Visiting another student teacher is just a few (tiny) towns away

Mr. Michael Petrun is student teaching at Cowanesque Valley High School in the Northern Tioga School District - about 40 minutes from Wellsboro. So basically, he is my neighbor! Even so, his cooperating center is quite different from my own. Let's compare the two:

Wellsboro - 1 teacher, plant and animal science focus, heavy FFA involvement, 8 - 42 minute periods

Cowanesque - 2 teachers, forestry, horticulture, and ag mechanics focus, large ag mech shop and work area, broken block and 40 minute periods

While I had been to the little school in Westfield, PA during my time as a state FFA officer, I did not really have the ability to reflect on that visit from the perspective of a soon-to-graduate Ag Ed major. So I was excited to see 1) how Mike was holding up after almost 2 weeks of full load teaching and 2) how the programs were actually different.

One of the first major differences I noted for the day was (you won't believe that I am about to mention the weather again) how much colder it was only 20 minutes north of Wellsboro! Seriously, this is the coldest I have ever seen my car thermometer that I had to take a photo of it...

Fred (my car) was pretty chilly.

But seriously, I had a good day. Mike and I discussed the differences in how our student teaching experience is starting - and we convened on the fact that both of our experiences are pretty different than the rest (Mike will also only be in the north for 7 weeks, as he is spending the rest of his semester internship in environmental education at Shaver's Creek Environmental Center).

Mike arrived a little early to school to prepare for the day. His daily schedule includes 2 sections of an Ag Sci 1 class, a block period (80 min) of Hort 1, and a block period of Metalworking 1 in the shop! 

Getting ready for the day!

Both the Ag Sci classes and the Hort class were covering propagation techniques (a new topic to me!) and he wanted to bring the students out into the greenhouse to demonstrate some techniques, but didn't get to due to students' work time on a worksheet. It was interesting, however, to watch the Hort class "debate" the benefits of asexual versus sexual reproduction in plants. 

Another interesting experience I had was talking with one of Mike's students, and the chapter FFA president, about her independent study project of designing the landscape around her home using a super cool landscape design software. The ag classroom has 4 nice desktop computers and a 2 foot printer for printing drafting layouts - something that Wellsboro could definitely use for its horticulture program!

Debate in the hort class, comparing asexual/sexual reproduction in plants

During the first 10 minutes of his metalworking class, Mike had to take some students to the auditorium for the FFA yearbook photo! While I nonchalantly talked about photography and $2000+ photo lenses with the photographer, Mike was watching the 80+ FFA members file into lines for the picture. 

Mike didn't come from an FFA background, so it is good to see him excited about it :)

Metalworking was neat to see, especially since I will not be teaching any mechanics classes during my time at Wellsboro (but I will be observing/co-teaching some woodworking!). Mike was actually doing his $15 project with the students (AEE 350 shout out!) of making a tool gauge, so they were integrating angles, protractors, and other mathematical concepts in the shop as they cut their metal pieces. He did a pretty good job and seemed to be growing comfortable for not having much shop experience either! 

Mike demonstrating proper tool gauge metal cuts

All in all, it was a great time to see my dear fellow cohort-er, Mr. Petrun, and his comfort level as he experiences lots of new things in this teaching placement. I appreciated the way in which all the career/technical shops were close together and the teachers were very connected. I also appreciated seeing the pros/cons of an 80 minute period over a 40 minute period for agricultural science instruction. This was a great experience and one that I think will help me reflect more on my experiences (especially seeing Mike journal in his little daily journal) that will soon come. I hope to be adapting to a new situation as well as Mike, and taking advantage of every opportunity this short 7 weeks will give me!

Week 2 - Warming up to Wellsboro

It may seem silly to consider warming up in Wellsboro right now, as the average temperatures over the past several days have lingered around 10 degrees, with sub-zero wind chills (leading to my first ever cold-induced 2 hour delay on Tuesday). Nonetheless, it's been a great second week of student teaching so far! There are a few interesting things happening this week, so I figured I would split it into 2 blog posts.

Monday brought something new in the ag classroom - SAE mini presentations! Mrs. Berndtson allowed students in all classes to take 1-2 minutes for sharing the scope of their SAE and she prompted some with questions to keep the flow. It was a new concept but nonetheless a great idea to keep the students accountable for their projects and allow them a chance to share with others the diversity of their work. Some of the most interesting ones that I heard were: turtle breeding, old shed clean up, and a raising a long-haired hamster. Tuesday brought some additional 4-legged creatures to the ag classroom, in addition to a 2-hour delay. One student brought one of her Nubian cross meat goat kids to class - Luther is just a week old (born a day after MLK Jr day) and just about as cute as a button!

