Science Teacher Visit

I had the opportunity to visit Mrs. Gee who teaches Physics and Engineering. I shadowed her during her 8th grade engineering class that is called “Step Up.” The students were a bit wild in the beginning of class, but it was the last period of the class and these were a bunch of 8th graders. Mrs. Gee started off with a Bell Ringer to get students rolling with the class. They were in the beginning of a new instructional unit in which they were building a solar powered cart. This project required the students to work in small groups to design, marshall supplies, and construct a functioning cart that would be powered by a small solar cell. I have struggled a bit with the “team learning” idea and working effectively in groups. I spoke with Mrs. Gee afterwards about this and she gave me some advice. She told me that in her classes she constantly reinforces the idea that collaboration and teamwork is a skill that each student can develop and that sometimes it is difficult. She allows students to pick their own groups unless there is an issue and later in the semester, if a student prefers to work alone she allows it. An important part of this project was that they had to document everything that they did. This was a tool that she used to gauge participation among group members as well as to hold the students accountable. I think that this is a great strategy, and one that I would like to use in the future.

There were a few students that were disruptive but Mrs. Gee didn’t allow them to detract from the lesson and told the students that if they kept it up that she would “suck all of the fun out of [their] souls” or that she would tell their coaches that they were being a pain in her behind.  The latter remark I thought was interesting and seemed to be effective.

Student Teaching: A Final Reflection

It is pretty surreal sitting here at a computer and reflecting back on the final stage of my journey TO teacherhood. I suppose that I will now begin my journey OF teacherhood.

If I had to choose one word to describe my experience it would be challenging. I don't think that there has ever been a time where I paid so much money to work so hard other than my experience in Peru as a volunteer missionary but even though that was for two years I still paid significantly more for this experience which lasted 15 weeks.

There were a few times, especially in the beginning/middle that I contemplated whether it was worth it or if I could even do it. There was definitely a learning curve when it came to balancing being a teacher full-time, a husband and father, and completing my graduate research. Now, looking back I can confirm that, yes, it was definitely worth it and that I could not have done it without the support of my wife, the Penn State University supervisors, and my cohort.

In the beginning it was a struggle to build rapport with my cooperating teacher. I recognize that it is difficult to have a student teacher and to have a smooth transition into the classroom especially when you are so passionate about your work and you feel a great responsibility for your students. But by the end, I really do believe that we have a genuine friendship and a respect for one another as educators. It was a humbling experience, and one that I needed. I believe that my cooperating teacher recognized where I was at as a teacher and pushed me hard to be the best that I could be. I owe him a lot for accepting me as a student teacher and coaching me along the way.

I recognize that I still have a lot of room for improvement. Even at the end, I still struggle with classroom management,  but that is sort of the beauty of the ephemeral student teaching experience: that you can move on and the mistakes you made will not follow you. I know that when I am hired to teach at a school that I will do many things completely differently especially when it comes to classroom management. I am really happy with the rapport that I was able to build with my students, especially the students who I recognized as being marginalized in the school and at home. Those students are one of the main reasons that teaching high school really appeals to me: to be able to be a role model and a mentor to students who are struggling with the myriad of struggles that beset young adults.

I took some time on Friday evening before I made my drive home to go to the back of the school and reflect on the experience that had just come to a conclusion. The sun was setting and I could hear the birds and frogs making their music. It was peaceful and I was filled with happiness and gratitude for having been able to overcome many challenges and ultimately become the quality of teacher that I am today with a knowledge that I have limitless opportunities for personal and professional growth. This is an exciting time in my life and I am very excited to see what the next chapter of my life will bring.

Supervised Agricultural Experiences and the Agricultural Experience Tracker

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE) are student designed projects that reflect the interest of the student. They provide experiential learning experiences for the students that reinforce learning that occurs in the classroom. SAEs are an essential part of the three circle model of agricultural education.


I had the opportunity to attend a professional development seminar that focused on keeping records from the students SAE projects. Dr. Roger Hanagriff from Texas A&M University developed a software program called the Agricultural Experience Tracker, AET, to help students keep track of their records online as well as assist in the creation of important documents such as resumes and application for awards that can be received from the National FFA. It was a great seminar facilitated by Mrs. Carol  Fay, who is an SAE expert. We explored many functions of the program including some of the more complex operations such as keeping records on animals that are raised for breeding and transactions associated with those animals.

