As my very first AEE 412 lab (and my first lesson!) came to a close today I had a lot to think about. I'm at the very beginning of my teaching journey and I got a little insight into what I might be like as a teacher. We (my 5 classmates and I) were instructed to give a 15 minute lesson on an assigned topic. I picked chess and although I never have played, I had to teach my cohort members about the board set-up, the pieces, and their values in the game.
Preparing for a 15 minute lesson takes a surprisingly long time, but I made worksheets, satisfaction forms, and tests for my classmates to complete. I only had two days to prepare so didn't have the actual chess game pieces and board for the lesson. I did construct the lesson in a way that my classmates were able to work in pairs and think through topics. My number one take-away from my first teaching experience is that time goes SO fast!! I ran out of time and didn't get everything I wanted into my lesson. Surprisingly though, my "students" still performed well on their quizzes that were handed out.
As I said, with time constraints I wasn't able to bring in a chess set. Although I knew ahead of time that is something I would've changed, my fellow classmates said the same thing in my feedback. My fellow classmates did say I had nice visuals of the game on the worksheet, but the actual game could've been helpful even though we didn't go over actual game play. Definitely something to plan better for with the next lesson. Thorough planning ahead of time could help me get more supplies for lessons. I did have students create their own chess board to see if they could guess the set-up based on the background information I gave them. Although I got positive feedback for that short activity, I definitely could have done it more effectively. It would've been better if I had board templates for students already or given each team a board and pieces to set up themselves. Interestingly enough, the students that had never played chess before were able to set up a board almost perfectly just based on the information I gave them. The information quickly included which pieces were the most important, least important, and how many of each there were.
All in all, I think my first teaching experience to my peers went pretty well. I already can tell how I can do better next time: better planning, more supplies/visuals, and a practice run could all be ways to improve. I already guessed what my peers would tell me to work on and they all were at least satisfied with the lesson. Not a bad start! I'm looking forward to improving more and more with my teaching as the semester goes on!
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) Visit!
As you already may know, I didn't get to enjoy the opportunities provided by agricultural education while I was in high school. Now I get to make up for lost time being on the advisor side! I've been excited to make some time this summer to visit some students SAE projects!
If you're reading this, there is a chance you have no idea what SAE even is. Just a basic introduction to agricultural education: it has a 3 circle model to show the important parts of agriculture education in schools. The three circles include Classroom and Lab Instruction, Future Farmers of America (FFA), and Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE). The three circles overlap showing that you need to be effective in all three circles to have a great agricultural education program. That being said, SAE visits are critical for student success in agricultural education.
SAE's vary dramatically between students based on their interests. Students can work at a feed store, volunteer at an animal shelter, run their own landscaping business, and SO much more to count as an SAE project. Those are just some examples, but students can do just about anything they want that is even slightly related to agriculture. To learn more about the types and examples of SAE projects you can visit here: https://www.ffa.org/about/supervised-agricultural-experiences. Basically, SAE projects allow students to take responsibility of a project while still having the safety net of the advisor's guidance. Advisors regularly visit each project to evaluate the student's progress and goals. Not only does the advisor evaluate the status, but it is an important time to encourage student self-reflection on their project status.
I had the opportunity to visit a wonderful student this week that keeps records on her dairy herd. She works with her grandpa every day to feed and milk their herd of about 16-20 dairy cattle. For her SAE project she has to keep accurate records of how much they are fed, how much it costs, how much they milk, when they are bred, and just about anything that goes into dairy farming.
Since this was the first time I was at her project, she had the time to update me on exactly what her project looked like. Although she helps with all of the cows, she personally owns 3 of the cows in the herd. With the about 20 cattle there are Holsteins, Red and White Holsteins, 2 Ayrshire, and a Jersey. The cows stay out in the pasture (about 8 acres) during the day and come in twice a day to be milked. They have a tie-stall barn with 20 total stalls for milking as seen in the pictures to the left. They keep most of their heifer calves and sell their bull calves at auction. As for breeding, they do AI (Artificial insemination) and have used natural breeding as well. The student's grandpa actually didn't have many positive opinions on using AI with his herd. He said that for some reason he always gets bull calves and when he spent double the money on sexed semen he still got a bull calf. Sexed semen is supposed to ensure having one sex over another, but there is still a 1/10 chance you could get the sex you don't desire. According to the student, the farm makes enough money to sustain itself, but likely does not make much of a profit. Considering my knowledge of the dairy industry, I think the student is probably correct. It can be difficult to make money within the dairy industry especially with a small herd of about 16 milking currently.
