It's a Wrap: Domestic Study Away 2016 #PSUAgEd2TN

Editors Note: The following is the final blog instalment of #psuaged2TN, our domestic study away program. Nate Repetz (@N8_Repetz), a junior and member of #psuaged17, shares below. This incredible opportunity is made possible by the generosity of the CHS Foundation.

The whole group at Clarkrange High School

On Sunday May 8^th, seven future agricultural educators and one brave teacher educator loaded a van. The destination was the Volunteer State. The reason was the 4^th annual Domestic Study Away trip. The focus was STEM in agricultural education in urban and rural settings. We each had different reasons for going on this trip, but we all ended with renewed passion for agricultural education.

This was our fourth annual Domestic Study Away, and each has had a different feel to it. Others have questioned why we would sacrifice a week of summer to visit ag ed programs. This year, our four greatest take-aways are why we do this trip.

4 Take-Aways

2016 crew downtown Nashville

1. Exposing ourselves to agricultural education throughout the nation: Agriculture is truly a global industry. You do not always need a passport to see these differences. The agriculture industry, and therefore agricultural education, looks different in TN than it does in PA. This trip allows us to see these differences so that we may feel prepared to teach in any location we choose after graduation.

2. Expanding our professional network: We had the pleasure of meeting several wonderful individuals during this trip. Each one was open to future questions and advice. It is never to early to make connections throughout the nation.

3. Connecting OUR classroom content to concrete experiences: Agricultural Education is always hands on, but in teacher education it is hard to have these hands on experiences before we student teach. This trip gave us the opportunity to work with hundreds of different students with numerous backgrounds in a very short period of time. Also, we were able to apply educational theory that we learned in our own classes. One example was Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory. We had our concrete experiences during the trip, every day we reflected and learned from the experience, and tried to implement what we learned the next day. This trip provided a glimpse into the life of a teacher. 

Grand Ole Opry

4. Grow as a cohort: There is no better way to get to know someone than by spending a whole week with them in hotels and rode trip in a van. With all the experiences we have as ag ed majors, our fellow students start to feel like our family. This trip is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with some of our best friends.

In conclusion, the 2016 Teach Ag Society Domestic Study Away was one for the record books. We could not have done this trip without the help of our 4 continued sponsors: The PSU Center for Professional and Personnel Development in Agricultural Education, the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, the University Park Allocation Committee, and most importantly, the CHS Foundation. I would also like to thank Dr. Billye Foster, Dr. Chaney Moslty, Dr. Kris Elliot, Ms. Beverly Flatt, the Tennessee Farm Bureau, and all of our other partners. Without their support, this trip would not have been possible. Here’s to the bright future of Agricultural Education!

Here is short fun video I made of our experience and the "Cascarones" experience we culminated with:

We are excited to begin planning our 2017 experience to Wisconsin. This will be lead by our co-chairs, Heather Wasson (hlw5145) and Rose Cowan (rvc5334). If you are interested in partnering with us in 2017 or would like to be considered as a 2018 destination, please contact the student chairs or our adviser, Dr. Daniel Foster, @FosterDanielD, foster@psu.edu.

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.

Nate Repetz

2016 Teach Ag! Society Domestic Study Away Chairman

2017 Student Teacher

Domestic Study Away Day 4: Learning by Doing #PSUAgEd2TN

Editors Note: The following is a reflective observation from different students participating in #psuaged2TN, our domestic study away program. Matthew Snyder (@snyder6878), a junior and member of #psuaged17, shares below.  This incredible event is made possible by the generosity of the CHS Foundation. 

On Thursday the Penn State Teach Ag! Society and I had the opportunity to visit Cookeville High School. After arriving at the school we were treated with great hospitality. A lunch was served and we shared fellowship with the current Cookeville FFA members.  Building relationships and rapport with students is extremely important, in a one-day visit, but more importantly in our own programs.  As we look at having our own programs it will be important to engage students and consider their viewpoint, this will help us as we create our own programs and class content. The main purpose of this trip is to broaden our professional network and create relationships, so our future students have better opportunities. I believe we accomplished one step of that at Cookeville. 

