Educación Publica en Costa Rica

Translated: Public Education in Costa Rica
For the third time I find myself in Costa Rica for some educational purpose... and I feel like it is time to reflect on the Public Education system that I have come to know so well. I know many of you may have interest in this, but for those of you who do not... feel free to not continue reading :)

I will reflect on public, not private, education systems - public systems are regulated by the Ministry of Public Education (MEP) at the national level. Each teacher in the country is therefore independently contracted by MEP. There are 4 basic cycles, as seen below in the table.

Cycle (education type)	One (primary: general basic education)				Two (primary: general basic education)		Three (secondary: general basic education)			Four (secondary: diversified education)
Approximate Age	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Grade/year	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Diploma received: must pass national standardized tests to receive at each level						Primary Education Diploma					Bachillerato (high school diploma) Required for post-secondary education	Technical/ specialty diploma
Attendance Required	Obligatory				Obligatory		Obligatory			Not obligatory

Secondary education (which I thoroughly researched for my undergraduate thesis) is a little different than in
the U.S... here is a diagram to explain the structure.

Within these structures, MEP mandates academic standards to all levels with a hierarchical system (overarching themes, unit goals/objectives, lesson objectives). Apart from this structure, there is no requirement or common resource for teachers. The annual school year schedule for public education in Costa Rica includes 200 school days. The school schedule follows the calendar year in that students move to the next grade level at the start of the calendar year. The school year is split into three time frames or “trimesters.” The first trimester runs from February to May. The second runs from June to August, with no vacation between the first and second. The third trimester begins in September after a 20 day vacation and runs into the start of December, thus allowing for approximately 2 months of vacation before the start of the new school year. However, within these 200 school days, there are numerous "feriados" or holidays in Costa Rica - at least 2 per month where there are no classes. Additionally, in small schools, class may be canceled for a day or two if a teacher is not available. Thus, I would estimate students are only in school about 170-180 days a year.

From now on out I will mainly reflect on my current observations of the local school where I am working, but I also have experience in another rural (technical) secondary school. Lesson planning does not seem to be very common an action from my observations. Teachers do seem to be resourceful when it comes to activities. One example is the use of standardized curriculum books for all classes at the rural primary school where I am working. The students literally travel to and from school with 5 or 6 workbooks and their individual class spiral bound notebooks. These notebooks do allow for student-centered instruction or group work, nonetheless, much instruction comes from reading or lecture.

For Social Studies, 5th grade students are asked to highlight then summarize info in graphic organizers

Backpack full of books and notebooks! A lot to carry around every day!

What else is unique about the education system here? One would think that Costa Rica, being a Latin American country, would not have many resources or technology, but it is the richest/most developed country in Central America and does not have a military - thus funnels much of its economy into education. Teachers are valued in Costa Rica... it is interesting to compare the US with CR in this respect. Mainly because, while teachers are respected, the value of work is completely different.

(Reflection time)
I was surprised that a comment arose over this topic today when I was talking about my future plans with some friends at the University. They noted how different the "priorities" are between here and there... I said I was ready for whatever God had planned for me (meaning I would get to travel or work in something exciting rather than get married and start a family right away - especially since I am single). I will put it straight: life is so "Pura Vida" here mainly because people do not idolize their jobs the way they do in the United States. Idolizing means that, in the U.S., many people define themselves by what they do from 8-5 everyday. The "American Dream" has caused us to be constantly focused on how to climb the career ladder and increase this feeling of value that comes from having a satisfactory job. Bringing this back to Costa Rica, I have found that people don't get so worked up over their jobs nearly as much as they do over their family and friends... what is so wrong with that? Well, I agree that there are many benefits of being fully dedicated to our jobs (i.e. progress, economic gain, development), I often feel they take over our lives in ways they shouldn't. As I reflected last time... at the end of the day, what really matters? That you did a really good job in the workplace or that you positively influenced a life?

Here is the hitch... agriculture teachers (and educators in general) get to do both at the same time! So how exciting is it that, while being dedicated to your career (which, if you are in education, is STUDENTS) you are serving as a positive influence on countless lives? Well, I have come to realize that this is the case in Ag Education, but nonetheless feel that we all, even in ag education, can forget that our jobs do not define us. Personally, my identity is found in Christ Jesus, and the faith in Him that disseminates to all areas of life.

So, let's pull this back to public education in Costa Rica (note blog title). Many teachers know that they are valued and that education is important, but it sometimes seems that they do not realize the potential that they have in planning and developing relevant and challenging educational experiences. This is a problem in the States too, mind you, so now I am bringing it home in another way. However, I cannot deny that, after spending time at an outstanding agriculture program where the curriculum and lessons are meaningful and relevant, I get frustrated watching teachers simply teach from a book. The laid back atmosphere of Costa Rica can also be seen in the relaxed schedule, where lessons often start late or do not even start at all because another lesson is still occurring or students did not work diligently enough... or because the teacher leaves for a meeting during the school day (see previous blog). Don't get me wrong - this public primary school that I am working with is outstanding because it provides low SES students with a place to be and grow. The teachers are loving and care for them, and they get nutritious meals and technology/resources they would not get otherwise. However, we, as positive agents of change, should always be looking for improvement opportunities!