As an advisor, it is important to understand the projects that students have. It was critical for me to learn as much as I could about her dairy production project, but it was even more important to have the student communicate what she wanted out of her project. When asked, "If you could change anything about your dairy barn, what would it be?" she struggled to find an answer. When pressed she said she would really want to add mats on the floor so the cows wouldn't slip as much on the concrete. During our discussion though, she admitted that she wouldn't want any other type of dairy barn (she said free stalls are just not as desirable to her) and she really liked the set up of their tie-stall barn.
As I saw it, we ended our SAE visit with the most important part. The student was asked what 2 goals she had for her dairy production SAE. Her first goal she said was to have her cow successfully bred to a good bull. When questioned about her definition of "good" she said she really wants to have Lucky (her cow) bred to a bull that has strong feet and legs by AI. Her and her grandpa try to get positive feet and leg genetics in their herd. They see that as the foundation to a long-lasting cow. Her second goal was to get a heifer calf out of Lucky. In general, she wanted to have more heifers born because they seemed to get a lot of bull calves.
As I get used to my new role as an advisor, this SAE visit gave me some insights into how I want my future visits to go. I really enjoyed learning about this student project, but I see the importance of the critical thinking questions. In the future I want to make sure to ask plenty of questions that get the student thinking about how their project could be better or how they see it in the future. Otherwise, the student may never think about it. Asking what a student would do with a $1,000 or what they would change about their project can really encourage progress and goal development through the duration of their project. I look forward to many more SAE visits, and hopefully another visit to this beautiful dairy farm in Wellsboro!
If you're reading this, there is a chance you have no idea what SAE even is. Just a basic introduction to agricultural education: it has a 3 circle model to show the important parts of agriculture education in schools. The three circles include Classroom and Lab Instruction, Future Farmers of America (FFA), and Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE). The three circles overlap showing that you need to be effective in all three circles to have a great agricultural education program. That being said, SAE visits are critical for student success in agricultural education.
SAE's vary dramatically between students based on their interests. Students can work at a feed store, volunteer at an animal shelter, run their own landscaping business, and SO much more to count as an SAE project. Those are just some examples, but students can do just about anything they want that is even slightly related to agriculture. To learn more about the types and examples of SAE projects you can visit here: https://www.ffa.org/about/supervised-agricultural-experiences. Basically, SAE projects allow students to take responsibility of a project while still having the safety net of the advisor's guidance. Advisors regularly visit each project to evaluate the student's progress and goals. Not only does the advisor evaluate the status, but it is an important time to encourage student self-reflection on their project status.
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| Their Dairy cattle pasture |
I had the opportunity to visit a wonderful student this week that keeps records on her dairy herd. She works with her grandpa every day to feed and milk their herd of about 16-20 dairy cattle. For her SAE project she has to keep accurate records of how much they are fed, how much it costs, how much they milk, when they are bred, and just about anything that goes into dairy farming.
