#AEE412 Weekly Investment: Effective Teaching is Essential

There are two types of teachers that I will always remember from my time in school: the really good and the really bad. As I'm continuing on my #TeachAg journey to becoming an Agricultural Educator, I am realizing more and more just how much work and dedication it takes to be a good teacher. And while this is indeed a little daunting to think about, it's also exciting too.

1. Becoming an effective teacher takes time. But, it's ok to be an amateur. 

Well this certainly wasn't what I wanted to hear when I know I will be teaching people's children in approximately 15 weeks. And yet, what a relief it was to hear and read this. But, I'm still not sure I fully believe it (that being an amateur is ok). How can it be ok to not feel completely prepared when you go to teach your first real class, knowing that you are molding and teaching real students? I'm not sure, but I think my best bet is to give it my all and to do like Kayla Hack and Janae Herr told us at our student teacher workshop: trust the process. I've had the honor of meeting and being taught by so many effective, rockstar teachers. It's easy to forget that they too, started where I am now. This thought takes me back to my summer book Drive by Daniel Pink. In the section on Mastery, he talks about how the road to mastery is a pain and while you can approach mastery, it can never actually be reached. But when you have purpose, the hard work and challenges associated with mastery is all worth it. Realizing this was a comfort to me because I know my purpose. It's the same purpose all of us as teachers have: to positively affect and touch the lives of our students. Suddenly, the road to becoming a "master" teacher seems exciting and well worth it. 

2. Learning is directly related to the effectiveness of teaching methods that are put into practice.

All of the readings this week discussed this in slightly different ways, but it was definitely a common theme. Talk about pressure! From my experiences as a student, though, I would definitely agree with this. I can't think of a class that I enjoyed and truly learned in that wasn't taught by an effective teacher. And yet, I remember discussing this week in one of my classes about growth mindsets and how students have to choose to learn. So... how can both of these statements be true? Well, I think it's because that as teachers, the methods we utilize should create an environment that motivates and causes students to make that choice to learn. That is an important distinction to make. Teaching isn't just presenting information/skills to students in varied ways and then sitting back and letting students choose to learn or not. It's about engaging students and fostering autonomy, mastery, and purpose (in the words of Daniel Pink), creating a growth mindset culture, and as Wong states in The First Days of School "exhibiting positive expectations for all students" (the list could go on). 

3. Community is essential to being an effective Agricultural Educator.

The necessity of positive community relationships seems to be everywhere I look, and for good reason. To be an effective Agricultural Educator, I truly believe that your community is key. The community is a laboratory of the instructional program (Newcomb et al., 2004). I really liked this statement from my Methods of Teaching Agriculture book. By developing positive relationships within your community, you will have all kinds of experts in agriculture that want to share their knowledge with your students. How awesome is that?! Not only that, but they also help you continue on your journey as a life-long learner and ensure that what you are teaching is up-to-date with what is going on in the Ag industry. Community can also be thought of as your teaching community. From other Agricultural Educators to experienced teachers of other subjects, building positive relationships with your colleagues will help you become a more effective teacher through advice and feedback.


Thanks for following my journey so far, I'm looking forward to seeing where the rest of this semester takes us!

References

Newcomb, L.H., McCracken, J.D., Warmbrod, J.R., & Whittington, M.S. (1993). Methods of teaching agriculture. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Pink, Daniel. (2009). Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. New York: Penguin Group.

Wong, H.K. & Wong, R.T. (2009). The first days of school: How to be an effective teacher (4th ed.). Mountain View: Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc.

Perk of being an Ag Teacher: Summer SAE visits!

I wasn't in an Agricultural Education program growing up, so when I decided to major in Agricultural and Extension Education this whole 3-circle Agricultural Education model was completely new to me. As I was trying to learn all of these new acronyms, SAE was one that caught my eye. The concept of Supervised Agricultural Experience was mind blowing. Absolute genius.

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE) is a one of three key components in an Agricultural Education program, and is intended for every student participating in Agricultural Education. At its core, SAE is experiential learning. Students get to plan, manage, and keep record of a project that exposes them to careers within Agricultural, Food, and Natural Resources industries, connects to what they're learning in the classroom, provides career/college preparation, and takes place in a real-world environment. Another important part of SAE projects is teacher supervision, hence the SAE visit.

