2019 Student Teacher Check-In with Manny Catala (@MCatala35)

Manny Catala is the current student teacher at Pequea Valley.

We stay in close contact with our student teachers while they complete their student teaching experiences and cap off the Agricultural and Extension Education degree! As part of staying in touch, we love to showcase what our student teachers are up to while they get to try out what they've been learning at Penn State! Our next Student Teacher Check-In is with Mr. Manny Catala, teaching at Pequea Valley High School alongside Mr. Doug Masser (@MasserD), a recent alumni of Penn State's AEE program in 2012.

Time sure does fly! Manny has been student teaching at Pequea Valley for 9 weeks now, and through this time he's gotten to go through a variety of learning experiences. Manny shares that one of the things he's learned in regards to his relationship with his students is that small conversations can make large impacts. He shares that talking to his students has been very important to his success: "The more I get to know my students and their interests, the easier it is to engage them in the content." He also shares that his favorite part of student teaching has been having these one-on-one conversations with his students. This gives Manny a chance to build his relationship with them, and also serve an educational goal by allowing him to help them with their class projects in a more personal way.

Manny instructs students at Pequea Valley High School.

Challenges are inevitable when you start your student teaching experience, so we wanted to know what some of the challenges were that Manny had to face when he arrived at Pequea Valley in January, and how he was able to overcome them. He told us that it was challenging for him to work with students who simply weren't motivated. "A way I try to handle this is building rapport with my students and creating a fun environment for them in class."

Manny has the opportunity to teach a variety of classes, including Power Tech, Large Animal Science, Ag Biology, Horticulture, Intro to Ag Mechanics, and Ag Business. Being able to teach across a wide range of subjects affords the chance to be involved in some really neat opportunities. "... I am able to expand my content knowledge and see what I like and don't like." His favorite class to teach is his Ag Biology class because he has been able to build a strong connection with his students there.

Lastly, Manny shares that it's important to enjoy your time student teaching; "...It goes by fast so appreciate the time with your students and learn from your mistakes."

We appreciate Manny sharing his wisdom with us, and we wish him the best of luck as he powers through the rest of his student teaching experience at Pequea Valley! You can follow Manny through the rest of his student teaching journey by keeping up with his blog, 'Manny's Manual'. 


Want to read more about Manny?

• September 2018 Student of the Month

 

 

Hunter Kauffman

Team Leader, @TeachAgPSU Communications

Wildlife and Fisheries Science

College of Agricultural Sciences