Professional Development: Exploring AET!

Last Saturday, I made the trip to Bald Eagle High School to participate in the AET (agricultural experience tracker) workshop. We had explored this tool in AEE 311 at Penn State, but not in the depth of Saturday's experience. There are many different avenues and features that I hadn't discovered yet. We learned some of the tricks to teach students and common mistakes that are made. It was very beneficial because we went through the entire process from beginning the project to applying for a state degree.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/record-keeping-zmaz83jfzraw

After attending this workshop, I feel much more confident in teaching students how to use AET. If we as teachers don't know how to use the tool, how do we expect our students to pick up the concept? The program itself can be pretty confusing if you get off course. This is due to the extreme detail that projects can be recorded. I see this as a great tool! But how do we teach this to 14 year olds? After talking with peers, we determined that grouping students by SAE type may be the clearest way. If all students are recording the same types of projects they will have small differences in entries. I am currently trying to incorporate this tool in one of my farm management projects. I believe that it will work well and give my students more experience with this program. I now feel competent using this tool and hope to help students right away.

The Science Classroom Visit: Biology

https://www.amensupport.org/wp/2015/01/18/making-connections-at-aaes/

Last week, I was given the opportunity to sit in on a 10th grade biology class. This was a great fit for me because I lack confidence in biology and the teacher was a master. The day's lesson was on how plants obtain energy and the role of ATP in cellular activities. I was surprised to find myself familiar with the topic being discussed. The instructor seemed to have great rapport with his students, as well as all of the other teachers I have met. During the lesson, I could not stop thinking about how many of these biology concepts are also taught in the agriculture classroom. Agriculture is the ultimate course. It involves biology, chemistry, geography, mathematics, reading, writing, economics, and really any other subject you can think of. This got me thinking about different projects that could involve the agriculture classroom with other classrooms. What if the calculus students teamed up with the senior ag class to determine the needed flow rate of water for a new chicken barn? Or, what if the economics class teamed up with the farm management class to found a farmers market? Breaking barriers between classrooms can work to kill stigmas of what's cool and what's not.

The biology class also reviewed the scientific method during this class period, which made me smile. I had just gone over the scientific method with my electrical wiring students the friday before, in my lemon battery lab. It is important that students make these connections between different content areas and see the value in the higher level thinking that this often presents.

SAE Visit #1: Tagging Dairy Steers

On Wednesday of last week, I had the privilege of traveling to one of my seniors farms and tagging his dairy steer. This reminded me of my days of raising show stock and all the hard work that went into it. It frightens me that this seems to be a dying passion, especially in my home county. I would argue that the lessons that I learned from raising hogs and steers taught me more than any single high school course. The purpose of SAE is for students to conduct their own learning based off of their interests and passions. Present day academia has taken some of these passions out of our students and turned them into test stressed spoon feedees.

Mifflinburg FFA

So how does this SAE project help Jacob's future career plans?
He plans to become a vet. To become a large animal vet you need experience with these animals. Jacob has raised literally every animal from chickens to hogs to steers. He sees SAE as a true opportunity to better prepare himself for a career in veterinary medicine.

How has he improved his project over the years?
Jacob has experimented with different feeding programs over the years. He also has greatly improved his judging/selection skills.

What's the next step?

Jacobs next step is preparing for college. It's looking like he will become a fellow Penn Stater pursing his passion in vet science.

I also got the chance to talk with his parents and sister during the visit. It was really cool to meet jacob's support system.

I want to bring that passion back. It all comes down to creating an environment where all students are educated on the importance of agriculture and individuality. We need to get rid of this spoon feeding mentality. SAE is where we can accomplish this. Pushing our students in SAE opportunities can help to align them into a more self directed learning. When students learn about different aspects of their interest areas and see them as being valuable, they will continue to research and want to learn. We need to get students out in their perspective field so they can see why it is important to become educated. (at least in a certain field) I believe SAE, when used right, can be the ultimate vehicle for self driven learning. I look forward to my next SAE visit!

Student Teaching Week 3: Student Motivation and Incentive

Wow! I can not believe I will start my fourth week of student teaching tomorrow. This experience has been flying by. This week was big for my students because they were allowed to begin actually working in the shop. I have two students in particular who absolutely love to weld. Seeing these students come down to work extra during their study hall, and witnessing the excitement they bring to the class is extremely satisfying as a teacher.

