And Cut!

It's hard to believe after 15 weeks in the classroom, my time as a student teacher is over. This week mainly consisted of wrapping up lessons with students and saying farewell to them.  I know that I am going to miss my students at Pequea Valley! Wednesday night was the Pequea Valley FFA banquet, so that day was dedicated to setting up and finalizing any banquet items that needed to be bone. During the banquet, I was awarded the Blue and Gold Award of Appreciation for my time spent at Pequea Valley. It has been incredible to work both with Doug and Jasmine and to teach the wonderful students of Pequea! Congratulations to the newly elected officers! 

One thing I will for sure miss are the students! Every class was full of laughter and excitement from the students. People would say I am an energetic and enthusiastic person but that comes from the people I am around. My students always kept me on my toes and never failed to make me laugh! 

On Thursday my large animal science class surprised me with a party! They even created a video for me! They were pretty secretive of about the whole thing because I was totally surprised! We played a couple rounds of Kahoot, which I lost terribly in! I now know I need to brush up on my random animal facts!

I still haven't process that I will no longer be walking into Pequea Valley. I am so proud of nearly 80 students I've had the chance to teach, and I am going to miss them greatly! Thank you Pequea Valley for an incredible and unforgettable experience!

Visiting Greenwood!

In early April I had the opportunity to visit Greenwood High School with Mr. Ruppert! For us student teachers this is a great opportunity to see our cohort members teach in action! I was able to observe four of Ryan's classes; Animal Science, Natural Resources, Food Science, and Agricultural leadership class! The first few periods consisted of students working on projects and passing back assignment. Ryan was in the same situation as I was with it being the end of the marking period, so the period consisted of checking in with students and updating their grades as they pass in assignments.

In his Animal Science class, I noticed digestive systems of chickens! I recently did this with my students! The only difference I saw was my student's used recycled goods or trash for their digestive parts! It was cool to see a similar project but done in different ways!

Some differences I notice I noticed when comparing Pequea and Greenwood is the use of technology. For what I observe most of his classes didn't have a powerpoint with them. It was a lot of hands-on and verbal explanation of directions. At Pequea I always some sort of technology whether that is with a lecture or having directions on the board. His teaching technique seemed more so of a chalkboard and paper type of teaching where I am more likely to integrate technology.

Overall it was a great experience at Greenwood and Mr. Rupport is thriving in student teaching! I am excited about what the future has to offer Ryan as a teacher!

Community Based Instruction with Kiva

Community-Based Unit of Instruction

Overview

Ever since my junior year of college after being enrolled in my first  International Agricultural course, I’ve had an interest in international agriculture. My interest further grew after spending four weeks in Malaysia for an AgEd 2 Malaysia Full-Bright scholarship program. One of the goals for the trip was to promote the integration of international studies in the secondary classroom. In class, I knew I would able to share my experiences, but I wanted my students to have their own experiences. After many hours of research, I came across an organization called Kiva. Kiva is an international nonprofit with a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities to thrive. Kiva does this by crowdfunding loans, as little as $25 dollars, to borrowers. For my community-based unit of instruction, my virtual agribusiness class researched farmers across the globe with Kiva. By the end of the unit, as a class, we made ten $25 dollar loans to ten farmers in eight different countries!

Seeking Funding

To ensure that every student was able to make a loan to a farmer,  I contacted a representative at Kiva via email to see my options in seeking funding. To my surprise, Kiva was able to provide $25 dollars of vouchers to each of my students. What was needed on my part was the number of students, how I would use the vouchers, and to share our overall experiences with Kiva!

