What is it to be CREATIVE?

It's sad to say that this semester is coming to a close. I have learned so much, met some amazing people and strengthened bonds between others. The last day of lab was mysterious and fun. All we were told was to bring a unit plan that we had written and to come prepared to be creative. I was a little nervous since I know I'm not an overly creative person.

Once we were in lab, our instructor said we were taking a field trip. A field trip in college!? We went to the dollar tree to pick out 5 things that would make the unit plan we had in our hand more creative. I chose my FFA unit plan and had no clue how the dollar tree could help me make it more creative. I eventually settled on these items:

Party hats, white out, 2 different colored streamers and a feather duster. Might as well add a partridge in a pear tree! I chose the streams for my students to make the FFA official dress on a group member. My idea was to have it be a timed even where two teams had to dress up one person in official dress. Whichever team had the best dressed person won!

The party hat, white out and feather duster are to practice running a meeting. The party hats would have the different officer positions written on them with he white out. The students would take turns being each officers and therefore wearing each different hat. The feather duster would act as the gavel. I really liked how this lab brought out our creativity. They just let us go in a store with the one mission to make our unit more creative. I really hope they continue to do this lab!! Thanks for reading!

Life Knowledge

For one of my lab requirements I went to my cooperating center, Juanita Valley, and taught a life knowledge lesson. These lessons are found on The National FFA Organization website. They are completed lessons about FFA, SAE, Leadership, and there are many other topics. Since the class I was to teach just had a week on FFA I choose to teach the FFA accomplishment lesson. Students think about things they have accomplished in life, things they can accomplish through FFA and things they can accomplish in their future.

The lesson was quite a bomb, and by bomb I mean bad. It was difficult to complete some of the lesson worksheets together because I thought the students knew more than they did. When reviewing the lesson I didn't take into account that these students were freshman and had barely heard of FFA until last week. They had a very basic knowledge of what it was and I was trying to build off concepts that an upper classman might have. Therefore, I had to improvise throughout the lesson. As a class we focuses more on what the students were good at and where they needed improvement on. I had them draw out areas they felt accomplished in and areas they thought they could use work. They all shared their creations with the class. Next, we worked on how will the continue to improve. We talked about and defined accomplishment and reflected on what makes us feel accomplished. I think it was a good lesson, just not the one I had walked in prepared to teach.

I also got another experience on this day at my cooperating center, one that I wasn't quite prepared for. That day was also the fruit delivery day. Most FFA's in Pennsylvania do a citrus sale as their main fundraiser. My high school had a citrus sale but it wasn't as large as Juanita Valleys. Other than teaching, I spend the day unloading, sorting and stacking boxes upon boxes of fruit. I loved getting to see how they organized everything and got a few ideas of how I would like to do it in the future at my own school. It was a really great bonding experience with the kids. I really enjoyed meeting new students and seeing the students I spend time with in Kentucky for the National Convention. I was beyond tired when I got home but I was really glad it was such a productive day. Thanks for reading!!

Genius Hour - Where Passions Come Alive

Genius hour was the lab I was most excited for in my AEE 412 class. We were told to "geek out" on some educational aspect and come to class to present. It was so much fun to just have time to explore different types of research about teaching and learning. I immediately went to TED Talks. I love the educational TED Talks, I get very inspired. Immediately after watching Angela Duckworth speak about Grit I knew that's what I wanted to show my peers at our genius hour.

To rewind a little I should explain genius hour. This idea was developed and is implemented at Google. Google gives it's employees part of the paid work week (essential an hour) to work on any personal project they want to explore for the company. This is how Gmail the web master for google was brought to life. The employees are given this time to explore anything they want or fiddle with programs to enhance them. It give the employees freedoms which in turn makes some great ideas and motivated them.

Back to grit- Grit came about after looking at keys to success for students in school. There has always been a large portion of student success determined by socio economic status or SES. However, Ms. Duckworth has researched and found that grit can overrule SES. Grit is a students ability to persistently work towards long term goals. It's a students ability to persevere through life's challenges in order to achieve their goal. It shows determination, passion and persistency will help students achieve. So we've recognized what helps students achieve, now how do we foster a grit mindset in our students? BAM... that's the big question. I plan on keeping grit in mind and making a poster in the future to hang in my room as a reminder to my students to be resilient when times get tough.

It was awesome to "geek out" for the glass with all my peers. They had some amazing ideas and it's so much fun to hear and reflect on them all! Thanks for reading!!

