It Doesn't End at 2:45

The life of an ag. teacher.   I think no two definitions would ever be the same.  It is a whirl wind of classroom instruction, grading, SAE visits, CDE practices, county ag. teacher meetings, banquet planning, traveling to state and national events, professional development workshops and much more. 

This week at Lampeter Strasburg was one of those weeks and more.  On Monday, I visited a cohort member of mine to complete an assignment.  That meant leaving sub plans and anticipating the students would get through everything I had set forth for them to do.  Traveling for me, up early away from my students all day and arriving home late in the evening.  To figure out what to make for supper, take the clothes out of the washer and put into the dryer that I had forgotten to do the night before and check my email which I did not get to at all during the day.  My email brought to my attention one of my classes did not get through all the material I had set forth for them.  However, with preparation, anticipation and planning I nipped that setback in the butt and was ready to be back in my classroom for Tuesday. 

Tuesday and Wednesday brought full days of instruction.  My vet science 1 class has begun learning about the dairy industry and I am very excited!  My welding and electrical class are about to begin their individual projects and are pumped to make or repair something of their own.  Vet science 2 is right into the “bone” of things learning all about the skeletal system and fractures.  I myself am learning just as much as them.  If not more! 

Thursday brought an early dismal… at least for the students.  The rest of the faculty/staff and myself spent the afternoon completing suicide prevention modules, grading papers, constructing SLO’s, and preparing for our evening ag. advisory board meeting. 

Spring break was a far off maybe even fictional place for me.  As 7:30 came around Lampeter Strasburg conducted their second of two required ag. advisory board meetings.  Sitting their listening to the educational curriculum coordinator, members from the community, and other teachers I again was reminded that being an ag. teacher doesn’t mean you have to go at it alone.  There are so many people who can help, want to strengthen, and improve your program.

Walter Biddle Saul Agriculture High School Visit

This past week I visited Ms. Olivia Murphy-Sweet at Walter Biddle Saul Agricultural High School.  It was great to do a little traveling and visit with another cohort member.  The day started early to try and beat some of the Monday morning traffic I might encounter on my way to Philadelphia.  Luckily, traffic wasn’t too intense and I made it for the entirety of Ms. Sweet’s first period class! 

I had never been to W.B. Saul, but had heard about the awesome things their program did on the outskirts of Philadelphia.  W.B. Saul has over 15 agriculture instructors and four pathways students can choose to take if they are accepted into the school at the end of their eighth grade year. 

The morning began with me observing Ms. Sweet’s vet science class.  They were going over diseases and Ms. Sweet did an awesome interest approach with them using a black light and having one of the student’s be “infected”.  The students really took to this interest approach and she had them hooked from the start of the period.  Ms. Sweet then went over with them about how the body fights diseases and infections.  The remainder of the class period was spent with the students working on their OSHA certification.  During this time I got to interact with some of the students and they showed me all the different types of animals they have in their vet science class.  These animals ranged from lizards, ferrets, mice, rats, guinea pigs, and even dogs! 

After Ms. Sweet’s first period class I got to take a tour of Saul.  As I said before students can choose a pathway at the beginning of their ninth grade year.  Saul offers horticulture, food science, animal science, and environmental science.  Their facilities were incredible.  With greenhouses and students working on floriculture designs to a meat science lab and students learning how to cut an animal down from whole hog to retail cuts.  Saul also has an operating dairy, horses, hogs, and sheep for the students to enhance their animal science skills.

The afternoon brought Ms. Sweet’s three hour environmental science class!  That’s correct you heard me right three hours of instruction.  Ms. Sweet did a phenomenal job with variability of instruction and keeping learners on task.  The lesson she was teaching while I was there was about different types of root systems.  After going over the day’s instruction the students spent the remainder of the class period presenting their environmental workshops to Ms. Sweet and me.  These workshops will later be conducted to middle school students at their environmental field day.  The last half hour of class I got to take a tour of their community garden and honeybees they recently reestablished.

My visit to Saul was more than I ever could have imagined.  In the heart of one of Pennsylvania’s largest cities agriculture education is thriving.         

The banquet of the Garden Spot FFA Chapter will now come to order.

Student teaching is well past the halfway point and spring is certainly in the air!  For FFA members it is banquet season and practicing for CDE’s.  Every day I am amazed how awesome my cooperating center is.  The students I teach make what I do enjoyable not just bearable.  The faculty and staff are great and are extremely impressed in the young men and woman who come out of the ag. program.  As I said earlier banquet season is upon us.  Thursday night was the Garden Spot’s FFA banquet.

Again, I was impressed by the students’ preparation which occurred well before the banquet.  They worked diligently preparing the guest list, ordering supplies, picking up flowers, and assembling the auditorium.  It was evident this banquet was not put on by the advisors, but rather the members.  The advisors were there for well simply advice.  The members knew very well the traditions of such an event and had large shows to fill for a specific reason as well. 

