Guest Blogger Series: Being a 21st Century Agriscience Teacher: Maximizing Tools

Being a 21st Century Agriscience Teacher: Maximizing Tools...

Editor's Note: This blog is part of a series of guest contributors from the national school-based agricultural education family.  Mrs. Diane Glock-Cornman, MAgEd  is an agriculture instructor and FFA Advisor at Penn Manor High School in Millersville, PA.  She is a thirteen year veteran having taught at Juniata High School prior to her Penn Manor post.  She has been involved in post-master's studies in Learning Technologies which lead to her serving as the PSU TeachAg Technologist this past year, where she presented workshops, posted blog posts and provided current trends in learning tech.  She has been involved in developing online curriculum programs and is currently working towards her Google Educator 2 Certification.  She currently posts on her personal blog at E-Learn in Ag.  She grew up on a dairy farm in Juniata County, PA where she is still involved to this day.  

 "21st Century Learner", "Inquiry", "Flipped", "Blended", "STEM", "STEAM", "One-to-one, BYOD: in today's educational climate it is hard to find a place to begin.  We find ourselves many times wanting to do everything all at once and sometimes nothing at all.  I believe this comes from a place of how rapidly information is becoming available to everyone.  This infographic from August 2015 shows us what can happen in just 60 seconds.

Image from DOMO

 Recently while attending Google Teacher training, we were told the main reason Google changed the font type of their logo is so download time is decreased on a multitude of platforms - that the sans serifs slowed us down.  

Image from Mashable

The sans serif (little feet on letters) impede the downloading rate of information, thereby decreasing the amount of information available to let's say a student in India.  Think about that for a moment.  A global, billion dollar company is (still) concerned about how quickly information can be downloaded in a developing country.  To me, that is a beautiful thing.  The logos behind that sentiment is at the heart of what we try to do in our classroom every day.  To reach as many students in as many ways possible to broaden their horizons.  But, how do we do this today when we are not only combating complex societal pressures on our students, but we compete for their very attention. 


There are countless resources out there to utilize in the realm of educational technology and everything having the allure of being "techie"; however, I believe when considering all the 21st Century Learners out there, we must visit our 20th Century basics to begin.  There is no substitute for a teacher who presents/challenges rigor and relevance in their lessons.  Regardless of the tools an educator can present, students need to see the relevance to them.  Many times, we are the ones showing them those connection points in their lives to the content needed to be successful, so we must never underestimate that influence.  We must have high expectations of ourselves and of our students.  As agriscience teachers, we at times, feel as though we are juggling many different hats in life to meet the demand of an agriculture department, but we must not allow that to effect the rigor at which we teach.   It is hard enough to combat often negative and outdated views of agriculture education in our communities and schools, let alone allow our curriculum to be watered down.  Many see us as this:  

American Gothic

When, we know the precision of how we conduct agricultural practices today: 

Image from New Holland Agriculture

Finally, students must see that we care about what we teach and how we consider them.  Being validated is a fundamental need and our students need that connection in some way.  This means you should get to know the interests of your students even if they are not yours or take a moment to say hello.  These small investments will reap huge dividends in your overall instruction.  But, how does this translate into utilizing 21st Century teaching tools and strategies?  

I believe a fascinating argument on how to present information to our students is posed by Erno Rubrik.  "Questions are more important today than the answers" a quote heard via a Google video presented by Rich Kiker, the leading Google Trainer, on Erno Rubrik.

In the spirit of maximizing tools to become a 21st Century Teacher, I believe there are a few things one must do in order to be effective.  Edutopia does a great job of outlining 15 Characteristics of a 21st Century Teacher here.    However, this list can be quite daunting to a new and beginning teacher, so I have created a short list of ideas to help anyone who is either beginning teaching or entering this world of technology.  

1.  Don't be afraid to allow students to drive their own education and experiences.  From using Wordpress in the classroom and FFA Chapter, to allowing students to determine their own research topics from something they are interested in, allow them to "open source" or be a maker in their own education.  You can insert the information/course content required through those experiences.

