The real experience...a snapshot of the life of an Ag teacher

This week was far from normal, it didn't start on Monday like it does for most teachers, this week started at 3 am on Sunday morning. This week was SLLC or State Legislative Leadership Conference, for most chapters a start time of 7 or 8 would due. However we had to leave at 5 am, and since I was in charge of this trip I stopped in at the school to pick up jackets and scarves for a few students, pick up some paper work, and drop off a few things for the sub. We headed down to Harrisburg bright and early, and unlike the 4 students we had, I had the duty to keep Mr. Honeycutt awake for the drive down. Needless to say I was exhausted by the time we arrived in Harrisburg. However the day didn't stop there, I had to check in students, drop off paper work, pick up t-shirts and make sure the kids made it to opening ceremonies. Next I went and helped judge proficiency awards, students who excel at record books are compared against those in the same categories and the best book moves on to compete against others at National Convention. After we were done with record books it was time to move into the room, I found my kids, passed out room keys and made sure everyone knew where and when to be down for dinner. 

These girls crack me up!

This event I got the real feel for what it was like to be an Ag teacher, it was a great experience and I enjoyed having the sense of control and responsibility. Since this was my "event" I did room checks and made sure the girls were ready for the day to come, I gave them a little speech about how I didn't want to be knocking on their door to quiet them down. I volunteered for courtesy corps and stayed up just a little bit later to make sure that all the girls on floor 4 were quiet and in their rooms. My day started at 3 am and ended at 1 am, and sadly I had to set my alarm for 6am...it was going to be yet another long day. Monday was our day of service, after breakfast students went to workshops and teachers went to workshops, I learned a lot and also observed a lot, the same teachers that were up all night were the ones in the workshops. 

Preparing school bags

On Monday we volunteered our time at Crossroads, a church that puts together care packs of all types and sends them across the world. I really enjoyed talking to the leaders of the organization and hearing how excited FFA was back again to donate time and support. They were so grateful providing us with snacks and drinks. I know our girls really enjoyed this act of community service knowing they are impacting lives all over the world. 



I also learned a few very important lessons at SLLC, I learned that kids, will be kids. We had everything from girl drama to real drama. I got to see what it was like resolving disputes between students as well as what happens when a student brings something to SLLC that isn't allowed. Mr. Honeycutt took these few lessons to really help me develop a few game plans for how I was going to handle my first real trip. We talked about how I would gain student respect, and how I would show students what the FFA jacket truly means. I would have never thought to do bag checks before a trip, however after hearing what happened to a fellow advisor, I will be doing bag checks before every trip my first year. 

The dance was a lot of fun, and so was interacting with student teachers and my future and current mentors. I can not wait to go back to SLLC with my own bunch and share in that blue and gold pride! 




Coming back to the classroom was both exciting and a little stressful. I was worried did my students do what I had left for them? How did the sub react to my lesson plans? How far behind am I now? But the excitement of sharing in this experience and getting to interact with all the kids left these worries behind. 


Remember when I said kids will be kids... well when I came back on Wednesday they were kids. I had left an assignment for my leadership class, only one student completed it. I was really disappointed that they dis-respected the sub and myself. I also learned that the sub almost wrote 3 of my students a detention! These kids are the best of the best! They should have been perfect for the sub! But they weren't and that was a lesson I needed to learn, although they may be great kids, they make mistakes and make poor decisions as well. 

The one class I was really worried about was perfect for the sub! I left them a movie and worksheet about the current meat industry and how it has changed and how it will continue to change. I was impressed with the movie myself and wanted to share it with the students, so I saved it for the days I knew I would be out of class. I left discussion points with the sub and made sure on Wednesday I reviewed the worksheet and key points. I was really impressed how much they retained and how heated our debate about grassbased farming got. We spent the rest of the day and Thursday learning about milk and milk products. 

Horticulture had a guest speaker this week! Mr. Honeycutt!!





We just wrapped up a unit on green house management and are starting the unit of marketing, however you need something to market..so Mr. Honeycutt ran a two day lesson on proper seeding techniques and the students began their first plants of season. It was a lot of fun to get out in the greenhouse and get dirty. Horticulture this week was easy for me, one of my students presented a lesson to the class on draft horses for the Teach Ag! Essay contest.

Landscaping was another class that I had a lot of issues with this week. They were flat out disrespectful little jerks this week. I'm not sure if its the weather, the upcoming break, or the fact that they didn't want to learn about Pesticide label reading. But whatever it was they were bad, on Thursday I put my foot down and told them I wouldn't have it. I finally realized that kids aren't always going to be excited and attentive and even with activities you are going to get a lot of eye rolls and sass.


I learned a lot of lessons this week, some good, some that I really needed to learn, and others that I didn't even realized I learned. As the days get warmer and longer I am realizing the life of an Ag teacher doesn't end at 3, and doesn't end on Friday. I am committing every day to teaching students, from an early start on Sunday, to a late end on Saturday the week of an Ag teacher doesn't run Monday to Friday... but I am okay with this! Who else gets to take a group of Freshman on a Saturday afternoon to the local spring Farm Bureau meeting. And today is far from over because I get to help collect sap to boil down tomorrow! I thought I knew that the life of an Ag teacher entailed but until this week I never really experienced the full effect. I've had a lot of time to reflect on how I am going to make a kick butt chapter next year, and how I am going to become a kick butt Ag teacher.

And the little guy that keeps me going