May.... I have some more time...

May....

May, I have some more time....

Does that ever happen to you? It's mid-May and I feel like I've run out of time to do anything. Time for school, time for fair, time for anything that requires thought or planning.

I am running on fumes. We have our fair next week and things are going haywire!! No, really... I have 35 kids showing a bazillion different species. It really is a fun experience because the fair is unique, small and so supported by the community.

So fair is next week, then we have "dead week", then the following week is finals and we are done. While I am pretty pumped to be done with this school year, I can't say I am ready for the weeks following. Following school, I have our officer retreat, then CATA Summer Conference, then State Fair, then County Fair. It's a never ending list of calendar dates that I am slave to.

It's funny though... I follow a group on Facebook for Ag teachers, where people post questions or seek ideas about FFA, livestock, curriculum, officer things, etc. Not too long ago, I read a post from a teacher who had lost their "spark" and questioned their choice to continue being an agriculture teacher. Everyone commented tips and tricks of how to maintain the spark, along with others who know her commending the great work they see that she does. It made me think... Everyone always tells me they don't know how I do it, or how I have the energy I do, but in reality, every person who becomes an Ag teacher has the potential to give 150%. We choose when we want to give that and when we would rather conserve that energy for another time.

Some days are harder than others to choose. When we would rather be with family, or get drinks with friends after work, or do anything else-- Ag teachers choose to do a project visit, catch up on grading, work on a new class, or plan an officer retreat. This never ending choice is why people lose their spark. I hear more and more about Ag teachers moving to other careers or even move up into the district performing new jobs. But it's because we have allowed ourselves to make poor choices. We have chosen our "kids" over other areas of life (for some even over their own kids). Finding balance in our choices and accepting our choices is the key. We cannot constantly give 150%, choosing school over everything else and then resent our choices. WE CHOOSE! It's simple... CHOOSE BETTER!

"One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes... and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility." Eleanor Roosevelt

Whenever I feel myself, starting to feel "less sparky", I peruse the last few years of pictures... It reminds me of why I choose them...

Never ending fight...

I vividly remember sitting with my high school counselor in her office towards the end of my freshman year. I was about to schedule my classes for the next year. It was a pretty exciting time as I would no longer be a weird freshman (well partly correct). I had already been elected as an FFA officer-- the reporter actually, which may be why it remains my favorite office, who doesn't love being stationed by the flag???

I had already selected classes I wanted on my paper schedule, now all my counselor needed to say was "looks good thanks!" Unfortunately, she looked at my paper, looked and me and blurted out, "you know if you take this class, you won't be on our track for college, so I won't counsel you to be college prep anymore". The class she was referring to was my Ag class. I replied that it was fine and she took a red pen and crossed out my name on her "college prep" list in her scheduling binder. From that day on, she never met with me again to schedule classes. I continued to fill out the papers each year so that I would have all the requirements for a CSU-- by myself. When other kids in my classes got call slips for scheduling, I just dropped off my paper schedule in the office.

Having someone completely ignore my existence for taking a different path than she thought I should, did not hurt my feelings. It really shaped my high school experience, because I knew that not only did other kids think Ag was lame, but adults did too. I think that is one of the reasons I enjoyed college so much? Yes, college life is good but I think I enjoyed the experience because I was around people who had the same appreciation for agriculture that I do. I felt empowered by going to college because I was simply around people who were like me... Well had the same interests, anyway.

I very much appreciate my high school experience because it taught me that if I wanted something, I had to work for it to make it happen. I wanted to go straight to a CSU and therefore, I had to make it happen because I loved agriculture and no adult at my school understood that I could have my cake and eat it too!

I think I had forgotten the subconscious fight I had while in high school? I had forgotten that some people just don't get that agriculture classes are important? I had forgotten that not everyone values people who work hard within the agriculture industry? Until recently. It's an interesting thing to work diligently through high school, then college and even grad school to then have someone tell you that none of it matters. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I know I do a good job for myself and my students. If you disagree-- please stop reading my blog lol.

People forget that every person who attends high school is going to have some impact on our community. Good or bad, high school teachers have the ability to put some pressure on kids to make sure it's a good impact. That is the hope right? Making kids into community minded citizens who will contribute? By not providing different outlets for kids to find what they are good at, we will stifle communities. If we make every kid do the exact same thing and take the exact same classes, some will always feel like they are not good enough. They will live the rest of their life thinking it too. But if kids find out what they are interested in and excel at it, why should we cross their name off the list? Just because it doesn't fit into the cookie cutter mold? Last time I checked, plumbers don't go to a 4 year college, yet they are successful community members whose work is important.

My question is... Why do people who go to school for long periods of time think they are so smart? Now, don't get me wrong, I got my Master's-- but just because I took some classes and wrote a paper doesn't mean I am smarter than a teacher that didn't??? I think anyone who puts in the time to get experience working, is way more knowledgeable than someone who didn't. They understand the process more than a person who learned about it in a classroom. Takes me back to part of the FFA motto, "Learning to Do, Doing to Learn..." If teachers, administrators, everyone and anyone took that approach, we might start being successful in the grand scheme of life. We need more people who are learning to work, more learning to be good people, more who want to succeed and more who have dreams.

