National Teach Ag! Day Recap #tagged15 #hookedonpsuaged

On September 24^th we celebrated National Teach Ag! Day with a lot of fun events! We hosted Dave Burgess, had a one on one workshop session with Dave, and also was able to tune in to the live stream hosted by the National Teach Ag! Campaign. Let’s break down the day a little:

Dave Burgess Keynote:

Dave Burgess spoke in the HUB Robeson Center and delivered a one of a kind message to the university. Staff members, students, and even some alumni came to listen in! His energetic message and delivery of his speech made everyone in the audience truly think about how they can change up their classrooms, meetings or any day to day activity and make it better! At the end of the Keynote, Dave Burgess was kind enough to sign books for the audience members and take a couple of pictures as well!

#psuaged16 Workshop with Dave Burgess and Cooperating Teachers

After the Keynote concluded, cooperating teachers and the AEE seniors were able to go to a different classroom and begin a one on one teacher workshop session with Dave. He brought more of his examples that he uses in the classroom and how he gets his students fired up to learn about the lesson of that day. After it concluded, teachers and students alike were all excited to go back to the classroom and implement the new strategies they learned.

National Live Stream

Due to technical difficulties, our live stream was not able to make it on the big screen down in Washington D.C.! We look forward to other opportunities in the future and partnering with the National Teach Ag! Campaign.

Overall it was a great day filled with lots of learning and working with our Ag Ed Family! We look forward to many more National Teach Ag! Days and inviting new people to collaborate with the Penn State Ag Ed Majors!

To learn more about starting on the path to having a career that makes a positive impact on the lives of students across the globe by becoming an agricultural educator, please contact the agricultural teacher education program at teachag@psu.edu. Follow us on Twitter at TeachAgPSU, on Facebook, or on our blog.

Olivia Murphy-Sweet
Student Blogger
Teach Ag! Avenger
Twitter Handle @OSweetMurph  

2016 Agricultural Education Student Teacher

Words of Wisdom Wednesday: Dave Burgess #WOWW

Dave Burgess author of Teach Like a PIRATE

Tomorrow is the day. The day that will change lives of the Agriculture Education students, cooperating teachers of the 2016 student teacher candidates, and of course anyone at the University who gets to experience the one and only educational pirate, Dave Burgess.

Dave Burgess is delivering inspirational messages to Penn State students on National Teach Ag! Day which is tomorrow, September 24^th! How did Dave Burgess become a Pirate you may ask? Well that is simple! Dave wrote a New York Times best-selling author of Teach Like a PIRATE and is a co-author of P is for PIRATE: Inspirational ABC’s for Educators. In regards to his book, Teach Like a PIRATE, it has sparked a full‐scale revolution in the educational world and has inspired teachers from all over the globe to achieve new levels of excellence in their schools and classrooms.

 Due to his hard work and different styles of teaching, he has been recognized as a 2014 BAMMY Award for Secondary School Teacher of the Year which was presented by the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences. Other awards include, award-winning teacher of the Year from San Diego, California, recognized as Teacher of the Year, is a Golden Apple recipient and has been a faculty standout for 17 consecutive years! As you can tell by all of his awards, Dave Burgess has been a role model in the teaching industry.

Tomorrow on National Teach Ag! Day, Dave will be presenting an inspirational work session in the Freeman Auditorium located in the HUB- Robeson Center from 8:30 to 10AM and you can purchase his book and even get it signed by him! Following this presentation Dave will also be doing a workshop session with the 2016 Student Teacher Candidates and their Cooperating Teachers! Please come out and enjoy his innovative work session tomorrow! See you there!

To learn more about starting on the path to having a career that makes a positive impact on the lives of students across the globe by becoming an agricultural educator, please contact the agricultural teacher education program at teachag@psu.edu. Follow us on Twitter at TeachAgPSU, on Facebook, or on our blog.

Olivia Murphy-Sweet
Student Blogger
Teach Ag! Avenger
Twitter Handle @OSweetMurph  

2016 Agricultural Education Student Teacher 

Words of Wisdom Wednesday: Ellen Thompson shares views on job placement strategies #teachag #WOWW

Ellen Thompson (@ellencthompson) has been selected to be Penn State Ag Ed Roars! first Words of Wisdom Wednesday participant on this blog. She is the Project Director for the National Teach Ag Campaign and works hard everyday spreading the word that the world NEEDS more agriculture educators to fill our national shortage. Ellen shares today some important strategies that you should consider when looking at open teaching positions in high schools.

