Action Research

Problem Statement

The Distance Learning Initiative is designed to provide students, in grades K-12, with a full circle elk country experience without physically being in Elk Country. In my research I will conduct surveys to ensure the program standards are being reached to the full potential. I will survey two types of school groups during my placement at the ECVC, physical field trips, and virtual field trips, also known as distance learning. Through this method of research, if we begin to see that students are not getting as much out of the virtual lessons as the physical lessons we will provide desired teacher resources as well as student information packets to supplement the activities to make them more engaging.  The goal of my research is to ensure that all field trips are treated equally by making sure that they are getting the same type of experience whether or not they attend a session with us virtually or physically. I am predicting that the virtual attendees will not be getting as high quality experience as those who can visit physically.

 

Findings

The findings showed that distance learning and physical field trips both had very similar learning outcomes from the students. There were suggestions by teachers in distance learning sessions to have a more hands-on experience similar to the  physical field trips. The only other comment was the way that the distance learning trunks were presented when they arrived to the school.

 

Solutions

Some of the suggestions given by the teachers who have experienced  the Distance Learning Sessions included a better mailing method. Most of our trunk/boxes are in rough shape due to the shipping process. We have tried a couple of different containers, and so far large cardboard boxes work the best, but must be replaced frequently. We are looking into purchasing shipping containers that have a time effective guarantee.

Another recommendation was that we do something to make the sessions more interactive  for students in the Distance Learning Sessions. During our field trips, students have hands-on activities with a variety of props.

DIY- CDE Training Day

For my DIY, I am planning a CDE workshop at the Elk Country Visitor Center as a practice for chapters throughout the state before Fall CDE's. During my time at the Elk Center, I have coordinated the event and create all advertisements and documents for the event. The benefit for me as a student teacher is gaining a better understanding of CDE's.

In order to host this event, I needed to learn more about individual CDE's in order to make the workshops meaningful to students. There are 3 CDE's that can be best served by the Elk Center property: Forestry, Aquatics Resources, and Wildlife. There is the potential for this to become an annual event. If possible I would love to partner with the Teach Ag Society to help run each of the CDE's alongside the staff at the ECVC. 

A far as evidence that I will be submitting the informational flyer and registration forms. The CDE Training Day in Elk Country is planned for Sept. 11^th, 2015.  The cost per student is $15 while advisors and chaperones are free.  Each person will receive an event T-Shirt, and a bag lunch will be provided. An information flyer will be mailed to PA Schools with Ag programs mid-May. Registration forms are due on August 31^st.

The Final Reflection

Going into my student teaching experience, I had very mixed emotions about whether or not I wanted to teach in a classroom. I had a lot of experience with non-formal education and liked where I was. I knew that student teaching in the formal setting of a classroom was going to be anything but easy. The first day I was introduced to my students was nerve-racking! I was responsible for the education of these young minds, that is a lot of pressure for one person! I did my best and I dove right in by taking over the Natural Resource and Ecology class at the beginning of the semester. Soon after I added Horticulture and Ag Science as well. While teaching at Twin Valley HS, I never felt like I had time to think, I was always preparing something for the next class, the next day, or an after school event. There was no time to sit and think about everything I was going through! After a few weeks in, I decided that I never wanted to teach in a classroom setting. The kids were great and I enjoyed working with them, but I couldn't stand the thought of having to print and revise another lesson. I started to dread going to school and have to do it all again the next day. Sometime shortly after, I was observed for the first time by Ms. Laura Rice. She observed my first two classes, and then we had a chance to talk over lunch. During our talk, I could tell she was disappointed in my teaching, and wished that I was doing better. We talked about my performance and she stated that during the Fall Semester in Lab, I was doing so well, and she wanted to know what happened. The truth is, I don't know what happened, I was in a "funk", I wasn't happy with what I was doing. I lost my sense of direction. But after that day, and talking with Ms. Rice and Ms. Weaver, I decided that I needed to change, and fast! I tried to better prepare myself for my lessons and started to stay after school later, and set-up for the following day. I communicated more with Ms. Weaver about what I planned to do, and asked for suggestions. I noticed my lessons were getting better, and I was happier with the work I was doing. I made connections with my students and they began to respect me as an educator, but we still had fun in class. I finally thought I was happy! By the net scheduled visit from Ms. Rice, I had improved, and was better as an educator. She seemed much happier with my performance and I was finally on the right track! When my ten weeks at Twin Valley were done, I was sad to leave. I truly made a connection with my students and I knew I would miss them. The student planned a going away party for me after school on my last day, but mother nature had other plans, we had an early dismissal on the my last day, and all after school activities were canceled. A few of my students came down to say goodbye on their way to the buses, but I never got to talk to many some of them.