Classroom Instruction

Example of a students poster 

Before distributing loan codes to students they had to complete five assignments. The first assignment was for them to calculate their weekly expenses. An excel sheet was created for them to document their expenses for one week. After calculating their own expenses, we looked at family expenses around the world. In this assignment, they looked up two countries, one considered poor and the other rich and had to answer questions based off of the countries they selected. The overall goal for this assignment was to show that there is income inequality across the globe. This led to students questioning what factors that can lead countries into income inequality. Our third assignment identifies those factors as the 5 P’s of poverty: Place, Past, People, Peace, and Politics. With this assignment students looked at two countries and identify how these 5 P’s led the country to either be in poverty or not. The two countries we looked at were Chad and the United States. This led to the discussion on the poverty cycle and how that keep people in poverty unless an outside source comes in to help. For the fourth assignment, we identified an outside source that can help end poverty-Kiva. In this assignment, students identified Kiva and explained how they use microloans to help underserved communities. After receiving all needed information about Kiva and loans, students were tasked to research and identify a farmer they wanted to make a loan to. For their end of unit projects, students created a poster of their selected farmer and identified the 5 Ps of poverty that may have led them into their current situation to seek funding. After the posters were created, a bulletin board was made from the student's posters, to show how other people can get involved with Kiva and the impact the student had made.

Reflection

This community-based unit was a little different from the rest of my cohorts. Instead of impacting local communities, my students were able to impact communities around the world with their small donations. Kiva is a great way for teachers who struggle with bringing international agriculture to the classroom, instead of going somewhere, you are able to bring the world to your classroom. Through this process, students are able to recognize different cultures also develop empathy for people by seeing how little people can actually live on. For them to learn that the world is much bigger than their backyard is a huge concept, especially for those who don’t get to travel as much. By having students share their experience with the community this allows community members to become involved and to hopefully change their perspective of the world for the better.

DIY

One of our for AEE 495 assignment was to come up with a DIY project (Do it Yourself). After spending some time in the classroom, we decided that I needed to see more of another component of the three circle model of agricultural education-Supervise Agricultural Experience.  For this project, I became one of the three judges, with Carole Fay and Deb Seibert, to interview Red Rose Star candidates. This took place at the Next Generation Ag Day on Thursday, March 14th for the County Public Speaking Contest and Red Rose Star Degrees.  This event is open to all Lancaster County FFA Members to demonstrate their public speaking skills and be recognized for their efforts.

As a team, we came up with questions to asked interviewers based on their SAE experiences.  We. had four applicants in the area of Star Placement, Production, and Agribusiness. To qualify members needed to have their Red Rose Degree. The Red Rose Degrees is the Lancaster County degree, where members need to have at least 75% of the requirements for the Keystone Degree to receive the county degree! Before coming to Lancaster I didn't know that county degree exists but it's a great pathway for students to receive their Keystone because they need to meet essentially the same requirements, but not as many. 

When asking questions there were three areas that we were looking at to connect to their SAE; FFA involvement, classroom connection, and general knowledge of their project.  We divided up the categories and I was in charge of FFA involvement. My questions were based on how being involved in FFA has developed them as a leader and how has it lead to their career interest.  It was incredible to hear the members journey through FFA and much they accredited their involvement to their success and career choice. As I was sitting through these interviews, I reflected on my experiences with FFA and how it had shaped my journey to where I am now. I was able to connect with the members on that same level and able to see their passion for FFA and their SAE projects. 

After the interviews and placing of the candidates. I was able to ask Carole, SAE specialists, a few questions about navigating through SAE and the application process. 

My first question, " What are some areas students and advisors struggle with on the applications?" 

One application that advisor and students struggle on is the American Degree. This is mainly when students start entrepreneurship projects, especially if studnets start their Ag career with the non-current inventory. I learned that the American Degree feeds directly from the AET record books, and if those non-current degrees are not filled out then affect the requirements needed for the entrepreneurship category. Another area where students struggle with is their SAE description. I noticed this when reviewing applications, where students didn't provide enough detail for the reviewer to get the intent of the project. 

Second question, "As a program how often should you check active SAEs?"

This is one area that I was confused about. Often advisors don't check their students SAE projects until a week or two before the deadline. This leads to students scrambling to updating their projects and not providing the full amount of detail needed.  Carole says "it depends on the type of projects that students are doing" however, "if projects are not checked/graded regularly, monthly or bi-weekly, the students will not complete them." Which I can attest to this! At Pequea Valley, students received grades for updating their AET for in-class projects and students were held accountable in updating.  Carole also mentions that it can be a disservice to the students if not updated frequently because students lose out on opportunities to be recognized for their efforts in their projects. As the teacher, you need to be engaged in your students project, as well. The more feedback you provided to students, "the more engaged and proud they will be of their project." At the end of the day, "it's not about the money or prize, it's about what they learned, who they meet, the feeling of accomplishment that they get from completing a project." 