Speaking of the technology, here is a photo of the "computers" that the students all get through this rural grant program, "Conectandonos."

Each classroom (3 total) has WiFi for the students to "connect" if they need an online resource or if they simply want to play a game during free time. 

5th grade classroom

So, throughout all of this educational reflecting, I have come to accept something... or at least I am recognizing something from my past few days of working with these kids.

I don't think I am cut out to be an elementary educator... at least not in Costa Rica. Maybe it is just from the initial shock of a "gringa" being in their school (I am sure many of these kids have never seen someone from the U.S. before), but when I try to explain something to these kids, I often get blank faces.

I know I often struggle with appropriate explanations for content, but I figured that, given my level of Spanish and their levels of curriculum, it wouldn't be so bad for me to help out with some math problems or individual geography work, but I swear these kids think I am an alien! I get blank stares and minimal responses when I talk to them... maybe it is my poor explanation skills in Spanish, maybe it is my white skin... maybe a combination! Either way, I have been mostly unsuccessful with these elementary school kids.

Oh well! Still moving ahead and hoping that it gets better as I attempt to love on them!

Thanks for listening to my rambling of thoughts regarding public education and my philosophy of such! I hope you learned something :)

Otra semana... ya?

That means: another week... Already???

Whoa, time will fly here. I guess after spending 4 months in Costa Rica, 7 weeks seems like nothing...

Since my Wednesday update, I've been learning and experiencing some pretty awesome things.

On Thursday, I observed the "lab" class for an animal nutrition course. The second year animal production students have been leaning about ration formulation (whoa, flashback!). Their lab was held in the "concentrates plant" which I would basically title a feed mill. They were creating the concentrate rations for all of the university livestock! They used formulas established by the university for each type of production in the cattle, pigs, goats, and sheep. Watching boys throw around 100 pound bags of soy and corn meal, then mix them in the giant mixer made me feel like I was home on a my grandpa's dairy farm... It was fun to watch and they were an amusing group. I also observed another group of students (in their dairy production practicum) give selenium to a pregnant cow and others were inseminating heifers. All in all, an amusing and informative morning when it comes to learning about experiential learning in tropical universities. Here are some photos...






Corn Silage!





Then, after class, I went with the director of extension (kind of my "boss" here) to visit with the principal of a local elementary school.. K-6 and 69 students! It's rural, folks. Almost as small as a 1-room schoolhouse. The classes are combined (1/2, 3/4, 5/6). I got to see some of the kids and the facilities - and I learned that the principal is also the 5/6 teacher! She is also a rock star and has worked hard to fund programs for her kids, like the program Conectandonos, which is a 1-to-1 computer granting program, mainly focused on rural, low SES schools now. So all the kids have small personal laptops! And she has thought about and has begun the process of applying for a School Garden grant - the exact thing I was hoping to do with the school!

I returned to the school on Friday to "observe" and maybe talk with the principal a bit more about some options of "working" with the school and this program. She had to run an errand to town before a certain time and there really wasn't anyone else running the class... so instead of letting the kids just play on their laptops (which weren't working anyways), we had a short "Spanish" lesson.

Yes, I taught 13 5th grade Costa Rican kids how to use a comma... in Spanish. I might say that it was slightly challenging and somewhat unsuccessful, but we got through it (thanks to their workbooks).

So that was a surprise! Happy Friday to Alli! But it was fun, and the kids are awesome - I am hopeful to work with them more at the elementary school, even if it is only a few days a week. It would be even cooler to get to plan and implement and teach about a vegetable garden for the school! We shall see what happens with this goal...

I just got home from a wonderful weekend with some friends in Turrialba, where I lived 2 years ago on a short term immersion experience. It was so wonderful to spend time with a family (and their adorable puppy) and realize what really matters in life - not homework, not vacations, not the amount of money I will make or the jobs I will apply for - people matter. God made us for relationships - firstly, for a relationship with Him... then, as an extension of that, relationships with others. This family is a beautiful example of the love of Christ. We spent some nice quality time together, then, this morning, I got to see them get baptized!! It was done in a river up in the mountains (amazing) with tons of other members of their church. I didn't want to come back from the wonderful fellowship, but I remembered that there are opportunities to continue these meaningful relationships here - with people I encounter at UTN, with the children at the school who don't have much in terms of worldly possession, my host family, and more.

If you were to die tomorrow, how would people remember your today? They won't remember how hard you worked on a project, how good you were at interviewing, or how well you speak - they will remember how you loved them. Go love people! And remember that you are loved more than anything...



