From Green Blazers To Blue Corduroys

Differences in Ag Ed Programs - #PSUAgEd18 Successes Going to visit Ms. Balmer, fellow member of #PSUAgEd18, I was nervous as to what to expect.  Ms. Balmer is student teaching in Tri-Valley High School home to the Tri-Valley FFA Chapter.  Here are my notes I learned while visiting. Ms Balmer Teaching in her classroom Gender Differences At Cumberland Valley School District I am teaching a a ratio of 4:1 Female:Male students.  At Tri-Valley that is the complete opposite.  As a result the classroom environment is very different.  Boys, especially high school boys, tend to forget to be professional which leads to them often saying or doing something inappropriate in class.  The big thing I saw was how Ms Balmer had complete control of that behavior.  The boys knew the rules and knew what needed to be done for class. I know that every program is different but one thing I learned is that sometimes you don't know what to expect till you come int...

Question: does the fire alarming going off during the South Central Regional PAAE meaning mean stuff was getting done or something else? The big lesson I learned from PAAE is how hard hosting can be for a regional meeting.  One thing I wouldn't have thought about: food. Like make sure you can feed a small army at a PAAE spring regional event because the State Officers will also be conducting a State Officer Orientation Meeting with FFA Members and talking about the process of becoming a state officer. Catering is the way to go.  Also charge a fee for students and advisors so you break even on the number that will attend. Another cool thing I learned is how to schedule rooms after hours.  This is important so that janitors know you are still in the building.  It will be especially useful when considering hosting events during the summer. The big thing I also learned having this experience is that as a young teacher this could be something that though...

How Professional Development leads to the Three Circle Model This spring I attended both Professional Development opportunities at ACES and SLLC.  I enjoyed all of the opportunities both gave but I am going to focus this blog on the ACES Professional Development because of something really cool that happened as well. At ACES we got to hear from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation where we learned about ways to teach Watersheds to students.  I enjoyed all the different activities because one of the topics I haven't taught while student teaching is Natural Resources and so getting some cool ways to talk about water was super useful. I especially liked how some of the activities were using different tools which made me sit there and think how some of these tools cost more than others but still led to the same results. It made me realize how there isn't one way to teach a lesson.  I hope that during the summer I'll have a chance to change up some of my lessons to see what ways...