First Day of School

During my semester I had a chance to do a test run of my first day of classes. For this test run we had to have our classroom expectations, procedures and consequences laid out. I found it rather difficult to find expectations, procedures and consequences that were broad enough to cover an array of areas, but specific enough to implement in everyday classes.

I started with my classroom expectations. These were a set of standards that I would hold every student accountable to for their actions. I thought of some of the most important qualities in  a person that I look at in my life. There very first one I came up with was acceptance. I want my students to be accepting of one another. Just because you accept something doesn't mean you condone it. Next I had respectful. I felt as though this one word would encompass many behaviors towards myself and other classmates. Lastly, I decided on professionalism. I want students to realize that although they have down time thought out the day and they are around their friends often that school is like their job. They should conduct themselves in a professional way, just as they would at their job. I welcome laughter and love to joke around but there should be a limitation. I changed the words around a little and came up with RAP.

Next was the procedures which I struggled to come up with. I came up with 3 lists before deciding on this one and I also looked up what other teachers were using. I knew that I wanted students to be online and not be wondering around. That's why everyday I will have a bell work for them to do so they come right into class and begin that while I take attendance and set the room up. Then the learning would occur and an ending activity would be in place. For example, I might have students write something on a post-it for their "ticket out" and have them post it around the room. It will be something I use to reflect on what happened in the class that day. Lastly, I wanted to ensure there was something fun and everyone left the class feeling good. Therefore, I implemented the fist-bump rule.

Lastly, to keep my procedures and expectations regulated I have my consequences. I used some of the consequences I've seen teachers use and I researched some. I think that prevention is by far the best option but there has to be consequences for the simple stability they provide. I do put a little note at the bottom that says "these may change depending on severity." I will explain to my students that if their behavior is so irate that it is necessary, I do reserves the right to give them detention right away or send them straight to the office.

 

Teaching these in lab went well. I got some positive feed back on how I was able to be polite yet stern when it came to rules. I obviously want students to look forward to coming to class but they will understand that they are responsible for their actions and will be held accountable. Thanks for reading!

Motivation Restored

 

Early this week I had the opportunity to do a micro-teaching experience at East Juniata High School. Myself and 2 fellow member of my cohort went to teach one class each day. I taught an Introduction to Agriculture class of mostly freshman. I did a mini-unit on horses; the first day being breeds and coat colors, the second being horse tack and the last being types of riding. Each lesson was filled with activities like pin the part on the saddle.

Micro-teaching was a lot of work. I spend so much time preparing the lessons before we went to the school. After I taught the first day I didn't cover all of the material so I had to adapt my lessons which took even more time. One concern I have is teaching multiple classes and preparing lessons for each.

Now with all of the negative out of the way, I absolutely loved it. The time I spent teaching the students or guiding them while they learned was amazing. I loved when they asked me questions and I could clarify for them. The questions showed me that they wanted to learn the information and it got me excited to teach them.



I think the way I displayed the information was really great and the activities paired well with it. However, I planned too much for time I had. Time really flew once we started the lesson. For the last day of my teaching I wanted the students to create a large poster that had different types of riding on them. Each group was given 1 article with all the information they needed on it. Unfortunately, most of the groups didn't finish their poster so I wasn't able to grade them.

All in all it was a really great experience that has resparked my motivation for teaching. I can't wait to get back in a classroom!

Don't spread it!

Hello blog readers! This week on History in the Making I will tell you about inquiry lessons! This was by far the most difficult lesson I have tried to write. It took me several days just to come up with/find an idea. After much consideration and research I decided to do a lesson on how a disease spreads through herds and why it's important to identify the sick animal to remove from the herd.

Inquiry lessons themselves take some finesse to facilitate. When doing an inquiry lesson you want the class to be as student centered as possible. The students should inquire into the information instead of be instructed in. This increases there critical thinking and is very pertinent to everyday situations. Also with inquiry, students should be using some type of method to find their answer. This method will likely follow the scientific method. The "secret ingredient" or twist was that we were required to use some type of scientific equipment. At first I looked at this as a burden but have since completely changed my view. The scientific equipment made the lessons more hands on and interesting.

For my lesson I had my "students" all grab one vial of water. There were to be 6 students including myself so I had prepared 6 vials in all, however one person was absent from lab so I had to adapt and I had 2 of the vials. All 6 vials were half full with water except for vial 3. This magical vial had substituted some water for vinegar. I then had the students exchange liquids with 2 people by them putting half of their solution into another persons vial, and then that person giving half back, therefore mixing the liquids. I then used the "disease tracker", which was a pH indicator, to see which vials had been infected. It turned out that only 2 animals in the herd had not contracted the disease.