Third question, "What are some strategies you used to get the students involved with an SAE"

Before student teaching, some reason I thought an SAE project had to be outside of the classroom. After student teaching and talking with Carole, I learned that's not true! A key thing to remember is that SAE is tied to the classwork, so every student should complete some type of SAE project. A great way to start members on projects is foundational projects. Carol says "each student can choose a topic, but the format of the project is determined by the teacher" With these types of projects I was stuggling to determine the timeline, thinking that they need to last a year or throughout the students experience in the program. I quickly learned that there is not a set time requirement for each of the projects. They can be short term project that last two weeks or they can last up to four years. The overall goal for the project is that students are showing some sort of growth. Which leads to my next question.

"What makes a solid project and/or application?"

Carole provided solid advice for this question, "Solid SAE projects, in the case of proficiencies; they are based on growth: not necessarily money, but, growth, in skills, knowledge, and overall experience." She provided an example of a livestock project, where the project is not only to be focused on the show ring but, on the skills learned getting there. My biggest take away from this question is solid projects are based on growth and documenting that growth. 

My last questioned I asked was "As an advisor how can you make sure your students are prepared for SAE interviews?"

Sitting through the interviews some students were more prepared than others and I. wondered how you as an advisor can set up your students with success when interviewing. Carole suggested that you start preparing your students ahead of time. This can be as little as practicing interviewing questions once a week or invite a community member in to interview. Another solid piece of advice I received was, have students prepare a two-minute introduction of themselves and their projects.  This is a great way for students to relate their SAE projects and Ag classes to their future plans! To end Carole says"Bottom Line: you wouldn't expect a person to play pro football without practice, this is the same thing."

Overall, I learned a lot about  SAE and how to effectively include it in the classroom! I am excited to see how I can include SAE into the classroom whenever I enter the classroom in the future. 

Interviewing with an Administrator

I had a great opportunity to conduct a mock interview with Pequea Valley School District superintendent, Dr. Erick Orndorff. I have Dr. O on numerous occasions throughout my time at Pequea Valley. In our interview, we went over a couple of questions and tips on interviewing with a superintendent.

The first question was, "How do would you use technology in the classroom?" Pequea Valley is known for its integration of technology in the classroom. Luckily for me, I spent the past 15 weeks in school, so I able to share my experiences with technology. I provided good answers, but to make it stronger, DR.O suggested I mention the SAMR Ladder. Which is a model of tech integration into the classroom, to help educators become comfortable with technology, and to help students develop important 21st-century skills at each of the four levels.   The four levels are Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition.  It was interesting to hear that I was meeting a couple of levels without even knowing, but by referring to this SAMR Model, it would make my answers stronger.

Another questioned that was asked was, "How will you ensure students first choice". The formula that Dr. O gave me was Knowlege + Experience x relation = first choice. To answer this question I was able to use the Three Circle Ag Ed model. With knowledge being classroom instruction,  experience being SAE, and relation being FFA.  I also shared my experience with Agricultural education and how it brought me to my "first choice".  Dr. O mentioned a lot about customizing content to students first choice, and if I am able to show how I can individualize a program for students,   I would be a highly desirable candidate.

Overall, I think was a great experience! Some areas that I need to strengthen is making connections between educational models. By being cognitive about that connection would strengthen my answers. It seems like I am already including those strategies in my instructions but by recognizing them and showing that I am intentionally doing them will strengthen my interview. I am glad that I had this experience even though I am not going into the classroom right away. I look forward to seeing how I can include my experiences in the classroom in the future!

Science Teacher

Early this week I had the opportunity to observe Ms. Jennifer Brooks, a biology teacher. Ms. Brooks also teaches forensic, environmental science, and AP Biology! The class I sat in was her 10th-grade Biology class!

The objectives for the class were posted on her slides and she went over each of them with the class. A couple of them were more so the review for the class but some were new to the students. The objectives for the class are tied to the  Biology Keystone Exam that every tenth grader has to take.