Honestly, I love the concept of SAEs. Everything that I believe about what "true" education is and should be is addressed by SAEs: it is designed by the students according to their interests, guided by the agriculture teacher/FFA adviser to constantly adapt and improve the project, it valuable provides real-world experience that can help students gain skills and make career choices.... the list goes on.


I had the opportunity today to visit a student who is a junior at his home to learn more about his SAE. This student has multiple SAEs that involve his livestock. He raises steers to show at the fair, steers for market, and has a breeding program started to ensure that he can maintain and improve his herd over time. I had spoken to both him and his parents about his SAE in the past and then made arrangements to visit his home. His parents agreed and the students seemed happy that I wanted to visit him and learn more about his project. During the visit, the student showed me around his property and showed me the cattle that he owned along with a unique backstory for each one.

I asked him several questions about how he ensured that they were happy and healthy and that they were not damaging the pasture upon which they grazed. When I asked the student about his plans for the future, he responded that he intended to join the military and then return to the farm to manage the herd full-time. He indicated that he wanted to improve the herd by managing their genetics as well as increasing the herd size over time. He had updated record books in the AET about which he commented that he prefered to use the old fashion pen and paper record books, but recognized their importance and utility when applying for awards.

Overall, it was a great experience. The property was beautiful, the student knowledgeable and passionate, and the weather was great. I look forward to visiting more students in the future when I am running my own ag program.

Zone of Proximal Development

This past week the students have been working on writing an extensive lab report on the nutrition experiment that they had been conducting the previous 4 weeks. They were engaged in an experiment using rats as research models to test the influence of sugar water vs. milk on the growth and development of adolescent rats. Their final project was to write a lab report with an introduction in which they described what research they conducted and why it was important followed by a literature review which consisted of creating a table with major macro and micronutrients that they studied and how each nutrient influences the rats growth. They created graphs from the data that they collected and did an analysis of the data for both qualitative and quantitative that was collected. Finally, they had to write a conclusion in which they restated their hypothesis and either affirmed or rejected it as well as made recommendations for the public based on the results of their data analysis.

Did I mention that these are students in 8th grade? Needless to say some were a bit overwhelmed. To make things a little more challenging, they had to learn how to use technology to enter data and create graphs as well as create a research poster that could be used to share with others significant findings from the experiment.

I have been reflecting on what I had been taught concerning the Zone of Proximal Development. The Zone of Proximal Development helps teachers conceptualize the learners needs based on where they are. It is essential to understand as we strive to differentiate instruction so that no matter where are students are in their learning ability, they can be empowered to learn to do something new.

There were quite a few students who I could tell were getting a bit frustrated and overwhelmed at the task before them. As a teacher I needed to recognize that this was in fact a difficult assignment and that many of them had never written a lab report before.

It was a learning experience for me as well. I got to see how some students struggle with collaborating with their peers to complete this project and how others got really frustrated by the technology that they had to use. It was my responsibility to discern the individual needs of each student and provide them guidance as needed. Over all, it was a great experience, at least for me. I personally loved to see the learning that occurred and to see the students struggle a bit before figuring something out.

There is always a balance that we need to be aware of and strive for when it comes to learning. I never want students to feel that they are not intelligent enough to accomplish any assignment that I give them, but at the same time, I want them to struggle a bit, because I know that that is when real learning is happening.

I have included a file of a group of students final research poster for your enjoyment. It was created on Google Slides that was enlarged to be 48" x 36"

Link: The Influence of Milk and Sugar Water on the Growth of Adolescent Rats

A Visit to Greenwood High School to See My Old Friend Miranda Kane

Today I had the opportunity to see Miranda, or Ms. Kane aka Sugah Kane aka Raw Kane, impart some knowledge to her students at Greenwood High School. I saw some presentations designed by students in the Plant Science class in which they became the teachers, developed a PowerPoint lesson along with a guided notes sheet, quiz and a Kahoot game. That class period ended with students checking on their aquaculture and greenroof projects in the greenhouse.

