What's an Ag Teacher?

This week’s blog comes to you after experiencing the typical week of an ag teacher. When I say typical I mean nothing like that of any other teacher in a high school setting. I spent my Friday last week preparing sub plans for I would spend Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday at the State Legislative Conference in Harrisburg with seven of my students and cooperating teacher Mrs. Miller.  I then taught Wednesday and Thursday but then took 6 of my students Friday to take the Safe Applicators Pesticide exam at the local extension office.  After this week here are my reflections

Ag teachers are hard workers! Teachers don’t get free time at conferences like you would think. Ag teachers grade proficiencies, attend professional development workshops, and engage with the students.  While students are attending conferences the teachers are also working together to ensure that Ag programs in PA are the best they can be! Returning to classes after missing days is like never skipping a beat. Expecting the most from their students while they were away we dive right back into the current topic.

Ag teachers get little sleep! We stay up late at conferences to chaperone students, wake up early to save breakfast tables, Go to school early for parliamentary procedure practice, and stay after school for workshops. Then after all this we still have to prepare lesson plans, grade papers, read speeches, and look over proficiencies. Sometimes falling asleep happens in odd places….maybe even at the conference dance. 

Ag teachers are caring! I would bet that Ag teachers know their students better then any other teacher in the high school. Why…because we spend so much time with our students. We take them to conferences, see them at FFA meetings, visit their house to check up on SAE's, and help prepare for contests outside of class. Spending so much time outside of school with students you get to know them. Ag teachers know their students interests, career paths, and problems. They know their students better then some of their students parents. 

Ag teachers are all of these things and so much more. This past week I did more then teach. I was an FFA advisor, role model, problem solver, and educator. I'm so happy to be part of great organization. 

I think what I'm trying to saying is ag teachers are pretty freaking awesome! 

Here's to some AWESOME Ag teachers…and all those I don't have pictures of your awesome too!!

My Cooperating Teachers!
Mr. Hines & Mrs. Miller

Dr. Ewing- PSU

Dr. Foster- PSU 

My Ag Teacher!
Mrs. Hoover

First Full Week

It's crazy to think that I started this journey four weeks ago and this week was my first full week of classes. Finally no holidays, snow days, or two hour delays to mess up the schedule. Of course this was also the busiest week yet as I had something going on after school almost every night. Even though by the end of this busy week I was completely exhausted I have some really cool things to share!

Soil Texture Test

My wildlife class has been working hard on their mammal and game bird identification so I decided to switch it up this week and take a break from identification. We studied habitat and diversity, and carrying capacity. The class conducted an experiment on carrying capacity using balloons! This was awesome we simulated the habitat for yeast by the size the balloon blew up. On Tuesday night after school a few of my students from class met at the extension office for Envirothon training. The lesson this training session was on Pennsylvania fish, reptiles, and soil. I also got a lot of good resources that I could use in my classroom when preparing students for the Envirothon. The next day in class we had an Evirothon training recap. I had the students that were able to come to the training run a few stations on the different topics and teach the rest of the class what they learned. This worked awesome! The students teaching did a good job sharing the materials and running the stations. I also think this helped spark more of interest in the Envirothon trainings and I'm hoping to increase our numbers for next week!

Carrying Capacity Experiment!
or are we blowing up balloons for the banquet
months in advance? 

On another note man are demonstrations in front of students nerve wrecking! I had to complete two demonstrations this week and I don't think the students noticed but I think they went pretty rough. Being sick didn't help the coughing, man voice and blowing my nose every fifteen minutes was just annoying and uncomfortable. So add that to twenty students either staring at you and thats a difficult situation. The first was my agriscience and technology class. Finally they are getting to the shop! This class is ready…hopefully we will see a huge motivation increase with this hands on project. Now I would just like to state that I have made two feed scoops on my own to practice and they turned out beautifully! With twenty students breathing down my throat watching my every move I can say it went ok! After the demonstrations they where ready to start the project and I began teaching arc welding. I was also nervous about this but only because I know this is a first time thing for most of my students and they were nervous. My first three did awesome and I can't wait to get more in the booth tomorrow!

