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he doesn't like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble or an orange one, when they come on their next trip to the store.' 

I left the store smiling to myself, impressed with this man. A short time later I moved to Colorado , but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys, and their bartering for marbles. 

Several years went by, each more rapid than the previous one.  Just recently I had occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community and while I was there learned that Mr. Miller had died. They were having his visitation that evening and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them. Upon arrival at the mortuary we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased and to offer whatever words of comfort we could.

Ahead of us in line were three young men. One was in an army uniform and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts...all very professional looking. They approached Mrs. Miller, standing composed and smiling by her husband's casket. 

Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and moved on to the casket. Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one; each young man stopped briefly and placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket. Each left the mortuary awkwardly, wiping his eyes. 

Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her who I was and reminded her of the story from those many years ago and what she had told me about her husband's bartering for marbles. With her eyes glistening, she took my hand and led me to the casket.

'Those three young men who just left were the boys I told you about.

They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim 'traded' them. Now, at last, when Jim could not change his mind about color or size....they came to pay their debt.'

'We've never had a great deal of the wealth of this world,' she confided, 'but right now, Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho ..' 

With loving gentleness she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband. Resting underneath were three exquisitely shined red marbles.

The Moral:
We will not be remembered by our words, but by our kind deeds. Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath.

 

Today I wish you a day of ordinary miracles ~ A fresh pot of coffee you didn't make yourself...

An unexpected phone call from an old friend.... Green stoplights on your way to work....

The fastest line at the grocery store....

A good sing-along song on the radio...

Your keys found right where you left them.

Send this to the people you'll never forget. I just did...

If you don't send it to anyone, it means you are in way too much of a hurry to even notice the ordinary miracles when they occur. 

IT'S NOT WHAT YOU GATHER, BUT WHAT YOU SCATTER THAT TELLS WHAT KIND OF LIFE YOU HAVE LIVED!

 

First Skype Experience

So tonight I video called someone for the first time using Skype. First, it was awkward because I did not like seeing myself on the computer screen. Second, I would look down at the keyboard instead of the camera. Third I was so glad that I was able to take a virtual tour of Sara Schmitz's room. Thank you for being my test of Skype. I believe this is a great tool that can be used for families to communicate if they are separated by long distances. I believe that it will take time to get use to the technology, but I was a great experience.

Central State University

Today as a BLOCK class we were able to travel to Central State University where we were able to meet and great students that are focusing on teaching in a urban school setting. Not only did we get to talk to them about there experiences in the urban setting we were able to talk about a collaboration effort with getting the CSU and OSU students to team up to teach agriculture in an urban school and also to have the CSU students teach at a rural school. Despite the rain we had an awesome trip to CSU.

Once we departed from CSU a group of us travelled through some pretty deep water to arrive at St. Mary's High School to have a District Officer Training. We had a great group of students. This also gave us another opportunity to practice before we have to do it on Thursday for a grade for class.

One of the highlights of the day that did not relate to anything previously mention was the game that was played on the drive from St. Mary's to Columbus. We played mafia. This game involves some skills because you must figure out who the mafia and the police are while trying to keep all of the citizens alive. It was a great way to use communication skills without even talking.

London FFA Chapter Interviews

Today I was able to help conduct interviews for the London FFA Chapter Officers. I was able to interview the candidates along with two teachers and two seniors. It was an awesome experience. I was able to see the process from the teacher side and now have an idea for what I want to have my FFA Officers selected. It was a great opportunity that I was able to participate in.
Then I was a model for Professional Development Night. I had a blast, everyone was so nice and Tom Stewart made it so much fun. I am so glad that I have been able to have two great opportunities today.

Green County Career Center

WOW!!!!!!
I that is all I can say about the Green County Career Center.  First of all the facilities are excellent. The faculty is amazing and the student they are extraordinary. My first opinion of a Career Center was that only students who can't make it in conventional school setting belonged there. That was how my home career center was, however after visiting Green County Career Center my opinion has change drastically. I realized as I was there that this career center where for the students who really wanted to advance there career. The students had more knowledge on subjects as Juniors in high school than I am being a College Junior. It truly changed my thinking.

I had the privilege to talk with one of the cosmetology student's while talking to her I was able to help her with her daily task that she was working on. I helped her color one of her classmate's hair. It was so much fun. I learned why she was attending Green County and what her future plans were when she completed her state boards this spring. It was truly amazing to see this student be able to have such confidence in her work, you could definitely tell she was passionate about what she was studying.

I absolutely loved the staff that I was able to spend time with and get to know. Most of the staff that I did talk to had be in the industry for 10 to 15 years before they began to teach at Green County. All of them were very interested in teaching all of there knowledge and experience to the students. I was awesome to be a part of. I truly enjoyed my visit and thank you to ALL Green County Career Center to making my visit a one to remember.

Block Spends weekend at FFA Camp Muskingum

The block students started the first weekend of the quarter together at FFA Camp Muskingum. We had a great time teaching the DOT's and it was a great learning experience. Then the fun really began. We had class then and it was a blast. The best part had to be Jodi's rap of the Secretary's lines of Opening Ceremonies. We definitely won the creative section. Once we class was over we spent an hour and a half tossing marshmallows into each others mouths. It was so much fun. We only had one serious injury, and it was my fault. Sara ended up with a bloody nose from being my partner on the giants ladder on the high ropes course. Overall it was a great team building and fun experience.