A Bittersweet Ending: My Final Blog Post

I remember a conversation that I had with my mom about five months ago. Filled with self-doubt and worry, I was convinced that student teaching would be the hardest thing that I've ever done. I told my mom, with tears streaming down my face, that I could not do it- I could not leave home and I could not teach. The days went by, and before I knew it, I was leaving home for my first night alone in my apartment. I bawled my eyes out as I pulled out of the driveway and I cried almost the whole way there.

The entire next week was filled with even more tears, as I felt overwhelmed and unsure while I acquainted myself with Mifflinburg High School. However, the weeks got easier and the days went by faster... and now, here I sit, again bawling my eyes out... Not because I am homesick or overwhelmed, but because I do not want to leave Mifflinburg or the students there.

My experience student teaching has been a crazy, overwhelming, awesome mix of emotions. I have learned so much- not only about teaching, but about myself as well. Most importantly, I have stretched myself, tried new things, grown, and matured.

This experience also provided me with a much needed confidence boost. When I began, I was unsure as to what I wanted to do with my future career. I was fighting my instinct, and was convinced that teaching wasn't for me. However, after completing student teaching, I now know that I was meant to be a teacher. From my passion for student success, to the excitement that I feel when I create an awesome lesson or activity, every part of me wants to continue educating students in an agricultural classroom!

Although I am thankful for the lessons that I learned and the confidence that I gained from this experience, I am most thankful for the students and teachers who have had such a huge impact on me. Mr. Kessler, Mrs. Spurrier and the students at Mifflinburg welcomed me with open arms, making me a part of their "ag family". From the crazy nicknames (MMC, Split Pea, Auntie Campbell!), to the the daily conversations, each student at Mifflinburg helped to remind me of the real reason that I wanted to be a teacher; to make a difference in the lives of students.

Mr. Kessler and Mrs. Spurrier both had a huge impact on me, as well. They were both so passionate about their job, which helped to instill a deeper passion in me. Not only this, but they were also so helpful; always offering advice or resources for me to use. I am proud to call them both my mentors, and I look forward to working with them professionally one day.

As I sit here looking back at the past 15 weeks, I feel a strange mixture of excitement, pride and sadness. While leaving the students and teachers at Mifflinburg is hard, I know that one day soon, I may have my own agricultural program. I certainly will never forget my crazy Mifflinburg kids, and I can only hope that they will never forget me!

My second period Welding class!

My fifth period Intro to Ag class!

My sixth period Intro to Ag class!

My third period Electricity class!

Week 14: A Week of Adjustments and Excitement

1 week. 5 days. 120 hours. That is all the more time I have as a Student Teacher at Mifflinburg Area High School. This past week went by so quickly, even though the number of classes that I am teaching is on the down slope.

On Monday in Introduction to Agriculture, I gave a Poultry test. I provided students with a crossword puzzle to review for homework, and we went over it at the beginning of class. Fifth period was very engaged and seemed prepared for the test. 6th period was whole other story! Many students were being distracting as we reviewed, and I ended up sending one student to sit outside the door, as he was the source of much of the problem. After we reviewed, I had students take their unit test.

I picked up the Veterinary Science class during 8th period on Monday. We began the Circulatory and Urinary System unit, which is a week long unit intended to give students an overview of these systems. I decided to teach the blood flow through the heart. I made a handout, with a diagram of a heart, which students folded and cut into four quarters to take notes on each chamber. I tried to make this lesson relatively simple, but students didn't seem to be following what I was saying. After class, many students had questions for me, and I decided that I would re-teach a portion of the lesson the next day, although it would mess up my plan for the week.

Tuesday was the first day that I did not teach Introduction to Agriculture. Instead, I worked on some PSU assignments and graded the Poultry exams. During Vet Science, I decided we would review their homework first (a diagram of the heart that they had to label the blood flow). I then provided them with notecards, and had them put them in order according to how the blood flows through the heart. I think that reviewing this and breaking it down into steps really helped them comprehend it. After I felt that they understood, we moved on, talking about veins and arteries.

