Professional Development Activities

The past 15 few weeks have been filled with opportunities and experiences that have been completely new to me and have helped me grow professionally. This blog post evidences just a few of these experiences and demonstrates what I have learned from each of them.

MidWinter FFA Convention with Cooperating Center:

I have attended the MidWinter FFA Convention every year for the past 5 years. This year was the first year that I was unable to attend. My cooperating center actually had a snow day and had to cancel their trip to the convention. However, one of the students traveled there anyway to receive her Kestone Degree. I had also been experiencing health concerns during this time and was unable to attend. This is a great experience for FFA members and community members alike.

 
 CPPD Professional Development Program:

I had the opportunity to attend a teacher workshop put on by members of the National Association of Agricultural Educators at the FFA ACES Conference in February. This workshop focused on the importance of implementing Inquiry Based Learning into our classrooms. The presenters explained to us the benefits that IBL has for students. They also demonstrated the how IBL lessons can be determined or carried out on a scale that ranges from extremely teacher centered to extremely student centered. The presenters then had us participate in a lesson that was inquiry based. This was a fascinating exercise that helped me realize the importance of IBL as well as gave me great ideas to use in my own classroom.

One of my favorite aspects about this workshop was all the connections that were made and great ideas that were shared. At the end of the IBL activity, the presenters asked teachers to share other subjects or lesson plan ideas where this activity could be utilized. I was amazed to hear all of the ideas the teachers had. I wrote many of these ideas down because I knew that I could implement them into many of my classes. This workshop left me excited to return to school and test out these IBL activities. This goes to show how great  and creative one Ag Teacher is and then when you put a bunch of them in a room together the results are outstanding and innovative. Being able to collaborate with other Ag teachers at this event has been rewarding for me and has helped me grow in my professional development.


Regional PAAE Meeting:

Besides that great food, there were also great people at the Eastern PAAE Meeting. I had a great time meeting new Ag teachers and catching up with the familiar ones. After our spectacular dinner, we had time to collaborate and share ideas. This was my favorite time of this meeting. I am not sure exactly how many Ag teachers were there but there were lots! Each of us was asked to bring a lesson or idea that we could share with everyone. By the end of this sharing time there flyers about greenhouses, animal facilities, pesticides, FFA banquet checklists, lesson plans and much much more being passed around. I collected a bunch of useful resources from these fellow Ag teachers that I know will be helpful in the future. 

I didn't know what to expect when walking into this meeting. This was my first PAAE meeting and I didn't know how my role as student teacher would fit in. However I felt welcomed and many teachers were open to talking with me and sharing ideas. I was pleased to feel in a place where I belong. It was also a place for innovative thinking and collaboration. I challenged myself to think about how I could positively contribute to this group. I can't wait to partake in more of these types of events as an agricultural educator.

SLLC:

SLLC was a conference that I have never been to before. Therefore I was very excited to take students there and allow it to be a learning experience for both of us. I had a phenomenal time with my students. It allowed me to connect more with them and encourage them to grow through their positive experiences at SLLC.

Our couple of days at this conference were filled with numerous events. We got to tour the capitol building and meet our local House of Representatives. We participated in a community service event and as teacher par take in different teacher workshops and meetings. My favorite event was the community service event. FFA members flooded that city of Harrisburg and positively impacted the community. Our chapter spent the afternoon cleaning playgrounds for a day care center. The facility was so appreciative of our work and help. This opportunity

also helped students realize the influence they can make on their community by donating just a few hours of their time to help others. I love seeing these results. FFA is an amazing youth organization that changes lives.

On the other hand, this was a time for me to take on the teacher role at this conference. I have always attended FFA conferences as a student where I was told where I needed to be when. This time I needed to keep myself organized so that I could keep my students organized. I found through this conference that I thoroughly enjoy this role. I planning and organizing events and ensuring that they are successful. Taking on these roles has prepared me with even more professional development skills. By being exposed to these events and conferences I hope that I will be successful in taking my own student to SLLC in the future.