One of my students presenting her SAE - raising meat goats!

Another student, who is in 8th period Animal Science 3/4, brought her English shepherd puppy to class to have Mrs. Berndtson clip its toenails - so Dixie the puppy was running around the classroom for most of the day as well. She was pretty cute, and wanted desperately to play with the baby goat, but was restrained for most of the time due to her high activity level.

She really is a wonderful ag teacher... all that's missing in this photo is an owl on her shoulder!

After a little practice, he got used to the slick floor and was leaping around

Quite the amusing classroom accessory

After school on Tuesday, a few of the FFA boys stayed for the first Forestry CDE practice session with Mrs. B. Grand Canyon FFA earned National Gold in the 2009 Forestry competition and earned 2nd place at the state level the past 2 years. The boys want to bring home gold this year and it is encouraging (and somewhat intimidating) to see them so motivated and knowledgeable of forestry science and tree ID.

Back at my super awesome Wellsboro home, I hooked up to the internet and tuned in for our first faculty/student teacher web meeting where I was able to hear the lovely voices of all my #PSUaged14 cohort family members!! Then, after the meeting, I was invited over to my wonderful cooperating teacher's home for a nice warm winter dinner.

Wednesday seems to have flown by (while, ironically, the 2 hour delay Tuesday seemed to drag on) and was filled with various odds and ends. I helped check notebooks in most classes as Mrs. Berndtson reviewed for the mid-term exams all the classes have tomorrow. I also was able to meet with the school principal to have a "mock teacher interview" as an AEE 495 assignment. The "interview" went well, especially since it wasn't much of an interview and more of a discussion about the interview process. I was also able to see into the bureaucracy of the education system, as we discussed curriculum changes over the years and potential changes for the future of career and technical education. Now off to a teacher LFS (Learning Focused School) seminar about "What Moves You." We'll just have to see how moving it is...

Keep in touch via my Twitter (@allihoov) and my cooperating center's feed (@Wellsboroag) as we continue on this adventure!! Cheers to another day and another chance to make a difference...

and to a super cute goat :)

Some of the perks of teaching ag - holding cute baby goats for entire class periods!

First week of school... All over again!

You smell the pencil shavings. You see the big yellow buses. You feel the lined paper. You hear the chickens.

What? The chickens? Well, although the first three are the normal sensory experiences of the first week of school, the fourth was definitely a piece of this wonderful pie that I got to enjoy for my first week of my semester-long student teaching experience in AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION!

So what is going on? I am currently student teaching for my final semester at Penn State as an Agricultural and Extension Education major. I will graduate in June, after completing this 15-week internship. For the next 6 weeks (7 weeks total), I will be here in the chilly northern PA region, student teaching at Wellsboro Area High School with the Wellsboro Agriscience Program (@wellsboroag) and Mrs. Melanie Berndtson.
After this 7 weeks in PA, I will move back down to Costa Rica for 8 weeks to finish my internship with a national technical university (UTN - not EARTH, where I studied abroad this past summer). This university offers agricultural majors and I will most likely be assisting with some first year courses in order to more appropriately reflect my (would-be) normal internship with secondary education students. This is the first time for an AEE student from Penn State to (attempt to) student teach abroad, so it is going to be a great learning experience for many people! But enough about that - you will definitely hear more about it later.

It is currently 8 degrees in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania with a RealFeel of -23, but this is warmer than it was 2 days ago, with a record low for my car's thermometer of -2 F (and a much lower RealFeel). Just keep bundled up and get that electric blanket out (here is my first time ever to use one!) and you should be fine.

So how was my first week of student teaching? Well, I didn't teach much, and we only had class on 4 days - but overall it was awesome!! I am so excited to get into the swing of things and know my students more and more. We had no school on Monday due to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day, so I went in to meet with my cooperating teacher and discuss some changes/catch up on things. We ran some errands, I learned about the complicated processes of purchasing orders and budgeting, and she showed me around the school again before we departed around 4... so I guess it was a full day!

