Virtual Mentor Exploration #1

"What is your teaching philosophy and/or core values as an agriculture educator?"

This week I was able to Call, Zoom, and Email my virtual mentor team to pick their brains about the prompt listed above. Their responses were intriguing and I felt very compelled to share them with my readers.  

Kevin Keith: National FFA Organization Local Program Success Team member

• ‘Each student in unique, just like everybody else’… they all learn differently, have a different life experience and know more about one topic than anyone else does.

CONNECTION TO WEEKLY INVESTMENT #4 BLOG - Learning Modalities, Multiple Intelligence

• The sweetest thing that most students ever hear is their name, the name that they prefer to be called by, and the preferred pronunciation of it. I have had students with oddly spelled names and had them remember for years that I was the “one person” who remembered how to spell their name and how important it made them feel. 

CONNECTION TO WEEKLY INVESTMENT #4 BLOG - Angela Maiers, You Matter  

• I strive to provide a safe educational environment where a student can develop emotionally, mentally, socially and become a leader in their own way/right (maybe by example, maybe by word, deed, mentoring relationships, etc.)  

• I believe in transparency, in admitting mistakes and apologizing and doing everything I can to ‘make it right’.  

• I believe in the importance of experiential learning, in applying learning to the actual world that the students can grasp… in helping them understand why they might need to know something, how they might use it, and why it might make a difference to them.  

• I believe that one of the most uncommon things is common sense and that we are fools to assume that anyone is a master of common sense.  

• I believe that safety and a knowledge of safe practices in classrooms, laboratories, the workplace, etc. is paramount to success of our educational programming.  

CONNECTION TO AEE 350 - Safety Contract Assignment 

• I believe that it is no accident that agricultural education include classroom and laboratory learning, work based/experiential learning, and leadership, personal growth and career success through the FFA, as it’s philosophical base and feel that it is criminal for any of our teachers to rob the student of one or more of these important components.  

CONNECTION TO AEE 413 - Three Circle Model & Program Planning

• Finally – I believe in a concept I call, “Ya Gotta Wanna” – I believe that everyone can achieve, but it doesn’t just happen, you need to plan, to set measureable goals, to practice, to adjust and refine your plan, goals and process, to measure progress, and practice more…

Mrs. Katie Ranck: Agriculture Educator at Elanco, #PSUAgEd16

Katie believes in fully implementing the three circle model. She utilizes a day in class to cover the three circle model and why it works for agriculture education, this help her students find meaning in what she asks them to do.

SAE is a heavily weighted portion of her students grades. She acknowledges that this is an extrinsic motivator, but owns that there is further recognition and opportunities for her students for them to reach own their own, at an intrinsic motivation level.

FFA is encouraged for all students. I'll have the opportunity to see her implement this circle when I travel with her to the National FFA Convention and Expo this fall!

Classroom instruction is something that she dedicates herself to whole-heartedly. This summer, I saw her investments she made for her students by attending the PAAE conference. 

She added to our phone call that she was beginning her Master's Degree and they had just began philosophy work in the program. The irony of reflection that she was going through for class made it easy to discuss this topic for her. 

Mrs. Renee Cambruzzi: Agriculture Educator at McGuffey

My teaching philosophy is simple; respect, nurture and guide. High school students still need to be nurtured and guided but treated with respect and consideration. They deserve a teacher that is caring and compassionate but is holding them to high expectations and challenging them to reach their greatest potential.

I believe a teacher's role is to guide rather than act as the primary source of information. Students need the opportunity to discover for themselves and practice skills in real-world situations. Providing students access to hands-on activities and allowing adequate time and space to use materials that reinforce the lesson creates an opportunity for construction of knowledge.

CONNECTION TO AEE 412 - Scaffolding

I believe students need to have the opportunity to study things that are meaningful and relevant to one's life and interests. Developing a curriculum around student interests fosters intrinsic motivation and stimulates the passion to learn.When students have ownership in the classroom they are motivated to work hard and to reach their goals.

CONNECTION TO SUMMER READING DRiVE - Autonomy, Intrinsic Motivations

I believe that it is important to nurture positive student / teacher relationships. The more you understand about the students in your room will help you to develop a community instead of just a class. In the classroom community, students learn to effectively communicate with each other and are more likely to feel safe to share their ideas, fail and learn.

I believe that as an agriculture educator it is my job to never stop learning. It is important to make professional development a priority each year to improve teaching practices, curriculum and student success.