SAE visits allow the Agricultural Educator to check in with the student and provide supervision, advice, as well promoting student reflection on their experiences. On July 10th, I had the opportunity to accompany Mr. Fellenbaum on three SAE visits around the school district!

Madison with her pigs she is raising for her SAE project

Maddie, Swine Production, Entrepreneurship SAE

At 9:00am Mr. Fellenbaum and I drove to visit Maddie at her home, where she is raising three pigs for the fair as her Entrepreneurship SAE project. The first thing we did when we got there was talked to Madison about how everything was going. Mr. Fellenbaum asked Maddie what she has done or learned about raising her pigs since his last visit. One of her pigs was recovering from an illness, so she noted that it has been important to make sure that pig was still growing and making up for the weight he had lost.

Preparing to weigh the pigs

I really enjoyed hearing what Madison had to say about her experience and see all of the hard work she was putting into raising her pigs. I have no experience with pigs, so this was all new to me! Next, Madison weighed all three pigs using a scale that Mr. Fellenbaum had brought along. After some coaxing and maneuvering, all three pigs were weighed. Then, Madison used their current weight and her records from the last time they were weighed to determine each pig’s rate of gain! Can someone say real world math?! All of this information was then recorded into Maddie’s AET record book. Maddie’s mom was present through the whole visit and shared with us how much time and hard work Madison puts into her SAE project. With the pigs happily playing with a new toy (a basketball) it was time to say goodbye and head off to our next visit.

Kenny showing us the ins and outs of his family's sprayer

Kenny, Diversified Crop Production, Placement SAE

Our 10:30am SAE visit was with Kenny, an incoming senior with a well-developed Placement SAE project. Kenny works on his family farm, where this summer he spent approximately 5 weeks spraying his family’s corn crop. He showed us his sprayer, which has an awesome built-in GPS system. He had me climb up in the machine and explained how the GPS system works as well as how it benefits both his family business by saving them money and time. Kenny informed me that he has his pesticide applicator certification and showed us how he safely prepares pesticides for application. Kenny was so knowledgeable about how to operate every part of the machine and its function, which was awesome to see. He obviously learned a lot this summer, and he even talked about how what he has learned on the farm connected to things he had learned in class! Mr. Fellenbaum didn't have to ask many questions during this part of the visit as Kenny was eager to share all about his experiences and what he's learned. I know I definitely learned a lot from Kenny and really enjoyed hearing him speak with excitement and confidence about what he does on his family farm. 

Kenny with one of the piglets

Then we went down to the barn where we looked at the pigs Kenny is raising for the fair. Kenny showed us how he takes care of the pigs and told us he has begun to walk them in preparation for the fair. Mr. Fellanbaum and Kenny also looked through his AET record book, and Mr. Fellenbaum answered a few questions Kenny had. After getting to hold a piglet and saying goodbye to Kenny, we left to go eat lunch.

Ryan showing us his tomatoes and eggplants.

Ryan, Vegetable Production, Entrepreneurship SAE

Our last SAE visit for the day was at 2:30pm with Ryan, a recent graduate of the Penn Manor Ag Ed program. Ryan’s Entrepreneurship SAE project was truly a sight to behold. Ryan owns and manages a large and growing produce business. He grows over 30 tomato varieties as well as bell peppers and eggplants on approximately 7 acres near his home. He manages all aspects of his business, which is quite impressive. He hires friends and migrant workers to help pick the produce, and pays them an hourly rate. The harvested produce gets picked up by a truck each week and is sold to companies like Blue Apron, Four Seasons, and others in the Maryland and New Jersey area. 

Ryan also works on other produce farms, which is where he learned much of what he knows now about produce farming. Ryan said he also utilizes his uncle, who is an agronomist, and Penn State Extension for advice. With years of experience and taking advantage of valuable resources available, Ryan was excited to talk to me about what he has learned. He confidently answered all of the questions I had about growing vegetables such as indeterminate vs. determinant plants, as well as various pests and how he manages them. Ryan has no intentions of stopping his SAE project and plans keep growing the business. While at our visit, Mr. Fellenbaum asked questions about what Ryan's plans for the future now that he has graduated and talked to Ryan about applying for his American Degree in the coming years.