There was no time to dwell in the sadness of leaving Twin Valley, because the following day was a banquet for my next placement, the Keystone Elk Country Alliance. I drove from Twin Valley all the way to Ridgway, PA to the site of the Elk Country Banquet. We set up on the Friday night that I left Twin Valley, and finished up on the following day. I was there for a long weekend, but I was able to catch up with my co-workers and meet some of the new members of the team. The following week we had a staff meeting were I was brought up to speed on many of the happenings during my time at Twin Valley, and I also shared some of my experiences. The next day, I had a Distance Learning Session with a class of 4th Graders from Mill Hall Elementary. Ms. Kurtz asked me to take lead on the session, and I did just that. It wasn't until the moment the session started that I realized that I was never truly myself at Twin Valley, when I was teaching these kids over Skype, I was truly myself, I was energetic, animated, and using all of these strategies that I learned about during my time at Penn State. But most importantly I was happy. My time at the Elk Country Visitor Center has been much different than I thought it would be. I was expecting to be sorting information, updating curriculum, and working with groups, not only did I do that, but I was asked about starting new programs and events, designing new informational signs, and much more! The thing I am most excited about is the CDE Training Day that I have been planning. We are inviting every FFA Chapter in PA to this event where students can receive extra training in Wildlife, Aquatic Resources, and Forestry CDE's. Eventually this event will offer training sessions on other areas as well.

I have been hired on as the new Conservation Education Coordinator at the Elk Country Visitor Center, succeeding my cooperating supervisor, Barb Kurtz. A lot of my time has been looking into the curriculum she has developed during her time here, and updating it. The Keystone Elk Country Alliance seems to be excited to have me become a permanent member of their team, and I am excited to join them. There are so many ideas that I have, that might just come true!

While comparing my experience with a split internship, I have to say that I love non-formal education like what I do at the visitor center. However, I also love formal education, and bonding with my students. I am at a point right now where I still don't fully know where life will take me. I am happy right now working in non-formal education. Who knows eventually, I may decided I want to teach in a classroom and switch to formal education. Nothing is forever. As my good friend Janae Bickhart always says, "If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life!" and right now, I am looking forward to a "work-free" life!

Week 14: So Many Elk Talks, So Little Time!

Here I was thinking that things would get easier after I started to settle into the ECVC, boy was I wrong! This week was the busiest week yet with school groups. On Tuesday I had the opportunity to meet with the Shippensburg HS NRM Class! It was great to be able to see one of my fellow student teacher's students thought Skype! It was really fun for me to teach a high school level Distance Learning Session as most of the sessions are elementary. I was able to not only talk about elk, but wildlife management as a whole. One of the things I like to tell older students, is that wildlife management is often not about wildlife, it is about people! This is a topic that is hard to teach to younger students, but high school students seem to grasp the concept that wildlife management is about the perception of the wildlife. For animals that are perceived as "bad" because they may have a behavior or a trait that humans don't desire, there is little to no help going to the preservation of the species. Animals that are cute or help humans in some way get all the attention.
Later in the week on Thursday, we had a group of 3-5 year olds that visited the center. I never really knew how hard it was to keep a group of 3-5 year olds' attention! Interactive story time lasted about 2 minutes and then it was on to exploring the Great Room! I was able to hold their attention there for about 10 minutes before I lost them again! Next stop was the 4-D story theater, this actually worked! Except when the theater played the fake rain storm, and there was thunder, two of the children ran out in tears! We calmed them down and got them back just in time for the snow that falls near the end of the show! This cheered all of the children up, and had them excited to go for a trail walk!

On Friday Barb and I taught 9 consecutive sessions of Distance Learning to 3rd graders from West York School District as part of their Pennsylvania Day! I have done multiple sessions before, but never 9! I tried my hardest to teach 4 sessions in a row, but my voice couldn't make it. Thankfully Barb saved the day and taught some of the lessons so I could rest my voice! I never knew how much energy it takes to deliver the distance learning sessions. After thinking about it though, it is mostly teacher centered because of the virtual learning that occurs, due to that we use a high energy lecture style.

Overall, this has been a very productive week, and I even hired my first employee! We help interview that I planned and coordinated. We interviewed 3 candidates for the Conservation Education Specialist Position, and all of them were highly qualified! Their interviews only made the decision tougher! The panel of 4 that held the interviews discussed what we thought was good and bad about each of the candidates and held an open discussion of our thoughts before deciding on the right candidate.