Feed Scoop Demonstrations! 

Trying on Welding
Equipment!

Student help with the Demo

Wiring Demonstrations!

My second demonstration this past week was in my mechanics class. Electric wiring……dun dun dun….My worst subject at the moment. This has been a tough one. The students are challenging with their questions and I have a tough time answering them. You know they are so descriptive "I have this one switch in my house and it turns this one light on and my microwave, what kind is it?"….lets just say by the end of the question my mind is twisted. Well they are finally getting to the shop! I had to demonstrate the single poled switch…cake mode….so I thought! I was prepared but everything that could go wrong went wrong! It started off on a bad foot when Mr. Hines had to take another student into the other room to "talk" about behavior. A few other things went wrong that took more time then expected but in the end we got the demonstration completed and they are ready to begin their projects!

While this was a busy week in the classroom I was extremely happy most of my classes are starting to get into the shop! It's fun to see their expressions when they complete part of projects or are really into what they are doing and enjoying it.

This week was also extremely busy after school. I went to Envirothon training Tuesday night and got to meet everyone at the local extension office. Wednesday night we stayed late to help manage the chapter public speaking contest. My creed speakers I had been training did an awesome job! Thursday was parent teacher conferences and I had my opportunity to meet some of my students parents and learn a little more about my students.


This week was the first full week and defiantly the most rewarding!



Meagan Moment- I thought I could escape school Tuesday without the students knowing it was my birthday! They found out and Wednesday brought a cake to early morning parli pro practice! How thoughtful!!

Connecting to Classes

After coming back from ACES and then having a day off this week flew by!

I spent the week getting to know my students more! With picking up almost all of my classes I teach almost every class period of the day. However only one of those classes have I been their only teacher. Some classes rotate on a quarterly basis but most run for a year. I started fresh with the small gas engines class but all the others have previously had Mr. Hines or Mrs. Miller.

This week I realized a major difference in those classes. I noticed that the students in my small gas engines class relied more on me as their teacher and connected with me easier. They seemed to be enjoying the class more. Not that my other classes are not enjoying class but they seem hesitant to trust me sometimes.

I expected this as student teaching is hard for the students also! To them I'm just some random person who they will only have to see for a given amount of time and then I will move on to another class or leave the school completely before their school is out for summer.

With this comes hesitation and behavior issues but also new friends! The negatives of this make me work harder! I use my ticket out questions to get to know my students more and connect with them. I also try talking to them in the hallway and other times in between class. I encourage everyone to get involved with FFA and ask about other things they are involved in.

It's been a slow process but then again so has school days! It seems that once I connect with a few students in a given class period the rest just sorta follow.

Paving the Way - #ACES2K14

     This past weekend I attended my first conference with students as an advisor! This was just weird at first. I had attended ACES several times before at least two as a student and last year to facilitate a workshop. This time was different though. West Perry took about 30 students and I went as one of the advisors.

West Perry FFA Chapter 

     I attended teacher workshops, helped my older students set up a workshop, ate dinner with my students, and chaperoned at the dance. ( I did get out there on the dance floor and show some moves….just a few)

West Perry Student participating
in a workshop 

     Going into this weekend I wasn't aware of how it would affect me personally. I have been around these students for a few weeks now and like I said I had been to ACES several times before. Something was different this time. I enjoyed hearing the freshman being excited over the workshops and the new friends I saw our students hanging out with. We all sat together at dinner and I laughed with the students as they told funny stories from workshops and recent events. From this experience I was really touched by the first year members we had in attendance. Seeing them having fun at the dance, talking to new people, and wearing that blue jacket makes me excited to try to get them involved in other things!

      I was also part of curtesy crew. I'm now in on the "secrets" of curfew and room checks from the teacher perspective! lol The advisors got skill and aren't messing around!

