Week 14: Learning from Experience

During the time of social distancing, quarantining, and COVID-19, I am very grateful to be living on a farm. With weaning bulls, four new yearling heifers, and more fence work than I would like to admit, there is always something for me to work on. This week, I was able to combine my learning and teaching from an online platform and take it into the real world.

I was responsible for finding content for three different classes this week: ag business, food science, and 8th grade introduction to agriculture. With each of these classes, I worked to find resources, videos, and worksheets that students would find interesting. I am so thankful for all of the resources that have been made available for teachers during this time. Teaching digitally is surely not the same as teaching in the classroom, but many other teachers, companies, and farms are making our jobs easier with countless resources readily available.

As a teacher, I need to understand that there are many challenges and unknowns for all of my students with this new, digital means of learning. When I was teaching in the classroom, it was meaningful when I could see the lightbulb go off for a student. I admit that it is much harder to see my student's progress through an online platform. I have found another way to gain an appreciation for putting time and effort into a task. In addition to working with students each day digitally, I have been spending a lot of time on the farm. My family raises Scottish Highland cattle for beef. We recently purchased four yearling heifers that needed to be halterbroke. My sisters and I have been working with the heifers. I really enjoy working with the new calves because it allows me to see progress from hard work. With this "new normal," we are looking for little wins in our everyday lives. For me, working to halterbreak some heifers is just that.

My grandparents live right up the road. Because of the stay-at-home order, we are seeing each other much more than normal! Whenever I see them, from 6 feet away, my grandfather has a new story to tell. This week, he had some stories about his time at Philadelphia Electric Company, raising cattle, and starting two different tree farms. I like listening to his stories because I feel like I can learn something new every time. As a teacher, I want to use storytelling to supplement teaching material. Working to gain additional life experiences to have more stories to tell is something that I am working on.

I will admit, this week was hard! We heard the official announcement that students will not be returning to school for the rest of this year. I want students to know that we will get through this together. Nobody really knows what will come next, but we can continue working as a team to better ourselves and our education!