My new favorite CR dog - Sam!



Baptism in the River... awesome.





My girl, Mariana - she is 7 and a beautiful and respectful angel



I hope you had an awesome Sunday!

Mid-week update: Dios es bueno

Dios = God
Bueno = good
I'm sure you can put them together :)

I know this is a semi-professional blog, but I don't think there should be a problem giving credit where credit is due for an improved professional experience. After all, my life is centered around my faith, and the Lord has provided some great things, through faith and prayer, that have been beneficial to this experience thus far. Friendships, opportunities, beautiful weather, joy and peace are among a few of the blessings that have been poured out over the past few days.

So what is going on? Well, since my last post, where I shared that things were still very much up in the air, I have been able to pin down some more concrete areas to focus on. But first let me reflect on what this experience is meant to be about - my major is agricultural and extension education (why yes, that is a 10 year old picture of me on the web page... #awkward).

While student teaching for this experience usually focuses on school-based formal agricultural education (see previous blog posts about my teaching experience in Wellsboro), we knew that my time in Costa Rica would be unique, as this internship has never been done before outside of the U.S. Again, as I reflected last week, the placements here in Costa Rica are normally a formal classroom setting, but because I am in agriculture, I was placed with a University, which happens to specialize in ag. However, I have accepted the fact that teaching students at this university in a manner comparable to the first portion of my student teaching experience would be almost impossible. They only have 5 weeks left in the semester, meet only once a week per class, and already have professors with concrete curriculum. So I have basically given up on attempting to truly "teach" the students here at UTN - after all, they're my age and probably know more than me in their focus areas.

Like I said, my major is agricultural and extension education, and if you are unfamiliar with the concept of extension - it is a more informal manner of educating people about agriculture (or other areas). This is more "field work" where the educator usually travels to the pupil (farmer) and works with them to improve their existing systems and farming activities. My father works with extension programming at Penn State, and extension is an area of interest for me on a global level. While formal education (schools) are important in the developing world, public and informal education is a more common means of working in community development, especially in agriculture.

So, with that said, I am attempting to develop experiences more focused in extension work, here at UTN. They have a similar 3-pillar structure to Land-Grant Universities in the U.S. - teaching, extension, research. My original "mentor" here at UTN is actually the director of university extension, so it seems to fit that I can now focus more on the development of public, non-formal educational programs.

Okay, so what does that mean? Well, other than working with a university employee to plan an "Animal veterinary fair" for the public (more on that to come) and offering assistance with other scheduled events, I am helping with some "tours" of the University... TODAY I GOT TO TEACH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS!

Whoa, say what? A university, high schoolers? Well, haven't you ever had a field trip or school visit to a university in high school? Exactly. UTN opens its doors to groups of secondary students (and even primary students) for tours of the campus and animal facilities (stay tuned for a photo blog "campus tour") and additionally offers its expertise (via professors or employees) to give "talks" about a requested area by the visiting school.

Today, a group of students from a CTP (Colegio Tecnico Profesional) traveled over 2 hours to visit the university. CTPs are "technical" high schools in Costa Rica that offer students a general diploma PLUS a technical diploma in a specific "major" or technical area. I worked with another CTP during my time in Turrialba (2012) to collect data for my thesis so I know a bit about them... but let me not digress too much. These 20 students are in 12th grade (final year) of a "major" known as agroindustry. Basically, they are studying food processing and technology. They came to see the facilities at UTN that encompass the Food Technology major and programs - a dairy processing plant, meat processing plant, and general food laboratory. They also requested a general "talk" about food safety, microbiology, and flow diagrams of food processing. Since I was previously a food science major at Penn State, I knew exactly what they were looking for. So I worked with my new friend, Carolina, to develop a 1-hour LESSON PLAN yesterday afternoon (yes, to my AEE cohort members, I made a complete lesson plan for this :) ).

She had already begun working on a PowerPoint, and gave me an overview of what they wanted and what she was preparing to talk about... then I got all "teacher" on her and threw out some more "student centered" instructional ideas. After all, a group of 12th grade students doesn't want to sit and listen to someone talk for an hour! For the portion of the "talk" that was to discuss 7 major career areas that follow the "food technology" program/degree, I gave the idea of making small groups of students study the career then present to the whole group while I "interviewed" them about what they learned.