    As we head into National FFA Week I feel energized and motivated about our FFA chapter again! We have such a great group students and I look forward to paving the way and helping them succeed.

Reflections

     I've talked about this before but one of the most important things a teacher can do is reflect upon their lessons. Being new to the teacher world I have been doing my fair share of reflections….actually I'm a little obsessed with it. I'm constantly giving the students "ticket out" questions that I can use to gauge if I felt they got the most from my lesson. After each lesson I find myself talking to both my cooperating teachers looking for suggestions and solutions.

     This week again with the snow days and delays, I think I did more reflecting upon my teaching then actual time in the classroom teaching! We still did some cool projects even with the giant snow storm! Overall it was a good week and I survived my first observation by my PSU supervisor. 

Students welding ice cubes together!

      One thing I have been struggling with is my freshman introductory class and motivation. The students are soooooo unmotivated and I mean like they don't want to do anything! After getting through safety of the machines last week I was ready to start welding! In an attempt to suck them in and get them excited for welding I had them weld together ice cubes using birthday candles. This was fun and the students were surprised when they learned they could actually do it and that it is possible to weld together more then just medal. While I was super excited about this and so happy to watch them succeed they didn't seem as excited about it as I was. I think deep down they really enjoyed it they just don't know it yet! Anyway I got some really good ideas for improving motivation in this class from utilizing my resources! 

1.    I'm going to do some action research! I'm excited to use different tactics to see if I can                                                                        improve class participation and learner engagement. Not sure how yet any    suggestions are welcome!
2.    It is a larger class and I have a hard time keeping track of who participates so I wrote everyones name on a popsicle stick and if I need a question answered I just pull a name! So far this is working really well and it seems to make more students pay attention during lecture. 
3. This weekend I got a deck of cards and taped one to the back of each students bell work book. I'm going to use this when breaking the students into partners and groups! Especially with this class I like to switch up the lesson a lot and try to get everyone motivated so I need quick ways to do so. With everyone having a card I can split my students up quickly. 

Using playing cards to break
students into groups!

      Wednesday Mr. Seaman my supervisor came to visit. This actually went a lot better then I expected and I got a lot of great ideas! Being observed wasn't as scary as I thought it would be and now I know how to be more prepared for next time. I got some more good ideas for my community based project and I look forward to planning that in more detail this upcoming week! He also was really helpful about my action research and motivation plans as stated above. 

      I had a busy week as I gave Mr. Hines and Mrs. Miller substitute plans on Friday and headed to Penn State. We had a seminar day full of resume building and job search tips! It was lovely to see my other cohort members and PSU ag ed team. No time to hang around for the weekend though and catch up with friends I headed to ACES Saturday! (see next blog post for a full report) 

     Finally getting comfortable with my classes and students this week I found myself thinking a lot about the classes more in detail. I made a lot of progress with names this past week and I found myself wondering if I was reaching all my students and different ways I could spark the interest in different students. More reflections…. 

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." 
             - Charles Darwin 

Meagan Moment- It would be nice if I had one full week of a normal school schedule so I could try to get used to the times my classes ended. One day I confused a two hour delay time with a normal schedule time….Sounds like something easy to distinguish between but it isn't when your trying to remember 20 things at the same time! In a small class I was talking when a few of my students just get up and put their computers away. I ask why they did this thinking I had 20 more minutes. To my surprise we had 2 minutes. That was a fast wrap up to say the least! #oops