 |
| Tie Stall dairy barn |
Since this was the first time I was at her project, she had the time to update me on exactly what her project looked like. Although she helps with all of the cows, she personally owns 3 of the cows in the herd. With the about 20 cattle there are Holsteins, Red and White Holsteins, 2 Ayrshire, and a Jersey. The cows stay out in the pasture (about 8 acres) during the day and come in twice a day to be milked. They have a tie-stall barn with 20 total stalls for milking as seen in the pictures to the left. They keep most of their heifer calves and sell their bull calves at auction. As for breeding, they do AI (Artificial insemination) and have used natural breeding as well. The student's grandpa actually didn't have many positive opinions on using AI with his herd. He said that for some reason he always gets bull calves and when he spent double the money on sexed semen he still got a bull calf. Sexed semen is supposed to ensure having one sex over another, but there is still a 1/10 chance you could get the sex you don't desire. According to the student, the farm makes enough money to sustain itself, but likely does not make much of a profit. Considering my knowledge of the dairy industry, I think the student is probably correct. It can be difficult to make money within the dairy industry especially with a small herd of about 16 milking currently.As an advisor, it is important to understand the projects that students have. It was critical for me to learn as much as I could about her dairy production project, but it was even more important to have the student communicate what she wanted out of her project. When asked, "If you could change anything about your dairy barn, what would it be?" she struggled to find an answer. When pressed she said she would really want to add mats on the floor so the cows wouldn't slip as much on the concrete. During our discussion though, she admitted that she wouldn't want any other type of dairy barn (she said free stalls are just not as desirable to her) and she really liked the set up of their tie-stall barn.
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| Student showing off her favorite cow- Lucky |
As I get used to my new role as an advisor, this SAE visit gave me some insights into how I want my future visits to go. I really enjoyed learning about this student project, but I see the importance of the critical thinking questions. In the future I want to make sure to ask plenty of questions that get the student thinking about how their project could be better or how they see it in the future. Otherwise, the student may never think about it. Asking what a student would do with a $1,000 or what they would change about their project can really encourage progress and goal development through the duration of their project. I look forward to many more SAE visits, and hopefully another visit to this beautiful dairy farm in Wellsboro!
Friday, July 3, 2015
FFA Officer Retreat Adventure!
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| Binders containing FFA info, POA, Constitution, Activities, etc. |
The last couple of days in June I had the pleasure of spending my time with the 2015-2016 Grand Canyon FFA Officers. Up until this point I had only visited Wellsboro twice to observe the classes so this was my first opportunity to really get to know my cooperating teacher and the FFA Officers. We spent 3 days in New York camping in tents next to a pond (and a garage where we got our FFA work done!).
FFA Officer retreats are designed to develop the officers as individuals and as a team. They get a preview of what is expected of them and set goals for themselves, their officer teams, and their chapter to accomplish in the upcoming school year. Every officer received a binder (upper right picture) containing all sorts of information to help them during the retreat and throughout the year. The binders help the students to stay organized and keep important paperwork in one place. In the binder they could find the POA (Program of Activities which organizes the chapters activities throughout the year) from the previous year, worksheets (developing goals, identifying personalities, chapter officer expectations, etc.), Chapter Officer Manual, FFA committee lists, etc. Just about everything having to do with the FFA can be found in this binder!
I could barely contain my excitement pulling up to the campsite. Like many of the officers at this retreat, I had never attended one before! I didn't have the opportunity to be in FFA or an Agriculture program in high school so this is all very new to me (and I get to enjoy it from an Advisor perspective). Assisting my cooperating teacher, Mrs. B, was a great experience over those couple days. I quickly learned that you must be flexible. Almost immediately and consistently throughout the retreat, we fell behind the predetermined schedule. It reminds me of the Pirate Code in Pirates of the Caribbean, "The FFA Retreat Schedule is more like a guideline than an actual rule." Or at least, that's the scene I kept playing in my mind when we would go 30 minutes over in an activity. Although we didn't stick directly to the schedule, everything that happened was with purpose, and no time was wasted. I think flexibility in the schedule is important to a successful retreat as well as classroom. Knowing what activity/lesson to extend or what needs to be skipped is essential to maximize the learning of those involved.
Having my own binder from the retreat helps me keep some great activities for the future when I have my own program to teach. At this retreat the officers were involved in many leadership activities led by Mrs. Berndtson. They identified goals, learned about themselves as leaders and as people, and they started to work on activities they wanted their chapter to accomplish. I also had the opportunity to present two separate activities while we were there. I had five ready to go if filler was needed, but as I said, a lot of activities and lessons ran late. Better over prepared than under prepared though! Anyway, I presented two different activities with the officers to have them bond as well as problem solve together.