The lab went fairly well as far as a lesson can go. Per usual my clarity needed some work. I find it difficult to instruct my peers as though I would instruct high school students on a lesson. However, I enjoyed my lesson and the others I had sat through that day. I see inquiry lessons being very beneficial but equally as difficult to facilitate. I have high hopes that with continued practice and use of them in the classroom I will be able to better conduct these lessons.

Thank you for reading!!

Inquiry Based Instruction

What is inquiry based instruction? The University of Florida explained it well, "Inquiry-based teaching is a teaching method that combines the curiosity of students and the scientific method to enhance the development of critical thinking skills while learning science." This type of instruction focuses on students inquiring into the information instead of being instructed in the topic. When using inquiry based teachers will have the students discover the problem, investigate it, research it and connect their findings. This makes the classroom more student centered while the teacher becomes more of a facilitator. This developed the students skills to think critically about a topic. A skill that is transferable to everyday life.

There are 4 types of inquiry the first being structured. This is when the students are given a step-by-step instruction that has all the information they need and the questions to prompt them. The next is guided inquiry when the students are given materials and asked to make something. They are guided by the instructor but use creativity to make their object. Then there is open inquiry when students are given materials and must discover the process behind how they work. Lastly is the learning cycle when students follow guided inquiry procedures and then discuss their findings.

As a teacher facilitation inquiry based learning can be difficult. First, you must be very knowledgeable in the subject. It is possible that the students take a route that you never planned for and by being an expert in the subject you can help steer them in the right direction. You must identify the procedure (usually the scientific method) that students will follow to inquire into the information. This could be as simple as state the problem, research, findings and conclusion or it could be much more elaborate. Lastly, be sure to work your way into inquiry based instruction. If you or your students are not used to this type of instruction you should work them into it. Start with a small activity that students will inquire into and then developed it into a project or problem.

Thank you for reading!!

Problem Solvng Lab

Well that was quite the experience if I do say so myself. I went in, guns a blazing, and walked out with plenty of things to reflect on.

A little background... My problem solving lab was about the new swine virus called Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus or PEDV. Sounds appetizing right? I started this lab by putting up a letter that had been "sent" to me from Mr. Rupert (fake person), who had a pig farm (fake farm) with a problem. His problem is that two of his hogs have died and 4 more are showing symptoms of watery stool and vomiting. These are symptoms of PEDV. Since ideally, students will have just finished a disease and biosecurity unit they might have some ideas as to what the disease is.

My focus was going to be on students creating a plan of action for Mr. Rupert to take with the remainder of his hogs and what to do in the future to prevent any further spread of diseases.  So, if students were unable to discover what the topic might have been I would say "there has been a break through at the lab! They discovered the disease is PEDV." From there, students would be in groups to make large post-its on what the disease is. After that is completed, students are to write up a plan to Mr. Rupert. The students will include what the virus is, what he should do with the rest of the herd, and how to prevent this in the future.

Even though my lab didn't go well I still love the idea of this lesson. Before I give this lesson again I will definitely work on my clarity. I had specific questions I wanted to answer but didn't write them up for students to see and I need to include more higher order thinking questions. Also, I didn't have the students write down the problem which I was informed will help them in their thinking process. I didn't write my objectives on the board because it would have given the students the answer to some of the questions I asked. I need to ensure students understand what is expected of them though. I need to work on timing for activities and last but not least classroom management. So all in all it seems there isn't anything that doesn't need some kind of improvement.

On the bright side, I really like the content of this lesson. PEDV is such a hot topic right now because it's new to America and knowing that my students will be gaining knowledge on current events is exciting. I love the idea of giving student the problem and scaffolding from there into new information. So, thank you for reading!

Teaching Students How to Learn. Weekly Writing #2

I'm sure we've all heard that old saying "Give a man a fish and you feed him for day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." I think of this for many things in life and learning is one of them. If you can teach a student how to learn, how to ask themselves the right questions, how to be perceptive, how to question facts instead of accept them and how to go in search for knowledge you can change their entire life. 

Instruction in the classroom is important for getting the information students need. However, when you can take it to the next level and get the students to answer question for real-life problems they will  have in whatever field you are teaching, well then you're on to something.