Supervised Agriculture Experience

SAE is part of a complete and
successful program

      I had the experience recently to attend another SAE (supervised agriculture experience) visit with my cooperating teacher! For my followers that don't know agricultural education is so much more then just FFA and what happens in the classroom its also about applying what is learned during class time outside of class in the form of some type of project. Check out this cool three circle model we  in the Ag Ed world use to define our complete program! Students are in charge of these projects that can be anything from raising or breeding animals, working or shadowing a local agricultural business, to growing crops….and even more.
      This past week I had the opportunity to check up on an SAE visit with Mr. Hines. One of the students is raising a market steer to take to the local fair. They will show the steer and then sell the animal for consumption to a local buyer. Now the student is responsible for proper care of the animal and training it for show. This is a huge job!…especially with a steer.
      After catching his ear tag on something in the pen, the steer had damaged his ear to the point the ear tag came out. This is a rare occasion but does happen. Mr. Hines had the student call the extension office to explain the situation and get a new ear tag. The extension office then talked to Mr. Hines to verify the situation. This can be a highly controversial topic especially with steers. A lot of money and time goes into these projects and sometimes cheating can be questioned.
      Upon arrival to the students barn Mr. Hines and myself could clearly tell from looking at the steer and the pen that this was the same steer and cheating was not a question. We put the ear tag in the other ear and the steer was good to go!
       Another exciting day in the life of my ag teachers! After teaching all day we helped out with the SAE project and then went to the hardware store to buy supplies for the greenhouse.

Happy Steer! 

Getting Ready! 

Mr. Hines replacing the
ear tag.
Please note: The steer was not hurt in the replacing of the ear tag and was fine after loosing the first one! 

SNOW DAY ...or WEEK?

         I remember as a high school student I used to love snow days! I would stay up late to watch the news to see if our school reported a snow day or 2hr delay. If they canceled school I would call my neighbors and we would plan out our day of sled riding or capture the flag. We were so hard core about our time off from school we would wake up early on two hour delay days just to go sled riding which ended up with us being rushed to school, usually late and our faces still red from the cold weather. My neighbors also had six kids so us being late to school was normal.

          So how's my third week of student teaching going? IDK did we even get anything accomplished this week. I end this week confused and frustrated with a mess for next week! This time however it's not about the students or even myself...it's about the freaking weather! Here was my week

Monday- School's canceled

Tuesday-2hr delay

Wednesday- Canceled

Thursday- 2hr delay

Friday- Yayy a normal day

         As a teacher my opinion on snow days is the complete opposite! Well I was thankful for Monday but only because I had a cold. As ag teachers our schedules get messed up enough we don't need to add snow days into the mix also! By Thursday I was feeling the student's struggle to make it through the week and I was right there with them.

          I shouldn't say this week was a wash completely. I did the best I could with the time I was given. During two hour delay days majority of my class periods are a little less then a half hour. I changed some of my plans and had classes take safety tests, complete projects, or do review activities we could do within that time period. We finished up shop projects, reviewed the tools for working with small gas engines, and made wildlife game bird notecards.

It's safe to say time was not on my side this week....better luck next week.

Week Two…It's Sinking In

I headed into week two full steam ahead! I spent majority of my weekend planning. I wanted to be prepared for Monday…and there isn't much else to do in Perry County. I did take some time to myself and went for a little walk in Little Buffalo State Park. It's becoming one of my favorite thinking places! Anyway….This would be a real week of experience as I picked up two more classes meaning I was teaching four classes a day. If trying to be more prepared meant scattered wildlife pictures and articles around my apartment, purchasing crickets (yes live insects), and making small gas engines tool id notecards then I was prepared! I would say my homework is always quit interesting because I am teaching such a wide variety of topics.


I started this week off strong!

Wildlife mammal identification
resources 

Students identifying
PA mammals

The wildlife class has been working on mammal identification. I was disappointed I got stood up by the Game Commission and wasn't allowed to barrow a fur kit but the students enjoyed looking at the pictures and skimming the articles to find information about the habitats. As they finished up on Thursday we had a wildlife mammal social! Who doesn't love a party!? The students each had to grab two pictures and social with others in the class to make sure they had all the information written down in their packets. This was a great way to make sure they didn't miss an animal and if they did it gave the other student the opportunity to tell what they know about that specific animal. Friday was a speed dating review activity.