On Tuesday, my first day on the job with real, breathing students, I entered the school a few minutes after my teacher, at 7 AM, to find some Rhode Island Red hens (chickens) clucking around in cages in the animal science lab. These chickens, which happen to belong to Mrs. Berndtson, were to be used for an activity for her Animal Science 3/4 students in 8th period. So they definitely got some publicity and attracted attention for all of her other classes for the day! I was introduced as Miss Hoover (weird) to all classes, but not with complete unexpectancy, as I had visited all classes and even taught a lesson to 2 of them in November. I was able to help out with the lab/review that Mrs. Berndtson was conducting in her Ag Science 1 class, who is participating in the AFNR CASE curriculum, on acids and bases. I met several faculty members, including high school administration, before the much anticipated 8th period animal science class. The mini-unit on poultry and animal disease turned to the concept of drawing blood in chickens. This is conducted when chickens are brought together, increasing the risk of avian influenza transfer. So, Mrs. Berndtson, a Certified Poultry Technician, offered up her own feathery ladies to give the students some hands-on experience. It was quite a great ending to a wonderful first day... see the pictures below!

Mrs. Berndtson demonstrating on the first hen

Blood sampling supplies 

The first eager student to partake in the activity! 

Wednesday came quickly, and went almost as quickly before the FFA meeting after school. I continued to observe my coop teacher's classes and assist with assembly or work if needed. The following schedule is what I will pick up after this marking period ends with the current content being taught (courses are year long but listed as half year, so names do not change):
Pd 1: An Sc 1/2 (section 1) - animal reproduction presentations and discussion of poultry repro
Pd 2: prep period
Pd 3: Natural Resource Management - covering forest fires and fire fighting
Pd 4: An Sc 1/2 (section 2)
Pd 5: lunch
Pd 6: Intro to Ag Science 1 - CASE curriculum, 3.3.1: acids and bases
Pd 7: FFA/Leadership - Parliamentary procedure
Pd 8: An Sc 3/4 - animal health, parasitology
I was able to visit with the wood shop teacher, Mr. Jake West, who is also assisting with FFA and traveled to National Convention with us, during lunch period, where we discussed the potential of me coming down for a free period to observe or work with him. It was neat to see an entire room devoted to wood products and carpentry as opposed to a larger room devoted to a bunch of industries (a normal ag room). 6th period Ag Sci 1 was doing some cool stuff in the lab/work area with acids and bases and data collection, so I snapped a few pics of this as well!

9th grade Ag Sc 1 students using super cool LabQuest data collection systems to measure the pH and changes in pH of household products

Using a pH sensor

After school on Wednesday, I sat in on my first Grand Canyon FFA meeting. We had about 20 or so members and lots of business about National FFA Week, which is quickly approaching. Our chapter president got to use some Parlia Pro, even if he was corrected by the Parliamentarian (who is a student in the FFA/Leadership class) by a point of order or two... and it overall was an effective meeting, even if the students' creative juices weren't flowing as much as we knew they could.

One of our officers during the brainstorming session for National FFA Week during the meeting

Later on Wednesday night, I traveled up the road (past many non-postal office towns) into Northern Tioga County for a fire hall meeting of the county Jr. Livestock Committee for the Tioga County Fair. As I have never been to a meeting to discuss the logistics of livestock judging and shows at a county fair, this certainly was an ag teacher-ish experience to have! It revealed, as many other things already do, the significance of an ag teacher's true devotion to the total success of their students: personal, professional, academic, and even recreational!! Mrs. Berndtson is a wonderful cooperating teacher because she exudes passion for her students in almost anything she is involved in. I feel truly blessed to have such a great role model to spend the next 6 weeks with.

Thursday was a great day, but shortened classes due to an afternoon assembly on acceptance of others (especially students with disabilities). Classes continued, but I was able to visit another science teacher's double period (CP Biology) and intro to a lab on genetics called a Reebop lab to observe her teaching techniques and methods. It was pretty cool, even if I had never heard of this extremely popular lab to demonstrate meiosis and genetic variation.

And finally... Friday! Today has been a great day so far. I was able to meet a few more students and get to know them before actually teaching them. I learned about the school's compliance with national nutrition standards and the changes in the cafeteria administration. And, as a way to at least instruct one lesson before the end of the week, I introduced myself and my classroom management procedures/expectations to the Ag Sci I class. The introduction required a signature on the contracts to verify they understand my expectations and guidelines, and as they continued to finish the CASE lab they were working on, they returned to the classroom to make name tags and record their lab data. It was a little scattered due to the nature of their status in the curriculum, but overall went well! I am excited to introduce myself to the rest of my classes in 10 days and learn all about them and their interests as we dive into some exciting units...

