Kayla Stauffer is Tagged to Teach Ag! at Mount Union Area High School

Recent Penn State Agricultural & Extension Education graduate Kayla Stauffer has been hired at Mount Union Area High School in Mount Union, PA. Kayla is originally from Lancaster, PA and she graduated from Lampeter-Strasburg High School where she was actively involved in the Garden Spot FFA Chapter. She did not have her career goal set out to be an Agriculture Educator. Kayla says "I always thought that I was going to be a veterinarian, I love animals and love taking care of them. I enrolled in the Veterinary Science course at my high school and fell in love with not only veterinary medicine but the National FFA organization and all aspects of agriculture. I continued to take agriculture courses all four years of high school." Through being a part of the Agriculture Education program at Lampeter-Strasburg is where Kayla was able to learn more about her passion for agriculture and try new activities. The National Teach Ag! Essay Contest was brought to her attention and she decided to try her hand at teaching an agriculture class. She states "After teaching one period of Veterinary Science in 11th grade, I knew that I wanted to teach and knew that I specifically wanted to Teach Ag!"

After graduating high school Kayla attended the Pennsylvania State University Altoona Campus. Here she got involved in the Penn State Altoona Ag Club and Altoona Cheer-leading. At the University Park Campus Kayla became involved in the Club Cheer-leading Squad and served as a Penn State Teach Ag! Avenger. During her student teaching period she branched out and decided to travel to Boonsboro, Maryland where Kayla taught under Mrs. Quinn Cashell-Martin. She gained experience teaching Introduction to Agriculture, Power Mechanics 1 & 2, Greenhouse Management, Floral Design, and a Forestry and Soils course. 

Kayla is now eager to start her journey at Mount Union Area High School. She will be a part of a new three-teacher program. Her class schedule consists of courses including Introduction to Wood Products and Technology, Advanced Wood shop/Cabinetry, Small Gas Engines, and Agriculture Mechanics. When asking Kayla about some of her classroom goals she said "I have numerous goals that I would like to achieve throughout the next several years, but the main goal that I want to achieve is creating an incredible relationship with the special education department and finding ways to include those students in the FFA program and our agriculture courses." In addition, Kayla is excited to be teaching Agriculture Mechanics courses because she did not take any shop classes throughout her high school career, but overtime gaining more experience in the shop she has fallen in love with the content through the courses at Penn State and her student teaching experience. Kayla expresses one thing she is excited for which is to challenge herself with learning more wood working content and coming up with innovative ways to work with the other teachers by combining all of the course content and assisting each another. When asked one piece of advice she had for Ag Ed majors Kayla said "Be yourself. Don’t worry about what the rest of your cohort or the graduates before you have done or are doing, bring your own personality into the classroom and into the educator that you want to become."

The Center for Professional Personnel Development is excited to see what great learning experiences Kayla will offer to her students. Congratulations again on being hired at Mount Union Area High School, you will positively impact the Agriculture Education Program and its students. Best of luck Kayla!

Morgan Bear

CPPD Student Worker

Agricultural & Extension Education

Class of 2023

#teachagtech -> Social Media and Ag Education

^Image from EWebDesign

Social Media and Education.  To Snapchat or not to Snapchat, that is the question???  The image above is just a glimpse of the many options we have to engage with other people today.  As educators, I believe we are most closely connected to witnessing how young people interact.  We are the neutral zone - we're not quite parents, yet as agriculture educators we connect with our students in learning and activities outside the the classroom, so students engage us on a higher level than most.  According to one survey, teenagers are beginning to migrate away from Facebook simply due to the increasing adult presence - the "grandma effect".  So how do we develop relevant educational learning opportunities that meet our students where they are?  First, we must learn where they are (other than witnessing all the duck and fishy faces - and we can't forget #selfiesfordays - that end up on Snapchat).  This article from the Pew Research Center outlines where our youth are engaged in social media.  It does a great job of outlining motives as well as social-economic trends.  