Next up Plant and Soil Science. This week we started talking about pesticide management. I am so excited because I have already scheduled to take my students to the safe pesticide applicators exam in March. Better yet I have scheduled the day before to be a review session after school put on by the Pest Education Department at Penn State. Yes I'm bringing in the experts! This is a class I have been struggling with. I have four very quite students who don't really talk to each other even when you allow them to. To start off the unit we talked about the parts and life cycle of insects by looking at real crickets! Fun! We then journeyed through the history of Pest Management by creating a timeline. I was really surprised the students had never even heard of the Green Revolution. I was finally able to feel like I had a successful lesson on Friday as we started through the 5 steps of an integrated pest management plan. The students were really engaged in the lesson for the first time and Mr. Hines was pleased in the end. I think it really just takes time to get to know your students and what methods of teaching work best for them…better luck this week!

The Plant & Soil science class created a timeline of the
history through integrated pest management. 

This week I also picked up my Agriscience and Technology course as well as Small Gas Engines. I'm actually really excited about both of these classes. While they will probably come as the most challenging for me I'm going to give it my best. Things like shop management, larger class sizes, students who need individual attention, and content matter I'm not really confident are all becoming new challenges. I have also become determined to stay with making every student use a bell work book. I think these are really important as I have been getting to know the students and their reading and writing abilities.

As week two comes to a close I have realized that the most important thing I can do right now as a teacher is reflect upon each lesson. I'm actually kinda obsessed with it right now. After each class I ask my supervisor as well as myself "did they really get it"…."did they enjoy the lesson". I think it's really important that all teachers do this and I hope to continue to have good reflections that will lead me to becoming a better teacher.

Friday evening sunset over the chicken barns where I'm living.

This weeks Meagan Moment comes to you from an after school record book/proficiency work session. For those of you who don't know the record book system has completely changed since I turned them in and is now completely online. The students love it however I'm completely lost and can't find anything with the online system. I was helping a student with her proficiency and I said "oh we can find that information on page 22!" (proud of myself that I knew the answer). She just blank starred at me for a minute and Mr. Hines who had overheard started laughing and said "yes she could if this was the old system…I'm surprised you knew the exact page number." So plus for me for knowing the right page number and minus for talking about the old system! It was a good laugh though. #facepalm

Week One in the Books!

     My week started on Monday with a teacher inservice day. This was said to be the most exciting inservice day I would ever attend and I can say thats probably true. The high school is looking to improve elective classes for students by designing a clear pathway of classes for ultimate student success. To us in the ag world we already know a lot about  scope and sequences for our programs because we get funding from the state and endure a annual state audit. So I spent that day "showing what I know" as Dr. Foster would say and helping other departments in the school. Shout out to Dr. Ewing and AEE 313 Program Planning.

     The rest of the week was hetic as I took on my first class! I planned and planned and planned some more but in the end I'm not sure I got the result I wanted from the students. I was advised that it was just something that would come with time. I believe that good teachers continue to work until they see success in their students.

     While this might seem small I was pleased with the way I set up the classroom. I did a few icebreakers to get to know the students and then kept their notecards so I could try to associate their names with a favorite hobby and study later on my own. After passing out a small syllabus I explained the procedures, expectations, and consequences. This was all outlined in the syllabus and is simply to keep the teacher and students on the same page. Last I had the students set up their bell work books. These will hold answers to the daily bell work and ticket out questions. I will check it weekly and count it as part of the student participation. This was we can review topics discussed in class and I can also use the ticket out to learn about my students.

      Ending this week I feel a little frustrated with myself. I know I expect too much. I work so hard on every lesson I just want it to be perfect and I get upset when it doesn't work out the way I planned or when the students aren't understanding. My advisors say that it's ok to feel that way but I have to realize that it's not always going to be perfect or go just the way I want it to.