2.  Stay connected, but I mean real human connections - not "liking" a Facebook post.  We live in a world where the CEO of Apple is one direct message away on Twitter.  This is awesome on so many levels, however this also allows us to have an ambiguity that allows us to stay uninvolved.  Develop a Personal Learning Network and actually engage with these people.  Find experts in the fields and areas of education/industry that fascinate you and than find individuals who are not "social snobs" and will communicate with you.  I am blessed to have found some great people in and around technology who simply want to help.  Engagement is everything on social media and we are starved for personable interactions.

3.  Find a few great technologies/platforms that you love and build from there.  Don't try to master everything at once.  Agriculture teachers don't have that kind of time and you will burn yourself out.  Use tools like Graphite to help you find apps and websites that will work with your level of technology integration at your high school/program.  

4.  Get organized.  Utilize platforms like Evernote or Google Keep to organize your "to-do" list for the day, month and year or use it to store great ideas out there that you would like to come back to and try.  I have a folder in Evernote just on "Technology to Try".  Use Remind to help send out information to your groups.  Also, share these storing platforms with students - they too need to see how these tools can work in their own life.

5.  Advocate digital citizenship.  I can't stress this enough.  Just as we would want to teach our students' table manners for an important dinner with legislators, we want them to understand their digital presence.  Really, their digital and real presence will become one in the same to some degree.   This is why as an educator, you too must be super-sensitive to what your digital presence is.  However you decide to brand yourself must always be in a professional manner. We must always stress the old adage "once on the Internet, always on the Internet".    Common Sense Education has a wonderful collection of resources and curriculum to help you with this endeavor.  

After 13+ years of teaching, I am in no way an expert in this arena; however, as Dr. Brene Brown says in some of her books, it's easy to sit in the cheap seats.  We live in a Sans Serif restricting world, where we can make the decision to stay connected or not.  Our students are connected and will continue to be.  It is our responsibility to use the tools within our reach to create an innovative and safe learning environment where students can reach their full potential.  Just like the "are you feeling lucky" Google search, it's not always perfect, but the more important part is that you tried.

You can find other and more specific tech tips on the PSU TeachAG Roars Blog and Department site.  

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

Guest Blogger: Agriculture Education From the Trenches

Editor's Note: Casi Foster is an Agriculture and Extension Education Science Teacher for  Leadership Development , Juvenile Detention and Treatment. She is a second year teacher with prior experience working for the Chambersburg Area Senior High School as fall term 2015 AG teacher.  Casi is a 2014 PSU Graduate having completed her student teaching at Biglerville (PA) with Michelle Miller. 

Where in life do we go wrong, for many of us it starts at a very young age. I don't know everything about what happens to my students, but what I know for sure is, that they end up here. Here, is alternative education for juvenile delinquents; and here in this private school is where I start my journey to help change the lives of my students through agriculture education.  I hope through agriculture education that I can make a difference, and create hope for a better future. This place is one that breeds contempt, that breeds hopelessness, but it is out of the children's own lives that this air is created. Let us start from the beginning; I am an agriculture education teacher from the Penn State. I recently finished 5 months of conventional high school agriculture education. It DID not prepare me for this next step.

I came here to change how many of these kids see school and just maybe the world. These students are very different than those in a typical High School. Have you ever wondered where those “bad” kids that got dumped in your department go when they stop showing up? They go to lock up, or placement. Many of these students have been in and out of what we call “placements” for a large majority of their lives. These students have committed crimes and have been victims of abuse. They do not know agriculture, and they really don't know much about the world in general.

Their world, typically consists of what they call the block. Every now and then we get a student from a rural setting, but they seem to be rather isolated and display the same type of behaviors. I think that the students come from a place that is almost like another world. What they know, what they place value in, is alien to most of us. To them, teasing or bullying comes with guns and violence; it is not some kid on the bus calling them names. Bullying to them is life-threatening. Basic teenager things are much more serious. Many of them have seen things that my typical agriculture student can't even fathom. This teaching environment will be a true test of will, an educational battlefield where college training alone won’t be enough to gain ground. While walking through these halls all I can think of is,

This is the other ag teacher being shy

“Welcome to tough agriculture.”

