Over the past month I have had the privilege to speak with several educators about their Ag Ed/FFA program and how I could potentially grow as a student teacher under their supervision. This is a reflection of the conversation I had with Mr. Neil Fellenbaum. Mr. Fellenbaum is a rock star Ag Teacher at Penn Manor High School in Lancaster County. I had two big takeaways from our conversation which are as follows:
In our discussion, I asked Mr. Fellenbaum (Fell as the students call him) if he utilized any outside curriculum such as CASE to which responded in the affirmative. He went on to elaborate how as a teacher it is crucial to gather materials from any source you can! As a teacher being pulled in many directions, you have to be a sort of creative when it comes to finding the tools needed and sometimes that means begging/borrowing already existing materials. This was good news to me because as much as I enjoy synthesizing new activities, lessons and such, I also enjoy having time to breathe fresh air.
Mr. Fellenbaum also made it a point to highlight the ability to rely on other teachers. His school Penn Manor, is a multi-teacher program which means he is able to teach certain topics while other concepts can be covered elsewhere. This provides a more well rounded education for the students in addition to reducing the workload for one teacher. Even in a single teacher program, I could make efforts to rely on fellow Agricultural Educators to gather necessary resources. Mr. Fellenbaum even offered himself as a resource before we parted ways.
We concluded our conversation by recognizing the similarities in our personalities and how that would likely foster a positive learning environment for me. That is, when students feel connected with an educator, they will usually learn better. From my experience, this is something Fell does well and is an attribute I hope to develop early on in my career. Even as I stated before, our relationships with other educators is especially important in the Ag Ed community.
It was great to meet up with real live Agricultural Educators like Mr. Fellenbaum and gather insight on Ag Ed programs and a bit of wisdom on what I'm about to get in to!
Hi Justin - Happy placement interview week! I'm sure you did great. I would have to agree with Mr. Fellenbaum, just gather as many resources as you can! Sounds like you're already off to a great start. What are some specific things you are looking for in a cooperating center? Or goals you have for things to accomplish by next April?
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