Following that class we went down to the shop where students were working on finishing their welding/soldering projects and I had chance to work on improving my welding skills (which are in need of significant improvement) which I really enjoy and would like to get better at. 

Furthermore, I got to see Ms. Kane teach a lesson on Parliamentary Procedure, another content area in which my experience is lacking. I am always amazed to see students truly engaged in learning about the rules for running a meeting. Ms. Kane did a great job facilitating that lesson and making sure that all students were actively participating. 

We have come a long way. At this point the psuaged17 cohort has been teaching for 14 weeks and it has been a journey.

It is nice to see that we have made a lot of progress and that we still have a lot of the same struggles. I didn't recognize, and I think that still many people who are not involved in the educator community, do not recognize that being an educator is much more (or should be) than teaching. An exemplary educator must plan, effective and engaging lessons teach and assess those lessons as well as be competent at managing conflict, helping students on their rough days, discerning learning abilities and tailoring instruction to help students who are struggling with the content, and that is just when students are in school. Now as we are in home stretch, that understanding does not discourage or overwhelm me, but I feel that my experiences are preparing me to be a better teacher and a better person. And that thought is very encouraging.

The Spring 2017 Northern Region PAAE Meeting

Why are teachers spending their Thursday evening at a Hoss's listening to budget reports and business minutes? Honestly, at this point, I don't know, but I am thinking it has something to do with a feeling of duty, of maybe it is the  bottomless french fries and soft serve ice cream. I am really impressed with the organization and collaboration in the spirit of service. It is so easy to take for granted all of the professional development opportunities and the myriad of other experiences that, as Ag teachers, we get to experience. It is important to recognize that there are many, many passionate individuals working long hours, behind the scenes to make this occupation what it is, and to ensure that it continues to progress and meet the needs of the ever changing industries of agriculture and education.

I am sure that the teachers that sat around me at the table tonight had many other things that they could be doing, but instead they chose to spend their evening ensuring that their passion and their profession is preserved and continuously moving in the right direction.

As I prepare to enter this career, I realize that agricultural education is where it is today not by chance, but because passionate people chose to sacrifice their time and energy so that as many individuals as possible could have opportunities to learn about agriculture and be enriched by the lessons learned along the way.

On Being A Connected Educator

I remember my university professors stressing the importance of being a "connected educator." I remember being sort of annoyed hearing this for a number of reasons. When I heard "connected," I recalled articles that I had recently read about the devastating effects of social media on today's youth as occurrences of cyber-bullying was on the rise and more young people were spending more and more time fostering "relationships" with people on the internet and were reportedly inept at carrying on a normal, face-to-face conversation. I was annoyed because, in my mind, "being connected" was synonymous with being active on social media and other media outlets that to me were suboptimal in so many ways.

As my first real teaching experience comes to a close, I have been reflecting often on what being a connected educator really means and why it is important. Being connected doesn't mean that you are a social media guru of sorts, although I have found that if you know where to look, social media provides a medium for which some pretty amazing and innovative people can share their experiences and insights that are exceptionally beneficial to a new teacher. Being a connected educator means that you are open and actively pursuing new knowledge that you will use to improve whatever it is you are trying to improve. It is not limited to pedagogy or content knowledge, but all aspects of life. It includes current research that is so relevant to educators as advances in neuroscience and psychology shed new light on how we learn and the processes associated with the development of our brains.

I know recognize that it is a tragedy that many people enter the teaching profession, many times fresh out of college, with their heads full of the training that they just received and a diploma in their hands and think that the best way to teach is the way they were taught and that it will never change. "The only thing that never changes is that everything changes." I know that what I have been taught as part of my educator preparation will most likely change and change more quickly than it has in the past. For that reason, I know firmly believe, it is essential to be successful in any career and especially in education, that we are connected with great people who are passionate about their work and willing to share their successes and failures and current research that can help make our teaching more effective and empowering. I don't want to ever have a closed-mind or a fixed mindset for if I do, I can no longer progress.

With Everything, Be Deliberate

These past few weeks have gone by really fast. There was a week that my cooperating teacher was sick and I got the full experience of running an ag program followed by a week in which I only taught one day due to attending a conference, snow days, and a training at Penn State, and finally this past week in which I had to juggle preparing for and teaching classes with conducting research for my masters degree. Now with only four more weeks left of the student teaching experience it is surreal to think that after so much preparation and anticipation, I am closing in on the end of my pre-service training.

