Change can be a Good Thing

This week was going to be something that had been in the making for almost a year now. Before I even thought about lesson plans, I decided to complete a split semester of student teaching. I was changing teaching sites, and I was not sure how I was going to handle the switch. But, there were other items on my agenda before I could think about that.

I was traveling to the State Legislative Leadership Conference (SLLC) with four of my students. I had very little idea of what the conference was about, and how it related to FFA, but I was excited and very happy to have this opportunity. So we traveled down to Harrisburg, and I had a nice change of pace dealing with students who were juniors, very different from my regular freshman and sophomores. This group was very interesting because the guys were outgoing to say the least, and active members of the FFA holding leadership positions. I was ready to see them grow throughout the conference, and maybe even surprise me in some ways.

We finally made it to Harrisburg, and everyone was all ready for the new and exciting experiences ahead. The students had discussions and group meetings all day Sunday on house and senate bills, and I knew they were exhausted by bedtime. They had a long day ahead of them, and I had a productive day myself working with my teacher on the AET system. On Monday, we were in for some interesting projects to help out the community. Each group of students went out into the community to perform service in various locations. The students and I went to a church in Mechanicsburg, PA, where we fixed up the church, cleaning it up and down for important, upcoming events. I was so proud of my students from Cowanesque because they jumped right in, took the tasks presented to them without hesitation, and had a great experience. I could tell how proud my students were after it was all over, and they gained more than just a few community service hours.

On Tuesday morning, coming up at the end of the conference, I experienced something I had never done before. The students and I were going to have breakfast with our Legislative Representative. I was pumped for the students especially because Rep. Matt Baker was a former graduate of the Cowanesque Valley High School. We did the whole photo op and even got to meet the Secretary of Ag! My students look good, standing tall, with unmistakable pride. I was amazed to see the passion, poise, and growth that happened in the past few days. SLLC was a great experience for me and my students, and a fitting way to end my teaching at Cowanesque Valley.

On Wednesday, I entered a whole new teaching atmosphere. I entered my second half of the internship at Shaver's Creek. I got there and got my bearings to my expectations, routine, and future tasks that I was going to complete. It felt weird to be outside of the classroom, and I was not sure how I was going to handle this. The first day was good, and I was ready for this weekend and the PAEE conference.

Heather Pray, former AEE graduate, conducts her workshop.

   The weekend conference held many new experiences that any educator would benefit from attending. I was there for the full conference, and by the end of it all I was mentally exhausted. I had so much information at the end that I could not believe it. I tried to step out of the box with some of the workshops, and tried to find items that could relate to an Ag Ed classroom. Some of the best workshops focused on building community gardens and utilizing the food produced, and the other ones that were important had Envirothon curriculum and also talked about the Next Generation Science Standards. The Envirothon workshop was taught by former AEE graduate Heather Pray, and it was nice to have someone else there to relate agriculture to the many environmental educators.    

New Generation Science Standards….Good or Bad?

The other workshop that really got me fired up was the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). As I sat and listened, this was just an amazing system of standards. I was able to view all of them with ease and the website had all of the connections to English, Math, and even Social Studies. I just shook my head because this would have my life so much easier when I was writing all the lesson plans. I was so happy I got to see the standards because they will be surfacing in the future. Pennsylvania's education system will change at some point, but I want to have as much information so I can obtain a teaching job. 

This conference was a great learning experience and I was able to get to know many of the Shaver's Creek staff much more. I was excited for this weekend, and I wish more educators would go outside of their comfort zones and attend more conferences. We strive to be lifelong learners, but that doesn't mean we only have to learn about one specific area, like agriculture or science in general. We need to see other perspectives and connect with all teachers to create a well-rounded experience for students in every subject.