What Do You Inquire About? : Action Research

This past semester I have had the opportunity to conduct an action research project. This is a research project that allows teachers to evaluate problems in their classrooms and try to fix them through active research. Teachers may test different strategies in their classrooms to analyze if any changes occur or if the problem has been fixed. It's a chance for teachers see what works and doesn't work in the classroom. Teachers are then encouraged to share their results with others in order to share these successful or unsuccessful solutions to problems that other teachers may also encounter. Collectively teachers may begin implementing strategies that help learning process of all of their students.

During my student teaching experience I had the chance to also implement an action research project. I first had to evaluate a problem in my class. I chose my Animal Science class. At the beginning of my student teaching I had to the chance to observe my cooperating teacher teach this class. In this class I noticed that most students were unmotivated to complete work in class. When taking on this class, I wanted to create a goal for myself to boost motivation in the classroom. I developed labs and activities that i felt the students would enjoy and therefore be motivated to complete work. This however was not the case. Students did not enjoy the work. I realized that these labs and activities required students to apply information. Students were not use to or conditioned to the application portion of this learning process for hands on learning. These activities were student centered and they pressured students to build their cognitive skills. The fact that students were unmotivated to complete such tasks raised a concern for me as their teacher. I did not feel that students were being challenged enough to develop these cognitive learning skills.

Therefore my new challenge was to implement inquiry based learning labs and activities in such a way that conditioned students towards student centered learning rather than teacher centered learning. Their classroom structure previously mostly consisted of lecture and worksheets. I was a very much teacher centered classroom environment. When I started teaching this class I had implemented mostly student centered learning strategies. Students were very confused and reluctant to want to engaged in these activities. I knew that if I wanted this project to be effective I would have to start with teacher centered approach and slowly condition my students to a student centered mentality.

I decided to implement 3 total inquiry labs in this class. I did one at the beginning, middle and end of my student teaching experience. All of the labs were very different but were inquiry based with a student centered approach. The first lab went terrible. Students had to create the digestive system of a pig and explain their functions with given tangible materials. Sounds fun right? Students complained up and down about this project. Some didn't even try to help their groups. It was new to them and students don't like changes. However I stuck with it because I knew that this project would be a process.

Throughout the quarter I also implement a few activities that encouraged more student centered learning. I had a few lectures and short video clips. This helped with slowly conditioning students. One project that really helped realize that students were catching on an becoming engaged was an activity that I called "what are you curious about?" The project asked student to think of a question that they have about sheep and goats. They then had to research that question and find the answer to it. Students then had to create a mini poster of their findings. They had to include the resources that they used and the answer to their questions. I was so impressed with the outcome. Every student had completed this task independently and were eager to share their answers with the class. This was a turning point that helped me realize that students were becoming more motivated and engaged in student centered learning.

The other 2 labs went fairly well. The second lab asked students to design and build a sheep or goat facility. For this lab students were still a bit unfocused, however they completed their projects will little to no complaints about the task. The third lab was by far the most impressive. Students had to investigate a crime scene and determine which wool fibers matched the suspect. Through a series of events students looked at the different wool fibers under a microscope. Students enjoyed this and were engaged in the activity.

For each lab I had students complete a lab packet. At the end of each lab packet student had to answer 2-3 reflective questions about the lab. They also had to rank the lab which emphasized how much they enjoyed the lab. After reviewing results from these three labs I found that by the third lab students enjoyed inquiry based learning. They were motivated and completed the tasks that were asked of them. There was a huge difference from the first lab to the last. There was a definite increase in student engagement and likability of these labs.

I enjoyed this opportunity to evaluate my classroom and make effective changes that benefited my students as a whole. Sometimes days, weeks and months fly by and you don't get to accomplish that one activity that you wanted to get to. This however was most certainly worth the time and effort to conduct and organize. By the time I left student teaching I could see a positive difference in my students. These are the kinds of differences that we should strive for in all of our classes.

It's Not the End, but Rather the Beginning (STB#15)

For the last 15 weeks I have had to privilege of teaching 105 different students in my agriculture classes. Perhaps "teaching" is a light term, instead I believe we should use the word "impact." I began my student teaching experience at Octorara Area High School in January of this year. From day one I believed that I would step into this program and begin utilizing my resources and knowledge to teach students about agriculture. Although students came to my classes and gained knowledge in different subject areas, I feel as though I not only taught students but I also impacted them.However, it took me till the end of my student teaching to realize this.