Week 13: Raffles, Training, and Field Trips!

This week was all hands on deck at the Elk Country Visitor Center. Through one of our partnerships with the PA Game Commission, we have been given a PA Bull Elk Conservation Tag to raffle off to the general public. The proceeds of this raffle are designated for use in Conservation Education, and Habitat Improvement Projects. Both of these areas are things that I am overseeing as part of my student teaching experience. The tickets finally arrived and it was time to send them our to the membership base. Workers and volunteers worked hard all week to count tickets, stuff, seal, and stamp over 2500 envelops! It was unreal to see the process from beginning to end. When I was between groups, and programs, I was helping to label and stamp the envelopes as well. One thing I have learned here at the ECVC is that nothing happens here without the hard work and dedication of the entire team. I am blessed to have become and part of such a great organization. I thought back to my time at Twin Valley and we did something very similar with the Wild Game Dinner, officers stuffed envelopes with invitations to send out to the alumni.

This week I was also able to host an Envirothon Training Day with the Elk County Conservation District. There were over 65 participating students and rotated through 4 stations that included Wildlife ID, Aquatic Resources, Forestry, and Soils. The conservation district primarily ran the stations and I was responsible for making sure they had all of the necessary materials as well as make sure students made it to the proper locations for the stations. This was a look into what my job is going to be like when I officially start at coordinator. I will need to supervise the groups as well as teach them.

The following day I took a trip to Greenwood HS, where I met with Ag Classes and discussed management practices for the PA Elk. With each of the 7 classes I discussed the history of the elk in PA, and for some of the classes I went into more detail about the mating behavior and size comparisons of white-tailed deer. The students seemed to enjoy the talks and I received positive feedback from the instructors as well. I was a long day with not very many breaks, but I had a blast and was able to reach out to a lot of students about what we do here in elk country.

Finally on Friday, I was able to participate in a one-of-a-kind experience. I was invited by the PA Elk Biologist Jeremy Banfield to assist in the placement of a new camera/GPS collar on a cow elk. This collar when activated will take photographs and video from the hardware installed around the cows neck. This video will them be used to analyze elk behavior, feeding, and habitat preferences. We left in the early morning and when into the Quehanna Wild Area. There biologist and vet located a herd of cows that they wished to study. It was extremely foggy and due to an equipment malfunction the herd scattered before he could successfully tranquilize and animal. We moved to another area closer to Winslow Hill and located another herd. The PGC Vet was able to successfully tranquilize the elk and we moved in to process the animal. I was tasked with keeping her head up and monitoring her behavior to see if she was starting to come out of sedation. It was amazing to see an elk this close and be able to handle here. I was able to learn so much about what the biologist do from working with them and asking them questions. I realized that even though I am often the teacher, leading the instruction. It is important to take a step back sometimes and become the students. We never stop learning!!

You can see the Tranquilizer Dart

Checking the BMI for Elk, she was a little thin.

Drawing Blood fro Pregnancy Check as well as Disease

After she was given the reversal agent.

From Left to Right:

Myself, Andy Olson (KECA Field Director), Rawley Cogan (KECA CEO)

In the background: Jeremey Banfield (PGC Elk Biologist)

This is a video of the cow coming out of sedation and being released back to her wild habitat.

Week 12: WHAT?! IT'S Week 12 ALREADY?

This week has been a busy one! We have so many things happening at the center right now it's hard to keep up. I have been given a list of goals and tasks that the center wants me to perform in a timely fashion as well as everything I need to finish for PSU. The experience here at the ECVC is different than what I expected, but good different! One of my new tasks is to inventory ALL of the props we use here at the center and create a catalog of everything we have to offer. I am truly seeing the importance of keeping everything organized and maintaining records of their uses. Along with this catalog, I created a sign-out procedure for the props as well. Volunteers often take props to use at events, shows, and school visits. By using a log book, we can be sure to keep track of where the props are going and also what types of events they are being used for. This type of record keeping is not only good for here at the center, but could be very useful to a teacher as well. I know from my experience with Mrs. Weaver that keeping track of the material that you might use for various labs, especially with CASE labs, can be a very daunting task. By creating a catalog, or even a spread sheet, you can always know what you have and how many of those items you have. When a number reaches a point that you know it isn't enough, you order more, or budget for more.