I have a lot on my mind at the moment and I want to write about many different things but I will focus on something that I feel that I have learned, and that I believe is valuable, not only to me, but perhaps to many others. I have learned that it is important to be where you are. What I mean by that is, where ever you are, whatever you are doing, make sure that you are conscious of your thoughts and deliberate in your actions. It is so easy to be distracted, especially from the very important and often times obvious things in life. I believe that that is why it is increasingly important to be deliberate in everything we do.

I was very anxious about being able balance work-life with the rest of my responsibilities, especially because "work-life" and everything else sometimes gets blended together in the life of an ag teacher. I was worried that I could not be a great ag teacher AND a great husband and father. It seems like it is always one or the other. But I have found that true balance comes from being purposeful in the way we conduct our lives. When I am at school, I am 100% at school. I am focused on what I need to do, I am aware of the needs of my students, and I am conscious of my responsibilities that I have as an educator. When I am at home, I leave my phone on the bookshelf and I try to do my best to be a great father even if that means playing "monster" when I really want to fall asleep on the couch.

People say all of the time that you have to "find a balance" and I used to believe that. Now, I'm not so sure that "balance" is something that you find, but instead, something that you create. It is a conscious decision as to what is important and how you are going to spend you life. At this point in my life, it is an active endeavor, meaning that it does not come naturally. My hope is that through this practice of living deliberately, that I will always be able to create a balance in my life that will lead to my own happiness and more happiness for those around me.

Classroom Management

I never want to think about certain students as "bad kids." I believe that some students have so much going on in their lives that teachers do not know about and they don't need another person in their lives telling them that they are not doing something right. That being said, I also recognize that I have the responsibility to create and maintain a classroom environment which is conducive all students can learn and grow both academically and affectively.

I have had some issues with one of my classes this semester. It is an eighth grade Introduction to Agriculture class the last period of the day. They are wild. It was getting to a point in which I really dreaded having to deal with them. I decided to implement a different strategy this past week and it seemed to be very effective. I created a spreadsheet with all of their names and a space for each day to give them strikes or plusses based on their behavior. Three strikes and they get a call home. Originally, I had thought that three strikes would mean that they would get a detention, but after a conversation that I had with another teacher I decided that it would be better to contact the parents first to include them in on the issue before it became a real problem. Also, if I catch them "dabbing" they have to do 10 push-ups because I find that annoying. Finally, to address excessive talking I make all students who want to answer a question or make a comment raise their hand. This ensures that the only conversation that is happening in the room is focused on what we are talking about unless they are working on a group activity.

So far, the results have been great. I don't dread that class, behavior issues have drastically declined and the students think of it as a game. It is funny how much kids like games.

It is definitely not the class with the most "freedom of expression," but unfortunately, some students prohibited it for the rest of the class from being such. Once I believe that I have complete control over the class I will start to experiment with giving students more freedom to attempt to find that balance.

I also want to try this strategy to see if it really does work.

Just Get Through to Week Seven

At our Pre-Internship Seminar I remember Dr. Foster saying these words, "Just get through to week seven." Well, at the end of week seven, I can honestly say that this past week was the first week that I actually thought to myself, "I may be actually able to do this." Maybe the university supervisors actually know what they are talking about.

This is also approximately the halfway point of the student teaching experience and a good time to reflect back on how far I have come and what I need to do to get to where I want to be as an educator.

First off, I'd like to talk about areas in which I believe that I have grown. I remember being a single college student and thinking to myself, "I have so much to do and not enough time." Now, I am wondering what the heck I was doing back then that was taking up so much time. I really think that it may that our culture has conditioned us to think that we are always too busy to get everything done. I believe that in reality, as we take on more responsibility and more of our time and energy is required to complete certain tasks, that we have to learn to manage our time effectively, recognize priorities, and focus on what is important. I believe that I have gained valuable skills in being able to manage my time effectively to be able to complete that which is required of me and that this will help me in my future endeavors.

