Session 26: What is your vision for the Future?

Thank you so much for a fun session. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and remember:

Be The Change YOU Want to See in the World. - Ghandi

Please, Take 2 minutes and watch this video:

Here are the visions of the future that members of the 2013 AEE 100 class have:

• I have a vision to lead a program where "No" or "we can't" are not acceptable words.  To cultivate a mindset that we can do everything because we want to change the world. We have the responsibility to feed the world and I hope to inspire students to embrace this challenge and work together to overcome.
• I have a vision to be the person who takes the time to be the best educator possible. I want to impact a student's life in such a way that they can reach their highest goals and create an amazing future with their vision. I hope to do this by creating a secondary agriculture program in my high school!
• I have a vision of building confidences in my students that allows them to feel prepared as competent leaders of our society. I want my students to realize how much potential each one of them has to make a difference and that each of them are important. For each of them to realize that they can be the spark that allows great things to occur in the world, influencing their community in unbelievable ways.
• I have a vision of helping make it so that 60% of NYC children tell the difference between a radish and a potato. For students without FFA or 4H to learn and love agriculture as much as those that are lucky enough to have a program. For those poverty stricken areas to be able to eat more than TV dinners and dollar menu items.
• I have a vision of educating people about the positive effects of agriculture in their community and the world. I believe that many people have negative attitudes about agriculture because they are misinformed due to depending on media sources for their education.  This needs to change, and the best way to change it is by teaching how agriculture benefits us as individuals and a community through a total school based agricultural education program with FFA, SAE, and classroom instruction.  This is my mission.
• I have a vision of being an agriculture teacher in a model program. I want to model Ms. Melanie Bloom's (Iowa) chapter global community service, provide Mike Honeycutt's (The Council) knowledge of SAEs, and promote accurate recordkeeping like Kevin Keith (LPS). I want to the enthusiasm of Ms. Stephanie Joliff (Ohio). I want to implement my officer, POA, CDE and SAE Plans. I want to be the ag teacher that embraces every piece of knowledge that was given to me at Penn State in the AEE program.
• I have a vision of impacting the world by educating the younger generations and watch them prosper through my teachings. I hope they remember me when they look back at what I helped them learn as they continue to achieve greatness.
• I have a vision of in the future directly helping in the conversation of a species to impact our environment while participating in Wildlife Conversation Extension programs to convince people how serious of an issue it is.
• I have a vision of teaching children and adults to appreciate and understand the nature that surrounds us. Both our local natural world of plants and animal as well as global plants and animals. I want to help people be a part of conservation efforts all over the planet.
• I have a vision of increasing global knowledge of conservation and environmental impacts. I want to help everyone understand their contributions to the world and their role in it.
• I have a vision of engaging in entrepreneurial edge in beef production as we reinvent family farming.
• I have a vision of making a wine that brings people together. A wine that when they see/taste it, great memories will come to them. I want to make lives happier!
• I have a vision of helping farmers produce exportable product that keeps them relevant and successful as producers.
• I have a vision of helping students create a vision for their own future, so that they can make a difference.
• I have a vision of working in a diverse community where I will learn from my student's differences how to be a better teacher. I will one day improve the lives of my students by showing them they have career options in their communities. 
• I have a vision of the future of helping schools partner with environmental centers to get students actively engaged in protecting and preserving our environment.
•  I have a vision of developing agriculture courses in every high school across America. I come from a city. My high school did not have agricultural education. I feel like if there are more agriculture classes, it will allow more students to become informed producers and will therefore make decision to impact the future.
• I have a vision of helping make is to agricultural education programs have events for their students in to compete in that represent a wide variety of species. While PA FFA members are allowed to show livestock and dairy, there is no or limited outlets for individuals wishing to show horses. I hope to help facilitate a state wide FFA Horse show for members.
• I have a vision of contributing to protecting agriculture and our nation's food supply through my career as a large animal veterinarian. I plan to genetically improve the Holstein breed through my involvement in the dairy cattle industry and help to develop the next generation of our country's youth as a 4-H leader.
• I have a vision maximizing my education at Penn State to have a career that helps farmers grow and find success in overcoming the hardships of their industry.
• I have a vision working in urban agriculture to end food deserts in America.
• I have a vision of bringing more agriculture education programs to high schools with diverse meaningful hands-on learning experiences.

Session 25 - Philosophy (Shoeboxes)

What are you curious about?
Field observation journal... How long should it be?