Along with the inventory monitoring, I had the chance to work with the Elk County & McKean County Conservation Districts. This was a really great experience as I was able to help them as much as they helped me. I was able to talk to their groups about the conservation method we utilized while building the center such as, regenerative forest, biomass boiler, gray water flush system, and our bio retention ponds. At the end of my session with them we started talking about the forage plots and our management with them. They were happy to hear we are re-evaluating our management system and were eager to offer us advice. One thing that they discussed with me was that right now there is no way to create a good verifiable management plan. The reason for this is because unlike farm pastures, we do not know how many elk are grazing each day, or which fields they are grazing in. The said we could try different methods and crops, but until we know how many elk there are and where they appear, there is no good way to make sure our treatments are accurate for the use of the plots. This information made me happy, and sad. I was sad because my students at Twin Valley worked so hard to create a management plan with the PGC and Berks County Conservation District. However, the plan that they created will still be used, just in a modified way.

Week 11: A Smooth Transition

This week was my first week as a student teacher located at the Elk Country Visitor Center. It was a breath of fresh air being back in the familiar setting in elk country! However, as welcoming as it all is, it certainly is challenging! My first week back has been full of meetings and event planning. I was able to conduct a Distance Learning Session with Mill Hall Elementary 4th Grade class on Wednesday. This was the moment when I realized I was in the right place, I was myself, I was confident, and I had fun! One of the thing I really struggled with while teaching at Twin Valley was enjoying my lessons. Don't get me wrong, we had fun classes and I loved the kids, and Mrs.Weaver, but I never really enjoyed what I was teaching. The fact is however, I didn't realize it until I was no longer teaching at Twin Valley. I only realized after it was too late.

My time in elk country has already been filled with natures beauty. This week while I was working on some of my programming, Rawley Cogan (the CEO) came over to my desk and said, "You have to see this!" I followed him over to the window, and just on the other side of the glass, a herd of approximately 50 elk casually walked by on the way to the forage plot. After being away for so long I almost forgot just how majestic these creatures are. It has been truly amazing being back in the heart of elk country, and I no longer question where I belong. I know that I made the right choice to create a unique experience for myself, and am very thankful for all the support everyone has given me.

SAE Visit #2- Moooovin' On Up

For my second SAE Visit on March 14th, I visited a more traditional project. One of my students has Lowline Angus and works on her neighbors farm. Mrs. Weaver and I decided to visit the farm and meet the owner and discuss the student's project. We went on a rainy Saturday morning which made things a little muddy for us, but none the less exciting! When we pulled up we were greeted by several of the farms dogs, we walked out to the barn where out student was preparing the cattle so she could talk to us about them. She has one cow that the farmer gave to her for a project that she has been raising for a few years, when we visited, the cow (Bella) was heavily pregnant! The student showed us the farm and pointed out a few of her favorite animals and gave us the back story on a few of them.

The student did a great job talking to us about her show experience with Bella and how she was interested in working with younger cattle to continue showing. While meeting we discussed with the farm owner some of the student's responsibilities around the farm and I was very impressed to hear him say that her responsibilities were basically to act as farm manager. Based on her knowledge and learning she helps to make decisions on he farm and often collaborates with the owner to justify her concerns and propose solutions!

Soon after out visit I received an update from the student with a picture. Just a couple of days after our visit, Bella gave birth to a big healthy heifer! Below are photos of our visit!

Week 10: The Last Stand

This past week was my last week at Twin Valley High School. I had no idea that I in 10 fast weeks I would build relationships with students that I will never forget. I can honestly say that the experience I had there far exceeded anything I could have imagined. I was very fortunate in my placement with Nicole Weaver, she showed me what teaching Agriculture is all about! Going into the internship I imagined that by the end of my time in the high school I would know the answer to this question: "Do I want to teach agriculture in a high school classroom?" The answer to this question as I have come to learn is not a simple yes or no answer like I had imagined it would be. From what I have come to learn, being an ag teacher is anything but easy, it takes dedication, motivation, time management, flexibility, and courage.

For me being dedicated and motivated was pretty easy, I have a passion for educating others about the subject matter that I am most familiar with, and I am motivated to learn about subjects that I am not familiar with so that I can share the information with others. I may not be flexible physically, but when it comes to last minute changes to a lesson, field trip, or event, I have discovered that I can be pretty creative to last minute solutions! There were several instances where because something in the plan failed, I was able to come up with a quick fix to get us through!

The last two things that I mentioned are time management and courage. These to pieces to the puzzle are the things that I think are the most difficult for me. I really struggle with managing time to complete assignments, grade, plan SAE visits, and still have a moment to myself to think about the journey I have taken. Sometimes we get so involved and focused on our work that we forget the big picture. During my student teaching at Twin Valley, I tried to remember where I started and where I was going. Every week I would try to take a day to myself and learn something new, relax, and enjoy my time in Southern PA.