It went super well!! They seemed to have fun... and they learned about careers! Then we "quizzed" them about microbiological agents in food technology (both harmful and helpful), followed by a short time where Carolina discussed dairy processing and machinery. Finally, instead of just talking about flow charts (diagrams) of food processing steps, we made the students figure out the 13-step (simplified) process of making yogurt. Considering they have already made yogurt in their practical experiences, they did a pretty good job at working as a group to complete the activity. Here is a video of them "discussing" which goes where :)

Overall, the experience was awesome! Although we had planned for an hour, we got cut to 30 minutes due to scheduling changes (something not all that uncommon in Costa Rica) - but with a bit less time on some other activities and adaptations for the group activity, we made it work in about 35 minutes! Plus, I think the kids loved it. It was also very rewarding because I was able to collaborate, facilitate, and teach in Spanish - for the first time ever :) Mind you, this was something I feared, but the only problem I think I had in "facilitating" them was getting them split into groups (a typical high school student problem).

Okay, so now that I shared a lot for just having given one lesson (whereas I gave hundreds at Wellsboro), I will close with some fun (phone) photos. Don't worry, real pictures (with my dear camera, Boaz) are coming soon.

That's right. A lesson plan. Oh yes. 

Learning objectives! In Spanish!

Explaining the activity 

Organizing them into groups... more difficult than you think with highschoolers 

Group work!

Just because... campus decor.

Pura Vida de Costa Rica... de nuevo!

Uh oh, another language. Don't let the title turn you away! Translated (literally) it means: Pure life from Costa Rica... yet again!

Pura Vida is a common Tico term that basically means "life is good" or "hey, all is good."
Tico is a term that means "Costa Rican".

If you aren't familiar with my global blogging tendencies - let me warn you that I often include language references to the countries I visit. Mind you, I haven't been to a lot of countries and haven't done a lot of blogging in different countries, but I did do a lot of blogging about my study abroad at EARTH University this past summer - which just happens to be located in Costa Rica.

So now you know at least 2 new Costa Rican terms and a few words of Spanish! This is an "education" blog, after all... what would it be without me teaching something?

Okay, but really, here I am in 80-90 degree sunny weather, living in a DIFFERENT part of Costa Rica with a DIFFERENT host family (than 2 years ago) and working with a DIFFERENT University. So there are a lot of new things, and a lot has happened in the past 5 days, but things are going well overall.

Let me just tell you about my week. Then you can scroll through the photos at the end of the blog. Photos will be a big thing here, since many people don't know what Costa Rica looks like - and people constantly ask for photos :)

I arrived in country on Sunday night, leaving only 2 days to recover and pack and mentally prepare after I left my awesome placement in Wellsboro. I definitely didn't mentally prepare myself enough, because when I arrived on Monday at my placement site (Universidad Tecnica Nacional, UTN in future references), I learned that there really were no plans for me to be a student teacher there. But before I delve into this confusion, let me give some background:

My major, at Penn State, is Agricultural and Extension Education (AEE) - this major is not in the College of Education but rather the College of Agricultural Sciences. Starting about 2 years ago, I considered the idea of student teaching abroad, something that had never been done for someone in my major. The College of Education has a short term student teaching abroad program set up with Indiana University, but they have never had AEE students, and has hardly had anyone outside the majors of Elementary Education or English Education - two majors that are fitting for a student teaching experience abroad, when you could easily work with primary students by teaching English.

Due to my previous experiences in Costa Rica; short term immersion in 2012 and EARTH study abroad in 2013 (see blog posts from August 2013 and prior); I felt that my Spanish and knowledge of Costa Rican agriculture would suffice for some sort of global teaching experience here. Everyone else thought this would work well, and my advisor has been working with me to develop this experience through the College of Education program. The Costa Rican office of this program is located here, in Atenas. The students who come to student teach here (not just from Penn State) usually work with a local public elementary school that has a strong English language program (and obviously strengthened by frequent native English speaking student teachers). Because of my unique situation of teaching agriculture, the director of the program here searched for a more appropriate placement. UTN is the nation's technical university (translated: National Technical University) which focuses on a variety of degrees in technical areas (food technology, animal production, veterinary assistance, accounting, etc.). Because of its proximity and agriculture focus, I was placed at UTN for what would be a student teaching experience, but it is not one you would normally expect.

The plan for working with UTN, which was told to me on Monday, is to assist several different courses in the agricultural sciences, talk with the professors, and see if I would be able to eventually teach a few lessons between them. Because this is such an unusual occurrence (based on the looks I get when I explain it to the professors), I am treading lightly on this concept. It is also challenging to think about "teaching" students who are my age, and furthermore difficult due to the fact that classes only meet once a week. However, we are taking it slow and I am attempting to work with classes that I have more content knowledge in, so that I may be more available to assist and teach.

Nonetheless, it was a challenging and, at times, discouraging first week. But I did have some awesome experiences so far! So what else did I do this week, other than brainstorm how to maximize this experience (stay tuned for more discussion)...?