The Skittles activity I organized for the officers the first night went really well. It's designed to have each person grab a handful of Skittles and share facts according to the skittle colors they have. Skittle colors represented FFA Goals, embarrassing moments, favorites, etc. It was a great way for each officer to share a bit about themselves so they could know each other better as a group. I also led a Marshmallow Challenge for the officers. They were in two groups with each group receiving a specified amount of marshmallows, string, tape, and spaghetti. The object of the challenge is to be the team with the tallest structure made with the given materials. The only real is that the structure needs to stand by itself for measuring the height, meaning no team members can hold it up. I quickly realized that you can never underestimate FFA Officers. They certainly got creative and it only took a few minutes for the first team to set up their structure basically hanging off the ceiling. I applauded their creativity, but I would make the next group of students do that activity outside!
Although the officers were expected to participate in many personal and professional development activities, there were numerous opportunities for free time and extra fun! The Color War was something the officers especially loved. I spent hours filling up water balloons that had food coloring and water in them to prepare. Mrs. Berndtson had ordered white shirts ahead of time that had their names, FFA Emblem, and their office. It was a great personal touch that Mrs. B really thought through ahead of time. After the balloons were all popped, they finished off the shirts with diluted food coloring in water bottles. This activity, though short, was a great way to get the students bonding together as a group and giving them a break from the work they were doing to prepare for the year!
The last day of the retreat was probably the most enjoyable for the students, but it is also a very important day for them. Mrs. Berndtson planned for the officers to spend the whole day at BOCES ropes course. The morning was spent performing activities that helped them further get to know each other and problem solve as a team. One activity involved using only four "rafts" to move all nine officers from one end of the room to the other. They couldn't touch the ground and had only five minutes. They brainstormed and figured out they could fit about 3 people per raft then squeeze enough to grab the fourth raft and pass it to the front. It really was interesting to listen to their thoughts on how they could solve problems as a team. The problem-solving skills will be easily related to the obstacles they will run into as an officer team throughout the year. They spent a great part of the day developing trust in one another as well. They had some smaller activities, but this picture (right) shows the "main event". Every officer met their goal of the ropes course whether that was finishing it or at least climbing up and touching the wire. It was quite the experience to watch each officer conquer their goal with the encouragement of their fellow officers. The officer retreat ended on a great note and I couldn't have asked for a more successful retreat!
I look forward to watching them conquer more obstacles as a team throughout the year!
FFA Officer retreats are designed to develop the officers as individuals and as a team. They get a preview of what is expected of them and set goals for themselves, their officer teams, and their chapter to accomplish in the upcoming school year. Every officer received a binder (upper right picture) containing all sorts of information to help them during the retreat and throughout the year. The binders help the students to stay organized and keep important paperwork in one place. In the binder they could find the POA (Program of Activities which organizes the chapters activities throughout the year) from the previous year, worksheets (developing goals, identifying personalities, chapter officer expectations, etc.), Chapter Officer Manual, FFA committee lists, etc. Just about everything having to do with the FFA can be found in this binder! |
| FFA Official Dress |
Having my own binder from the retreat helps me keep some great activities for the future when I have my own program to teach. At this retreat the officers were involved in many leadership activities led by Mrs. Berndtson. They identified goals, learned about themselves as leaders and as people, and they started to work on activities they wanted their chapter to accomplish. I also had the opportunity to present two separate activities while we were there. I had five ready to go if filler was needed, but as I said, a lot of activities and lessons ran late. Better over prepared than under prepared though! Anyway, I presented two different activities with the officers to have them bond as well as problem solve together.
 |
| Marshmallow Challenge |
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| Mrs. B was nice enough to give me a shirt too! |
Although the officers were expected to participate in many personal and professional development activities, there were numerous opportunities for free time and extra fun! The Color War was something the officers especially loved. I spent hours filling up water balloons that had food coloring and water in them to prepare. Mrs. Berndtson had ordered white shirts ahead of time that had their names, FFA Emblem, and their office. It was a great personal touch that Mrs. B really thought through ahead of time. After the balloons were all popped, they finished off the shirts with diluted food coloring in water bottles. This activity, though short, was a great way to get the students bonding together as a group and giving them a break from the work they were doing to prepare for the year!