Supervised study allows students to do their own research, experiment and problem solving to discover the answer to a problem. This helps students gain the knowledge of the subject they are on but also the process of finding their own answers. This correlates with an activity my cohort will be participating in on Wednesday called genius hour. This is used by Google for their employees and has created many great ideas. The idea is that the employees, or in my case students, will be given an hour for them to discover whatever they want. Completely unstructured school time for students to learn about WHATEVER they want. It so empowering for the students and as a teacher it is slightly nerve racking. I will definitely try this with my students to see how it works. I predict that a mature class will benefit more from this because they are thinking more about their path in life and have more discipline. 

I get very excited about these new types of teaching that grows the student into a life long learner. I love to see classroom knowledge that can grow and blossom into real life situations.

Thank you for reading!!

Unit Plan

My first ever unit plan!
Right now everything with lessons and units seems extremely extensive. There has to be a unit plan, then daily lessons, then objectives and materials for each lesson and it all seems quite crazy. I do believe some of the best teachers are a little crazy though. Bringing things back into perspective, I had to write a model unit plan for one of my core classes on becoming an Agriculture Educator. I can already see how this tool will help me stay organized and lessen the stress I'll have when I get my first teaching position. By the time this is all said and done I will have a good majority of lessons and units prepared and ready to roll out with my new guinea pigs... eh um I mean students.

A unit plan has many parts to it, a few major ones being the length of the unit, supplies, daily learning objectives, PA academic Standards, PA Ag Standards, unit goals, assessments/evaluation, references etc. It is a tad difficult preparing a unit plan when I am not sure exactly what lessons I want to teach but this is such a great tool to lay the ground work. I can see when I get into my first job position that being able to pull out my plan for the unit and review it will be a great way of keeping myself organized. With ever increasing technology, I expect to have videos, PowerPoint and documents that will correlate with each unit organized on a flash drive. I look forward to making adaptations to the lessons and unit as I grow as a teacher.

My first unit plan was... interesting, would be the kind word I would use. I began writing it and didn't realize how much went into a unit plan! My original goal was to make a unit plan for an introduction to FFA unit. I found it most difficult to decide how deep I should go and how long topics might take to cover in the classroom. Using from feedback from my peers I revised my plan. The main edit I made was to my daily learning objectives and to my lesson titles. Thinking into how much time some topics will take I realized that 1-2 of my lessons will most likely be a two day adventure. I want to ensure that my students get the information they need to be knowledgeable about FFA but I want to do it in fun and interesting ways. I want to incorporate different activities that will peak their interest. My assessment for this unit is a written exam at the end and a participation portion to get full credit. I really want my students to get an FFA experience so their participation requirement will be filled by them attending one FFA meeting and one event/social that the FFA hosts. With this requirement I will have to ensure this lesson is done at the beginning of the school year, so the students have ample time to find an event that correlates with their schedule.

This was a great learning experience and I can easily see how it will benefit my future. So one unit plan down and about 10 to do to get ready for student teaching in January! Juanita Valley here I come!

Thanks for reading!

Lab Interest Approach

After watching myself teach my interest approach lesson, I see improvements that could be made. My interest approach was giving my "students" two ice cubes and a candle and having them figure out how to stick them together. The trick is to light the candle and use wax to hold the candles together. I was very excited when I tried this at my house and thought it would be a great approach to the different types of welding.

As I watched my video I noticed there some awkward pauses. Particularly when I asked questions. While teaching I wasn't sure how to dig myself out of theses awkward moments. One way I thought of was having more open discussion. My bell work was for students to write down as many things as they could think of that were welded and the types of materials. After they had a few minutes to reflect and write I was going to write them on the board. I feel I could improve this by asking the question in a different way such as "What have you seen recently that has been welded?" Additionally, instead of having students write down what they think I may have students tell me directly so I can write them on the board. While teaching I also forgot to ask for the types of materials that are welded. This is essential because the rest of my lesson focused on MIG, TIG and stick welding and the types of materials you would weld with each.

Some minor improvements I would make would be to use longer/larger candles that way the risk of burn is much less. I would have students perhaps wear goggles and ensure that their hair is tied back. Also, when going over the consequences I would further warn students that if they cannot be trusted with a candle they will NOT be getting on a welder. I should be able to trust my students with candles and ice cubes.

Lastly, I have a tendency to get a little too worked up and then I trip over my words or forget simple words such a paper towel and it creates long awkward pauses. Learning to teach seems like quite a feat but I look forward to improving myself in these areas.



