Climbing My Way Through Arboriculture:Ag Mechanics Demo Lesson

Climbing for my final exam fall '18

Teaching a demonstration is different than any other method of teaching but, as an agriculture teacher it is an important skill. For this lesson I took skills from my favorite Penn State class and taught them to tie knots related to tree climbing. We learned how to tie a monkey fist and set our ropes in the tree.

What did I learn?

During this lesson I did not get the throws into the tree my first shot. I told my students that we can't get everything right all the time and I was going to try again. When I did I got it. I learned that being honest with students when you make mistakes is a powerful thing. It gains their respect and they were more willing to try it and make mistakes when they try it.

What would I change?

I would have students make sure they knew the steps by popcorning the steps back to me verbally. This way I can ensure all the students know the steps. I would also have the students who were watching one student do it mimic the steps with that student doing the demonstration.

Where would I apply a demonstration?

Climbing final fall '18

The lesson I did was for an applied arboriculture lesson but, a demonstration can be used in many classes. I would easily use it in a vet tech class with any of the practicals laid out by National FFA. I would use this in a plant science class with how to plant a seed or floral design with making arrangements. This pedagogical


skill can be adapted and used in several parts of my classroom.

It's a Small World After-all: Attending the NAAE Convention

Quick statistics on my experience at NAAE Conference

• 2.991 miles from my house in Torrington, Connecticut to the National Association of Agriculture Educators Convention in Anaheim,California 
• 9 the people in my cohort who made this trip an experience
• 6 the hours it took for us to fly from Philadelphia to Los Angelos, Ca
• 3 the number of incredible professors who helped make this trip possible and meaningful 
• Priceless: The knowledge gained and people I met along the way

What is NAAE,FAST and ACTE?

Agriculture Teacher's Creed

NAAE is the National Association of Agriculture educators. This is my professional organization as an agriculture teacher. FAST stands for Future Agriculture Science Teachers and is part of the National Teach Ag! Campaign. There are several FAST Symposiums across the country including a larger one at the NAAE conference.

ACTE is the Association of Career and Technical Education. Several teacher education groups falls under this organization including NAAE. NAAE holds their conference in conjunction with ACTE.

Workshop Highlight:

Inclusion workshop
By Dr.Vincent

My favorite workshop of the week was with Dr.Vincent from University of Kentucky on inclusion in the classroom.In this workshop we discussed how to be aware of all students background and how to ensure students all feel welcome. This can mean attending school activities and sitting with family members of that student, attending a church event for a religion you may not associate with or being exposing kids to new foods on school trips. Being inclusive is something I have an interest in and something I want to try my best at as a new teacher.

FAST Participation:

Jess and me getting ready
for FAST! 

I was blessed to be able to be apart of the FAST Symposium. I had a really awesome roommate from the University of Kentucky and got to interact with about 70 other future agriculture teachers from about a dozen universities. The most important take away from being surrounded by these individuals all week was we are all about to experience student teaching and we all have the same fears. I was able to connect with people outside of my cohort on ideas for lessons and fears we shared as we entered the classroom in January. This was a powerful piece to show me I am not alone.

Importance of team bonding

PSU Ag Ed '20 at FlightDeck

 Throughout the week I definitely felt overwhelmed with new material either pedagogical or content wise.On Thursday night we went to a flight simulator as a cohort with our university supervisor, Dr.Curry, and flew planes while trying to shoot each other down. This was the perfect way to decompress before the next day of travel. I definitely needed a night with my people where I felt comfortable enough to reflect on what had happened so far this week but, to be myself without fear of judgement. I know my cohort is the perfect set of people for that! This also made me realize that when I plan trips such as State and National FFA Convention to make sure I plan time for my students to decompress with a fun activity in the area.

To next years cohort:

My cohort with
PA ag teachers

When you plan to attend NAAE convention next year remember these simple tips.

1. Attend workshops outside your comfort zone. I went to one on blood samples and turf grass. I gained a ton from them and connected with those teachers. It helped me plan my plant science and microbiology units!
2.  Meet as many people as you can: back to being outside of your comfort zone. Meet people and build relationships. You never know how you can help each other or where you will end up teaching some day

Tying it together:

I could go on and on about this trip because it truly was an experience. I had no idea that a speech I listened to by Ellen Thompson as a State FFA Officer in D.C would give me the experience to work with her all week at the FAST Symposium at NAAE Convention. This trip made me realize that I do love agriculture education and I am in the right place.