Facilitating our lesson at Cookeville High School

While at Cookeville, our group was able to do a little learning by doing.  We facilitated one of our lessons on American agriculture by region. We started off by giving the students the needed background information through a fun interactive warm up exercise, and then moved into the “meat” of the lesson. The students were placed in groups that correlated with a region of the United States and asked to research agriculture commodities in their respective region. We then moved to the creative portion, the creation of a commercial to promote agriculture in each region. We were blown away with how creative some of these groups were. One group even created a cow costume in the short time they were given. Every teaching opportunity has helped to develop us as professionally. We also learned a lot from team teaching this lesson. It requires a much higher level of communication when you have seven teachers running one lesson. One thing I took away from the experience was that I need to slow down my instruction and make sure all students understand what is expected of them.

Learning by doing, Matthew teaching part of the lesson.

After teaching our lesson and touring their facilities, we had the opportunity to talk engage in a small professional development training focused on dual credit courses within agriculture. One of the Cookeville Agriscience teachers, Ms. Jackie Vester has been very successful in implementing these types of courses.  Ms. Jackie Vester and Ms. Patrice Watson, Director of Early Post-Secondary Education at the Tennessee Department of Education led this conversation. She explained the differences, similarities, pros, and cons of both programs. This discussion gave our entire group a better understanding of what programs are out there for students and how they can be used to boost college and career preparation. After this meeting, I feel much more confidence in giving students advice on scheduling these types of classes. High school students do not always know what they need to know or what they want. As teachers we need to take them under our wing and point them in the right direction. After having this conversation, I feel much more confident in advising students on what dual credit and dual enrollments they should pursue and what it might be like to teach one of these courses. Students are extremely busy these days so they might need advice on time management as well.

Here is a Day 4 Video created by Rose Cowan!

Follow along with our experience on Twitter by using #PSUAgEd2TN!  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. 

Matthew Snyder

2017 Student Teacher

Agricultural & Extension Education

@snyder6878

#PSUAgEd2TN Day 1: And the Adventure Begins…

Editors Note: The following is a reflective observation from different students participating in #psuaged2TN, our domestic study away program. Rose Cowan (@cowan_rosalind), a sophomore and member of #psuaged18, shares below.

The DSA & Broadway High School Students with Janae Bickhart

It was the first full day of our 4th annual Domestic Study Away Trip for the Teach Ag Society, and I began my first DSA experience. The previous day, six of my Penn State Agricultural and Extension Education peers, myself, and our stalwart advisor Dr. Foster (@FosterDanielD) left Happy Valley for Tennessee! But first we had a chance to visit a rock star first year agricultural educator, Janae Bickhart (@JanaeBickhart) who is a 2015 PSU AEE graduate (#psuaged15), at Broadway High School where she teaches.

Student made dual engine pulling tractor!

While at Broadway High School, we had the chance to talk with her ecology students about their research projects they were conducting. From projects that analyzed the effects of road salt on plants to the growth rate of common trout species, it was evident that these students were really challenging themselves and learning a lot about sciences and technology involved in agriculture!

Next we went and toured Mr. Jim Peters’ Technical Education classroom to learn, while I certainly did not realize it then, how integral STEM education can and should be in Agricultural Education classrooms. The projects that he conducts with his classroom were absolutely awesome and all of the topics he addresses in these projects could be taught through an agricultural lens! We certainly gained a lot of ideas for our future classrooms.

Then, thanks to the power of twitter, it was off to Daniel Boone High School, which is located just over the border in Tennessee. There we met with Agricultural Educators Mr. Jason Dossett (@jdossett3) and Ms. Leann Turner (@ag_nerd) as well as seven of their freshman FFA members. While Dr. Foster conducted a Parliamentary Procedure and Conduct of Meetings training with the seven students and Mr. Dossett, we as AEE students went with Ms. Turner to tour their Ag Ed program. 

Program Mascot, Hank!

Daniel Boone had a school farm that gives their students an opportunity to gain experience caring for, handling, and showing livestock. That was the first time I had ever experienced an on school farm, so I was really impressed. It was truly inspiring to hear about their backgrounds, why they are passionate about ag ed, and some of their experiences and advice.

After leaving Daniel Boone, we stopped in Cookeville to pick up the one, the only, the legendary Dr. Billye Foster. An extremely wise, experienced, fiery, strong woman, it was a pleasure to meet Dr. Foster – or Dr. Mom as we call her.

Exhausted and full of new knowledge and experiences, we reached Nashville and headed off to bed to rest up for the following day.

Check out our video of Day 1:

Rosalind Cowan

2018 Student Teacher Candidate

@cowan_rosalind