• The journals should be long enough to describe your experiences, and what you learned from it. I think if you answer the questions in the assignment handbook, you will be just fine.

Business memo... what is it?

• Answered in class. If you still have questions, please talk with Dr. Ewing.

Does Renee have record of our hours that we have turned in for our 80 hours?

• Once you turn in your hours, Renee places them in a file folder with your name. I access these at the end of the semester to see who has completed the hours. Make sure you get the hours/forms to Renee.

How did the shoe box tie in?

• The shoe box was designed to get students to visually depict their educational philosophy of agricultural and/or environmental education. This was a hands-on approach to get students thinking about their philosophy.

Teaching Strategies?

• This is mainly taught in AEE 412, but if you want to get a good reference book for teaching methods, I would suggest... Newcomb, L. H., McCracken, J.D., Warmbrod, J.R., Whittington, M. S. Methods of teaching agriculture. Danville, IL: Interstate.

Do we learn any agricultural mechanics?

• In the PSU teacher preparation program there are 2 courses that focus on agricultural mechanics. One is AEE 297B and the other is AEE 350.

The Cordivano Scholarship??

• Check out the Teach Ag email blast for information on the scholarship. OR check out http://agsci.psu.edu/international/undergraduates/funding/international-agriculture-intag-minor-student-opportunities for more information

Aquaculture?

• Many of the schools in PA teach Aquaculture using contained systems in their classrooms/laboratories. It is a great way to teach animal science concepts while not having your traditional "farm" type animals. Many schools use Tilapia (an African fish) or bass as their fish of choice, but you can use other types of aquatic animals for this purpose.

When are modules due?

• The handbook provides recommended dates at various points throughout the semester, with the final deadline being November 21st. If you want any type of extension, you need to negotiate that with the module reviewer, Deb Herman.

Can we use student choice points for attendance, if we know we will be here?

• Yes, perfect attendance still counts.

Do we provide our philosophy statement when we interview for teaching positions?

• Absolutely. This is a document that interview teams/administrators want to see. This enables them to learn more about your understanding of education, and how you visualize putting your philosophy into action.

Do student choice points get turned in hard copy or on-line?

• You turn them in via hard copy and in the drop box on ANGEL.

What did you learn?

Everybody's teaching philosophy

Ideas to put in my final philosophy

Howie is awesome.

More ways to get student choice points (Don't forget... 5 points if you share your shoebox with someone outside of class!)

Same big ideas on philosophy, but many people have small variations

Ag. Ed. is more than just cows, sows, and plows

Many new terms

The "Metamorphosis Clap" (Just so everyone knows... I am going after the Trademark and Copyright on this :-)

Firework clap!

Think outside the box!

Diversity is important

People stink at arts and crafts

The theme for FFA this year is "Ignite"

My peers are very creative!

What do you want to learn more about?

Dr. Ewing and Dr. Foster's philosophy statements... 

• We may have to include these as examples in the future.

The future of ag. ed... 

• Next class session.

How can we build our philosophy to impress our employer

• I think it comes down to being honest in what you believe and then articulating that on paper, as well as in the interview. 

How long should our board game take?

• You will be sharing your games in 3-5 minutes. However, for the actual game, it can take as long as necessary... when you have your students doing this in your classroom.

If we get more than 200 student choice points, do we get extra credit?

• No, but good work if you do!

How do we prove that we shared our shoebox with someone else?

• You just note it in your student choice point section for that assignment and tell a little bit about who you shared it with and what they responded. Beyond that, it is a total "trust" thing on my part.

How do I get involved with clubs/organizations?

• Check out the college clubs and organizations' page at http://agsci.psu.edu/students/activities

What forms are necessary for the Ag. Lit. Lesson?

• The learner satisfaction form needs to be completed by each student and then you can complete/compile a summary of the results.
• Two digital pictures (minimum of 2)
• Lesson Plan/presentation materials
• Powerpoint presentation for our class session in AEE 100
• Each person must complete/turn in a 1 - 2 page reflection on the teaching experience.
• Advisor form??? - I am not sure what you mean by this one... Maybe just a signature from the person that supervised/saw you teach?

Session 24 - Special populations

What are you curious about?
How many people develop an IEP?

• This is dependent upon the group that completes the evaluation/determines eligibility. Ultimately, IEP teams can end up being around 6 - 8 people.

Special populations in higher education?

• Check out the Penn State site at http://equity.psu.edu/ods for the Office of Disability Services and how this is handled at Penn State.