Monday night I met my host family - a very kind, and large, family that kind of shares 2 houses. One of the daughters of my "host mom" is expecting her 3rd child within the month, so it will be exciting to be around for a birth! I already promised to take some photos for them when the baby arrives :)

Tuesday was my first day of observing classes: in the morning, I was able to tour the facilities a bit with one of the professors, helped water the worm beds (vermicompost), and observed a class of veterinary assistance students brand dairy cattle! It was quite interesting to see first hand, especially since these girls were to be milked later that day. This practice is done in the tropics as a less expensive method to keep track of cattle, especially since almost all cattle in the tropics are grazing cattle (usually don't have access to much grain). Tuesday afternoon involved me observing a basic chemistry lab - first year students were testing the conductive properties of various chemicals by inserting a split wire (which was attached to an outlet and light bulb fixture) into the liquids. Sounds like fun, right? It actually was kind of fun, and due to my background in chemistry, I found myself already jumping in to help some students with concepts of the lab.

Wednesday morning was in the food processing lab -  I didn't take any pictures here, but the students made a pineapple juice mixture by: weighing, cutting, pulping, pasteurizing, and packaging 15 pineapples worth of juice. These were big pineapples... and it was neat to see the processing facilities after a few semesters of being a Food Science major. I was dressed in official food lab garb - hair net, white shirt, white pants, and white boots. I felt so official.

Wednesday afternoon brought me back to the chemistry lab, same professor as before, same lab as before - different group of students. I continued to help out with the content and am discussing with the professor about the possibility of teaching a lab in a few weeks! I liked working with the kids in the lab and seeing them get excited about chemistry... I even considered a career change to chemistry education! Just kidding :)

Thursday morning was in another food processing lab - this one is called carnicos: meats lab. Again in (fresh) food lab apparel, I observed students calculate, grind, mix, and fill casings with chorizo sausage meat. The professor told me that they were going to be slaughtering some goats later on in the morning... so after a meeting with my supervisor at UTN, I returned to put my lab swag back on and help skin a goat :) It was fun, and the professor seemed a bit surprised at my skills - I didn't tell him I had skinned various deer in my day, as deer hunting is illegal in Costa Rica. (note: I will not post photos of the butchering process... if you want more information about it, contact me). Thursday afternoon was supposed to be an animal nutrition lab, but there was a mix up in the schedule, so I didn't attend this lab, but rather re-organized my schedule and went home a little early.

Friday! Here we are! I can't believe it's Friday already... I know this time will go fast, but I was hoping to plan some sort of activity, and if anyone knows about Tico Time, they would know that 6 weeks is barely enough time! Instead of visiting UTN today, I visited the local private primary school that student teachers normally work with, maybe to see if I could work some agricultural education in to what they do. It was a cute little school nestled on the side of a hill and it has a gorgeous view. I got to witness the 20th anniversary celebration of the school - crazy hat day! The kids made me smile with all their crazy little hats... see photos below :)

Sorry for such a long blog post! I may post more frequently to keep them shorter... there are lots of things up in the air here in Costa Rica, so I hope to have more exciting things to share soon! Stay tuned! And, as promised... here is a plethora of phone photos.

Oh how I missed Tico food... time to keep of the weight!

A view of the UTN campus - dairy, chem labs, and food processing labs on left. Meat labs on right.

New biogas technologies - a professor is studying the use of the methane from their digestor on these appliances

The ladies leaving the milking parlor... they milk about 50 cows of various breeds (as you can see)

The "furnace" for heating the branding irons!

Several of the dairy cattle in the corral: the dairy production instructor is about to brand one in the far back

UTN used to be the "Latin American School for Livestock" - only about 6 years ago the name and purpose changed to focus more on technology and various other majors.

I went on a bit of a walk on Tuesday to explore the campus and fields. It was worth it.

Students in the chem lab, learning about polar bonds, electronegativity, and conductivity

Sign for the university from the road. I take a public bus (it's a souped up school bus) for a bumpy 30 minute ride each day to get to UTN!

The slaughter area of the meats lab - pretty interesting machinery.

Students in the food technology major, making chorizo

From today - a view from the primary school close to my house that student teachers normally work with

Crazy hat day at the school :)

The facilities at this local pre and elementary school are very nice. A bit nicer than the other public schools I have visited.

Students have their own cubbies! I remember these days :)

Whole school assembly! All 140 kids, grades PreK through 6, convening to award the crazy hat winners

One of the best moments of this week - spending some time on this mountain side (I had to scale the hill that the primary school is located on) and looking out on the Lord's splendor. This is one of the reasons I love Costa Rica.

The Final Week... in PA at least!

While there was minimal sleep, heightened stress, and unexpected issues, this week was the best week of my entire Wellsboro experience.

I actually don't know where to begin... so I guess I will start from last weekend. Sunday was a wonderful day, as I got to spend the afternoon with new family friends - they have some gorgeous children and a beautiful home, and we had a wonderful time watching Beauty and the Beast and eating brownie sundaes :) I know I should have been preparing for my final week, and that I stayed up entirely too late for several nights as a result of it, but it was probably one of my favorite experiences outside of school so far. It truly brings home the phrase "you only live once." And I am constantly reminded that we don't earn value in life by the things we do and the lessons we plan, but by the relationships we build and the people we impact. But I'll come back to that thought later...