Here is the thing about courage, it can make you and break you, but you have to be willing to try. Whether it is a new lesson, new event, or new teaching method, trying to broaden your horizons is the only way to get better. Personally I have always been afraid of change, I have learned through my time student teaching at Twin Valley that you just have to put yourself out there sometimes and be able to stretch. The thing to remember is that you shouldn't just take risks to take risks, they should be strategic with a predictable outcome, now that doesn't mean you will always predict it correctly, but you should go in with a game plan!

Overall,  I still do not have a solid answer as to whether or not I want to teach agriculture in a classroom, but one thing that I do know is that I can if I ever decide I want to.

Science Classroom Visit

On March 17th I was able to observe Mr. Hertzler's Anatomy and Physiology class during my prep time. He was just starting his introductory lesson on the skeletal system, so it was a great way for me to see a good intro to a unit.

The objectives of the lesson were:  Describe the functions of bones, classify two main divisions of bones, and  identify 5 bones in the axial skeleton.  Most of the students seemed to be interested. There were a few of them who did not seem to focus on the lesson. Most of their attention was focused because of the depth of material they were covering, and looking at the skeleton model as well as slides with descriptions. The teacher tried to focus the students’ attention on the presentation by asking them probing questions before advancing the slides and then revealing the answer on the following slides.

I thought that in this particular lesson, the teaching was fairly teacher centered. It was a lot of new information for students and he did a great job asking questions and letting them think on their own before giving the answer, but there were a lot of answers that were not even close to the response that he was looking for.  The teacher tried to use a structure or framework to help students visualize the new material by reviewing the information on a slide and then showing them on a piece of bone on the skeleton models.  

Overall I thought the lesson was well structured and the students were engaged for maximum learning. Although this introductory lesson to the skeletal system was more teacher-centered I believe that in future lessons they will be more student focused based on the conversations we had after the class time.

Week 9: The Final Countdown

This week was a pretty great week, not a single delay, early dismissal, or cancelation! Spring is finally on its way! My NRM students are seeing their final product for their monitoring station and even got o sit on it this Friday! It was great to see their faces and the excitement they expressed after they saw what the final product is going to look like! I am really proud with the way they have been working together and putting any extra time they can into finishing this project! We also introduced our next project by having a Skype session with Barb Kurtz with the Keystone Elk Country Alliance. We will be creating Forage Plot Management Plans for the Visitor Center to use and implement on the many plots that they manage.

 

In Ag Science, we have been learning about cells and comparing plant and animal cells. We were in the lab almost everyday. On Wednesday, the students did well in the lab for our Nuclear Onion Lab where students looked at onion cells and stained he nucleus using iodine so they could see the nucleus under the microscope. This was one of my personal best lesson using CASE and I did a full lab demo before having the students work on their labs. The next day we did a lab were we extracted DNA from frozen fruit and precipitated it in a solution so that we could see the DNA strands with the naked eye. The students did not follow procedures and kept messing around the lab rather than actually focusing on their work. I had to speak to almost all of the groups about staying on task several times during the lab. At the end of class I spoke to them all about following lab procedures and if they could not do as the lab stated without messing around they would no longer be able to participate in labs. I was very stern with them and didn't really like it to much, but after speaking with Mrs. Weaver, it was something that had to be said.

Horticulture this week was a little rough, we started our Botany Unit, which is definitely not my strong suit. I have been doing my best to make sure that I understand the content beforehand and making sure the lessons run smoothly. For the most part I did pretty well for the first part of the week, but for Friday's lesson I did not have time to set up before the start of lab and realized that I didn't have some of the necessary equipment for the lab we were supposed to do! I spoke to Mrs. Weaver and we came up with a game plan for the class during our prep. The class ran smoothly despite of our last minute plans. It just goes to show that you always have to be flexible and even when you think things are running smoothly, something always comes up!

 

SAE Visit: A Whelping We Will Go!