    I was feeling glad it was Friday today and then something happened. I was making copies this morning when another teacher walked in. He asked me if I taught my first lesson yet. I proceeded to tell him how I had been teaching one class for majority of the week. He then proceeded to ask me how it was going and I said it was going ok, a little challenging but I think I could catch on with time. He responded that he knew I would succeed because he could tell by the smile on my face. At first I laughed because I didn't know this teacher at all but the little encouraging moments like that are what let you know your in the right place.

My Cooperating Teacher Mr. Jon Hines and Mrs. Ayla Miller 

Everyone makes funny mistakes when just starting a new job…others just have blonde moments. I won't categorize myself you can decide. But I always like to share for a good laugh.

Meagan Moment- Finally found the right copier after using the one designated for the athletic department. #facepalm there's too many!

Excuse me I'm the what?….STUDENT TEACHER!!

     An adventurous week filled with Mid Winter Convention, working the food booth, helping with Farm Show contests, observations or substitute teaching, school closings and already getting confused as a student about a thousand times. Yes I'm finally in Perry County and getting ready for student teaching. While I didn't actually teach any classes yet I attempted to get used to hearing everyone call me Ms. Slates. My week was way to exciting to just focus on one thing! Since West Perry High School is only about a half hour from Harrisburg and the Farm Show Complex I spent majority of my week there with the FFA chapter.

Keystone Degree Recipients 

     Of course Mid Winter Convention fell on if not the coldest day of the year it certainly felt like it! West Perry had a two hour delay which really made the day fly by. The two hour delay sent one of the ag teachers Mrs. Miller on an early morning adventure with a few FFA members who had to be there early for star keystone interviews. I was lucky enough to ride the bus in with the students two hours later…bus trips are not as fun as I remember them being in high school. Anyway when we finally arrived Mr. Hines and myself went to the National Convention celebration banquet. It was run by a friend of mine but being completely unbiased I thought it was really nice. With State Convention happening in the summer and Nationals later in the fall it's nice that participants are congratulated by Pennsylvania after competing at National Convention.

National Convention Winners

     After that I attended Mid Winter Convention. I can appreciate that my cooperating teachers make all their students sit together. We had several Keystone Degree award recipients, freshman receiving their jackets, and even a star keystone winner. I quickly became the chaperone when Mrs. Miller had to go help with jackets and then Mr. Hines went on an adventure to steal a laser light from a misbehaving child across the stadium. I think it's important for all FFA members to attend Mid Winter Convention for a few reasons. For the freshman it's an opportunity to get involved and maybe even a free jacket. It's the first time for freshman to get out and experience the size of this great organization. For sophomores and juniors it's an opportunity to compete against other members in the state, explore career opportunities, and support the older members receiving the highest degree the Keystone. For the seniors this is the ultimate party and the celebration of a successful high school millstone in their adventure through FFA.

New Jacket Recipients 

     The rest of the week I spent my time with the students everyday either observing, pretending to be the substitute while Mr. Hines was in a meeting (there was also a real sub no worries), or attending Farm Show with the FFA members to work the FFA Foundation food booth. It was a great experience getting to attend two days to work the food booth and work with the FFA members before having them in class. Let's not forget we also got free food and milkshakes..who would pass that up!

     On Sunday I even ventured back to Farm Show to help clean up the landscape display. West Perry got second. Some of the students were disappointed with the results but found comfort in the fact that the first place winner who used dead plants as part of their "winter display" would have trouble replicating that at Big E since it would not be the same season and the plants they used would no longer be dormant. Living four hours away from Farm Show, I never had the opportunity to compete in some of these contests but let me tell you…they don't mess around! Taking the skid loader made clean up a breeze and I was really impressed with how many students got involved on a Sunday for clean up.

West Perry 2nd Place Landscape Display

    If you think this sounds like an exciting first week I didn't even mention guard dog Jenny and my cute little landlords, my truck not starting, getting to know the local Librarian, and everyone at McDonald's as I stole wifi. Life is an adventure and this starts a new journey!