It's The Final Countdown!

At the start of this week, it really hit me that I only had 10 days left of student teaching! As usual, this week went by really fast; I feel comfortable and am finally in the swing of things! I am looking forward to this final week for two reasons… One, I am looking forward to the lessons to come and to keep growing as a teacher and a person! Two, I am ready to be done with college… It has been a great experience and I have learned a lot from Mr. Webreck, but it is time to move on! I feel ready to take a teaching position or start the next chapter of my life!

We had a guest speaker from the Blair County Conservation come in 3 times this week and has been teaching our students about riparian buffers and the effect that they have on stream banks. I was amazed to hear the success stories of riparian buffers and how they are utilized. We even took a walk to the local Dollar General store where a riparian buffer was supposed to go, but it was too late and other, more severe actions had to be put in place. In the picture I have to the left, we were simulating the effects of riparian buffers. The stream, bridge, and buildings all represented real-life situations that we went and examined.

As usual, there were some good and bad things that happened throughout the week! I have grown a lot since the beginning of the year and am starting to be a lot pickier about how I teach and critique myself. Here is how I thought that I did:

What Needs Work:

• PSU Work- I have most of my projects either started or nearly completed, the just need buttoned up and finished. Having a break from most of my classes next week should help get some of these done.
•  Real-Life- Relating the information that I am teaching to my students back to their own lives is something that I have been working on for a while. Once I started doing this more, I could see the level of comprehension rising and the students began to care more. This has gotten easier because I have built relationships and gotten to know students better.

What Went Well:

• Building Rapport- I have built a good rapport with almost all of my students and it has made things really fun. Some students are not my biggest fan, but that usually results in them not adapting to change well. I haven’t had many issues with students, but some work with me better than others.

I ended this week with a visit to Penns Manor High School where I went to observe Rachel Spicher and Mr. Hughes. Their program is very interesting compared to others I have been too! There will be more of this to come in a future blog post!

Until Next Time,

Mike Swartwood