The night of the banquet came and I must say the students did an excellent job!  The auditorium shined with blue and gold pride.  This year’s FFA theme is telling your story and as the night went on I think the students did just that!  Something that they did which never occurred at my FFA banquets is they recapped their year.  Many of the FFA members shared a brief overview or story of the events which the Garden Spot FFA chapter participated in.  Banquets are a time to look back on the previous year, acknowledge the accomplishments of its members, and share in good food and fellowship.  Garden Spot’s banquet encompassed all of that.

As the banquet came to a close there was still one more person to be recognized for their dedication to the program.  The Greenhand Degrees, Proficiency Award Winners, and Keystone Degree recipients had all been recognized.  The final celebration of the evening spanned a breadth of 40 years.  That is correct you heard me right 40 years!  That is going back to 1976!  Mr. Smith who is the other ag. teacher at Lampeter Strasburg is hanging it up at the end of this school year and beginning his retirement.  I cannot even describe the respect students, faculty and staff, prior students, and the community members have for this man.  Last night showed just how much an impact one person can have on the lives of others.  Sitting there in my seat as Mr. Smith was being recognized I thought just how fortunate I am to get to work with him and Mrs. Oberholtzer to learn as much as I can about agriculture education before I begin teaching my own students in my own program.  As Mr. Smith took the stage to give his remarks these words he said are the reason why I chose the profession I am in.  “I just wanted to be able to provide students with the skill sets, knowledge, and opportunities to be able to better themselves long after I have had them.” 

Advocating Agriculture

What is the toughest challenge American Agriculture faces in the next five years?  This was the question that was asked multiple times at a presentation in Manheim my cooperating teachers and I took members of our ag. classes and FFA to.  Trent Loos was his name and he is a radio talk show host who has taken it upon himself to bridge the gap between consumers and producers of the products they use. 

Being an ag. instructor, now more than ever we must mold well informed, knowledgeable, investigative leaders for tomorrow.  I have noticed that being an ag. instructor is no longer about teaching a class full of farm boys and girls who will be going back directly to the farm.  Student teaching in Lancaster County the largest agriculture producing county in PA has proven this to me even more.  The students who now are taking ag. classes are growing up in suburban developments, might have an uncle or grandfather who farms, or are two or more generations removed from the farm.  Being an ag. instructor today means teaching students to understand where their food comes from and how it is grown and harvested.  Understanding that genetically modified organisms have been in place for over two decades and regulations are put in place to protect you and your loved ones. 

We must find creative new ways to entice students to take our classes and want to learn about agriculture.  The population is only rising and there will be jobs in agriculture to provide food and fiber, resources, and education to others.  As an ag. educator we have an opportunity to plant the seed in a student to grow and flourish into a soil scientist and protect soil quality.  Become a wildlife manager and figure out ways in which urbanization and wildlife species can still sustain themselves.  Become a doctor and understand the importance of animal research and be an advocate for it because they took an ag. class. These are just three examples of what being an ag. teacher today to me means. 

Don’t get me wrong I love production agriculture and could talk about cows, plows, and sows all day long, but that no longer is the majority it is more like the minority of what we teach.  If anything what I took from Wednesday’s presentation is that I can be that “coupling” between students and the questions or uncertainties they may have relating to agriculture.  I can be that voice for farmers whose farm the school bus passes by each day.  I’m up for that challenge.  Because I believe American agriculture can and will hold true to the best traditions of our national life…     

First Timer... SLLC 2016

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of this past week I attended The State Legislative Leadership Conference (SLLC) with my cooperating teacher and five FFA members.  This conference was just as exciting and informative for me as it was the students.  This was my first time ever attending SLLC myself.  FFA members from across Pennsylvania gathered together in Harrisburg to better understand the legislative process.  Students engaged in parliamentary procedure, learning how bills are created and passed, and reading bills being presented in the House of Senate of Pennsylvania.  From the moment students arrive they are enhancing their knowledge of public service, meeting new people, and conducting community service. 

I was excited to attend SLLC because I had never gone as an FFA member.  The conference itself blew my mind away with the amount of information students absorb which is very beneficial to them, their chapter, and most importantly the community they live in.  Being there from an advisor stand point I helped grade proficiencies with other agriculture instructors.  Taking part in this activity opened my eyes to the long hours our dedicated ag. teachers put in to allow for their students to succeed and achieve great things.  I also took part in an Edu Camp with other ag. teachers.  I enjoyed this workshop to be able to gain a plethora of information and knowledge from experienced instructors and advisors. 

Everyone at the conference as well participated in community service.  Our chapter along with numerous others helped do some spring cleaning at local churches.  This was a nice break from the long sessions our students had been in and to get our hands dirty a little bit.  It was nice lending a helping hand completing tasks that would have taken multiple days for these churches to complete. 

We ended the conference Tuesday morning having a breakfast and meeting legislators.  I thought this was a great experience for the students to get to engage in conversation with their local representatives and tell them all about what the FFA does and stands for.

