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!