Here's to a successful first week of student teaching! Maybe I'll stop and reward myself with a latte at my new favorite coffee shop, the Wired Rooster! If you ever find yourself in Wellsboro, let me know and I would be glad to show you around.

Til next week... here's a quote to ruminate on in honor of his own day: 

"Life's most urgent and persistent question is; what are you doing for others?" ~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Around the world and more - Thailand and Cambodia trip

Here I am, sitting in my new home (for the next 7 weeks) in the chilly northern tier of Pennsylvania (stay tuned for more blogs about this new chapter of my life), reviewing photos from my most recent international experience in a much warmer location - Southeast Asia.

After a semester-long preparation course, I traveled to Thailand and Cambodia with 12 students and 3 chaperones for 2 weeks as part of the INTAG/HORT 499D course: Food Security Strategies for Smallholder Farmers in Southeast Asia (as it is formally called).

I am pretty sure this was the most exciting and unique international experience I have had so far... even though my summer in Costa Rica was the most life-changing and blessed? Either way, it was an amazing trip! The group of people was perfectly diverse and we got along very well, the locations were superb, and the learning experience was never ending! Plus, I took a BOATLOAD of photos with my new camera!

When you think of Thailand and Cambodia, what do you think of? Probably Bangkok and Angkor Wat. Yep, I think those were my thoughts previously as well. But, after spending 9 days in Thailand and 3 days in Cambodia, I have come to realize that we can never truly understand a place until we go there... and now I can say I understand Thai and Cambodian culture a bit more for having lived among it.

So what did we do? Well, considering the title of the course, we visited a fair share of farmers in both countries. But first let's discuss travel to Asia. This being my first time in Asia, I did expect a longer time in transit, but I think I've calculated approximately 90 hours of travel time with the group... that's almost 4 days of travel. Plus, the day on each side of the trip that I stayed in DC area, but that was with family, so not too difficult :) Even though we were on 8 airplanes for a total of 48 hours, it really wasn't that bad (especially with the quality of Etihad airlines, my new favorite way to travel). Maybe this is just a reflection of my passion for travel and ability/willingness to do so!!


Okay, back to SE Asia. Long travels = worth it. Nobody got sick or distressed or had any real problems, thank the Lord! We arrived in Chiang Mai on Monday, December 30 for a 2 night stay - New Year's included! Chiang Mai is famous for its New Year's experiences, so we were pumped. But after settling in, we just walked around the Night Market and grabbed some food before the extreme jet lag/no sleeping exhaustion kicked in.

Tuesday morning, we drove out to a cooperative organic rice farming community and learned about rice processing (but not rice growing) in addition to how the cooperative works/collects and distributes their product. Then we toured  the farm (after a delicious first authentic Thai lunch) and watched as the farmer demonstrated the rice husking/sorting and packaging processes. It was pretty interesting to see the finished product shortly after watching them work the machine that began the process!

Finished kilogram of organic rice

Passion fruit vineyard on the farm

Our group at the lookout of the community forest!

Tuesday was New Year's Eve, so when we returned, we had some dinner before heading into town and exploring the special New Year's Eve night market/festival along with all of the other thousands of international tourists... it was quite jam-packed. But nonetheless an incredible time, as we got to release a lantern with our wishes and goals at midnight!

Kate, Jess, Laura, Abe and I released a lantern at midnight!

The super packed New Year's Eve market

On New Year's Day, we traveled north into the mountains of the Chiang Rai province to stay at UHDP for 3 nights. UHDP is a Christian non-profit dedicated to working with the hilltribe peoples of Northern Thailand and greater vicinity to improve farming and agroforestry practices and other lifestyle practices in a sustainable manner. They have a center/headquarters in the mountains that holds several demonstration plots and gardens so that they can use it as an educational hub if farmers are able and willing to travel for training. During our 3 day stay with this great organization, we toured the facilities, participated in some workshops (see photos below), and visited some local villages. It was pretty nice to all be together in a rural location after spending a few days in the city - no markets, no TVs, and definitely no Starbucks! We got pretty creative with our down time... playing family charade games, bamboo sword fighting, and invented relay races, in addition to trailblazing through the woods and valleys next door! On our last day at the center, we visited with ECHO - Asia, whose regional seed bank is located at the UHDP center. ECHO is another Christian non-profit that mainly works with other agricultural NGOs in Southeast Asia to promote sustainable agricultural production. A seed bank is just one of the ways they do this. It was super awesome to see some on-the-ground cooperation between NGOs, especially ones devoted to pursuing the love of Christ in their work! These pictures should truly illustrate our experiences with UHDP and ECHO.

