Proud to be the New {Teach} on the Block! #ShadyMaple

Not going to lie, one of the reasons I choose agriculture education is the people, the education of agriculture knowledge, and of course the FOOD! Yes, I admitted it I am a “foodie.” What is one way that I can put my passion of agriculture and food together was at the annual meeting of “New and First Year Teachers” hosted by the Center for Professional Personnel Development at Penn State. Where was the meeting at? One of the best buffets on the East Coast, Shady Maple!

Under the direction of the famous Mr. Ron Fredrick, new and beginning teachers came together for a night of collaboration, information sharing, and the delicious Lancaster food. I also enjoyed the chance to see Mr. Mason Tate at the meeting and we were able to catch up on life and our own teaching journeys together!

As our empty plates were taken away from us, we began our meting by sharing out who we were and what activities we brought to share out with the group! Surprisingly, I got a lot of cool materials from the group and “steal” the ideas of the local teachers that I have known since I was a student! I also was able to get a AWESOME Bee book that my students took from me as soon as I got it in their hands upon returning to the school that next day! Upon papers on papers, ideas, and collaborations that were gathered that night, I left with a bag full of stuff and a tummy full ready for bed!

Before leaving, Mr. Fredrick targeted Mason and I to ask a question that we had for the new teachers that we may be teaching with in the future! I mean this truly, I am glad that I have a network of teachers that I can now call friends.

At the end of the night, I drove back to Philadelphia with a bag full of Wilbur Chocolates and educational materials for days.

Until next time Ag Ed Fam!

Spring Break {Teach} Not on the Block #week11

Not going to lie, this is going to be a short and sweet blog because Teach Ag! Fam, I am on...

SPRING BREAK!

A joyous time where I am learning that breaks are my best friend and I can use this time to catch up on my work!

So, what did I do Monday and how were the students? Let me tell you!

Preparing for leaving for a week and making sure that animals were ready to go was actually pretty tough! My 10th grade animal science students worked hard to prepare for animals for the break and make sure that everyone had food and water. After they were all checked off, the class flew by and they were off to their next classes!

My Environmental Class was a different story. As graduating seniors are, they were more than ready not to do anything and hangout the entire class period. There were also about 15 seniors missing because it was the day before Spring Break.

As a teacher, it is hard getting a class to concentrate on a topic any given day to begin with, but this was especially hard this week! I brought out the big guns and we played revew games like Kahoot and also worked on an assignment that only counted for them because they were the only ones there. It is nice recognizing students when they do care about school and show up!

I can't wait to get some hardcore work done this week and catch up on some Z's!

So long for now Ag Ed Fam!

Buzzed about Bees {Teach} on the Block! #week10

Wow. 10 weeks down and 5 more to go. Can you say crazy?! Being in Philadelphia with my students has been one crazy journey and I love that there is still more time to be creative and have a great time with them!

Without further ado, let’s break down this week’s pros and cons in each class shall we?

Pros: This week, I was pushed to get out of my comfort zone and research things that I had never had any interest in at Penn State.

Animals Science: In animal science this week, I have challenged my students to the max by having a test and a project due in one week… (seems easy right? Not for these kids!). My students kept telling me that I was being “unfair” or challenging them when they had other work to do in other classes, but I stuck to my guns this week and told them honestly: My class matters too. A lot of students were baffled when I didn’t move assignments or I didn’t bend my will for them, but it was nice to see that when I stuck to my guns, my students did awesome work even though they were all in a time crunch! Although I was tough on them this week, I made sure to reiterate to them that they CAN do it, they just have to be willing to put the hard work in.

Environmental Science: Outside work is tough on any
person; however, it is a new sort of “dying” when it comes to making my senior work in our local CSA (community garden). Seriously, you would think that I was asking my students to jump through hoops and juggle fire when it came to working outside. What was the first thing that came to my mind then you may ask: An amazing teaching opportunity. At Saul, your major that you choose in agriculture becomes your job. You are expected to show up on time and do your work no matter what. If you are not there, it is like you are skipping work. It is a great concept that I designed to help shape my class and make sure that my students did the work that was asked of them.

Beginning every class when I knew we had jobs to do outside, there was a list of things that needed done and there were preselected groups that were already determined. You show up on time, you wear your work boots, and you get the job accomplished in the time asked of you. Easy concept. The first day that we did this, I simply watched to see what they would do, and if it was effective. Turns out, it was! Yes, there were still the reminders that they had to stay on task but for the most part my seniors did great and I enjoyed working with them!

One last Pro: This week, I have started working with some of my senior boys on a bee project. Now, if you know me, I am not a huge fan of bees, AT ALL. However, this was some of my student’s passions and they wanted MY help (out of all people though, come on kids!) So, I dug up some old bee suits, we went out and we looked at the hives that we already had in hopes of creating our own in the future. My student’s passions in agriculture made me get out of my comfort zone and I am so glad that I did!