Thanks for reading!!  

Weekly Writing 5: The Power of Questions

Have you ever analyzed the questions you ask to others? Consider if they are questions that provoke a quick, couple word response or do they stimulate thought and individual ideas. There are two types of questions: lower level order thinking questions and higher level order thinking question. As a teacher, we will be expected to utilize both types of questioning.

Lower level questions are used to check the "temperature" of the room. No need to bust out the thermometer, a question is all you need. These questions gauge where the students are at as far as understanding the content. They also can pin point the strength and weaknesses of the class or could be used as a review or summary of the information. These questions are very important when ensuring the students are getting the basic facts and content you are teaching them.

Higher level questions are used to get students to think deeper into a subject. This is really where we start to expand the mind of the students. After students begin grasping the subject we want them to think critically and begin to solve problems with their knowledge. We want them to think outside of "What are the 4 components of a ruminant stomach?" to "How are different feeds absorbed by the ruminant stomach?" and finally to "What feeds will yield the best results of milk for my dairy cattle?" We began with a question that had a basic answer, then moved to a question that build on the first question and finally the last question was solving a problem with the information from the first two questions.

The power of a question is really amazing and by making a conscientious effort to ask higher level questions in the classroom we will create higher level thinkers in society.

"Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle, curved tunnels of leaf miners on the surface of a leaf. We must somehow take a wider view, look at the whole landscape, really see it, and describe what's going on here. Then we can at least wail the right question into the swaddling band of darkness, or, if it comes to that, choir the proper praise." - Annie Dillard

Week 4: Groups and Objectives

 

Why is it important to have objectives that students can see throughout the class session?

It's human nature to want some type of recognition or reward for a job well done. Student's need to know what they are aiming for, so to speak. They need something to attainable so they can strive for that goal. Learning objectives should begin with a specific action verb such as list, define or demonstrate. Then they need to be attainable. Starting an objective with "Students will understand...." is ineffective because how will you measure that understanding? There is too much variability on how this objective will be measured. Ways to make objectives attainable is ensuring the objectives can be completed in the time you are given. A 40-50 minute class should have 2-4 specific objectives for that day. A unit plan for 2 weeks should have 3-5 general objectives.

Next, working in groups: Why and How?

I'm sure you have heard the old expression that two heads are better than one. While that may not be the case when you are slaying a two headed dragon in a video game, it is the case in the classroom. From the little teaching experience I have had and the many years of being a student I have come to love class discussions or group work. I love hearing other peoples ideas, feelings and opinions on certain subjects. I especially love sharing ideas in a class with my 2015 Ag Ed cohort. Everyone collaborates and it sparks some great discussion points. I love that everyone looks at one subject in different ways. I want to have this type of open discussion in my classroom.
First, students need to feel that my classroom is a safe place. Physically safe is very pertinent but in this instance I would focus on safe from ridicule, accusations and just high school bullies. If students feel comfortable they will be inclined to share their ideas. Next, I will need to develop and use questioning techniques. I am discovering that asking questions in the classroom is more of skill. I need to promote a higher order level of thinking that will get students to learn the information, process it, analyze it and be able to use it in other situations. Creating connections throughout the content will solidify the information in students minds.



Week 4 has been a fun one for sure. Next week: more on effective questioning and language use in the classroom! Stay tuned.
 

How do we engage students? Week 3

I am sure throughout our lives we have reached some kind of conclusion that every person thinks differently. We have different views, emotions and we even process information in various ways.

The question is not "How smart are you?" but rather "How are you smart?"

 

This is a quote from Howard Gardner theory of multiple intelligences. The concept is there are 8 domains of learning; 8 ways that people process information and learn. Unfortunately in school systems standardized tests only focus on 3 of these domains.

 

Interpersonal, interpersonal, naturalistic, kinesthetic, musical, visual, logical, and verbal are the 8 multiple intelligences. There is a proposed 9th domain of existential which involves asking tough questions about life, death and the universe. Keeping these intelligences in mind and ensuring there is a variety of activities that include the different domains will make units or lessons we teach more understanding to each student. 

 

Personally, I am more naturalistic and musical. A perfect example happened this week in my AEE 350 class. We were focusing on land surveying and how to make a contour line. I was having difficulty understanding the concept of why the line looked like it was going downhill but all the stakes were at the same height. Then my professor gave an example of contour plowing and how they layout the field and it was like a light bulb went off! After I get to know my students I'll be able to explain things by appealing to one of the strength intelligences to help them understand a concept in my class.