Well this SAE visit was definitely a lesson in flexibility if there ever was one! With all of the delays, cancelations, conferences, and illness, this visit took about a month to plan and re-plan! However this week Mrs. Weaver and I were finally able to make a visit to a student's home. The student we visited is doing an SAE where she is working for her mother's Grooming Salon, Dog Day-Care, and English Lab Breeding.  All of this happens in one facility, and I was a little concerned with making sure she can keep her records straight between all of her duties. I was pleasantly surprised to see what a great job she is doing. We spoke with her mother about how she was doing and helping out and the only concern was the variety of responsibilities that she has. After talking with the student we discussed taking more responsibility in one area of the business and focusing her energy into that area. She liked the idea and wants to focus on the breeding aspect and whelping of the puppies. Right now they are whelping pups for a local rescue and we had the opportunity to talk with them and hold the puppies. I was personally really interested in how they care for the mother and pups and was really happy that my student was able to explain to me the entire process with very little help from her mom! It was an excellent visit and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for this young lady. Right now she seems like she might be interested in showing dogs in the future, but doesn't have the time to invest right now due to her involvement in sports. Below are some pictures of our visit!

Week 8: Does Anyone Even Go Here?

This week we only had two days of school, and one of those days was a two hour delay, and the other was an early dismissal! In Ag Science we took samples of soil and posed a problem. In our situation we had 5 petunia plants and 3 of them died, the students then had to  problem solve as to why the plants died relating to pH. Students had to form their own hypothesis and test the procedures. Because of the shortened school schedule we were only able to run through the procedures and have not met together to talk about what happened and why it happened the way it did. For me as an educator I need to bring them back on track after having several days off of school and having them remember what they did and how they did it. When we have class together again we will go over each of the problem, their hypothesis, and review the procedures before I have them look at their results so when the look at their results again, they might remember the steps that led to the results.

In NRM we worked out our monitoring station made out of recycled pallets. The students have really gotten into working with their hands and building something from their imagination. On Monday I was able to get through a demonstration of a circular saw so that students could safely use it. None of the students have needed to use it yet, but I wanted to take the time and prepare them so when they do need it we can keep moving forward. Most of our efforts the two half classes we had together was focused on sanding down the boards before we assemble anything. Because we have a shared lab space and the same room we use for Ag Science Class is where we are building our station, we have to make sure that the space is kept clean and everything goes back to its proper place at the end of the class so we can use the space the next day in lab. I had to get tough with the students about making sure they clean up properly and sweep the area they have been working in and pick up and dispose of any scrap wood and nails. They really do not like sweeping up and cleaning up their table, so I did compromise a little with them and assigned them one table that they can always use and leave supplies on that the Ag Science class will not touch. That does mean for Ag Sci, that we have one less table to work with, but the students don't seem to notice and I group them strategically so they don't need anymore space to work. 

I am really hoping that the next week we have school everyday. I have a lot of things I wanted to get through during my time at Twin Valley, and I am just not sure if I will have the chance. Right now I only have 8 days of teaching with them and I cannot believe how fast the time has gone!

Mock Interview with TV Admin

On February 24th, during my student teaching experience I was able to meet with Principal Bill Clements for a mock interview. It was a really great way to get to know the administrator as well as let them get to know me! Below are the questions I was asked as well as some of the information I asked.

1.      What did the administrator ask you?

a.       What types of concepts do you try to incorporate in every lesson?

b.      Give an example of a bad lesson that you taught or a lesson that did not go as planned, how would you change it to make it better?

c.       How do you differentiate instruction?

d.      What are your views on classroom management?

e.       Describe a time when you had a confrontation with a student, what was the outcome?

f.       How do you alter instruction to compensate for a large amount of time in laboratory settings?

g.      How do you go about contacting a parent?

h.      As an FFA Advisor what is your involvement with FFA?

i.        Use three words to describe yourself and explain why you chose these words.

      I thought I did a good job answering the questions; I had the pedagogical knowledge to answer the classroom related questions, and make sure that my answers gave specific examples from my student teaching. The on question that caught me off-guard was the last one asking me to use 3 words to describe myself. I never really took the time to think about it before and I hesitated, the words I used were, Dedicated, Learning, and Passionate.

2.      What questions did you ask the administrator?

a.       How supportive is the community of the Ag Program?

b.      What are the local Ag Related industries?

c.       How is FFA perceived from an administrative level.

 

I was really impressed with the atmosphere; it wasn’t full of pressure and was relaxed. I didn’t feel extremely nervous even though I did not know him that well at the time of the interview.
It took me some time to get it scheduled, mainly just because it was hard to schedule a time that I wasn’t teaching, and he was available to meet.  I would say I need to take time and think about my personality traits and strengths and be prepared to justify why I am the right person for the position and build my own confidence.

