Student Teaching Week 11: Banquet Week

Mr. Kessler and his retiring senior officers.

Woahhh... What a week! This past thursday night I helped Mifflinburg FFA put on their 87th annual banquet. It was a roller coaster of a week in preparation for the event but it was so worth it. Ms. Spurrier was out sick and we still had over 100 flower arrangements to complete. Thank God for Ms. Zimmerman. She was a woman on a mission. No one wanted Mr. Kessler and I arranging their flowers. This was one of the larger obstacles we needed to hurdle, but in the end everything truly turned out great. The level of pride this community brings to the agriculture education program is truly inspiring. 335 past, current, and future members were in attendance along with administrators and community contributors.


This week really showed me how close knit the agricultural community is, especially here in Mifflinburg. On Monday night we had our advisory committee meeting. These community members truly support agricultural education. A Lot of them were FFA members and are now agricultural leaders of the area. As Mr. Kessler would say, "This is a group of movers and shakers." The advisory committee dedicates their time to combat in favor of the program in many different ways. That may be negotiating with companies for educational equipment, donating tools to the program, or contacting administration for change. This is such a unique support system that other teachers do not receive.

Mifflinburg FFA's Retiring Officer Team.

This was a great week for the whole community. The agricultural education team here at Mifflinburg has done a great job keeping the community involved, whether it be through the chicken BBQ, the fair, the Cider sale, the advisory committee, or the annual banquet. It is so important that we make and keep those relationships with people outside of the school. The more people we have supporting the program, the more opportunities our students will have. Creating the environment where everyone is welcome and wanted is key.

The New Mifflinburg FFA Officer Team.

Mr. Kessler has stressed the importance of having the community behind your program throughout this experience and I have now seen it first hand. Ag teachers are not ordinary, you must be able to coordinate everything while staying composed. As Mr. Kessler said, "Ag teachers are like ducks." "They are calm above the water and paddling like Hell under the water." My goal for the rest of student teaching is to absorb as much knowledge in community involvement as possible.

SAE Visit #2: The Sauers Family Farm

Last weekend I had the privilege of meeting one of my freshman's family and seeing their farm. We began the morning tagging beef and dairy steers. After tagging they took Mr. Kessler and I on a tour of their new chicken barns. They currently have two six-hundred foot long chicken barns. One of these barns is full of broilers and the other full of layers. It was extremely cool to see the advancements in technology between old barns and these brand new ones.

Ryan checking egg quality before they reach packing.

So how does Ryan's chicken barn placement help prepare him for his future?

After graduation Ryan plans on building his own chicken barn similar to his parents. I was really impressed with Ryan when he gave us the tour. He knows a lot about the chicken industry through working with his dad and brother. The experiences he has gained through his placement is the hands on experience he will need to be a successful farmer himself.

How has he improved his projects over the years?

Ryan has always worked on the family farm in the fields, milking cows, and cleaning eggs. He has worked his way up the ladder and has began taking on more responsibilities. These increased responsibilities have included caring for both chicken barns during the spring/summer fieldwork months and working more throughout the school year.

Brad getting the eggs packaged for storage.

Whats his next step?

Ryan already has a gameplan to become a chicken farmer like his brother and father. He also has many more experiences in his highschool years, since he is a freshman. Ryan wants to continue working with his family focusing on poultry to ensure that is what he wants to do post graduation. Ryan shows the potential to keep the Sauers Family Farm running strong.

Getting to meet my students families and see their projects has been my favorite part of the student teaching experience so far. We are so lucky as ag teachers to be able to see our students projects outside of school and see just how much they improve over 4 years.

Student Teaching Week 9: Developing Pride in Your Work

So yes, our students may learn the content better through fun engaging activities and alternative projects, but that's not really what we are here for. We are not here to teach agriculture. We are here to teach students. Kids need a balance of both structure and creativity. This upcoming week I am going to put emphasis on structure and creativity in my instruction.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/146930006570592010/

Looking back on this week, I can't help but think about my students' work ethic or the lack there of for some. Sure every student has their niche where they can geek out, but how can I cultivate a learning atmosphere where students take pride in all areas? How do I create engaging lessons that inspire students to be "All In"? With so many different types of learners differentiation is key. Maybe I need to give students the option for their own projects.

This leads me into my biggest problem with differentiation. If we are truly planning with the end in mind, we need to be thinking about these students getting real jobs. With that being said, I still think that it is important for our students learn the content in our courses. However, the content they learn will never outweigh the work ethic and life skills learned through our program. Their boss is going to give them a task and they must complete it to his specs. If we develop hardworking students that take pride in their work they cannot fail. These are the students who will work their way up the ladder.

http://weinspirefutures.com/idea-bank/overlapping-structure-and-creativity/

Student Teaching Week 8: Team Teaching

This week really showed me how great the team of teachers is here at Mifflinburg, especially in the ag department. We had a super busy week with meetings, SAE visits, CDE practices, and area public speaking competitions. Mr. Kessler has told me before that having a multiple teacher department can be a beautiful thing. However, it can also be miserable. In our talks he has stressed the importance of being a team player and doing your fair share. Mr. Kessler and Ms. Spurrier have a great dynamic going and has helped propel their students success.

https://www.fotolia.com/tag/teamwork

When teachers work together to hold students accountable from class to class great things can happen. This week we had public speaking competitions. While we were away I had my students complete Edpuzzle videos. Edpuzzle is a handy new tool that is compatible with youtube and other popular video sites. Several of my students decided that they were not going to complete the assignment, thinking their would be no consequences. Mr. Kessler then educated them on the fact that they could not work on a shop project in his class until they complete their assignments in my class. This has provided some motivation for those students who are not motivated by grades.

http://barkleypd.com/blog/impact-teachers-showing-belief-students/

It is important that our students see the importance in their assignments, even when the teacher is not present. We do things for a reason. Their should not be a such thing as busy work. We need to show the importance of those less exciting assignments and explain specific ways they might help the students future. Show that you genuinely care about your students and their future and you will see better participation and performance from your students.