So, here's the low down. I am going to summarize the days of this past week and include photos for each (if I have them) so you can get a  feel of the craziness that occurred. It was epic.

Monday fun day, the first day of craziness.

My second supervisor visit occurred - but only for half the day. Nonetheless, it was good to have my supervisor see me in my last week of teaching and give some more feedback. I definitely still have room to improve, but was proud of his remarks of my growth so far.

He was willing to take over Parli Pro practice during tutorial for the afternoon... so I let him have the kids! It was quite a surprise for them when they were forced to participate in a mock meeting: even the ones who were not really interested in Parliamentary Procedure! The Dr. Foster level of energy was contagious and a few became more interested in the activity... so maybe we will have a full Parli Pro team after all :)

After school, I had to kick Dr. Foster out quickly, as I needed to run 40 minutes up the road to pick up 2 pig digestive systems for a Tuesday dissection... I got to know the local butcher and was able to make it back to Wellsboro for the Spring Wellsboro Agriscience Advisory Committee meeting. While a smaller committee, they discussed some good things and areas of improvement for the program and its curriculum (to reflect career fields).

Dr. Daniel Foster, everyone. The "Special Guest" Parli Pro Expert. 

Tuesday - a "down" day

Tuesday wasn't really a down day, I just mean that there wasn't much outside of class to prepare for or participate in. However, classes themselves were interesting - I had 2 pig digestive systems for both sections of my Animal Science 1/2 class. While there were a few squeamish students who did not engage (and received alternative work), the vast majority of students were either cutting into/identifying or recording observations of the true (fresh) monogastric system. 

Tuesday afternoon included a CASE lesson on plant parts - the students identified what parts of a plant identify with each veggie of a salad. I'll help you out if you're confused... lettuce = leaf of the plant, carrot = root of the plant, celery = stalk of the plant, broccoli = flower of the plant. It was cool, even if only a few students actually ate the healthy educational resources at the end. 

And, for the final day, we trekked to the horse barn for Animal Science 3/4. This time to apply Monday's concepts about horse feed and teeth. The girls cleaned the feet of a pony and observed her old lady teeth.

Pigs have a monogastric system similar to humans. Note: this photo contains graphic content... if you are already looking at it and are grossed out, I guess I apologize. But as I said to many students, suck it up, it's just organs. They're inside you too.

I'm the one in the blue jacket. This little Pony, Star, was pretty cooperative for us!

Wednesday. And the real world begins.

It had been planned for several weeks that my cooperating teacher would be taking some students on a field trip on Wednesday. There was a community event about an hour away called an "Ag Forum" and, although it was a lot of adult-like discussion, they invited a few blue jackets from surrounding FFA chapters to attend. So my teacher took 4 students to the all-day event, and I had a sub to give me moral support as I taught a full day of lessons. I even got the keys to the ag department! It was a good experience to be "responsible" but not nearly as much of an experience as Thursday... stay tuned.

In Animal Science 1/2, we continued talking about ruminant digestion and I realized that my lesson on ruminants was a bit too long/complex for these students... regardless, I moved on in my digestion unit. Natural Resources finished up a simulation game about aquatics systems and I brought in some special guests for a discussion of equine sports in Animal Science 3/4. I had fellow student teacher, Emily Urban, record herself talking about her specialty - Olympic Eventing! And I showed off a few of my other friends' skills as I talked about endurance riding and some other English riding styles.

After school, preparation began for Thursday's special event: 8th grade recruitment day! Again, I will talk more about that later.

I was told last week sometime that I should save the date for Wednesday, 6 PM... It was to be a surprise. I was with my cooperating teacher after school, preparing for Thursday, when some of my students came back into the classroom. I was then driven, with these few students, to a local burger/wing restaurant and was met by the FFA Officer team!!! It was a wonderful dinner and a lot of fun to just spend some time with them. They are really a great group of kids and I will miss them dearly... I almost cried, but held it off.. at least until later in the week.

Thursday - the day of all days. The true Ag Teacher Preparation day.