ACES

I consider my first ACES conference a success! I had a great time bonding with my students and learning all I could from the other advisors. My students seemed to gain a lot of new skills after I spoke with them about the conference. Of course everyone enjoyed the dance and social event but they also thought the workshops were valuable and engaging. ACES really gave my officers a chance to bond and patch up some of the drama that as been going on between the team. I was really glad to see some spirit in the team and listen to their ideas for some new chapter events! I think things are looking up for our next event, the Wild Game Dinner. We are planning on trying some new things to give the event some new engagement and insight to FFA!

Personally I had a great time at the professional development workshops. Even though I have already used the "Tragedy of the Commons" activity with my students, I learned a new way to do it and even got some new materials to make the activity flow better. During my time at ACES I really evaluated myself as an educator and a person. I thought a lot about what it is that I want to do once I graduate some days I still am on the fence about whether or not I want to teach. I think that I have ultimately decided that I might not teach right after graduation, but maybe a few years down the road, if the right program has an opening, I might just apply. Who knows where my journey will take me, or when the bus might pick me up, but what I do know is that all I can do now is learn as much as I can and make the best out of the experience I am being offered!

Below are some photos of our time at ACES:

Week Seven - National FFA Week

This week has been pretty full of accomplishments for my students! In Ag Science we have been really starting into our scientific labs where the students are becoming more comfortable collecting data using the Lab Quest equipment. So far our labs have focused on temperature and pH. I am finding it a little different teaching in a lab than a classroom, which I never thought would be any different. By having my students spread out working with equipment it makes it harder for me to keep an eye on them and make sure they are on task. Most of my students are very good at staying on task, but I am finding a few more discipline problems while working in the lab than I had in the classroom. I am working on moving around more between the groups and having my peer tutor do the same in order to keep the classroom order. I am also finding it is more crucial now than ever to be sure that my instructions are clear before dispersing the students to work. It causes a lot of headache if even something that seems insignificant to explain to me, but the students don't understand what the lab is asking. I am also trying to make sure that my instructions are always clear and ask if there are questions before we begin.

In NRM we have been busy as well, the students started the week by building Eastern Bluebird boxes that we will put up around the school. Each student built two boxes one to place around the school, and one to take home. The boys in the class really enjoyed being able to make something that is going to be used. The girls in the class seemed to enjoy it as well, but weren't as excited as the boys. After that we started with our monitoring station project. We are taking pallets and recycling them by using the boards to make a bench and planter that we can place into our garden where we have a bird feeder. The students spent a block working on deconstructing the pallets into usable boards. After that they spent part of a block designing the station. I originally split them into teams and asked them to each come up with a design, while they were working they asked me if they could all work together as a class because it would take less time if they all worked together and they wanted to get started in building right away! I let them have total ownership of the project, whenever they asked me if they could try something, my response was "what materials do I need to get you to do it." It was pretty funny watching their frustration looking to me for definitive answers, but I think they will be more satisfied with their work when it is completed and they know they did it all on their own.

This week in horticulture our plants finally arrived for our greenhouse so we spent the entire week working in the greenhouse prepping the soil, planting plugs, and watering the plants. This was my first look into how the greenhouse operates, and it was great having two classes of horticulture working together. We had Hort II students run stations by teaching Hort I students what to do while preparing the greenhouse. Each day, Hort I students rotated though the stations so they had the opportunity to learn all of the process involved with the greenhouse!

For National FFA week our officers visited with the freshman Ag Science Class and talked to them about what classes are offered in the Twin Valley Ag Department and about the chapter. Students were also involved by hosting a faculty breakfast for all the teachers. Finally after school on Friday we hosted a Bowlful of Blue and Gold Ice Cream Social! I decided that while I had the chance and see what that blue corduroy is all about, I found an FFA jacket in the closet that fit, and put it on. When I put it on I thought about all of the opportunities that I missed out on by not being in FFA, and I thought about all of the opportunities that I can offer students now by being a part, and by becoming an advisor!

Week Six- Short but Sweet

This week was very short due to cancelations, delays, seminar and a visit to another program. I only had two instructional days with my students which is extremely frustrating. I only have  weeks left with my students and in these next few short weeks are a few large projects! This week was definitely a lesson to myself in being able to adapt my lessons and rearrange them in a way that was still systematic for the kids, but valuable in a short time frame. I think they hardest class I had adapting was my Natural Resource class, with the delays, their class time was cut in half on the only two instructional days I had with them. I had to adapt my lessons to include the same content, but in a shorter time. On the day of our cancelation I redid one of my lessons in order to get back on track for the rest of the week so that I would not have to change my sub-plans for Thursday and Friday while I was not in class. I used my available resources and remembered a great activity I learned about in Outdoor School and refreshed my memory by looking it up in Project WILD. Then the following day had a two hour delay, so class was shortened. We were still able to play a valuable round of "Oh Deer!" but did not have all the time I wanted to go over it with them. Because of the shortened time there was no way I was going to lecture like I planned, so instead we did a think, pair, share with a couple of important concepts. I think that this actually worked better than it would have if I had lectured like I had planned. It really got the kids thinking critically and excited for the coming lessons. This week the schedule has been a challenge, but not totally in a bad way, I was able to learn from it and push forward to a new week!