The Importance of your local Fair

Having been a 4H, FFA, Alternate Fair Queen, and active volunteer, my local Fair is something that is near and dear to my heart. I owe a lot of my fond memories of the Fair to my 4H leaders and FFA Advisor/Ag Teachers.

I had the privilege to attend the York Fair with Mrs. Barzydlo to complete two SAE visits and see what Dover Area High School Agriculture Students were up to at the Fair. 

The FFA chapter was well represented by their first place educational display, FFA members showing animals, and participants in the Dairy-Skill-a-thon that I got to assist with. 

Additionally, I met with the York Extension Agent Linda Spahr, who was incredibly knowledgeable and her 4H members loved her. Also, we visited the Agriculture Education Building where the Chapter Displayed their Officers with the #IamFFA movement to encourage people to join FFA. 

I was able to ask Mrs. Barzydlo about all the things an Ag Teacher does to prepare for the fair and assist with while the fair is going on. I also asked her what she does to enjoy the fair for herself, which she replied that first you must rotate responsibilities if you have a multi-teacher program, and second you must set aside one day which you come with your family and stick to a no-business policy.

It's safe to safe my experience at the York Fair was AWESOME, and I can't wait to help at my future program's local fair as well.

SAE Visits

As many of my readers know, an ideal Agriculture Education Program embraces the three-circle model. Often times the most difficult circle to include in a program is SAE. Utilizing SAE in the classroom allows students to apply their agricultural knowledge outside the classroom and develop skills that we many not be able to teach inside our classroom.

SAE visits are critical in keeping students on the proper course of growth and development in their SAE projects. Bonuses of SAE visits include bonding with the student and developing a professional relationship and well as gaining a better understanding of their home life and developing relationships with their parents. 

During the York Fair, Mrs. Barzydlo and I visited with two students to complete their SAE visit. One was a dairy beef project and one was a swine project. 

While we visited with the students we asked critical questions about their goals, challenges they faced, and their accomplishments with the project animals. 

The student with the dairy beef project was a graduate that will be receiving his American FFA Degree in October. While we visited he shared some of his beef and cheese bologna with us to taste. He mentioned that there had been a communication error with the local butcher he uses and they had made the bologna roll larger than the previous times, which he was not please about for sale purposes.

Both students were showing several animals at the York Fair and were excited. They felt confident in the animals they raised

Exploring Dover Area School District's Agriscience Program

If you want the Insider's Scoop on what goes on at Dover Area High School's Agriculture Program, check out this video of my cooperating center!



PS: Mrs. Barzydlo and Ms. Boltz were planning to have a guided video tour of the department during their August check in, but a sudden, strong thunderstorm knocked the school out of power!

DRiVE Part 3

THE TYPE i TOOLKIT

DRiVE, by Daniel Pink concludes with ample amounts off methods to improve intrinsic motivation in businesses, classrooms, and throughout your life.

Things to ponder:

What is your Sentence? 

A congresswoman once told President JFK, “a great man is a sentence. Lincoln’s was: ‘he preserved the union and freed the slaves.’ FDR’s was: ‘he lifted us out of the Great Depression and helped us win a world war.’ What is your sentence?”

By reorganizing, and focusing on a singular leading task we are able to gain traction on what matters most to us, and what will motivate us intrinsically.

Mine as a future educator would be "Lisa inspired students to achieve their greatest potential and develop a life long passion for agriculture."

COMMENT what your sentence would be!

 What did you accomplish today?

As you work to achieve your sentence from the last question remember how you eat an elephant; one bite at a time.

Ask yourself at the end of the day: “are you better today than you were yesterday?”

Write down your small incremental steps and remind yourself you won’t be a master in a few days; mastery is a journey of a thousand steps.

As a student teacher in the spring, I have purchased a small white board for my room. ON this white board I plan to do two things. 

1. Write down a small attainable goal each morning, such as sticking to my "set-up" routine before each class, resolving a conflict with a student, or grading a class's assignment prior to leaving the school.

2. Write down any progress I had made that day, such as I helped a student and saw the "light-bulb" turn on.

Conduct deliberate practice

The best way to improve is to apply effort toward improving performance; to do this follow these few tips: 

1. Set a stretch goal. Remember that the goal of practice is to improve performance, not to go through the motions. 

In the spring this would look like making goals which I would rely on my virtual mentors and Mrs. Barzydlo for assistance to meet, such as connecting with a student or diversifying my lessons to meet my learner's needs more adequately.