The rewards of hard work - Bell Peppers!

I thoroughly enjoyed my day of SAE visits and getting to see more of the school district. It was great to meet Madison, Kenny, and Ryan and see how much they've learned through their SAE projects (as well as learn myself!). I'm really excited to student teach at Penn Manor and have the chance to work with students on their SAE projects in the coming year!

What Next? How to put Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose to Action. - Summer Reading Reflection 3

The whole way through Drive: The Suprising Truth About What Motivates Us I kept wondering, “Ok this is great and makes sense, but how do I use this new knowledge??” I think I felt this way because while Pink kept saying that these three elements of motivation were the key to performance and satisfaction in every aspect of our lives, most of his examples took place in the business world.

It was during my reflections that I was able to stop and really think about how I could promote autonomy, mastery, and purpose into an Agricultural Education program and even into other areas of my life. Discussing what I had read with Mr. Fellenbaum was also very beneficial because he provided examples from his own classroom and gave me another perspective.

Daniel Pink must have known that people would be reading his book and thinking “OK but HOW?” because I flip the page to begin the 3rd part of the book and it’s titled "The Type I Toolkit". Pink starts off by saying, “This is your guide to taking the ideas in this book and putting them into action”. Here are the key takeaways I took from Pink’s toolkit that I can use to bring autonomy, mastery, and purpose into my own life and into the classroom:

1. Reflect, and keep asking the important questions.

“A great man is a sentence.” - advice from U.S. Congresswoman Clare Luce to President John F. Kennedy.

Something that really stuck with me from this section of Drive is that one way to hone in on purpose is to think about “your sentence”. Pink gives the example, “Abraham Lincoln’s sentence was: ‘He preserved the union and freed the slaves.’” Forming your sentence and keeping it in the back of your mind seems like a good and relatively easy way to stay motivated, especially when things become frustrating. So - what’s your sentence??

The next step to staying motivated is to reflect each day and ask yourself “Was I a little better today than yesterday?” This helps you see progress and to not get frustrated when you don’t achieve something as quickly as you’d like.

While this can definitely be used in your individual life, I also think this tool can be used at the beginning of the school year. You can have your students write down their major goal for the school year and every day on their ticket out have one component be to answer one way they have improved from yesterday. It would be interesting to see if that improved student motivation and thus their performance/engagement in the classroom.

2. Engagement, not compliance, is key.

The second major concept I got from Pink’s toolkit is how important it is to engage your students. By promoting engagement instead of compliance you are bringing those three crucial elements of motivation into your classroom. Homework is one area I feel that this concept especially applies.

I remember when I was in high school I would spend most weeknights doing homework all evening. Literally all evening, from the time I got home to the time I finally let myself go to bed (with a break for dinner). While some of that homework was engaging and actually helped me learn, a great deal of it, in the words of Pink, “stole my free time in the service of a false sense of rigor”. And some of it was just pointless and time consuming. I say all of this because when I am a teacher I want to make sure any homework I give has a true purpose and is engaging, and not just something my students complete because I told them to complete it. Here is a three-question test for homework to help determine if the assignment is actually worthwhile:

1. Am I offering student any autonomy over how and when to do this work?
2. Does this assignment promote mastery by offering a novel engaging task?
3. Do my students understand the purpose of this assignment?

3. Motivation won’t magically appear over night.

I think it’s important to keep in mind that you can’t expect to make a change in how you run your classroom or your own life and expect the results to be immediate. It’s also good to remember that the changes don’t have to be huge and/or occur all at once. Even a small step in the right direction is important. All of Pink’s examples talk about how employers resisted at first and how it took some time for everyone to adjust, but once they did things improved and pretty much everyone was happy with the change. This is something I definitely want to keep in mind though the coming year, and when I have my own classroom someday.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It challenged my thoughts, provoked discussions and reflection, and ultimately changed the way I see motivation. I’m looking forward to using and sharing this knowledge in the fall as I prepare to student teach!