Posts

NAAE Communities of Practice Reflection

Hello, my name is Abbie Smith, and this Spring I had the opportunity to student teach at Northern Burlington Regional Middle School and High School, with Dr. Robin Mclean, Mr. Keith Dannucci, and Mr. Brian Hayes. During this experience, I spent the majority of my time with Dr. McLean teaching Agri science 7, Agri science 8, and CASE AFNR. I also taught Advanced Animal Science with Mr. Dannucci and I spent five weeks with Mr. Hayes and his Small Gas Engines class. In addition to the teachers that I worked with directly, I got the opportunity to work with a great team of teachers, administrators, and staff at both schools. Each individual I had the opportunity to work with had something to teach me during the experience. Thanks to this varied experience I have a few different takeaways from my student teaching experience. 1. Be Proactive: By being proactive in my planning and other activities I will be better able to serve my students. I have made strides in my planning ski
Post a Comment
Read more

SAE for All Teacher Workshop

Image
Earlier this semester I attended the SAE for all teacher workshop. At this workshop, I learned about how the idea of SAEs has changed due to the continued change in the interests of FFA members. One important change is that while SAEs are still agriculture-based a student’s project does not have to be strictly agriculture-based. Granted the SAE still must relate to agriculture but SAEs do not have to directly relate to raising plants and animals. Another change is that teachers have a different way of observing their students SAE projects. This method is the AET. While students have had access to the AET for a few years now, with how large some agriculture programs are teachers may struggle to visit each student's SAE project every year. Especially when some students may need more than one visit. While these larger programs will often have multiple teachers, it can still be difficult to visit all of the projects. By using the AET teachers can get an idea of how their students
Post a Comment
Read more

Goodbye to Northern Burlington

Image
This week my student teaching experience came to an end, this has been a great experience for me. I have learned much about myself during this student teaching experience. Some of what I have learned is new while others are things, I have already known but have struggled on improving. Throughout the course of this semester, I have made improvements to my teaching style and related skills. With this progress though, there is still room for further progress. I have met and interacted with many people along the way who have impacted my growth throughout this experience. The students that I got to teach were great kids they were all ready and willing to learn even if some of them needed more of a push then others. They all had something that could get them interested in the current topic, even if it was only loosely related and hard to find. The students were a great part of each day, regardless of what happened each day they were all a great part of each school day. My coop
Post a Comment
Read more

Visiting Conrad Weiser *Post written February 28*

Image
Today I visited my cohort member Amanda at Conrad Weiser High School. Amanda seems completely in her element even when she may not know exactly what is going on. She knows her students well and knows what their SAE projects are, or at least has an idea for what they are. Today the students, in the first half of her Intro to Ag classes, used Flipgrid to create videos relating to asexual propagation methods and how to use them with radishes. Upon completion of these videos, they were watched in a mixed tape format so that the students could see each other's videos. Once they finished watching the videos they discussed the topics before moving onto their SAEs. The students were all engaged and appeared to enjoy creating and viewing their Flipgrid videos. I got the chance to listen to the students to explain their SAEs and they sounded pretty interesting. They mostly have research-based SAEs as Conrad Weiser is a highly science-based school. During the second class, th
Post a Comment
Read more

Visiting the Science Classroom

Image
In early February I had the opportunity to visit Mrs. Henry’s science class. During this class I got the opportunity to observe the wrap-up of a science project the students had been working on. Each student was to create an interactive representation of a specific geological formation, like tectonic plates. Students made fun yet simple activities for their classmates to complete so they could experience what the different geological processes look and act like on a small scale. Prior to being allowed to disperse around the room, the students were given a brief overview of what they would be doing during class that day. They were also told what was expected of them during the activity to evidence their participation. With the students being allowed to go to any presentation except their own. Once student questions have answered the students were allowed to move to their stations to set up their projects. Some of the students made websites for their information while
Post a Comment
Read more

Virtually Checking up on School Based SAEs

Image
Today I took a look at a student's Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) project using the Agricultural Experience Tracker (AET). Northern Burlington does not generally do SAE visits as the Child Labor Laws in New Jersey count the SAE as a form of child labor. However, the teachers will check up on their student's progress using the AET. Through the AET they can not only check the student's progress on their SAE but they can also use the AET to fill out applications for different proficiency awards. In addition to the AET students whose SAE is located at the school have been able to receive updates from the teachers given permission to enter the school on the progress of their plants or animals. At Northern Burlington, a few of the students are responsible for taking care of the animals during the school week. These students have been allowed to use the animals on-site as part of their SAE. The animals that they use include goats, rabbits, and chickens. Duri
Post a Comment
Read more

New Jersey Agricultural Education Association (NJAEA) Zoom Meeting

Image
Before quarantine started, I was able to attend a video conference meeting of the NJAAE hosted by my cooperating teacher Dr. McLean, who is the NJAAE president. This meeting was relatively brief, with some technical issues making it a bit difficult for some teachers to attend the meeting. Due to this not all of the normally covered business could be discussed, however, the documents were available so we could all see what the discussions would have been about. This in a way showcased how effective yet difficult using a video conference can be. On one had you can connect with individuals around the world and have a “face to face” meeting with them, on the other connection issues may make the meeting difficult to hold if all the speakers are unable to get reliable connection. This is also why, as I have been told, it is important to have at least a “Plan B”. By having a backup plan, you are able to plan for different circumstances that you may not anticipate. One way to do this
Post a Comment
Read more