Watching the sunrise with PSU Ag Ed '20

Classroom Management 101

After a few times in a classroom and reflecting on those experiences we are finally getting to the week were we discuss classroom management! I am excited to gain skills and understanding of how I can better manage my classroom to engage students but,  also provide guidance when needed. Identify 3 relevant connections to your student teaching internships

1. I will be stepping into a new classroom for 15 weeks. I will be changing some things but, keeping some the same. Having the struggle of keeping this classroom in order as we make the transition between teachers will be a hard one but, something that I can pull skills from to make a bit easier.

2. I will have some students doing independent study. When these students do come down and work in the labs while I may be teaching a class can be a struggle. Finding how to balance both students is another skill I am hoping to learn this week.

3.I will be student teaching 5-12th grade. The way I manage each grade will look slightly different so taking skills into the classroom of all ages is important. This comes back to learning your students as well. 

Identify 2 connections to other courses that are part of your #TeachAg Journey

1.The reading discussed finding students interests and engaging that interest. This connects to lesson planning and Lancelot's principles of interest. Keeping these two ideas in mind we can engage students with an interest approach and connect them to interests of their own. This helps students want to be in your class and lowers distractions.

2.What I found to be interesting was being silent or using facial expressions to help convey to students to change behavior. When I was microteaching and doing my lifeknowledge lesson these were two things I wish I would have known. I had students at time talking over me when trying to give directions or bringing them back together. Knowing this I could have had a different experience.

Identify the Triangulated Connection (w/ citation!)

This article from Edutopia discusses 19 ways to better manage a classroom. These quick tips are perfect for a new teacher!

Pre NAAE Experience: How Can Professional Development Help Me?

This coming week I will be attending the National Association of Agriculture Educators Conference in Anaheim,Ca. I have been to several conferences with the National FFA but, never one to focus on my skill set as an educator.

Here are some questions I have before I experience this trip:

For my future administration:

Do you value professional development? Is there any funds set aside for teachers to attend professional development?

For your cooperating teacher

What professional development have you attended over the years? How do you pick what you attend once you are there?

For one my your cohort:

What are your goals for this week? How did you select what workshops to attend?

Being a leader in the classroom: Leadership styles lesson

Students discussing their strengths and weaknesses

Coming out of the blue jacket was a struggle for me. Trying to figure out who I was if I was not a FFA member was probably the hardest and the best thing that has ever happened to me.

The same is true for finding the difference between facilitation and teaching. As a state FFA officer in Connecticut I got to work facilitate with members from across the state on leadership. As I start to develop and execute lessons I tend to lean more towards facilitation then teaching especially when it comes to any topic of leadership or FFA. 

Friday I had the opportunity to teach a leadership styles to my future students at Conrad Weiser. I had 23 students and we worked through different activities to find their leadership styles and how to use them in a team.

What did I learn?

Students taking a leadership style survey

• Tech fails: Sometimes technology fails and that is okay. We can just keep going. I had several moments in my lesson when google docs didn't work or my polls everywhere survey didn't work either. I just made adaptions to be able to my lesson as I went to get the same idea across a different way. 
• Be honest with your students: There was a set of directions and a question I just said in a bad way. It was confusing and I realized that quickly. I paused and said to my students that I am sorry I worded that weirdly let's try again. I think this made my students respect me and showed them it is okay to make mistakes when we are learning. 
• Do not talk over students: When I first started my lesson I kept trying to talk over students or asked them to be quiet. As I went on I just became silent and looked at them. This then became the signal that I was trying to speak and we needed to hear what I said. Students quickly became quite down instead of getting louder.

Planning a party activity

What would I have changed?

• Print copies: I used google docs for students to complete a survey. In the future I would print this and have them do it as a hard copy or make it a google survey. This way it had clearer expectations and I wouldn't have struggled with technology to access this. The document got cut off in their version on the chromebooks. 
• Clearer scenarios: In the lesson students had to plan a friendsgiving party. I did not give them parameters on this party and I got a lot of responses of bringing alcohol. I could have gave them parameters that narrowed in on a party for their classroom to make it more appropriate for school.

Overall this experience was one of my favorite labs I have done so far. I had a great time working with the students and look forwards to student teaching.

Southington+Juniata Valley=Conrad Weiser: How did teaching at JV Prepare me for my Internship?