One of the things I am certain of... Every kid is innately good, it's the processes and influences that change that. Every kid has more potential than they are ever given credit for because some adult somewhere, doesn't recognize it. Get to know kids, do what's best for them to help them succeed! Pretty simple.

These are the reasons I love my job, regardless of someone else's opinion of my qualifications...

Wintertime Slump

It is that time in the school year, where I feel in a slump. For no real reason other than cooler days spent watching Hallmark movies and drinking hot chocolate seem more appealing than teaching. I remember during my credential program a graph they showed for first year teachers.

While I'm not convinced I'm completely at the disillusionment stage. I feel like I'm at the intersection of frustrated and concerned. As with many years, changes on campus have created a "funny" feeling with many individuals. The sense of uncertainty and unknown plagues both the teachers and students. While reading an article about teacher slumps, this paragraph resonated with me:

"We have no precise analytic definition of the teaching slump, let alone a consensus among scholars about how to use the concept for research purposes. And yet it inhabits the inner and public lives of teachers, cutting a wide emotional path between the "bad day" and "burnout." Slumps have a life cycle. Often they're the last station before cynicism: the settled conviction that my passion for teaching and yours for learning are beyond repair." From Savor the Slump article.

While I know that my passion for teaching and students is not beyond repair. I feel like I need to focus on the amazing things my kids are doing and the opportunities they are creating for themselves through Ag education to help pull myself to that rejuvenation status like in the graph.

Amazing things happening now:

1. Canned Food Drive & Sonoma County Secret Santa Program: All my kids are pumped to donate items to those less fortunate. I think this speaks volumes to the type of kids I have in class. They feed my soul with their giving hearts and constant "give more" attitudes.
2. Changes from National Convention: Since attending National Convention, my officers changed our December FFA meeting from making gingerbread houses to a service project of making blankets to donate to the local senior center. They got all kinds of awesome ideas after watching the founder of Kid President's keynote speech. Watch his latest video here: Kid President Speaks from the Heart
3. One of my students created an awesome Ag Education program for grades K-8. She is calling it "Seeds for Students". She goes to the classes, presents about the importance of seeds and food production. Then each student gets to plant a seed to take care of at school and eventually take home. If you have an instagram, you should follow @SeedsforStudents

 

From Kid President, I feel like I just need the reminder to be awesome and treat everyone like it's their birthday...

Living to Serve

So I've been on an unintentional hiatus... I've been extremely busy at school with meetings, new curriculum, and then adding in personal life stuff, life is just been a little crazy! 

Last week I was fortunate enough to take seven students to the National FFA Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. Now this convention draws over 60,000 FFA members and is the largest student leadership conference in the country. Now this means that we get some pretty good speakers, who talk about agriculture, leadership, and just doing more. 

Two of my favorite speakers were from large companies. The COO of Monsanto and the president of Elanco, we're both informative and really fascinating to listen to. I personally enjoyed both speeches, because both men spoke about how we are going to feed the world. They talked about how FFA members in the room are going to be responsible for feeding, not only our country but our world. Whether they become farmers, or research scientists, they will need to figure out how to do more, feed more, and produce more with less. 

This is such a valuable concept for not only high school students but individual consumers to grasp. We live in the United States-- we live in a country of choice. Most people don't have to worry where their food comes from, if it will be safe, or if we'll have enough to feed our family each day. Sadly there are people that struggle with this on a daily basis. 

During national convention, I had our chapter participate in a National Day of Service organized by the National FFA. Anyone who attends the convention is able to sign up for one of the service activities. Although the service activity that directly related to food and packaging meals was already filled, I was able to sign our kids up for a project that allowed them to plant trees in underdeveloped neighborhoods of Louisville. They had a great time and it was a prime opportunity to give back. 

I think more kids need the opportunity to participate in community service activities. I also think that service activities that are directly related to food and hunger in communities are essential. At our officer meeting tonight we discussed all of the upcoming community service activities that the officers would like to do. I'd be lying, if I said I wasn't impressed with each of their suggestions and ideas to facilitate activities that give back to the community. 

From the Sonoma County Secret Santa program to working at the Redwood Empire Food Bank, collecting cans and nonperishable food items as well as setting up a blood drive, these are just some of the activities that the officers have planned. It really warms my heart, that the students I have, that are so fortunate in so many ways, are the first to want to do community service for others. I feel like they really listened to the speeches given by the Monsanto and Elanco presidents and how it is becoming their responsibility to feed the world and contribute to their communities. They want to do more, give more and serve more...

"Success has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It's what you do for others."

Just another reminder of why I'm thankful for my job and students... 

Before they headed out to plant trees... 

Some of the kids at the Expo! #weareffa