 

Class normally begins with a hook or a bell ringer to get the students in the mind frame for the subject to be taught. Throughout the lesson the teachers uses scaffolding to encourage students to think for their own and become self learners. One of the best self- learners I have read about is Warren Buffet. Sure he has made more money that I can count AND he give the majority to charities but what really impresses me is his innate response to learning. If I had to guess I would say he has more of a interpersonal and logical way of learning. In this article about Mr. Buffet and his success he says that he spend much of his day just reading and thinking. Also, he is always learning. He consistently makes an effort to learn more, to read new things and this is what makes him so great in my mind. He has the self motivation and dedication to his knowledge.

 

I look forward to seeing how my students learn and finding ways to bring that forth in my lessons!

 

 

 



Thanks for reading!

Making Connections, Week 2

Making Connections

 

"Learning something new brings a sense of wonder, surprise, and revelation. The world makes sense." (Reardon pg. 10)

 

People crave understanding. Knowing about the world around us gives us a piece of mind. Learning can be done in a formal or non formal fashion. In a formal setting the information is provided to the learner by a teacher who has already made the connections with the material and hopes to create those connections and understand in others. In my opinion, teachers are unique individuals that develop a skill in leading others to answers.

 

Teachers begin by assessing what the students already know so they can determine what is the best way to get them to the desired result. There needs to be set goals/objectives that are easily visible and understood by the students. Then students need "chunks" of information. From there they begin to create connections to their current knowledge. They build upon this knowledge with the new information. This is referred to as scaffolding and is based on the work of Vygotsky. Below are some ways that teachers can create scaffolding in their lessons and actions in the classroom.

 

 

 

Citation for image

 

Week #1 in AEE 412

This is the beginning to it all and we're at the bottom of the mountain. Full of dreams, aspiration and inspiration, ready to begin that steep trek to the top. The realization of how crazy and exciting this semester hit me Monday morning in AEE 412. The semester began with an blank page and crayons. As I recall, Dr. Foster said "nothing is more liberating than crayons and a blank page." We continued the lesson by talking about what makes a great Ag teacher. What qualities do these educators need to be successful? Clarity. Clarity is so important when you are a teacher. You have to be clear in what you teach and what you expect. This is why we constantly ask questions, explain directions thoroughly and use "go" words.

Our readings for the week focused on mindsets. Having an open mindset, using your brain as a muscle and keeping a growth mindset are all characteristics for continuous learning. Having a fixed mindset or doing things the same way just because that's the way it has always been done will inhibit you as a person and as a learner. People don't just don't develop as smart and dumb. We have strengths in certain areas and weaknesses in other. This effects how we learn and how we process things. So learn what works best for you and use that to teach yourself new skills.

This week was filled with a very overwhelming feeling. I find it hard to distinguish the classes right now but I can see them becoming clearer. The weeks to come hold a lot of work but I look forward to it all. I realize it will all make me better as an Ag teacher.

Summer fun... with pigs?!?

I had the opportunity to assist my cooperating teacher, Mrs. Raylene Russell, with an SAE visit on the 15th of July. The only thing I expected was to be weighing hogs for the upcoming fair and checking on their dairy goats but, I got quite a lesson that day. This experience was a great reminder of why I chose teaching agriculture as my future profession. Mrs. Russell was in the pen helping coax the pigs onto the scale getting mud up to her knees. That sure isn't something you'll see every high school teacher participating in with their students, but it was just another day as an agriculture educator.

Another thing I admired that day was relationship between Mrs. Russell and the parents of her student. It was obvious that they knew each other quite well and maintained a good relationship. They discussed how to get the pigs up to weight and other things that were happening in the community. Mrs. Russell asked the student what the pigs had been eating and how much, and also about the change in their goat herd.

I am not very well versed with goats or hogs but learned quite a bit that day. The student that we went to see also had an older sister who had just graduated and they both gave me a thorough run down of dairy goats. I was able to see how the goats got milked, fed and even got to see two little ones that had been born just a few months ago. I talked to them about how they got the goats, what they did with the milk and what their future plans of showing them were. It was obvious that these two girls spent a lot of time caring for their goats and also had a large community that they worked with who share a similar passion.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect on that days adventure but it ended up being such a fun and learning experience. SAE visits with students are great for checking on the students progress but they also help keep and strengthen bonds with the community.