My student teaching experience did not start with warm welcoming arms. In fact many of my students were upset with the fact that they had a student teacher. I was different and I taught much differently from my cooperating teacher. It was an adjustment that we all had to work through. It took many long and exhausting weeks to condition my students to a different way of thinking about school. Many students didn't like the challenge of thinking creatively. What I found was that students preferred sitting and taking notes off of a powerpoint. When I implemented a hands on activity where they had to create something or perform a lab, then I heard all sorts of complaining. I couldn't figure it out at first, but I realized that some of my activities really pushed students out of their comfort zones. At first I wanted to give in and do what the students wanted so that they would appreciate me more as their teacher; however, I reflected on this decision and realized that pushing my students out of their comfort zones is positive for their cognitive development. I wanted my students to think creatively and I wanted them to simply think. Having students take notes off of a powerpoint is sometimes necessary but if done everyday then it's cycling the idea of spoon feeding our students information without allowing them to apply the information. I wanted my students to apply information and at first it was not an easy sail. However, the last two weeks of student teaching really hit me in realizing the impact that was occurring in my classes. I had implemented a few labs and activities that involved all hands on learning. What did I the students say when I explained the lab to them? Nothing! They got right to work and completed the task that I asked of them. Nothing made me more happier than knowing that I could successful change their perception of school and change a way of thinking that would help them in positive ways. In reflecting on my teaching experience I realize just how important it is to challenge our students beyond the ordinary. Don't let any of your classes be an ordinary working environment but rather change it to be an extraordinary one. I believe agricultural education has the power to do just this.

Another great piece of advice that has carried with me from the beginning of this experience is to build rapport with your students. I have seen the importance of this play out in my student teaching experience and I could not agree more. A previous student teacher once told me, "invest in your students and they will invest in you." I love this because it is very true. These past few months I have not only gotten to know students but I have been able to help students because they have trusted me. I went to my students basketball and softball games and I have talked to students after school about how I can help them in class. I have also given students encouraging words when they have hit a low point in their life. Sometimes I didn't know why I received respect from my students, but I do know that I took the time to get to know them. I always told my students how much I believed in them. I don't think students hear this enough from their teachers. I don't know how much my words impacted my students but I know that I saw many changes in my students' behaviors and attitudes over the past few months. It has been an absolute joy making these connections with my students, and I know more than anything that I will miss their diverse personalities that make your job worth the while.     

Impact is a small word that makes a big difference. The most sad part about leaving my cooperating school on that last day was knowing how much I had worked with my students to get them to where they were and knowing that I wouldn't be there Monday morning to continue this pattern. I wouldn't be able to ask my one student who comes to school 45 minutes early how he was doing and talk to him another 10 minutes about his favorite fishing memories. I wouldn't be able to talk to the two freshman girls that stopped by every morning just to say hi. I wouldn't be able to help finish planning out the FFA banquet with the officer team. The list could go on and it is sad knowing that I will never have these same opportunities again with these students. However, leaving my empty desk on my last day, I was at peace. Every single student gave me a hug and a thank you after leaving my class. Some threw a surprise party and others got me gifts. This sense of peace came from knowing that I didn't only teach these students but I impacted them too.  

My Ag Mech Class on my last day!

My students and I representing FFA at a 

community event on Saturday

There is Nothing Median About Bermudian

Last Friday I had the opportunity to observe one of my fellow cohort members, Reas Ianson, at her cooperating center. Rea is student teaching at Bermudian Springs High School with Mrs. Jarema. I spent the day sitting in on all of her classes and getting the chance to see her in action. This was both a refreshing and rewarding experience for me. I was able to take a lot of ideas back with me to my own cooperating center. I was also able to reevaluate my own student teaching experience and make some positive changes.

Rea teaches 11 periods a day. At first I thought wow, how can this be done! However I found that back to back classes make the day go extremely fast and you are constantly working with students. Rea also teaches mostly agricultural mechanics classes. Students work out in the shop on a variety of projects. I got to see students welding, grinding, cleaning mowers, disassembling engines, draining oil, checking spark plugs and the list could go on. The shop itself is not a large shop, but there sure is a lot of motivated students that utilized every single resource available to them. Every student was productively working on a project during class.