Now, looking forward, I recognize that the area in which I need to improve is in classroom management. I have been battling with how to approach classroom management since before I started student teaching and I am torn. I don't want to be an authoritarian figure in the classroom that demands compliance and conformity from my students because I don't believe that that is how I will gain that rapport with my students and be able to empower them. That being said, I also recognize that sometimes students, especially eighth graders at the end of the day, need structure or they will, for some reason, turn into a group of lawless dissidents. Finding a balance is key and then adapting pedagogy to the circumstances is the challenge.

I use a lot of purposeful questioning to encourage the students to think critically and engage with me in the lesson. I believe that with all of my classes, with the exception of the eighth grade students, it has been effective. With the eighth graders however, it is just an opportunity for the students to blurt out the first thing that comes to their minds and then continue to chat with their peers about something tangential and very distracting.

Therefore, in the coming weeks, I will start to experiment with adjusting my pedagogy to meet the nuances of each of my classes to ensure that my interactions with my students are both empowering and conducive to task-oriented behavior.

Closing thoughts. I am not going to lie, student teaching has been tough and at certain times I questioned if teaching was right for me. But looking back I can see that I have come a long way in a short period of time and that is exciting to me. I am looking forward to being able to reflect back at the end of this experience and see how far I will have come.

SAE Visit #1

The first mustang that Alex received.
She was very interested in eating the
entire Science Night event.

This week I met up with Alex Eagles, a sophomore at Bald Eagle High School who currently has two active SAEs: a tractor restoration project and two mustangs which he has gentled. I took advantage of the Science Night event that occurred on Monday when Alex and his parents brought the tractor and one of the mustangs to the school. I had spoken to Alex on a few different occasions about his projects and had spoken with his father at the last Occupational Advisory Committee and was very impressed with these two projects of which Alex was very proud.

Alex's father told me that he had traded a horse for the 1959 International tractor years ago and had used it primarily to mow grass until he purchased a new tractor. At that point the tractor was left in the barn for a few years. It was in pretty rough shape when Alex decided to use it in his Ag Mech class and enter it into the Tractor Restoration Competition at this year's Farm Show in Harrisburg. 

Some "before" photos of the tractor on display at the Farm Show

I asked Alex how much he knew about tractors or mechanics in general prior to starting this program to which he responded, hardly any at all. But as Alex explained the process and transformation that the tractor went through I could tell that his knowledge surpassed my own. I asked him how he learned what he needed to know to get the tractor running and looking nice again and Alex responded matter-of-factly, "the manual and a lot of YouTube videos."

I could tell that he was proud of what he was able to accomplish with the tractor and even won $800 for the FFA Chapter at the farm show competition for having entered the tractor in the competition.

The finished tractor on display outside of Bald Eagle High School during Science Night caught the attention
of the many attendees of the event.

The busy life of an Ag teacher

 

Busy week, but a good week. I got to start a unit that I am really excited about and I think that the students are pretty excited about as well: orchard management. I really love trees and especially fruit trees. It requires a lot of time and patience to grow fruit trees but it is highly rewarding to see a tree grow and produce flowers and fruit. This week we did a lab on grafting which I was a little unsure about as it is somewhat dangerous and requires a lot of skill to do it right. Overall, I thought it was a success. I learned some things that I will do differently the next time for sure but I had a good time and the students did as well.

 

With the introduction to agriculture courses we made some soap, which I had never done before but the students had done before. I was impressed with their ability to work efficiently and collaborate with one another. This is one of the many projects that the student work on to raise money for the chapter.



 


Actually, as I am writing this I am sitting in a hotel lobby as we are attending an agricultural conference with a group of students. I admit that I was not really looking forward to spending my weekend chaperoning students and going to workshops, but honestly, so far, it has been a great experience. It is really good to see students have fun and form friendships with each other.






This upcoming week I am excited to start the "Great Grow Along" unit which will teach students how to use the scientific method to conduct biomedical research using rats. It is a curriculum that was written by my current cooperating teacher and it seems awesome.

This week was a roller coaster. Maybe not a crazy, scream your head off, roller coaster, but the type of roller coaster that little kids should definitely not ride.