Slide about me used to connect with students

A conversation that occurred daily in my a high school animal science class:

Mrs.Digioia: "Gagné you're going to be an agriculture teacher."
Me: "That is not going to happen"
Mrs.Digioia: "We will see"

Throughout my time as a Southington FFA member I always fought the idea of being a teacher especially an agriculture teacher. Now I am 4 years into my degree in Agricultural and Extension Education and I am finally realizing why Mrs.Digioia pushed me so hard to be an agriculture teacher. It was this week that I was able to interact with students in "my own" class setting that gave me that concrete evidence that I am still on the right track.

What was the experience I had?

This week I got to go to Juniata Valley in Alexandria,Pa and teach one period of Introduction to Agriculture to Mrs.Russell's 8th grade class. I spent one day observing Mrs.Russell teach the class and 3 days teaching the class about the agriculture industry in Pennsylvania and Connecticut in comparison to the rest of the country.

Being from Connecticut and not that familiar with Pennsylvania agriculture or production agriculture made me nervous going into this experience. I knew that some of my students had strong production backgrounds and probably knew more than I did at time but, that became an interesting roll in my classroom.

What did I learn?

• It is okay not to know everything: There were several questions that I had no idea what the answer would be such as "can cows eat cotton?" We used these time to research answers and got the students thinking in ways I did not imagine they would! 



Students reflecting on different states
agriculture industry

• Know your students: The first day I had them create name tags about themselves and I told them about me. I always was told to do this but, never understood the power behind it. I had students asking me questions and not being afraid to answer questions even if they were not the most correct answer. I developed a relationship with them in a short amount of time and we were able to learn and have fun. Doing that exercised showed I cared about them and I wasn't just there to be there.

How can I better manage my classroom?

• Grouping: I tried 2 different grouping methods and both times the students who probably shouldn't have been together were. I ended up checking in and providing guided questions to help keep them on track with the task at hand but, I need to be mindful of how I am grouping my students. 
• Music: I allowed each group to suggest 2 songs for me to make a playlist for the class. The students enjoyed this and it was a fair process of selecting music for the class. I did one day with music and one day without. Students were just as productive each day they were working.



Exit slip from day 2!

• Engaging students: In group work (groups of 2/3) these was mainly one student doing most of the work and the other ones not as engaged. I choose to handle this by asking students in the groups individually to look up a certain part of the project they were working on. This helped bring them into the group. I overall need to focus a-lot on this and practice ways to engage all student not just half. 

Closing Questions?

• How can I engage all students in a group project?
• How do you handle students who may know more about the content then you?

Trusting The Process: Learning From Other Teachers

This week I will be teaching 3 days at Juniata Valley High School. The class will be an 8th grade into to agriculture class. I am very excited to work with the teacher there Mrs.Russell to teach her class about Pennsylvania agriculture and the differences between Pa and the rest of the country. As I prepare for this experience I am thinking of how this fits into my Teach Ag Journey.

How do this connect to my Teach Ag journey?

1.Real life experience with kiddos: Through this experience I get to try some lessons and pedagogies to see how they work before I try them with students who I will be working with for 15ish weeks. I can make small mistakes here with students who might not even remember I was in their class come the end of the semester. 

2. I can receive a different point of view on teaching strategies: I get to work with an awesome mentor teach and get great feedback from my cooperating teacher and university supervisors but, this gives me yet another resources to add into my teaching tool box.

3.Teaching middle school: My dream job would be teaching a middle school agriculture class. While I am student teaching I will work with 5-12th graders. This gave me an idea of what this class looks like.

How does this experience connect to other classes?

1.Agricultural and Extension Education(AEE) 412: I designed my lessons while micro teaching to be inquiry based instruction since we just got back from the Pennsylvania Future Agriculture Science Teacher Symposium in Harrisburg where we talked about inquiry based instruction.

2. Agricultural and Extension Education (AEE) 100: During my time in AEE 100 I observed a middle school science classroom in Bristol,Ct. I watched the lesson of the day which was "How do animal adaptations allow for survival?" This lesson was designed as an inquiry based lesson where students were researching different animals and creating a powerpoint on them. The teacher was very hands off with the class and let students figure it out on their own.
This is something I tend to struggle with. Before this lesson at Juanita Valley I will pull out some key characteristics of this teacher to help manage my classroom but, allowing growth of my students in the content.

What is one resource to help prepare me for this experience?

 This blog form Aj Juliani talks about how teachers learn best from other teachers because we experience similar things and can understand what the other one is going through. Relying on other teachers is a great way to reflect on your teaching and to do better for your students.