8th grade recruitment in past years took place at the middle school - the CTC programs would travel down and take a few images/objects to represent their programs (drafting, wood shop, mechanics, construction, ag science, culinary) and hope to lure in some 8th graders to register for their courses the following year.
This year, however, was different. The 8th graders (all 120 of them) were to come to the high school for the afternoon - and cycle through the 6 CTC programs in 30 minute rotations. That's 3 hours of 8th graders, folks. With just 2 minute breaks between groups. It was expected to be a hectic day. But my cooperating teacher had it together - we were going to really lure the 8th graders in with the following activities:

• bringing the 8th graders into the classroom to watch the recruitment video that my peers and I made in the fall
• a student preparing a floral arrangement in less than 10 minutes, based on skills he learned in class and perfected at a local floral shop placement, to represent the plant science courses
• another student brought 2 heritage breed month-old lambs to show off the animal science aspect of the program
• our FFA chapter president was to talk about FFA
• they would get to "make their own ice cream" by shaking up the ice/salt mixture to freeze the pre-made cream mixture (food science at its finest)

Thursday was also the day that a fundraiser was to be delivered: 50 flats of fresh strawberries from Florida.
The plan was to have my cooperating teacher facilitating the recruitment activities and myself still teaching in the classroom, as we still had normal class during the recruitment time.

That was the plan...

Then I got the call on Thursday morning. Thursday was the first day in 6 years that my cooperating teacher took a sick day. It was pretty bad.

So I kicked into save-the-day mode and met with her husband at the school to get the keys, some instructions, and a new plan for the day. I kind of made sub plans for the substitute who came in (and had no idea what was going on), but was able to have the classes work semi-productively while flipping between the lab and classroom during the recruitment day.

While I was trying to get stuff together before the noon arrival of the 8th graders, the strawberries arrived and we had to get all 50 flats from one end of the school to the other (and upstairs to our room).

3 hours, 128 middle schoolers, 3 gallons of ice cream mix, 6 floral arrangements, and 2 lambs later, I breathed a sigh of relief. Recruitment day was a success. Although I felt weird introducing myself as the student teacher on my second to last day, I knew that it wasn't me that the 8th graders would remember. It wasn't me that brought the day together. It wasn't me that made it all happen...

It was my students.

From the moment when I told my 3 helpers (and 6 group tour guides) that my cooperating was sick, they knew it was serious. As I asked and they volunteered, everyone stepped up and helped set up for the event. One student prepared the ice cream mix, some of my boys brought all the strawberries up without me even noticing (since I was teaching a class), another student showed up unexpectedly to advocate plant sciences, and our presenters did an awesome job at talking about the Agriscience program and FFA chapter. It was pretty incredible, considering my rock star cooperating teacher couldn't be there, and I was overwhelmingly proud of and thankful for the outstanding students that I've had the privilege to work with over the past 7 weeks.

My student completing his floral arrangement, which he would give as a prize to someone in each group who answered a question correctly about photosynthesis... WOHOO ag literacy!

My other student and her two adorable Tunis lambs: Shish and Kabob. They certainly got a lot of attention from the 8th graders. 

Thursday is a day I will never forget, and while I am really sorry about how sick my cooperating teacher was and upset that she missed recruitment day, I am thankful for her and for the program that I was able to be present and that her students did such an awesome job at pulling it together! 

Friday. Cry day. 

Then came the last day... 7 weeks, 65+ students, 6 classes and countless memories later, I knew I needed to say goodbye. So, in place of giving lessons from the units that we were in, I had a "value added" lesson on Costa Rica, its agriculture, culture, and ag education, planned for my classes. 

I started each class by speaking to them in Spanish for at least 1 minute... then, after some appalled facial expressions and comments about not understanding, I would switch back to English to talk a bit about my experience in CR and why I am returning. Given time in some classes, I also talked about some careers and majors that Penn State, College of Ag Sciences, has to offer. 

But then that moment came, in each class, when I had a heart to heart. I told them, in complete honesty, that they were outstanding students, and that I felt extremely blessed to have such a positive experience with them. I never really had any severe problems with any of my students (as student teachers are so often warned about) and sincerely got to know at least one thing about each one of them during my time here. 

Whether it was: playing games on a bus, eating dinner at Hoss's, taking photos of them in class, helping them with proficiency awards, answering questions about swine production, teasing them about poop (digestive systems), comforting them when they were hurt, baking them cookies (both real and fake), researching answers to questions, explaining a concept one-on-one, or simply smiling and saying good morning, I know that these students provided the perfect opportunity to be a real teacher. 

Teachers do more than just teach. 

While lessons and content are important, at the end of the day you truly realize that it isn't what you taught that made an impact on those students - it was how you saw, heard, spoke to, and treated them. Teaching, especially in agricultural education,  is about loving kids. I pray that God used me to truly teach during these past 7 weeks. 

I wasn't lying to them when I told them yesterday that they each made an impact on my life. I will never forget this experience and I hope I never forget each of their names, faces, and beautiful personalities. 

While I previously was unsure if I wanted to teach agriculture in a formal setting, I now know that I would LOVE to TEACH AG! 

Even more, I love everything about my student teaching experience so far: my new christian family, the school, the town, the challenges, the climate, and my cooperating teacher... but the thing that I found I loved (and love) the most was, of course, the students. 

I don't know if I will be applying for a teaching position right away, but I do believe I am further encouraged that I would fit within the occupation. 