The beginning of the week was pretty rough. I felt like I was starting to get the hang of this whole teaching thing until I had my first visit from my university supervisor and my ego was crushed. I ended up spending about 14 hours at the school that day and as I was driving home I contemplated hard about whether or not this was the right path for me.

I have been through difficult times before and I have come to realize that the first few weeks of any new experience are tough. So I have that in mind, but at the same time it is really hard not to get discouraged or think to yourself, maybe this isn't for me, maybe this was all a big mistake. I know that I am not out of the woods yet, not by a long shot, but I am not going to give up.

The next day, we brought our students to another high school where they were to compete against other schools in the county in events through the FFA. You already know that I have been coaching my horticulture students for the floriculture competition. I really just wanted them to have a good time and have fun in the competition, but one of my students actually won the competition. It was pretty great to see how proud and somewhat surprised she was. I felt really good to because I was able to be a part of that experience as well.

So, I guess that is life. You win some and you lose some. The important thing is to just keep doing what you have to do to make your vision a reality.

2017 Bald Eagle Floriculture Team

The Power of Small and Simple Things

This week was a bit crazy. I am starting into the transition of teaching all of the classes and at this point I am teaching all but one period. It is challenging to say the least. To prepare an engaging lesson requires a lot of time and energy and to prepare seven engaging lessons is insanity. I am coaching two teams who will compete in Career/Leadership Development Events (C/LDE) and in one, the Prepared Public Speaking LDE, I had the students watch a short TED talk by one of the directors of the TED events. In that video he spoke of the power of ideas. I realize that ideas can have the potential to both help and hurt people in a myriad of different ways. Reflecting on this week I am coming to understand the potential influence that I can have on the students that will enter my classroom and to an extent it is very daunting but at the same time it is empowering.

As you may know, I have been teaching a floriculture unit that I have struggled with. I want to share an experience from this past week. My cooperating teacher was kind enough to allow my to buy some real flowers for the students to practice making arrangements and they loved it. Even the guys who are all like, "Flowers are dumb," were taking pictures of what they had created. It was interesting to see all of the different designs that they came up with. They then had the opportunity to share those arrangement with a teacher or paraprofessional of their choice. They came back with some great stories of how the person that they had chosen to gift the flowers to had cried with happiness, or had expressed how much it meant to them. It was something that I hadn't expected and it made me realize the power of small and simple things.

Getting their hands on some fresh cut flowers

Mrs. Holly Yearick who works in the main office has extensive
experience as a florist and came to class to evaluate the students'
arrangements 

Finishing up my third week as a student teacher brought some highs and lows. First, I need to clarify something. I have a B.S. degree in Production Horticulture and I have found that a lot of people don't know what horticulture is, and those who do associate it with floral design and landscaping. Now, this becomes a problem for me when I tell people that I studied horticulture because I don't particularly like cut flowers and I am highly critical of the North American obsession with lawns. So for those of you reading this, horticulture is more than floral design and landscaping. My passion is for fruit trees and vegetables, mushrooms and compost, and much more.

That being said, I have been struggling through a unit in the horticulture class that is on floriculture in which, yep you guessed it, I am teaching about floral design. It was difficult to get the students to be engaged when I don't have passion for the subject. After some critical feedback from my cooperating teacher, I designed a couple of lessons that really went well. The students were engaged, they were having a good time, and even I was having a good time. I believe that learning should be fun because learning is fun! And so that is something that I learned this week. Even if you are not passionate about a subject, find a way to make it fun and I believe there is almost always a way to make things fun.

Working with some silk flowers in the lab

How to encourage your students to do quality work

I can remember countless assignments that I was given in high school that I absolutely loathed. Part of the reason was that I just didn't want to do the work, but mostly it was because I didn't see the value in the assignment. They were just another thing that teachers wanted me to do so that they could get their kicks.

Now as a teacher, I don't want to put my students through that same ordeal, but I recognize that it is important to teach students things that sometimes they don't want to do. That is where I believe students should have a voice in some aspect of the project or assignment. I believe that when students are given the opportunity to decide what they can research and participate in a creative process that they will not only be more motivated, but they will do better quality work.