There was so much happening in one class that I able to just soak in and absorb so much information during my observations. It just so happens that I started my small gas engines unit with my Ag Mech students the week before coming to visit Rea. In my class we started learning about the basics in class before allowing them to work out in the shop. I was worried about letting students out in the shop to take apart an engine. I didn't feel confident that I would even know what I was doing. After seeing this happen in Rea's Ag Mech class, however, I was much more excited and motivated to get my students out in the shop.

Mrs. Jarema was also extremely helpful. She provided me with many great tips to teaching small gas engines. She also gave me an excellent workbook with answer keys and information on different engine parts and functions. Mrs. Jarema taught us and the students how to use a spark plug tester and clean a spark plug since we needed a bit of a refresher from our AEE 350 class. Mrs. Jarema also had Rea and I replace grinders on the grinder. This was something that I have never done before. We also had to replace an oxygen tank for the gas welder. There were just so many great examples such as these that helped me learn about new aspects of the shop.

Being able to observe both Rea and Mrs. Jarema in their element was very refreshing for me. Rea is such a bubbly and relaxed person and I saw how comfortable students felt around her. They thoroughly enjoyed her classes. Over the past few weeks I feel as though I have gotten caught up in litter details that have frustrated me. These frustrations have carried over to the way I reacted to students and carried my presence in the classroom. After visiting Rea I realized that I need to change my own attitude towards these little frustrations and create a more relaxed and engaging classroom for my Ag Mech students. I did this and I saw immense changes in my students. I also got my students out in the shop to start their engine disassembly and they did awesome! I found that I know more about engines than I think I know, but most importantly I used the information that I observed in Rea's classes and implemented these same techniques into my own classes. I felt much more prepared and confident for my shop classes after visiting her and seeing how things are done at Bermudian.

I named the title of this blog post "There is Nothing Median About Bermudian" because I truly have seen some amazing things happening in their Agriculture program. They go above and beyond to provide a variety of resources and hands on experiences for their students. Students don't take these opportunities for granted either. Students were extremely focused and motivated to the tasks that were asked of them. Whether working in the shop or mixing fertilizer for the greenhouse, these students really impressed me. I think vising Rea was just what I needed to encourage myself to raise the bar higher at my own cooperating center. I brought back with me so many new great ideas and resources that helped me boost student motivation and engagement!

Preparing with the Best for the Best

One of my assignments for my student teaching experience is to conduct a mock interview with a school administrator at my cooperating center. After reviewing this assignment and meeting the administration at Octorara High School, I knew exactly the right person for this task. Lisa McNamara recently accepted the position of K-12 Program Administrator. More specifically she has taken on the responsibility of being the Program Director for all of the High School's CTE programs. These programs include the agricultural mechanics program that I currently teaching. Lisa was Octorara's Elementary Principle and recently took on this new administrative position in the high school. Lisa is heavily involved in the interviewing process at Octorara and has previous experience in interviewing and educating youth about these professional development skills. For these reasons I felt Lisa would be the perfect administrator to interview me and provide me with excellent constructive feedback. 

One of the scariest and most intimidating parts of an interview is being asked questions that you don't know will be asked. In my interview, Lisa asked me a variety of excellent questions. When I say excellent questions, I mean she asked some challenging questions! She asked me about how I would handle conflict between myself and another Ag teacher in the program. She asked me what I think is the most common misperception that people have about me. She also asked me how I would handle a situation in my classroom if a student was misbehaving in such a manner that the situation would need addressed immediatly. Another great question that Lisa asked was how I would use my resources and community to impact my program. These were just a few questions that I have never been asked before in an interview that I thought we most beneficial for me. 

Answering some of these difficult questions was not always easy. In fact because I have been student teaching in the program for weeks now, it was difficult answering the questions without having a biased opinion. For the most part, however, I felt confident in answering the questions that Lisa had prepared for me in this interview. Lisa had found and created a list of questions that she specifically wanted to ask me. This helped the interview remain focused and organized. I felt Lisa did great job setting this up for me. At the end of the interview she told me that my answers were excellent and that she felt that I was well prepared for this interview. She also provided me with a few helpful suggestions. One of them being to slow down when I am talking and answering the questions. I know that I have a tendancy to talk fast when I am focused on a certain topic or subject that I am passionate about. I also have a tendency to talk fast when I am nervous. So probably a little bit of both contributed to this fast pace of verbal communication. 

