Each week, the Penn State Ag Ed Roars! Blog will highlight a student teacher that is out in the field teaching and learning valuable experiences that they can use in their future! Bryanna Kenno (@bkenno) is teaching at Elizabeth Town Area High School under the supervision of Mr. Mark Anderson (@deucehorse1) in Lancaster County, PA.
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| Bryanna Kenno assisting a student. |
So I was asked to write a blog post about my time as a
student teacher so far…where do I even begin?! Student teaching has been an
experience unlike any other and I can’t believe I am five weeks in already! I
have such a great group of students, an awesome FFA officer team, and a
wonderful cooperating teacher. I am teaching aquatic resources, agricultural mechanics,
and agribusiness management; Elizabethtown has block scheduling. So much has
happened in these last five weeks, both good and bad, and I am super excited to
see what the remaining nine weeks have in store!
My favorite part of student teaching is working with Elizabethtown students and Mr. Anderson. I am blessed that I have the opportunity to work with outstanding people here at Elizabethtown. I am constantly learning from my students and my cooperating teacher as this experience goes along. I think the most interesting thing that has happened so far was on the day of my first university supervisor’s visit by Dr. Ewing. In early February, he visited and observed me teaching my aquatic resources class. During the last ten minutes of class, I ran out of the classroom and threw up all over the bathroom. It ended up being a 24 hour stomach bug and Dr. Ewing and I continue to joke about it!
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| Bryanna Kenno weighing fish in her aquatic resources class. |
One thing
that I encountered while student teaching so far that I didn’t think I would
experience is so many students having individualized education plans (IEPs). In
two of my classes, right around half of the students have IEPs. It has probably
been the most challenging thing I have experienced and has definitely helped me
grow as a teacher. While it is challenging at times, it is also rewarding. I
was informed that it would take one of my students 6-8 weeks to warm up, become
involved, and complete work. Within three weeks of classes, this is one of my
more involved students! I feel like I have impacted this student in a positive
way and it is awesome! My experience at Elizabethtown has been amazing so far
and I look forward to the rest of my time here!
If you would like to keep up with Bryanna's day to day activities, check out her blog at: http://fulfillingmyniche.blogspot.com/
To learn more about starting on the path to having a career that makes a positive impact on the lives of students across the globe by becoming an agricultural educator, please contact the agricultural teacher education program at teachag@psu.edu. Follow us on Twitter at TeachAgPSU, on Facebook, or on our blog!
Olivia Murphy-Sweet
2016 Student Teacher Candidate
Blog Editor
@OSweetMurph