Where to get student choice points?

• You propose it, and we can figure it out together... but I bet we will approve it, if it is advancing you professionally/educationally!

How IEP's vary from state to state and when students are placed outside of the "normal school setting".

• The question of variation from state to state is that the overall items that are addressed are similar, but the formatting may vary.
• In terms of school placement, it often comes down to what is best educationally for the student, and safety of that child/other students.

How do we modify when we are in a shop setting?

• Many times it is a matter of having others help, whether that is a student, an aide, or you as the teacher. The main thing is to be aware of safety issues.

Philosophy boxes.

• Be ready to share on Tuesday!

Will we have a chance to develop an IEP in college?

• Not currently in our programming, but this is an interesting question for the teacher educators in our program to consider!

What did you learn?
About IEPs and what they are for
Accommodations and modifications
Interventions
Much of what we already do in "good teaching" can help all students learn.
About disabilities/barriers
IEPs vary greatly depending on the needs of the student
A real life example of an IEP!!!

What do you want to learn more about? 
How far will a teacher go to help a student before they are moved to another class?

• I think this totally depends on the support of that teacher and the other teachers/aides in the school.

Our role as the teacher in an IEP meeting?

• You will be considered the "general education" teacher, and your role is to share how the student is performing in your class. This will help the team make decisions on how best to serve the student in the future.

How to maintain a classroom when accommodating to all students?

• I think this comes back to good planning and use of resources. You need to be prepared to include the students, and many times this is just by making sure they are safe and included in the activities at a level appropriate for their skills. You would be amazed at how other students will "come around" a classmate when they need help. Some students have a great deal of "care" for others.

There are a lot of specific disabilities, and we can't learn about them all now. We need to get out and work with students and experience the many different needs of students.

IEP meetings.

• Some of the cooperating centers may allow you to sit in on a meeting, with special permission of the parent, but many times you will need to wait until you are a teacher in a district to serve.

Who makes the IEP?

• Once a child has been identified with a special need, it is really up to the IEP team to make the decisions on how to best serve the student. The team is often made up of teachers (special education and general education), counselors, school psychologists, parents/guardians, potentially an administrator, etc. 

What makes each ag program/school different?

• In my view it is the teacher, and how they work with every student... not just the "superstars" in their program. I think it goes a long way when a teacher builds rapport with every student in a program no matter the level of the student's knowledge, skill, or ability.

Session 22 - Career panel

What are you curious about?
Being a SITC officer. It seemed very interesting.

• You may want to contact David directly, if you have specific questions.

How well does USAJobs.gov fit with WFS jobs?

• I would sign up for their notifications and then decide whether or not you want to stay on their list.

What do we do if we decide we don't want to teach, but we didn't do internships?

• I think you will want to be able to show on your resume the ways in which you engaged in other activities/experiences that may be of interest to a potential employer.

Learning where to look and do research on cooperating schools.

• We have a candidate meeting in February where you will get the list of schools. We also provide you with and overview of how you can search programs/find out more about them.

Internships and other opportunities outside of teaching.

• You should connect with Richard Rateau... College of Agricultural Sciences Coordinator of Experiential Learning and Career Services

When will the other two reading reflections for the semester be?

• Stay tuned :-)

How do I get in contact with David H.?

• If you did not pick up a business card, let me know (Dr. Ewing)

How intimidating was the interview for David with the USDA?

What did you learn?

AEE degree is very flexible

More options with AEE degree than just teaching

Common to change careers

Broad range of careers in Ag. Ed.

David's job is awesome!

Ag. Ed. looks good to the USDA

Career versus job

That Mrs. Pontius taught at more than one school.

USDA has some "cool" (edited version) jobs

SITC - I thought of drugs when he mentioned smuggling

A lot

That being an agricultural education teacher is much more of a time commitment when compared to a regular teacher.

What do you want to learn more about?

USDA

• Check out their website at www.usda.gov

Jobs in the equine field that relate to AEE?

Cooperating schools for 2015?

• We will have a list in February of 2014.

More about jobs/internships with PA Farm Bureau.

• Check out their website at www.pfb.com for employment opportunities and a lot of other great information about their organization.

Is my lesson plan lame, or not?

• We will let you know :-)

What is a good Master's degree to support an AEE undergraduate degree?

• I think it depends on what career path(s) that you may eventually want to take.

More about David... how did finding internships in close areas work out and how did he move up from your intern position to your career?