Professional What?: The Ins and Outs of Professional Development

Jess Barnhart (#Psuaged20) and I in California
for the NAAE FAST Symposium

As a equestrian who wants nothing more than to become a better horseman I attend seminars at local fairs to learn more about technique and style from trainers. This past February/March I went to the World Horse Expo and spent countless hours watching a wide range of trainers talk about their method or philosophy for training and riding different disciplines. Everyone built off each other, had some varying in opinion but, overall I took something away from each workshop to try with my horse.

The education profession is no different. If I want to stretch, grow and morph into a better educator I cannot stop with the bare minimum of obtain my degree from Penn State and my level 1 teaching certification from Pennsylvania. I have to connect with others and be open minded of what I can take back to my classroom.

What professional Development have I done?

Penn State's Center for Professional Development does an excellent job of exposing pre-service teachers. I have attended several conferences including

PA FAST Symposium learning about Break Out Boxes

• PA Future Agriscience Teacher (FAST) Symposium
• NAAE(National Association of Agricultural Educators) FAST Symposium
• Several on campus agricultural workshops through the Penn State College of Agricultural Science
• Domestic Study Away in Montana to engage with agricultural teachers, students and business
• PAAE(Pennsylvania Association of Agricultural Educators) Summer Conference 
• FFA Alumni Regional Conference 
• SAE for All 
• Teach Ag! Twitter Chats
• Penn State Teaching and Learning Symposiums 
• I will be attending a CASE AFNR Institute this summer.

Professional Development throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic

Since my student teaching journey has switched online I have been engaging in online professional development. NAAE has been offering online webinars focused around different topics such as teaching about local cooperatives and teaching agricultural mechanics online.

Facilitating a leadership workshop in Montana 

These webinars are the perfect spot for a pre-service teacher to not only take away some great instructional materials but, to make connections within the organization. I plan to attend the NAAE Region IV teach chat later this week for the same reason. I currently do not have my own classroom and my time at Weiser is coming to an end quickly but, I am building relationships with others which is just as important for a young professional entering the classroom. Other educators are just as valuable to me as the content in the workshop.

Agriculture educators do an amazing job of staying connected via the Ag Ed Discussion Lab on Facebook, the Communities of Practice on the NAAE Website and on twitter. I see the value in connecting with these individuals in the profession now so, I can become part of the network of people who can help other young educators entering the profession down the line or get support for myself as I enter my first classroom next year.

I have also engaged in other unique forms of professional development since the pandemic. I have had the opportunity to gain some "badges" on FlipGrid by connecting with educators from across the US who use the app. I also was able to engage in a twitter chat to help share how I use FlipGrid and see other uses for the app.

Finally I have been getting some agricultural content certifications through Penn State Extension. Professional development is not just to improve my teaching skills but, to better learn content. These certifications are helping me gain content knowledge in my weaker areas such as plant science, entomology and forestry.

Final thought on professional development 

Photo from the NAAE National Convention 2019 

No one is ever "developed" enough. That is the same mind set as I do not need to be a life long learner. I value professional development and the different opportunities I have been given so far. Throughout student teaching I either used lessons I had learned while at the NAAE Convention, I got from other educators on communities of practice or from my cooperating teacher.

There is no reason to re-invent the wheel all the time. The way to learn about these cool ideas that others have are mainly though professional development webinars. We are blessed in agricultural education to have several groups supporting teacher professional development and I cannot wait to continue to seek these opportunities throughout my teaching career.