Since we had to review the heart again, we did not have time to complete the activity about blood that I had planned. Instead, we completed this activity on Wednesday in class. I was really excited for this activity. Students made "blood"! I gave them yellow died water, to represent plasma. They then added red died Cheerios as red blood cells. Next, they added mini marshmallows to represent white blood cells, and PomPoms to represent platelets. I then had them pull out their blood abnormalities notes and choose an "ingredient" (i.e. pasta, confetti, etc.) to add to represent one of those abnormalities. I think that this went well, and encouraged them to think outside the box. After we completed the blood activity, we reviewed the urinary system and talked about each organ and its function.

After school on Wednesday, I stayed to help train the Parliamentary Procedure team, in preparation for the regional competition next Wednesday. After Parli Pro practice, I traveled to Tractor Supply with Mr. Kessler and two students. Tractor Supply had contacted Mr. Kessler about doing a fundraising event next Saturday, so we went to talk with the manager about this opportunity.

On Thursday in Vet Science, I taught students about urinary diseases, urine collection and urinalysis. I presented a PowerPoint first, then students had a chance to actually analyze some "urine". I have to say... I was SO pumped about this lesson. I created fake urine using chicken bouillon cubes. Each sample was supposed to represent a certain urinary disease (i.e. kidney stone= chicken bouillon with a drop of beef blood). I had a student who works at a vet's office bring in urine test strips for us to analyze these samples.

Students were so grossed out when I handed out the "urine" samples. They kept asking where I got them and if they were real. They performed the urinalysis with the test strips, observed the urine color and clarity, read over the patient symptoms and descriptions, and used all of this information to diagnose the problem. I was really pleased, that from all of this information, students were able to diagnose the appropriate problems!

Today was the last day that I taught Vet Science, the last "official" class that I will teach at Mifflinburg. I assigned a project about the circulatory and urinary systems on Thursday, where I asked students to create a project that teaches someone about any aspect of the urinary or circulatory system in a creative way. The only limitation I set was that students could not create a poster or write an essay. I gave students the day in class to work on their projects, and provided them with some supplies. They have the weekend to finish and then they will be due on Monday. Students worked really hard on their projects and I am excited to see the end result!

Overall, this week, I was extremely proud of my flexibility. I had to make a lot of adjustments for the Vet Science class. Although this messed up my plans quite a bit, I am thankful that I had this experience. It taught me that if students do not understand something that you taught, it is not a bad thing to go back and re-teach it.

I am very sad that I won't be teaching any more classes, and even sadder that my time here at Mifflinburg is almost over. Despite this, I am excited for next week. On Tuesday, I will be traveling to the Regional Public Speaking competition in Williamsport with Mr. Kessler and a few students. Wednesday, we have an FFA meeting, and Thursday we are finishing up my Community Based Unit of Instruction by planting trees throughout the community. Finally, on Friday, I will be traveling to R.B. Winter State Park with the Introduction to Agriculture class for their annual field trip. I am looking forward to these events, and I think it will be a great way to end my time here at Mifflinburg Area High School.

Northern PAAE Meeting

On Thursday, April 9, I attended the Northern Region Pennsylvania Association of Agricultural Educators (PAAE) meeting at the Williamsport Hoss's. Mr. Kessler, Mrs. Spurrier, two students, Annette Gray (the regional FFA representative) and I all attended together. Two Mifflinburg students were attending to go to SOCS (State Officer Candidate School). They are currently juniors and are planning on running for a state FFA officer position next year.

When we arrived, I saw lots of familiar faces- student teachers, ag teachers and FFA personnel. It was nice chatting and catching up with these individuals. We ordered our dinner, took a trip to the salad bar, and then the meeting began. The president called the meeting to order and we got started.

We covered so much information during the meeting, and I was amazed at the pace and excitement of the ag teachers. We talked about the Summer PAAE conference and the accommodations that have been arranged for that. We also discussed how we could promote agricultural education within the governmental system, by speaking with representatives and senators.