Chopping up banana plant stalks to make pig feed! 

Thai tractor equipment and a bit of rice paddy landscape - a view from our hike

Seed propagation workshop 

Using an Asian machete to harvest rattan palm heart for our home made lunch!!! (note the difference from Latin American machetes in previous blog posts)

Chopping up frogs for lunch :) They really did taste like chicken!

Wrapping seasoned ground pork in banana leaves to cook... yum.

One of the most impactful experiences I had on this trip was visiting the Palaung villages in the Chiang Rai province on Friday and Saturday of our first week. Not only did we get to see smallholder agriculture at work and learn from local farmers, but I got to play with village children (a huge dream of mine). I loved photographing them and they loved being photographed, so I hope you enjoy some of the pictures from the village (more to come on my photo website in the near future).

The first village we visited was a bit smaller, and most of the agriculture was viewed in backyard gardens/plots. People had small animals (pigs and chickens) and lots of cute kids!

A farmer showing us his very small farm plot behind his home

Climbing trees after villager kids :) 

Molly and I were teaching them how to play Rock-Paper-Scissors... a non-verbal game :)

This is our second village visit, which we traveled to after a morning touring the ECHO Asia seed bank. This village is also Palaung people, located about 2 miles from the Myanmar border. For this trip, we hiked through the mountains to see the agroforestry systems and different farms. It was probably one of the coolest hikes I've ever experienced! We came back to settle into our host family homes for the night, then had a wonderful dinner, complete with a discussion with some of the first farmers/men of the village who had experienced a lot of hardship to get to where they are. It was certainly eye opening to hear about the struggles people endure to simply have a home, let alone additional luxuries we often take for granted. 

One of the two farmers who led us around his agroforestry land

Upland agriculture - corn stubblefield on some super red (oxidized) soil that often washes away

Our host family home's living room. Note the small Buddha/spirit shrine and then our beds on the right 

The boys with their toys - tires and sticks. Roll it down the street and keep it up with the stick! 

My littlest host brother, Su-Cha, who gave me that flower :)

On our way home from the village, we stopped at tourist central - an elephant park. Yes, I got to ride an elephant. It was pretty cool, but the coolest part was getting to pet an elephant after our ride (which may have later been scolded by an employee who didn't see us walk up to the elephant).

This made the awkward bumpy elephant ride so worth it!

We spent one more day in Chiang Mai, seeing all parts of the city and the Sunday market, before taking another couple flights (45 minutes each) to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Our first day was quite the flurry of farm sites and markets, as we had minimal time to see it all. But, the afternoon proved to be one of the most memorable experiences on the trip, as we visited the famous Floating Village of the Tonle Sap Lake, the largest lake in Southeast Asia. This village and all of its buildings/homes/structures were constructed on stilts so that, during the wet season, the river/lake water can rise up to the foundations of the homes. In the dry season, the water level is much lower, but still causing most of the town to be "floating." Apart from kids playing in the water and boats simply everywhere, I won't soon forget seeing a pig pen... floating in water.

"The Floating Village"

The floating playground...

For all my animal science blog readers - who knew pigs could handle water so well!??

Siem Reap, where we spent 3 days, is a purely tourist town, devoted to the world-famous temple area and UNESCO World Heritage site - Angkor Wat. This collection of ancient temples (formerly Hindu, then converted to Buddhist) originated around the 12th century and have extremely diverse architecture. We spent a day biking around the area, getting a little lost, then exploring the 3 major temple sites: Angkor Wat, Bayon Temple, and Ta Phrom (the one with the trees growing over the temples!). This was our last day in the country, followed up with a bit of a layover in Bangkok before taking the 30 hour trip home!! Even though I had some interesting sickness symptoms upon return, I have survived to the 10 day mark and am so thankful for the experience... Now that you have survived this super long blog post, here are some Angkor Wat and other temple photos to enjoy!!!

Tree of Ta Prohm temple area: Our biking group - Me, Robert, Dickon, Kate, Abe, Eric

The typical lake and Angkor Wat shot!

I don't think this was off limits?

As with anything, be sure to enjoy where you are. The Lord has you there for a purpose. And as with any travel experiences that you may find yourself encountering, please submit to this quoted truth by Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt:

"Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, excitingly, imaginatively."