That being said, there will always be students who don't want to put in the time and effort to produce quality work. In that case, you have to push them to do good work. This past week I was given the task to assess research posters for the introduction to agriculture course. It was an interesting experience because I gave quite a few students failing grades. I think that at first the students expected to turn in terrible work and get a C maybe and then that is it. But when the see the 26% they suddenly see that they have to think and put in  some effort. I'll tell you though, they do work hard and they turn in significantly better work.

So, to encourage students to do quality work, give students a voice, don't give them stupid assignments, and push them.

Weekly Insights - Be nice to everyone

Weekly Insights

Be nice to everyone - coworkers, administration - beyond the I scratch your back you scratch mine and toward a sense of community

Good public relations is essential for community to support you as the agriculture teacher and the agriculture program in general. Without the community, the program cannot be successful.

There seems to be a common understanding that being an agriculture teacher necessarily means that you are absurdly busy at any given point during the year. We try to do so many things with involving the community, catering to the desires of administration, FFA events, Farm Show and fair events... the list goes on. I fear that there is so much pressure to do everything that we will fail them right. I am not really sure, but I can recognize the need for the agriculture teachers to delegate responsibility to others to ensure that they are not working alone and wearing themselves too thin.

Daily Summaries

Monday - Farm Show was a great learning experience see my Mid-winter Convention blog for more details

Tuesday - Early release due to weather. I observed all of the classes. All students are working on finishing their mid-term posters which are due on Friday or Wednesday.

Wednesday - School Canceled

Thursday - I facilitated the Ag Leadership class in preparing them for the Junior and Senior Prepared Public Speaking CDE. I think that it went really well as I helped them select a topic to speak on based on their experiences and interests. 

Friday - Mr. Biddle was at Farm Show so I was the Ag teacher for the day. The students finished up their posters and I taught a lesson on delivering a speech. The students are off to a good start. They have chosen their topics and are doing some research about their topic. Over the next couple weeks we will work on writing an effective speech and delivering it.

Upcoming Week

I will be taking over facilitating the Horticulture class and will co-teach with Mr. Biddle the Ag Leadership class. The Introduction to Agriculture classes will present their posters and have a quiz on the information each student shares about their poster (we will create the quiz and take 1-2 questions from each student). The Animal Science class will be finishing up their posters and presenting them this week as well. 

Monday - There is no school for students but is to be used as a day to grade midterms.

Tuesday 

• Horticulture - Finish Posters
• Ag Leadership - Farmshow reflection

Wednesday

• Horticulture - "Jigsaw" Activity with posters. Students will present and assess each others posters.
• Ag Leadership - Complete their manuscript outline. Lesson on speech structure.

Thursday

• Horticulture - Quiz on information from poster presentations. Select seeds from a seed catalog that will be used in the milk jug greenhouse project
• Ag Leadership -  Effective speech introductions. Complete draft of speech introductions.

Friday

• Horticulture - Introduction to the milk jug project and setup for the project
• Ag Leadership - SUCCES for effective speeches. Practice their speeches in from of each other.

Concerns/Questions

It is sort of weird being in someone else's classroom. They have their way of doing things and at least with Mr. Biddle it seems to be going very well. I have different a educational philosophy when it comes to some approaches, but recognize that I don't have experience teaching and so I want to gain as much insight from a veteran teacher as possible and then when I have my own classroom I can start to integrate some of the ideas that I would like to try out. 

MId-Winter Convention and PA Farm Show

Students who are joining the FFA and receiving their jackets 

Tie tying teamwork!

First off, I want to talk about how amazed I was at the
representation of the agricultural industry in Pennsylvania during the Farm Show. I mean, everything you could think of from mushrooms to bicycle frames made from wood to alpaca wool mittens! It was a great experience and it makes me excited to be a part of a great industry in a great state.

Now, putting on my agriculture teacher hat, man it is a lot of work facilitating that experience for students. Making sure that you fundraise to be able to take students to the show, make sure that all of the students' projects are at the show at the right time, that they are ready, renting vans/buses, making sure no one gets lost...the list goes on! As an ag teacher you have to be on your game all the time especially during times like that.

Mostly as I reflect back on the experience, I am excited to start a career in which I get to learn and grow daily doing something that I am truly passionate about with the support of many great people.

Tractor restoration project by Bald Eagle students