2. Understand your weaknesses, and direct your effort there.

Throughout the fall in 412, 413, and 295 I will adequately identify my weaknesses. Knowing this information going into spring semester will allow me to create a game plan to reach those stretch-goals.

3. Apply full concentration and effort. It’s going to be mentally and physically exhausting.

I take this advice with a grain of salt. Yes I must prepare and have GRIT, but I cannot forget to take time out of each day, even 5 minutes, to re-charge my batteries.

4. Receive immediate and informative feedback. This will point out how to improve.

I am fortunate to have a wonderful mentor team, cohort members, Penn State supervisors and cooperating teachers to guide me through feedback to become a better educator.

5. Repeat, with discipline. Mastery is the sum of thousands of small events, done day in and day out.

Similar to the question, "what did you accomplish today?" I can create a daily motivations to power through. Overtime this will help you develop grit.

Improving Intrinsic Motivation In My Classroom

Give 20% Time for Self-Chosen Projects

Companies like google and 3M have had success in implementing 20% time to generate free thinking. This would be a good practice to allow students to have a free-friday to work on various Ag related tasks such as working in AET, completing projects due, or exploring other areas of content they were curious about. 

Turn an Off-Site into a Fedex Day

Teachers can set aside the day for when students can choose what to work on, with the only rule being that they must deliver. They can deliver a new idea, a prototype, a better process, or more.

In an Agriculture Classroom they have ENDLESS opportunities to deliver on their learning. 

Conduct Anonymous Surveys of Autonomy and Purpose

Ask questions like “how much autonomy do you have over your learning in my class?” and “what is our organization’s purpose?”

How can I know how my students really feel if I don't ask them?

Give Yourself Performance Reviews

It’d be crazy to imagine an athlete like Lebron James getting feedback or coaching just once a year, in a 1-hour session. Try to seek more management feedback for yourself.

In addition, give yourself performance reviews. Set performance and learning goals at the beginning of the month, and then evaluate your performance at the end of the month.

Involve students in Goal Setting

Bring students into the goal-setting process. This will give students ownership over our goals and make them feel more driven toward accomplishing them.

Transitioning into the changes

A theory is perfect, until we make it practice

As a student, you might feel helpless if the teacher suddenly changes your entire routine.

• Start small. Don’t worry about changing the whole classroom overnight, change one routine piece at a time and allow the students to adjust accordingly.
• Experiment in a committed fashion. Try with all your might, but don't be afraid to scrap an idea and start new if it isn't working.
• Emphasize results. To get students to see their improvements, show them improved learning, point out curious behavior, or tell them you are proud of their accomplishments.

DRiVE: Part 2

In part 2, Daniel Pink does a fantastic job of explaining the three elements of creating intrinsic motivation (Motivation 3.0) and push past motivation 2.0!

Daniel Pink details autonomy, mastery, and purpose as the three elements that enhance motivation 3.0 and foster Type i people. 

My take away for each element:

Autonomy: Because people are naturally curious and active people can function efficiently in their own way; management influence can hinder the creative thought process. Also, "flex time" is actually control in sheep's clothing! Truly handing over the reins to employees or students to develop a ROWE (results only work environment) is critical to establish autonomy.

Mastery: The desire to get better at something that matters answers the question, Why do it? I want my future students to "forget themselves in the function" and get into the flow of engagement.

Purpose: This provides a context for autonomy and mastery by creating "A cause larger than themselves" 

What does this look like in real life? 

"They vs. We companies (my classroom)"

How will this impact my fall?

I will certainly be observant of type i professors at Penn State. Learning and observing is how I can become more proficient in these areas. This will be useful as I develop my own teaching philosophy.

I will also incorporate autonomy, mastery, and purpose into my assignments and assessments for my students and in the projects I will create in preparation for student teaching.

How will this impact my spring?

Getting students to evolve into type i students will be easier when utilizing autonomy, mastery, and purpose in my classroom. 

I was asked several types about how I can incorporate these theories in my class without undermining administration or other teaching philosophies, and that is a difficult question. My best solution to this would be allowing the students to be autonomous in meeting the requirements of the administration. 

For instance, Bell Work is a requirement at Dover Area High School, to goal of warming up for the day would be a goal for the students to accomplish, but achieving that goal or answering that question would be in the student's control.

Mentorship team feedback

Answering the questions of my past blog has built upon the information gained in this part of the book. Linking the two parts together makes the theory more feasible in a classroom.