ex undis divitiae, ex agris vita

"From the waves of the sea comes wealth, and from the sowed field comes life"

For me,  the last 2 1/2 years has been a period of intense learning in the field of teaching junior Agricultural Science. As I am a lover of learning, I have enjoyed every.single.minute!! 

I have a passion for educating others about where their food comes from and how they can grow/raise their own. I am so blessed that the chance to teach this subject has presented itself. I am over -the -moon excited about what the future will bring! 

Let me share my Ag-ventures so far... 

The Head of our Science faculty approached me in the last weeks of 2014 to ask if I would be interested in teaching Year 9 Ag Science the following year. He had hardly finished the sentence before I said yes- without any hesitation! 

My only relevant experience was teaching Middle School Science for the last 8 years, but I am always up for a challenge!! 

Fast forward to January 2015 and we went on a 3 day trip to The Ag Force Ag Science Teachers Conference in Rockhampton. It was awesome! I always wanted to go to boarding school and I finally got the chance! Here was my dorm room-

I was like a total sponge, soaking up any and all Ag related info that I could.

Fast forward to July 2016 and I was utterly blessed to go to Canberra for three days and attend the PIEFA (PRIMARY INDUSTRIES EDUCATION FOUNDATION AUSTRALIA) conference. A- Mazing!

This year will be my third year of teaching Year 9 Ag Science, never a dull moment and always something new to discover. I've also been engaging with the school Hoof n Hook program, where students learn how to handle and show cattle. In May, I drove a mini van full of students and a trailer full of show camp gear to a country show.  I loved every moment and can't wait til the next time I can go.

I have so much to share about this phase of my teaching, it will have to be split into numerous posts.

Ag Education is so important for not only the here and now, but also for the future in food security and resource management. 

Every Family Needs a Farmer!

TGBTG

MD xxoo

in test magister est semper tacere

"During the test, the teacher is always silent"
 

Once again I find myself at the start of another year as a junior high school Maths and Science teacher. This will be  my sixth year of teaching.. yay me!

When I was at Uni, a lecturer quoted some stats that new teachers often drop out of the profession within five years. So far, so good. Now I'm looking forward to reaching long service leave in a couple of years, REALLY looking forward to it! The way time flies, it will be here before I know it.

Being a high school student these days is considerably different to when I was one, twenty years ago. I'm sure my teachers felt the same way about my generation too. I wonder what they would think of this generation if they were still teaching.

I will admit this is purely personal opinion, but I feel that quite a lot of students need a lot more hand holding than my peers and I ever did. Have we, the current generation of parents, raised a generation of children who need to be told what to do every step of the way?

The most frustrating thing for me as a teacher is when I show them how to do something, hold their hand for a bit, they look like they have it, and then they drop their bundle when it comes to an exam. They like the security blanket of having someone tell them what to do...

So often I have heard "I don't know what to do.." when they come across a wordy problem. I ask them to read it and tell me what it says. Then I ask,  "What do you think you need to do?" So often their response is on the right track, but they wouldn't even have a go independently :-(

Being successful at exams could be described as an art form. I attended a professional development event just a few days ago. It was eye opening on several levels. Let me elaborate.

1. The literacy of numeracy...  numeracy is a special language all of its own. We need to teach students how to decode it properly. Explicit instruction.
2. There are teachers out there who can't work out (in their heads) the answer to "what is  3/4 of $600?" and openly say they suck at Maths.. they will most transfer likely transfer their fear of Maths onto several students.

To be honest, I was never a Maths whiz, I used to be afraid of it sometimes, because I didn't understand it. All it took was a good teacher to show me that it wasn't so scary and encourage me to persevere. I started to get a buzz when I could work out a question and get it right.

I actually got to do extension Maths in year ten and also passed it. I went on to do Mathematics B in senior and passed it too! . Now, I have been teaching middle school Maths for almost 6 years.

It's true what they say, the more you practice, the better you get. ROTE learning definitely needs to make a solid comeback, just to boost  confidence.

The teenage body goes through the second phase of rapid growth and development they have experienced since their first few years of life. Apparently, in the adolescent phase, the brain is "pruned" by 50%! Hormones are released and cause the brain to act like it's in a state of flux, not able to focus.

More reflections on teenage biochemistry and it's impact on learning later.

TGBTG

MD