At the end of the interview Lisa opened the discussion for any questions that I may have. I asked Lisa two questions about the agriculture program. The first question I asked was about where she sees the agricultural program in 5 years and what are some the goals in place for the next 5 years. Lisa's response exemplified her drive and passion to see the program move forward. There are great opportunities in store for the Ag program at Octorara if all participants obtain the same determination as Lisa does to see such growth evolve. My second question to Lisa was about the type of curriculum they have in thier program and what new curriculum they would like to see implemented in the program. Lisa explained that right now the program is working on developing a specific curriculum for the program and would eventially like to see the CASE curriculum utilized in the program. These questions helped me understand the future of the program and where administration would like to see the program go.

With this particular interview there were many aspects that I was impressed with. I was most impressed with the questions that I was asked. I did not feel that the questions that I was asked were general or cliche questions but rather detailed and indepth. They really got me thinking about how I would handle difficult situations in my classroom or program. For some of these questions I had to pause for a bit and think about what I wanted to say and how I was going to best answer the question. The aspect of this interview that I was least impressed with was the lack of interest that was shown in reviewing my cover letter and resume. I had shown Lisa where my cover letter and resume was in my professional portfolio; however, it was not looked at. For myself personally I think I was least impressed with my ability to provide examples during my interview. From previous interviewing training I was taught to always include real life examples. I feel that I could have included more examples when trying to get a point accross in my interview. 

In conclusion I really enjoyed this opportunity to once again gain more interviewing experience. I told Lisa after our interview that although I have a job lined up for the Fall, it will always be helpful to expose myself to these types of professional development opportunities. Every interview is different and every experience is an opportunity to gain or build a skill. I believe that my interview today has helped me build my interviewing skills. This experience allowed me to prepare with the best for the best.  

Grow, Lead, Succeed with SAE Visits!

Meet our FFA Chapter President!

I had to opportunity to conduct my last SAE visit with one of my students, Rachel Stoltzfus, in my FFA class. Rachel is also our chapter president and has been doing exceptional work this semester. I first met Rachel when we traveled to the National FFA Convention in the Fall of 2014. At that point I felt that Rachel was a quiet and shy student who I wasn't sure if I was would connect with. However, as I dived into student teaching I realized just how exceptional of a student Rachel is. Rachel shows beef cattle, sheep and pigs. She is heavily involved in 4-H and FFA and has performed exceptionally well on the livestock judging and interview CDE. I have gotten to know Rachel really well as one of my students and because of her role on the officer team. I have seen Rachel grow over the last few months as she has taken on leadership responsibilities and has helped to lead her FFA chapter in a positive direction. I could not be more proud of Rachel and all that she has accomplished this year.

For this SAE visit my cooperating teacher and I traveled to Coatsville, Pa to observe all the hard work that Rachel does on her family farm. Rachel and her family live on a 300 acre beef cattle farm. She feeds, waters and cares for the health of her animals everyday. Rachel has a well developed placement SAE program involving the care of these animal. Rachel keeps her record books updated on AET where she journals about her daily tasks and records her financial investments on her project. Rachel has been proficient in maintaining excellent records. In fact Rachel won first place at the county level record book contest this year.

Rachel's new sheep Cassidy!

During this SAE visit I had the opportunity to meet the animals that Rachel cares for everyday. One new addition to Stoltzfus farm is her sheep, Cassidy. Rachel described how she is expanding her SAE project to more than just showing beef cattle. Rachel will be working hard this summer by showing not only her beef cattle but also her new sheep. Rachel joined her local 4-H sheep club where she will be learning how to properly show a sheep. This is a great opportunity for her to expand her knowledge in multiple areas of animal agriculture. I am pleased with Rachel's progress and her determination to reach her goals.

In evaluating Rachel's SAE project, I utilized a rubric that I felt most effective in grading this type of project. I evaluated the organization and completion of Rachel's record book both on AET and her printed out copy. I also based her grade on her enthusiasm towards the project and her effort in working towards her goals. Through the visit I was also able to observe if the project was active and involving. I provided a grade to the student based off of these observations. I felt Rachel did an outstanding job in all of these areas.