^Image from Pew Research Center

Over the last few years, I have explored how others interact on social media and the learning opportunities that are out there.  From the usage of hashtags to learning different platforms, one thing remains the same - we all want to be recognized and validated, while meaningfully learning.  What was historically a local community festival is now a Facebook feed, so how can we make the best of it?   One of the platforms I truly struggled to see the educational value in is Snapchat.  (I believe it was the never-ending fishy faces on van rides to conventions with students.)  So, I challenged myself to see how this could be used.  I became inspired by a Snapchat feed from a Veterinarian - Dr. Cody Creelman.  I first found him on Instagram (vetpracticevahs) as I was trying to find feeds to supplement my Veterinary Science class.  I actually encouraged my Honors and CP Veterinary Science class to follow him and others so they could hear industry lingo and see real life.  One day in class, we were actually talking about the disorders of the musculature of the heart and in his IG feed, he had a posting about the same thing - perfect real world application without leaving the classroom.  As it turns out, he also has a Snapchat (creelmancody).  On both social media platforms he shows day-to-day happenings in his veterinary practice.  Everything from interstitial pneumonia, acidosis to problems with the eye; however, he does this in a fun and engaging manner.  After connecting with him on Snapchat, he referred me to the Ontario Vet College (Snapchat & Instagram: ontvetcollege) and Ms. Jane Dawkins, Marketing Communications Officer at Ontario Vet College.  After contacting Ms. Dawkins, she recommend I check out their snap stories on YouTube.   What a great idea!  Ms. Dawkins along with current students and alumni capture their work and produce videos to show the world.  I have been inspired by this creativity and willingness to share.  As we move forward in the Open Source and free education movements, I believe we must be willing to adapt and find new ways to "educate". 

What if we as agriculture educators produced professional Snapchats and began sharing what we know?  To engage with our students and the world on another level and create fun materials that show our students and others we care enough to keep expanding our communication skills, while showing them what they are doing is important.   

^A screenshot of a Snapchat while doing a SAE visit weighing animals #saesnaps (sorry for the chunk out of the emblem - it's on our scales, so it works hard!)

Wouldn't it be cool to Snapchat our SAE visits and than combine them for the end of the year banquet?  The sky is the limit if we are willing to venture out.  I've already begun a fun little project of #saesnaps.....we'll see how it goes.  In the end, we may not all be able or want to adopt all forms of social media or learning systems, but in the end, we can always be inspired by others to constantly transform our educational approach.  {I would like to thank Dr. Cody Creelman and Ms. Jane Dawkins for allowing me to use their information and story for this post.  Your endeavors to educate have inspired others to act.}

Yours in the Quest to be a Tech Savvy Aggie,

     

Diane Glock-Cornman

PSU Teach Ag! Technologist
@DGCornman
+Diane
elearninag.com

Pinterest:
Being Mrs. C - TeachAg Pinterest Board
Agriculture and Essential Apps Pinterest Board

#teachagtech -> Using Socrative in the Agriculture Classroom

Using Socrative to Engage Students in the Classroom

Using Socrative to Engage Students in the Classroom.  All agriculture educators are constantly juggling the living mechanism we know as agriculture education.  We manage many facets involving with the FFA, classroom instruction and SAE.  Tools that can be instantly and easily incorporated into the classroom are incredibly important.  Socrative is one of those tools and was introduced to me by my teaching colleague Neil Fellenbaum upon arriving at Penn Manor several years ago.  It is easy to create formative assessments to gage student understanding and provides a multitude of avenues to assess student learning.  It also allows you to collect student data to be used to differentiate instruction, regroup for review or be confident for a summative assessment.  I have used it many times as the "ticket out the door" or to do fun games to review for a test.  It is a very easy platform to use.  When you sign up, you receive a "classroom" number that is unique to you.  Students log on and use your classroom number to gain access to whatever challenge you place before them.



Here is an overview video on Socrative:






How to Create a Quiz:






How to Run a Quiz:




When you are finished with any type of evaluation, you can have reports sent or stored in many forms:




This is merely an introduction to Socrative.  As innovative educators, I'm sure you will find creative ways to incorporate this platform into your classroom.

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If you have specific needs regarding technology in your classroom, please feel free to connect with me via the TeachAg! Technology Help Ticket

Yours in the Quest to be a Tech Savvy Aggie,

     

Diane Glock-Cornman

PSU Teach Ag! Technologist
@DGCornman
elearninag.com