I don't know when I will come back to Wellsboro, but the sense of home that I have there is overwhelming, and I know I must return... Maybe right after graduation to help get ready for State Convention! 

I don't know what the next stage in my student teaching semester will bring, but it certainly won't be the same as my time in Wellsboro. 

My flight leaves for Costa Rica tomorrow... while it may be warmer in Atenas than in Northern PA, I will never forget the blessed warmth that my time in Wellsboro brought me. 

Wait, only one more week in Wellsboro?

No way. That can't be right... I was supposed to be here for 7 weeks! That means that it's almost the half-way mark of my final semester as a Penn State student...?
Whoa.
So here I sit, on this last Sunday in Wellsboro, reflecting on yet another crazy and blessed week of student teaching. But rather than talk too much about what I did, let me show you!

My Animal Science 4 girls got to go to the barn 3 times this week to see and evaluate the school nurse's horses for: body condition scoring, weight, and proper handling/haltering

Super cool guest to NRM class: Sheri Baity, a professional coyote caller (and maker!) see her website. She had the students make their own game calls out of pen tubes and reeds, then gave them (and me!) hand-made maple crow calls!

See/hear Sheri in action as she "makes a movie" for the coyotes to call them in :) Probably the most amusing and unique guest speaker I've ever seen (or had in to a class)

Stationed by the owl... I got to be the adviser for our chapter meeting this week! Reppin the #PSUaged14 @TeachAgPSU swag!

Students in my NRM class presented on wildlife species for their unit assessment! This student was able to get a hold of a young (stuffed) raccoon from the DCNR office where he works!

Moving though the digestion unit, we did some fingerpainting of the monogastric system in Animal Science class

A pretty exciting opportunity to see experiential learning - for the culinary students! Friday teacher pasta buffet luncheon!

So it was a pretty eventful week, even if it did go by super fast! I learned more and more this week as we moved through more of our nutrition/digestion unit in Animal Science 1/2, ecology and wildlife interactions in NRM, public speaking prep and "dos and don't dos" of presentations in FFA/Leadership, and food safety and processing in Ag Sci 1 (super cool!) - not to mention more equine science with the Animal Science 3/4 girls (barn included).

What did I learn? You mean more than the fact that I love these kids and am going to miss them dearly when I leave this week? Well, I learned that PREP is super important. I found myself up a bit too late several nights this week, preparing lessons for the next day, when they should have been planned and organized the week before. This was especially noted when I didn't adequately prepare for and practice a lab for the An Sci kids on digestion and absorption. When we practiced the lab the morning I planned to do it - it didn't work. Whoa, time for a back-up lesson! But really, I need to learn how to plan for labs better. Duly noted!

I also learned a lot from the wisdom of other local teachers when I met some cohort members and fellow northern tier teachers at a "New and Beginning Teacher" meeting/dinner on Tuesday night. It was cool to talk like one of the teachers, yet still gain a lot of wisdom and perspective from them, now that I am in their shoes!

Wednesday brought the monthly FFA meeting, where I got to (FINALLY) respond to the question, "why by the owl?" - oh, how I had been dreaming for the day. But I also noted that member participation was a little low, as discussed with my cooperating teacher, and the officer team was truly leading the meeting/discussion. Something I know to be a common theme in many FFA chapters, yet a difficult one to bring up and create solutions for.

Wednesday evening almost brought a break down, due to some stressful planning and some unsuccessful lessons from that day - but my beloved room mate made me dinner (and packed me lunch for the next day!) and I was able to re-focus on my contentness (Philippians 4:11) for a good day on Thursday. It ended in a department meeting with all 6 members of the science department. I got to witness, first hand, the value that the school and the science department places on agriscience... I'm learning more and more about the struggles that ag programs have to endure!

This coming week, my LAST WEEK, I am excited to continue with some units and start some new ones! Here's a preview into what we will be doing this week!
Animal Science 1/2: digestive systems, continued! Ruminant, avian, and the dissection of a monogastric system (and perhaps the use of some enzymes from that system for the previously unsuccessful digestion lab!)
Natural Resources: closing up some student wildlife presentations and entering a fisheries and aquatics unit!
Ag Science 1: closing up a food safety/processing unit ("Edible Agriculture") and exploring a mini-unit in plant science!
FFA/Leadership: STUDENT SPEECH TIME!! WOHOOOO I AM SO EXCITED TO HEAR THEIR SPEECHES!!! (we only have this class 2 times this week)
Animal Science 3/4: some more about horses! Hooves, teeth, cleaning, tack, riding types with an additional barn visit!

Wow. I cannot believe that, exactly 1 week from this moment, I will be landing in Costa Rica for another 8 weeks of amazing experiences... I can seriously say that I will miss this place, however, and all of the people and experiences that the Lord has blessed me with for the short time I've been in Wellsboro.
Stay tuned for more awesomeness in agriscience education!