Science Classoom Visit

On Tuesday March 16, I visited Mr. Sterner’s Chemistry class comprised of twenty-six students.  We had arranged for an earlier visit; however an unexpected illness pushed my visit back to a day that was largely made up of review.  When I entered the classroom, the essential question was displayed on the whiteboard along with a practice problem that was to serve as their bell ringer.  Students were very familiar with the procedures, and came in and began working on the problem right away.  I was nervous that a review day was going to limit the amount of instruction that I was able to see, however it turned out really well!  I really enjoyed seeing how he handled reviewing with his students prior to a unit exam.

Throughout the lesson, the teacher worked to focus the students’ attention on the presentation by constantly walking the room.  He started by instructing by the board, but he taught all throughout the room.  As a result, students remained more engaged, as they were constantly changing the location of their focus, as opposed to just staring up front while Mr. Sterner taught.


I was also able to observe the teacher capitalizing on student interest by providing real life examples of the content they were learning.  Granted, there was a relatively high level of interest, as students knew they had a test quickly approaching!  He also allowed students to give examples that they had in order to provide a wider base of information and comparisons for the students.


While working to introduce the new material the beginning of class, the teacher worked to show the work needed to complete the molarity equations.  The teacher showed all of the work for several problems on the board.  I believe that to improve this, however, he should have had students come up and show their work.  The last five minutes of class were designated to distributing student learning maps for the next unit.  I believe that this was another technique used to provide a framework for students as they were able to look forward and know what to expect for the upcoming unit.  After talking with Mr. Sterner, this is something that he does for every unit he teaches in every class. 


Finally, another observation I was able to make while observing Mr. Sterner was his ability to clarify the goals he had for the students.  I was really able to see this as he laid out the expectations he had for his students on the following Monday.  He was attending a conference, and would be leaving the test for a sub to proctor.  Mr. Sterner did a great job with his students.  He had a really large class, but he was able to keep all of them engaged as he introduced new material, and reviewed all of the previous material.  I could tell that the students respected him as a teacher, and in turn he had great student rapport. 

SAE Visit Down on the Farm Tractor Restoration

Recently I visited a student of mine and got to see his SAE projects he has worked on the last four years of high school.  Before heading out to visit, Mark and I looked at his AET record book and evaluated the overall record book specifically honing in on his goals section.  We talked about how after graduation it will be crucial for him to continue putting in detailed records like he does now.  Mark is currently a senior at Lampeter Strasburg High School and has taken ag. classes all throughout his high school career.  Currently Mark is taking tractors and machinery.  He is the head foreman on rebuilding an Allis Chalmers C.  Mark’s knowledge and skills truly shine when he is in the agricultural mechanics shop.

Mark is a talented welder and machinist.  I met Mark in the shop on his family farm where he has spent much of his time in the evenings and on weekends.  For his placement project books Mark has restored two tractors.  Mark has over 500 hours combined in the two tractors.  The first tractor Mark restored was a Farmall 100.  Most of the restoration on this tractor was minor engine repair, hydraulics, and painting it.  The second tractor Mark restored was a Farmall 300.  When Mark got this tractor it had seen better days.  Mark overhauled the entire tractor rebuilding the carburetor, tinkering with the torq-amplifier, adjusting the hydraulics, replacing the tires, and painting it. 

Mark finds his satisfaction working in the shop on equipment.  This winter he received his Keystone Degree and is going to continue with a placement SAE on the family farm to get his American Degree.  Mark lives on a family owned dairy farm and hopes to take it over from his dad and uncle when the right time comes.  Visits like this have shown me the connections you can make on a more personal level with your students.  The excitement Mark had showing me his project was contagious.  I look forward to making more visits in the up in coming weeks with students who have gotten livestock animals to show at the fair.

Proud Teacher Moment

Tuesday in Vet Science 2 I taught a lesson on Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs).  Expected Progeny Differences are something that beef producers use to compare bulls.  This statistical analysis helps producers choose the bull which is the best fit for their herd.  Areas within an EPD are calving ease difficulty, weaning weight, weaning yearling weight, and milk for example. This lesson was something exciting for me to teach because I don’t know much about the beef cattle industry, but it is a lot like the statistical analysis dairy farmers use. 

This lesson also brought a bit of a challenge because on Tuesday I had a visitor in my classroom.  This visitor was a bit of a big deal because he certainly knew his stuff when it came to EPDs.  Needless to say the lesson went off without a hitch.  It was probably one of the best lessons I have taught up until this point.  Halfway through my lesson my visitor actually jumped in and began co-teaching my lesson with me!  I have co-taught before and every time I have it has been a very positive experience.  My students by the end of the lesson had a solid understanding of how to read an EPD, but some questions thrown to them they didn’t quite get.  Only because many of them have very little production background experience with cattle, however when my visitor began asking them questions about genetics and breeding practices they were able to sufficiently answer his questions. 

This was a proud teacher moment for me.  Standing there in the room watching my students articulate their answers and understand the reasoning behind doing such breeding practices brought great joy to me.  I got to observe that the information I had taught them prior they retained!  Being a student teacher there are times when I ask myself are they really getting what I am trying to convey to them.  Tuesday showed that the lectures, worksheets, PowerPoints, and hands on activities I set out for them are meaningful.  The satisfaction is unexplainable.

FYI my visitor was my university supervisor.