However we all have our struggles. My freshman are currently working on their prepared speeches. This is progressing very slowly mostly due to a lack of interest in my opinion. On friday, we did a short impromptu speaking exercise that the kids really enjoyed. Volunteer students were given a random topic to speak about for 30 seconds. If they said uh, um, or any other utterance like that, they were disqualified. Through this activity, I learned that my students love to compete. This week I am planning on incorporating more of these types of competitions, possibly making a three day long "Speak Week." I am still putting pieces together for this contest.

https://memegenerator.net/instance/64813861

What incentives do I use? Maybe a pizza party? A team Trophy? Sheetz gift cards? I clearly have some more thinking to do on this upcoming week. I've often heard it said that teaching is as much an art as it is a science. I look forward to continue refining the art.

Student Teaching Week 2: Shifting Gears (without burning up the clutch)

www.gtplanet.net

I have always heard that no two classes are the same. I've heard this from both advisors and current/past teachers. It was never doubted in my head, but I had difficulty visualizing exactly what it looked like in the classroom. Differences can be attributed to the obvious like class size. However, there are so many other factors that contribute to the class characteristics. Some of these include learning aptitude, learning styles, previous knowledge, genuine interest, and previous experiences. As teachers, it is important that we recognize these differences from class to class and are prepared to shift gears into the type of instruction that will make our students successful.

My 5th period freshman class is very rambunctious and large in number. This presents the challenge of keeping them on task. After teaching them a few days I have noticed that activities work well with them. (especially ones that get them moving) Because of this I have planned out some hands-on activities for the next couple days.

My 6th period freshman class could not be any more different. They are similar in number, but totally different in action. This group is much more reserved and laid back. This all sounds fine and dandy from a class management perspective. However, they can be hard to motivate. This past week I have taken time to talk with each of them to develop a positive rapport. This seems to be working. The quiet kids are beginning to come out of their shell and the "too cool for school" kids are beginning to contribute.

Students' Visual Representation of the Creeds 1st Paragraph.

Although these two classes are the exact same in content, I need to prepare for them in somewhat different ways. I've even noticed myself wording questions and making adjustments from class to class. This upcoming week, I’m challenging myself to challenge my students through their diverse learning styles.

Student Teaching Week 1: Adapting to the life of a Teacher

What a week it was! Starting our student teaching experience at The PA State Farm Show for Mid-winter convention was inspiring for my entire cohort of student teachers. Seeing students compete in the demonstration speeches and safety quiz bowl, on Wednesday, was also really cool to see. Friday was a big step for me in finding who I am as a teacher. My cooperating teacher was out for the day due to a doctors appointment. This left me in charge of the class/shop for the day, plus all the routine things.

The Quiz Bowl Finals.

I was nervous for this day which doesn't happen too often. Would the students behave? Would they be productive? Would they respect me? Do I know how to grade adequately and enter their grades correctly? These are just some of the thoughts going through my mind that day.

The students came to work. (Maybe because it was the last day to get their assignments done and turned in.) That is a pretty favorable possibility. The students being focused on getting assignments done probably helped diminish the amount of goofing off. There were some small misbehavior s that needed nipped in the butt but nothing major. Work periods were mad chaos with students working on multiple projects all over the shop and me trying to record their grades in, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Students giving their demonstration speech on floral arrangements.

I feel that I have more of an identity in the shop now and will continue to build upon Fridays experience. Looking into next week, I want to find if there are differences between me as a teacher in the shop and me as a teacher in the classroom. I have put a lot of time and effort into making learning more engaging through planning, so I also look forward to see if it pays off.

Mid Winter Convention 2017: It this too good to be true?

First, I would just like to take a second and say WOW. What an experience! I am so happy for these students who I have literally just met, from the freshmen getting jackets to the seniors receiving their Keystone Degrees. Seeing the celebration of the hard work from the Keystone recipients and discussing just what they did to qualify for that award was extremely comforting for the future of our agricultural industry. Helping the freshmen tie their ties reminded me of the potential growth in all of them and also that we really need to practice tying those ties for real. (ALL of US)

Freshmen before receiving their jackets.

The students were and are great overall. Sure, you will always have those students who are naturally hyper and also decide they need to drink 3 Monster Energy Drinks on the morning of Mid Winter Convention, before they even get to school. These students especially can test your patience, by being on the rowdy side. However, when it's time to listen to specific directions these students gave their undivided attention and were respectful.

Checking out the Beef breeding classes.

This was a great first time experience at Mid Winter for my six freshmen and myself. The comradery between ag teachers is second to none. This idea has not changed throughout all my experiences. I truly believe that all ag teachers believe in driving success in students in all schools. The big question is: Are we as student teachers coming in on a high horse? Will the realities of teaching day in and day out slap us in the face? Or will we fall more in love with our choice of profession?