Cons: As for the cons this week, nothing too dramatic happened. My students have been working as hard as they can even though spring break is right around the corner! Maybe there will be some event that will happen next week, but for now, it is all good here!

Overall, this week has taught me a lot. I need to get out of my zone more and meet my students needs because I am here for them! Although next week we only have one day (sorry #psuaged16 cohort!) I am excited for Monday and the awesome time we are going to have tomorrow!

Thanks for reading Ag Ed Fam!  

Good Weather and Vibes {Teach} on the Block #week9

As a student I loved field trips! Meeting new friends, exploring a different area, learning a subject matter that I had never heard about was always a lot of fun for me! This week I relived that same passion when I chaperoned a trip to Student Legislative Leadership Conference, also known as SLLC. Although it was a great trip, I hit reality hard when I realized that the week was not over and I still had to teach when I got back that week. After those three days of not being at school, you can bet that I was not ready to go back to reality.

Let’s break down the week, shall we?

Pros: This week was nice because I got a break to go to SLLC and spend some great quality time with some quality students! The students that I hung out with weren’t in any of my classes so it was nice to talk to new students and get to know them!

When I returned back to school, I had to prepare for the week and get my brain back on track to get into “teacher mode” which honestly was very hard because the weather this week was absolutely beautiful! Beautiful weather = Henry’s Got Crops is in full swing of motion! What is that you may ask? Saul has a unique opportunity that allows the student to see crops be grown in large amounts, knowledge on how to harvest the crops that are grown, and what happens to waste and how it is turned into compost! Pretty cool stuff!

When I saw what was happening, I honestly had an Ag-Attack and geeked out! Seriously people, I can’t make this stuff up! My students were learning firsthand how to plant rows of crops by hand and how to harvest the crops that were planted! After they harvested, they had a process of cleaning, drying and storing the lettuce that we were harvesting that day AND they did it as a team! Literal mind explosion!

Cons: The good vibes from the weather made it hard to create a positive learning environment for activities outside! The moment the students stepped out of the class into the sunlight, school was the last thing from their mind for my group of seniors. At one point I had to realize that I had a lesson to accomplish but how can I turn it around to have my students want to do the lesson while enjoying their time outside. Seeing that this could have been a losing battle, I brought out the big guns and decided to let the students walk around with their friends BUT they had to post pictures of what we were learning in class to our class InstAGram account! Everything from water erosion to conventional till was shared over our social media site under the @WBSaulEnviro account (shameless plug to check it out!) Turning a bad situation to something better made me realize that I might be getting this teaching thing down!

Overall it was a fantastic week that pushed me enough to continue making this experience a positive one for me and my students! Let’s bring on the double digits for week numero 10!

Endurance driven {Teach} on the Block #week8

Some may not know this about me, but I love running. You get lost in the motion and even though it is not fun in the moment, the feeling after is like no other. You feel confident and you feel ready for the day because your endurance and pain tolerance to push yourself is getting stronger. Now, I know not all teachers are runners however they have an endurance that I wish I had! Teaching classes, staying late a running clubs, organizing events, and still having a personal life is hard! This week, I have been pushed to my professional breaking point, I tried new things in class with a webinar, and unfortunately I had to deal with my honeymoon phase being over in my classes.

Are you ready to hear about the week? We are going to break it down into two parts (per usual) into our pros and cons BUT I am making sure to get the full picture, I will include both of my classes in these categories.

Pros: This week I was stretched to the limit by creating different lesson plans that helped students get the “big picture.”

Animal Science: I have loved Play-Doh since I was a kid, so why not incorporate it in lessons? I decided to create a lesson that incorporated my love of a kid activities into my reproductive lesson. Although this was a weird lesson for me to teach because I had never done it before, by incorporating that fun activity with Play-Doh it was comfortable to a talk about and the students relaxed as well!

Environmental Science: This week I did something different and decided to incorporate a webinar in cooperation with my class. The Peace Corps was doing a webinar about foods around the world! To bring that in to my class, I decided to intertwine my soil unit with a food activity that taught my students how to cook healthy foods with on a cheap budget. This activity was a great time for me to work on how I structured a hands on activity that the class could participate in and then wrap it all together.

One last fun activity that we all did was go to the Philadelphia Zoo all day on Friday! It was a great time for me to see some more parts of the city and hangout with my students outside of the classroom with of course an assignment attached to the trip!

Cons: This week, was a little stressful with all of the activities that I had planned and added on top of that my university supervisor was visiting. Can you say stress overload to the max? I had to breathe and get through this week to make sure that I could keep my sanity in check. Even on the day where my professor was visiting my lesson was a complete flop! It made me realize that you can plan all you want, but sometimes lessons don’t go as well as you would think.

Moral of the story this week? Smile and wave. Some days you need to fake it till you make it, where others your lessons go just as you planned. Teaching is a certain type of training that will put your teaching endurance to the test. All you have to do is keep training for that dream job, perfect lesson, and know that you are making a difference in the lives of your students everyday.

Thanks for reading Ag Ed Fam! Bring on week 9!