The last day of the retreat was probably the most enjoyable for the students, but it is also a very important day for them. Mrs. Berndtson planned for the officers to spend the whole day at BOCES ropes course. The morning was spent performing activities that helped them further get to know each other and problem solve as a team. One activity involved using only four "rafts" to move all nine officers from one end of the room to the other. They couldn't touch the ground and had only five minutes. They brainstormed and figured out they could fit about 3 people per raft then squeeze enough to grab the fourth raft and pass it to the front. It really was interesting to listen to their thoughts on how they could solve problems as a team. The problem-solving skills will be easily related to the obstacles they will run into as an officer team throughout the year. They spent a great part of the day developing trust in one another as well. They had some smaller activities, but this picture (right) shows the "main event". Every officer met their goal of the ropes course whether that was finishing it or at least climbing up and touching the wire. It was quite the experience to watch each officer conquer their goal with the encouragement of their fellow officers. The officer retreat ended on a great note and I couldn't have asked for a more successful retreat!I look forward to watching them conquer more obstacles as a team throughout the year!
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Discovery of the Ag Ed World
This is going to be a quick "Get to Know Stacia" post to give everyone a bit of my background!
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| DelVal Graduation |
Unlike some people who have a passion for Agricultural Education, I didn't have the opportunity to enjoy agriculture classes in my high school. The closest class I had to agriculture was Anatomy and Physiology (Of humans... Not even animals!). So, I fell in love with agriculture and education through other experiences.
Animals were a passion of mine even before the farm I currently live on became a part of my life. While other young girls may have liked watching Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, or Sleeping Beauty, my favorites included The Land Before Time, The Lion King, and Homeward Bound (I believe having animals in the movie was my only criteria!) just to name a select few. At a young age I decided being a veterinarian (for large animals predominantly) was something to pursue because automatically if you love animals that's what you do, right?
My father shares my passion for agriculture and while I was in elementary school he and my mom thought raising my sisters and I on a farm would be great for us (and they would enjoy it too!). This is when it all started. Although I had no formal agriculture education, learning about livestock, crops, and wildlife became a part of me while living on my family farm. As much as I loved learning about the farm life I had just been thrown into, I loved teaching it to others. This included neighbors and even some family members who were curious about what animals we had and what they produced. Naturally, I usually ended up being the "unofficial" tour guide for our farm when we had visitors. It was evident to me that I wanted to be involved with agriculture for the rest of my life.. But I would just have to figure out how!
My love for animals, especially livestock, eventually led me to Delaware Valley College (University as of this April!) where I earned my Bachelor's of Science degree in 3 1/2 years. I studied Livestock Science and Management with the intention of going off to veterinary school right after. While at DelVal, I started doubting if being a vet was really what was best for me. I think I could've done it, but I knew there was something that would be an even better fit out there for me.
I had met a few friends at DelVal who would mention their high school agriculture programs, and I was like, "Whoa, you took animal science.. and horticulture.. and agriculture mechanics... in high school?! Your school must be pretty awesome!" I quickly realized how sheltered I must seem to some people! I really had no clue that agriculture was taught at the high school level! I had enough of these conversations that one day in my junior year of college I had an epiphany, I'm totally going to teach agriculture!
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| PSU Grad Student! |
The main reason I started this blog is to document how I progress in my Ag Ed journey over the next year. Here on out will be major preparation for the main event - student teaching in the Spring 2016! I can't even put my excitement into words for student teaching. I will be student teaching at Wellsboro Area High School with the Agricultural Educator, Mrs. Berndtson. My visits to Wellsboro so far have been nothing short of fantastical (if that's not a real word, it is now)! Wellsboro is a very small town (to me anyway) up near the New York border in Tioga County. Up until the student teaching selection processes, I had never even been to that part of PA. Yeah, I've been to Korea and Nicaragua, but not Northern PA about 3 hours from me!
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| Pictures from an amazing Wellsboro visit! Students planting, wrapping horse legs, and mini field trips all in one day! Never a dull moment in agricultural education! |
The anticipation of my student teaching is building up more and more every day. Not only am I eager to student teach at such a beautiful school, in a beautiful community, with awesome students, and an awesome teacher, but I am stoked to share every moment of it with all of you through this blog!
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