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I knew the moment I saw the vacancy post for the Sauk Centre agriculture teacher position that it was the place for me.  I was even more convinced when I walked in the door for my interview.  Eight years later with tear filled eyes I left Sauk Centre to move to South Dakota.  The honor and privilege of being part of that school and community stays with me to this day.  It was the house that built me.  I cannot imagine teaching anywhere else.  

 

Accepting a teaching position is more than just accepting a job.  You are making a commitment to the mission of the school and developing a connection to the community.    You should feel welcome, excited and at home.  The best way to know if the school is a right fit is to spend some time ahead of the interview on the school website, perusing the local newspaper and dropping in on a few businesses either before or after your interview.  Bring along questions that will help you get to know more about the school.  I recommend these as a starting point…

• What are you most proud of at your school? 
• I noticed your graduation rate is higher than the state average, what do you attribute this success to?
• What do you want the ag program to look like in 5 years? 
• What is your policy regarding professional development?
• What would the parents in the community say are the schools greatest assets (also ask some parents the same question if possible)? 
• What is the new teacher on boarding process? 

Listen carefully to how they respond to these questions.  The answers will tell you what the school values so you know if their values match yours.  As an agriculture education major you are precious commodity and school knows it.  Make sure you start your career off in a school that supports you, challenges you and has similar educational goals.  
 

To learn more about starting on the path to having a career that makes a positive impact on the lives of students across the globe by becoming an agricultural educator, please contact the agricultural teacher education program at teachag@psu.edu. Follow us on Twitter at TeachAgPSU, on Facebook, or on our blog!

 

 

Olivia Murphy-Sweet

2016 Student Teacher Candidate

Blog Editor

@OSweetMurph

Bringing You Along on the Quest to be a Tech Savvy Aggie…

In the spring of 2013, I set out to create a blog {E-Learn in Ag: A Quest to be Tech Savvy Aggie} to begin journaling ways of diversifying teaching techniques by integrating technology.  It began as an online notebook of sorts, but to also {hopefully} help fellow educators in their classroom.  Over the last several years, I have had the privilege of developing online curriculum and taking some post-masters courses in learning technologies.  I have learned a great deal about how effective online learning happens {and doesn’t}.  As I start this journey, I’m not sure how I feel about the title “technologist” - this implies I’m an expert in this field - but I would rather think of myself as a lifetime learner who is focusing efforts in the area of technology and to help out my fellow educators.  I am humbled and feel privileged to be asked to provide information to help my colleagues provide resources to ease the magnitude of responsibilities placed on ag teachers, find ways to be more effective educators, provide support for teacher evaluations and practically integrate technology in their classroom.  So, here we go….

After teaching for nine years in my hometown at the Juniata HS Agriculture program as a single teacher to my current role as a team member of four agriculture educators at Penn Manor High School, I have seen a wide array of differing opportunities available to educators and differences in technology utilization.  My perspective on technology is that no one technological tool will fix poor classroom pedagogy. I feel integrating technology is one more tool for your teacher toolbox.  If managed properly, it can be a way to more effectively manage time, assessments and student engagement.  In addition, I feel we must present students with as advanced technology as our districts will provide to keep them current so they are poised to be successful in future careers.  

In previous educational technology experiences, I have learned in some cases, we end up teaching the platform for the technology as opposed to effectively communicating the course content we want the student to master.  In this time period of teaching the platform (ie Moodle, Blackboard, or MindMeister), we lose them just as if we were standing in front of the room lecturing and dictating from a book with our kids slouched over in their seats daydreaming about what the coming weekend.  {Below is the visual I had of my classroom when things go wrong.}

Source:  Illustration Friday ®Charles Shultz

Through my series of blog posts, I will be covering the following general topics:

•   Easy classroom integration tools (Nearpod, Socrative, etc)
•   Why technology and SAMR Model of technology integration.
•   Google Drive and Education Tools
•   Open-Source vs iPad Technologies
•   Agriculture Apps
•   Moodle and Blackboard use in the classroom
•   Graphic design, video and using other types of media

I ask you to begin thinking about what you need help with in your classroom: “if I could only do this…it would be so much easier”.  Evaluate how you use technology in your classroom and what you would like to improve on.  In addition, I ask you to begin thinking about how social media plays a role in your agriculture program.  I would like to tailor blog posts to real-time problems and issues.

I hope what I have to offer will be of use to you in your classroom.  If you would like to see learning technology tidbits, follow me on Twitter @DGCornman.  

Yours in the Quest to be a Tech Savvy Aggie,

Diane Glock-Cornman

PSU Teach Ag! Technologist
@DGCornman