So how does one impact a child that has seen more life than you, but knows so little about it? I am about to find out.

Fast Forward!

What you have just read was from my personal blog several months prior to this. I was asked to blog about unique circumstances in agriculture education. So here it goes. I teach agriculture education in a juvenile detention facility, also known as a placement. My partner and I currently teach Ornamental Horticulture, Small Animal Care and Management, and Agriculture and Natural Resources. We have brand new text books, a beautiful greenhouse, support of our administration, and the some of the worst behaved students in the state. What a recipe! Recently, many schools have started dumping students into agriculture departments because they don’t know where else to put them. This can be a huge pain to the teachers, now imagine all of those “dumped” kids in one classroom. My kids come from every county in the state, with a few from Maryland and West Virginia for a little diversity. On that note, the mix gets even more dynamic when you take into account the backgrounds and the socioeconomic status of my kids. I teach agriculture to them because it is my passion, but also because these kids have had so much life happen to them but have no idea how it actually works. I follow the PIMS code descriptions for my classes as well as utilizing the “SAS” and “AFNR” standards to make sure that each lesson is up to par. The rest of it is up to me, and my partner to make sure that we not only impact our students academically but personally.

Our team also teaches about FFA and does an entire unit on it to make sure that our students have positive options when they reach the real world again. We likewise spend time on and conduct many surveys and learning style assessments with our students to ensure that we are teaching them in a way that they can learn easily. What we have discovered is that troubled students are such because they don’t know how to be students, and that the majority are tactile learners. Who knew right? Agriculture for tactile learners? There are many things to consider when teaching from the trenches so to speak. Here is the best advice for those hardened students that need you the most:

• Vigilance people! Do yourself a favor and see the bigger picture. Monitor everything to include but not limited to: behavior, verbal and non verbal clues, work levels, comprehension levels, family trouble, social dysfunction, anger control issues, coping skills, ownership of behavior, distorted reality, tool safety, and your own teaching methods.

• Get dirty! If you are not willing to get down and pull that weed, or dig that hole, neither are they. Many students need to know that hard work is important, obtainable, and rewarding. While of course you teach them everything from tools names, to plant anatomy.

• Be Flexible! Many difficult students have fallen through the cracks of “No Child Left Behind” and really truly don’t know much of anything. Do be afraid to change the level of your work. There comes a time where you must consider quality education of quantity.

• Become one with the special education department! Behavior and ability level are often linked, be sure to get the run down on your students. This really helps you in the long run to have smoother classes. 

• Make even the little, tiny, teeny-weeny things hands on. Be creative with your lessons. Make as much as you can hands on. It helps with retention and visualization.

• Front load everything! Giving clear instructions at a moderate pace is the goal. These should include not only the procedure but the expectations for behavior.

• Process behavior! Follow up with your students that are struggling as much as possible. They may be struggling with thinking errors and ownership for their behaviors. They won’t know it’s wrong till it’s clarified. Have them explain what happened, why they did it, why they thought that way, consider their actions, and then make a plan for better behavior.

• Take every opportunity to build relationships. This could be during a behavioral process, or pulling some weeds, or just listening to them after class.

• Take accountability! Please know what you have supply wise, tool wise, or really just everything . That missing sharp object could be the thing one of your kids uses to hurt themselves or others. Set yourself up for success not failure. 

• Take classes! Please consider classes or professional development opportunities on some of the following: Human Trafficking, suicide preventions, gangs and gang violence, abuse of any kind, CPR, first aid, wilderness training and first responder, HIPPA, etc. If you think these things don’t apply to you or your AG dept you are wrong! A recent study showed that Pennsylvania human trafficking cases and child abuse cases have shot up. If your school is near a major highway it is definitely in your area.

Through Agriculture we can reach those students that have been left behind, or labeled, or misunderstood. We have a rare opportunity thanks to the dynamics and diversity of our field to make a difference. 

Be that teacher.
Casandra Foster

http://toughagriculture.blogspot.com/

casi.foster13@gmail.com