The class began with five retrieval questions posted on the board. These questions were closely related to content that was covered in previous class sessions. Students had about five minutes to answer the questions, then Ms. Brooks went over them with the class. I thought this was a great way to see where students are with the content. These questions will also be on the Keystone exam, so students are able to become familiar with the questions beforehand. She mentioned that a lot of her class time, if not most, goes to preparing for the keystone.

From what I observe there was a lot of variability in the class. The outline of the class was:

• Retrieval Questions 
• Review/Lecture
• Independent 
• Video/Discussion 
• Independent work 
• Class discussion

All the students were engaged in the class and participated. Ms. Brook showed a lot of enthusiasm in the content and the students responded well.  The class size was relatively small with eight students, but that gave Ms. Brook the ability to check in with each student progress. 

Overall Ms. Brooks is an awesome teacher and it's clear she has a passion for teaching and biology!

No Pain No Gain

This week was full of unexpected and expected events! To be honest, my week started off pretty

rough. I had two flat tires and was trying to deal with a tooth that was causing a ton of pain. Monday morning rolled around I had my tires fixed and I popped a ton of Advil for my tooth. I tried my best to ignore the pain and gave my full attention to the students. At the moment each class felt longer than the last and it was becoming hard to focus. Finally, the day ended and I decided it was time to see a dentist.

Looking back now I probably should have scheduled an appointment sooner but I didn't want to miss school, especially because it being the last couple of weeks of student teaching. By not listening to my body I ended up getting an infection, high blood pressure, and fever. All this caused me to miss two days of schools.

From this, I learned you need to listen to your body. If you are unwell and need time off it's not okay to take that time to recover. By pushing things off is only going to make things worst. I have a missing tooth now for proof.

Though my week started off rough; it ended it great! Thursday we had the members compete at the Easter Region LDE's and I was able to judge Senior Prepared Public Speaking.  In total, I judge and watched eight incredible speeches! Each speech was unique and ranged from a variety of topics.  I was glad to have this opportunity to judge this event because I didn't have much experience in this LDE so it was nice to see what it takes to participate in this event.  Some takeaways from this event are:

• Have students present their speeches to community 
• Make studnets limit their bias opinions  
• Have student talk to judges aftward to ask for helpful tips

Overall, students do an awesome job with speeches! 

Another cool opportunity I had this week was to attend the Lancaster Volleyball Tournament! This event was open to all Lancaster chapters! There were five chapters represented with a total of five teams. All the advisors came together to form one time. I don't know how but we ended up being the second place team! This was a super cool event!

One thing I love about Lancaster County is they provide a lot of opportunities for their chapters to come together and mingle. So far I've been able to see Public speaking events, agricultural mechanic event, record bookkeeping event, and now this tournament.  I am not sure what the other counties do but it is clear that Lancaster is the place to be!

Somethings to consider when choosing a program:

• How involved are surrounding chapters?
• Would it be possible to collaborate on events?
• Possible to run mock CDE for practice? 

With one week left I am excited to see how I can maximize my student teaching!

The Big 13

It's hard to believe that I've been in the classroom for 13 weeks! It's crazy how fast time flies when you are having fun with students! This week was STRESSFUL more so because it was the end of the marking periods. Students were scrambling around trying to submit homework and I have to track students down for any missing assignments! Even with all the stress, we were able to make it through!  One thing I am really bad at is reminding students to turn in assignments and I would assume if I said it one then they should know.  In high school, we were given planners and told us to write our due dates down because the teachers weren't going to repeat the dates. A nice tip I received was to add a reminder slide to help students and also me when assignments are due.

A goal of mine was to include more activity in the classroom and stay away from notes for a little bit.
I was able to do this in most of the classes last week. In large animal science, students were in charge of creating a reproductive technology presentation. Students seemed to have a lot of fun with this too!  In horticulture, our topic for this week was asexual propagation with Twizzlers and pretzels. Students performed grafting and air layering with the treats and they had a blast! This was a very creative lesson and I would love to bring in move creativity but sometimes struggle to come up with activities. More forward I really want to focus on being a facilitator of learner!

Teachers, what great sources have you used to bring more creativity in the classroom?