The topic of the forthcoming new Pennsylvania FFA/ PAAE website was also discussed. Lots of great discussion was made about this topic, and it was motioned that PAAE pay a portion towards updating that website.

The dance at State FFA Activities Week was also discussed. For some reason, teacher's opinions on this dance really surprised me. Many of them seemed against it, and encouraged Mr. Brammer to eliminate it from States. As a student, I remember how much I enjoyed taking a break from the competitive CDE's while at the dance. However, as a teacher, I can see why there might be concerns.

Another topic that I found very interesting, focused around student certifications. In our folders, we had a list of all documented student certifications that each Ag program had according to CIP code. With the new Governor, it is going to be emphasized in Chapter 339 visits that students have relevant and up-to-date certifications, which will be helpful in their future careers.

Overall, I was pleased with this meeting and I am proud to be a member of this organization. Not only do I think that it helps make connections with other agricultural educators, but it also helps keep us updated on news, events and happenings that will directly effect our career.

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!

How do students learn best?: Action Research

To be quite honest, when I heard we had to do research while student teaching, I was anything but excited. I have never done research, and I was stumped as to what direction to go in. After thinking for awhile, I saw a good opportunity to conduct research during my Introduction to Agriculture classes. This class is back-to-back 5th and 6th period, and both are taught identical content. I decided that I would like to explore how students learn best, by using teacher-centered and student- centered instruction. I settled on my Plant and Soil Science Unit, since it provided lots of opportunities for a variety of teaching techniques.

To begin the unit, I gave students a pre-test, with 10 questions focusing on soil science topics that would be covered in the unit. Throughout the week of the plant science portion, I taught 5th period using a student-centered approach. This approach included a lot of inquiry, hands-on activities and group work. During 6th period, I took a more teacher-centered approach. I gave lots of lectures, had students complete a lot of notes and overall provided more structure.

Some lessons that I taught throughout this portion of the unit included soil horizons, soil texture, soil "ingredients", soil formation and soil pH. For example, when teaching soil horizons, I had an edible soil horizon activity for the students. During 5th period, I taught a short lesson about each of the soil horizons, then provided students with ingredients and asked them to create a soil profile, using what they learned. During 6th period, I provided students with individual brown bags of ingredients and a structured note sheet. I presented a PowerPoint and had students take notes and then add ingredients as I told them to, to create their soil profiles. Generally speaking, 5th periods lessons were typically a lot less structured and left up to student interpretation, while 6th period's were often structured and straight-forward.

At the end of the unit, I had students take a post-test, where they were given identical soil science questions as they had before. I then collected and analyzed the number of correct and incorrect answers for each student, from the pre and post-tests, and tabulated a percentage. I grouped these scores into four categories, as follows:

• Exemplary: 100-90
• Proficient: 89-80
• Intermediate: 79-70
• Poor: 69 and under

I created bar graphs to compare pre and post-test scores for each class, and used this information to analyze my data (below). While students scores in both classes exponentially increased from the pre to the post-test, the research was relatively inconclusive as to whether or not student centered or teacher centered instruction was more effective.

One interesting thing that I chose not to include in my "official" research, was that students seemed to enjoy the student-centered class more. I included a short portion of extra credit opinion questions at the end of the post-test for each class. When looking at and comparing the results of these questions, I found that students in the student-centered class, in general, indicated that they enjoyed the activities and class more than students in the teacher-centered class did. When asked what their favorite activities were, they seemed to indicate that the more hands-on activities (or the ones with food!) were their favorites, which came as no surprise to me.


Overall, I think that my research was interesting, and helped get my feet wet in scholarly research. I was a bit disappointed that my research was relatively inconclusive, but I think if I was able to research for a longer period of time (perhaps even an entire school year) as well as practice more inquiry and create more lessons which are distinctly either teacher or student-centered, my research might have turned out differently.