On Friday I traveled to Shippensburg High School, my student teaching site, and I was able to teach a lesson that was based on one of National FFA's Life Knowledge Lessons. Specifically, my lesson was titled "What are the benefits of Character and Integrity?".  I taught a 40 minute lesson to Mrs. Bier's Ag Leadership class, after getting the chance to sit in on the chapter's FFA Meeting during FLEX.  Overall, I think the lesson went very well. I was excited to have my first official student teaching lesson be to the students I have gotten to know over the last 6 months. The Ag Leadership class has 8 students, each of which are the chapter's officers.  Bellwork We started the lesson with bellwork tying this lesson to the lesson I taught during their officer training where we talked about their strengths and weaknesses as an officer team. The students were able to share how they have been using strategies that we discussed to to fulfill their officer duties.  In...

 Last week, I had the pleasure of traveling to Milton Area High School on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for my Micro-teaching Assignment. For this assignment, we were tasked with teaching three lessons that fit where the class currently was in their curriculum. I was assigned Mr. Bittner's Food Science and Safety Class!  On Monday, I observed with Mr. Bittner and started to get to know his Food Science and Safety class. I was excited to learn that he has a TA for this class, and got to know Talen throughout the week as he helped the class through setting up and executing our many Labs. I also got a chance to get to know Mr. Bittner and some of the other wonderful faculty at Milton. Mr. Bittner started this Program 5 years ago, and has created a very exceptional facility and course offerings. Throughout this whole experience he was very honest and inspiring as he shared his "tricks to the trade".  On Wednesday, I was able to jump right into teaching, and introduc...

Last week the PSUAGED23 cohort and a group of master educators met for the AgriScience Inquiry Institute at the BJC. This was such a great experience where we not only got the chance to mingle with and collaborate with some great Agricultural Educators, but also dive into the essential pillars of inquiry. The activities that we participated on both Thursday evening and Friday were measured based on to what degree we had met each pillar. These were: engagement, evidence, explanation, connection, and communication.  Throughout the course of the event we did so many fun labs that I hope to incorporate into my plans for student teaching. These included things like "Batteries that Make Cents", "What factors lead to food insecurity?",  "Battle of the Beaks" and more! These labs were not only challenging but also led to some deep thought as we served in the role of the student.  My favorite activity of the Institute was where we determined regions' food secur...