One TV to Another-Visit to Tri-Valley

On Feb. 19th I had the opportunity to visit a fellow cohort member and their classes. I visited Amanda Forstater and Gretchen Dingman at Tri-Valley High School to take a deeper look into their program. While talking with my cooperating teacher, Nicole Weaver, we thought it would be good to take a look at a program that is very different than Twin Valley. Twin Valley offers classes in Animal Science, Aquaculture, Ag Leadership, Ag Science, Natural Resources, and Horticulture, while Tri-Valley offers a variety of Ag Mechanic classes, Ag Science, and Vet Science. I was also able to talk with them about how a single teacher program operates compared to a dual teacher program. I noticed while observing Amanda, that her students were much different from mine, I never had any issues keeping students on task or having them participate. Her students on the other had were testy and were harder to engage. I watched her use multiple strategies as well as a cool interest approach for egg grading, to get her students excited and ready for the lesson! I also saw her implement a new seating charts as well. She was having some issues with students talking during class and a couple of other issues. It was interesting to see her students react to it. Ms. Dingman even had to talk to the classes about the issues. Because my visit was early in the semester, she only taught a portion of the classes and had not started her full class load, I was also able to observe Amanda's cooperating teacher. It was interesting to see the way the classes worked, and all of the were working on completing the projects.   I thought it was really interesting to see another program that was different from the others I have seen, I left Tri-Valley with new ideas that I could incorporate into my own classes!

Week 5 - Put to the Test

In my 5th week of student teaching, this was one of the toughest for me. I definitely broke out of my comfort zone while working with the Horticulture class this week during the start of our Floriculture Unit! We had quite a few struggles this week with early dismissals and delays, but we managed to get through the material. The hardest part was seeing the look on the kid's face when we had to tell them that most of our plants froze over night and we weren't sure if we would be able to finish our centerpieces and vase designs. I learned a lot about being flexible and changing plans at the very last minute. On Friday when class was just getting ready to start I had kids go to the greenhouse which we modified into a cooler for our fresh cut flowers to retrieve their started centerpieces. But, when the students got to their arrangements most of their flowers were frozen solid. As we brought them to the classroom it was pretty obvious most of the plants were going to need replaced. So Mrs. Weaver and I discussed it and decided to take the remaining flowers and start with our vase designs so that the aqua foam could thaw enough to finish the centerpieces with whatever plants we might have left. Fortunately most of the plants in our buckets survived and were usable, however because of the freeze we did not have enough carnations for the planned design. We gave the students creative liberties and helped make suggestions for appropriate substitutions for the flowers, and the students persevered and made some Awesome vases and bouquets!

Above are members of the class with some of the items produced during class!

 

 

In my other classes we had our Unit 1 exams. For a review in Ag Science, we had our very own quiz bowl! Most of the students had never even heard of quiz bowl, but by the end were really enjoying it. The winning team members received 3 bonus points on their final exam! They had blast playing and were pretty active in writing down questions during the review so they could study for the exam. After they took the exams and I had the opportunity to grade them, I decided that I need to talk to a few of the students one on one and figure some things out. I know of a couple of students who seem active when I approach them during class, however their exam scores reflect otherwise. I want to take the time to talk to them and see what is going on so I can better prepare them for the next Unit!

 

In Natural Resources we also took our final exam and finished our final projects. Because of the weather conditions through the week and the effect on class time we were not able to review as a class, during one of our wrap-ups I gave the class an opportunity to ask any outstanding questions on the material covered. They took advantage by asking pretty specific questions about what they thought might be on the test I assured them that if they were present in class and active in discussions that the test should not be a problem for any of them.

 

While making the exams for both classes I also had the chance to sit with Mrs. Weaver and discuss how to make modified exams.  This was pretty interesting to me, and I always wondered how it was done! Mrs. Weaver and I did the Ag Science modified exams together and then I work on Natural Resources on my own and showed her what I came up with. After making a few adjustments on my draft, the exams were ready to be administered.