Ag Teachers= Never Ending Learners

A good ag teacher never stops learning. They constantly look for opportunities to grow both personally and professionally, gaining knowledge and skills to add to their arsenal to better their ag program. One of the most common ways for an ag teacher to grow is through professional development opportunities, which are offered pretty consistently during FFA activities, PAAE meetings, faculty meetings and through the Center for Professional Personnel Development (CPPD) at Penn State.

Since I have started my student teaching internship at Mifflinburg High School, I have had the opportunity to attend many professional development events. Every month, the school offers professional development during their faculty meetings. Since I have been here, I have attended every faculty meeting; some of which have focused on STEM, school rules and regulations and curriculum alignment.

While at ACES conference with the Mifflinburg FFA chapter, I had the opportunity to attend two workshops sponsored by the CPPD. The first workshop focused on teaching using inquiry and was presented by an ag teacher from W.B. Saul High School. They taught us what inquiry was and then demonstrated it using a fishing activity. While this workshop helped solidify my interest in inquiry, it did feel a bit repetitive for me. I attended a very similar workshop at National Convention, where they also presented this inquiry activity.

The second workshop that I attended was about the Ag Experience Tracker (AET), which is an online SAE book website that has taken off in Pennsylvania. The workshop was presented by Carol Faye, a retired ag teacher who is also an AET expert. This workshop was extremely helpful. More than 75% of the students at Mifflinburg have AET record books, and I have gotten a lot of requests for help from them. Prior to this workshop, I was only slightly familiar with AET. However, I feel more confident working with AET from this workshop.

While at the State Legislative Leadership Conference (SLLC) in March, I helped judge Proficiency applications. This was such a great experience! Not only did this help me understand the Proficiency process, but it also revealed a lot about the workings of AET. Our table decided to split the application into different sections, so I focused primarily on two pages of the application. However, I did get the chance to look at and review the application in its entirety.

In conclusion, I can certainly see the importance in professional development. I think that, not only does it help you personally, but it also enhances your ag program as a whole. I have learned so much from the professional development workshops that I have attended, and I am looking forward to many more opportunities to learn and grow in the future!