As a student teacher I really enjoy participating in SAE visits. It gives me the chance to meet my student's family members and explore the exciting opportunities they have created for themselves through their SAE project. I often find that connecting with students in this way also allows for more involvement in my classroom. I have found that students are willing to put more time into you because you put the time into them. These are the exceptional results that are brought about from conducting an SAE visit with FFA members.



 

Take the Challenge Part 2 (STB#14)

The FFA food drive was a success! 

Two weeks ago I wrote a blog about taking on challenges. In fact I wrote a blog about taking challenges at the beginning of my whole student teaching experience as well. Challenges are "things" we all encounter. I label them "things" because challenges aren't always obstacles and they aren't always glorious. I have seen them in action these past couple of months; however, once again I can't help but to share about how a challenge this past week has changed the dynamics of the classroom.

At the beginning of this week my cohort received an email from our student teacher supervisor that challenged us to raise the bar in our last 10 days. The challenge was to set a daily goal for ourselves to such as have a meaningful conversation with 10 different students who you have not connected with yet or talk to students not in your class. I decided to take on this challenge to see what would results.

Of all the different types of challenges I have faced this year, I must say that this was probably my favorite. This week I broke some barriers with many of students. Some of these students I have felt never really wanted to get to know me or just haven't warmed up to me or I have tried and just haven't been able to "break the ice." On the flip side maybe I just wasn't doing enough to reach out to these students. In these last few weeks I have really challenged myself to have a different attitude in the classroom. This change of attitude has really changed the whole dynamic of my classroom. It has allowed students to open up more and interact with me more. With this attitude change and my personal challenge to connect with those students that I haven't yet, this week has shown its gems.

Some of my classes contain students that teachers "warn you about." Although I have been given the "warning" I have tried hard not to let the perspectives of others effect my goal for student success of all students. I believe that if we take the time to get to know our students on a personal level we may better understand them as people and make connections that can positively change their behavior inside the classroom. We maybe able to then stop tagging a warning label on students. This week I made some major breakthroughs with three of these students. These three students I never thought would come to respect me as their teacher or listen to what I had to say; however, this week I saw a sudden change in attitude among these students. One student started becoming interested in the classroom materials and started completing and handing in work on time after I had talked to him one on one and expressed how much I want him to be successful in my class. Another student has opened up with me and his peers after I made one joke with him that turned into a classroom inside joke. Yet another student just needed someone to talk to one day and came to down my room to talk to me about a stressful situation he was going through. Although these students would be considered challenges in some classrooms, I chose to get to know these students and find ways to engage them in class. What I found is that students don't need an ISS, detention or suspension, they simply need someone that believes in them.  

It took me awhile to figure this out. At first I was guilty of getting frustrated with students and threatening them with ISS or taking away privileges. In some situations this is a necessary consequence; however with many of my students it simply didn't matter to them. I couldn't figure out why at first they wouldn't care if they got and ISS or suspension, but I began to realize that for many of these students that was a typical day for them. It wasn't anything new or out of the ordinary to spend the day in ISS. A consequence like that didn't change their behavior in class. I had reanalyze how I responded to students and my attitude. Letting the frustration build up was not helping me in any way. I started challenging myself to be more relaxed and to find ways that might boost student engagement and motivation. One important aspect was getting to know my students on a one-on-one basis. I started having more conversations with those students that I didn't have a "connection" with yet and showed interest in them. As a result my students have opened up more to me. The "tough guys" joke around with me more, have shared their frustrations and concerns with me, and even go out of their way to just come and chatw . I have really valued these conversations with students and always end conversations by letting them know that they can do great things in this world because I believe in them. It may sound cheesy, however, many of my students have never heard anyone tell them those words and I think they are important words for students to constantly hear in order to help them to believe in themselves.

Students on our Longwood Gardens field trip!

As I approach the last week, I want to challenge myself to leave this message with all of my students. I hope that I have taught them a little bit about animal science, mechanics and leadership but I through it all I hope that I have taught them a whole lot about themselves and their true potential in this big world. I truly think this will be a hard week as I will have to say goodbye to my students. I would say student teaching has been a challenge, but it was a challenge worth taking.