As I contact more and more schools in the state of Pennsylvania, inquiring about their agriculture programs, I am blown away by the enormity of activities and facilities that some of the programs have. Having so many amazing program placements to choose from has proved to be quite exciting and terrifying. Questions such as “Am I really capable enough?” and “Which school fits my skill set best?” come to mind. However, in order to answer either of these questions, I must ask myself what I seek to learn or experience while student teaching. What do I want to contribute and what do I want to learn? And maybe most importantly, what do I seek in a cooperating center?
After speaking with teachers from various schools and cooperating centers in PA, I have refined my definition of my ideal cooperating center based on what is available. First and foremost, I am looking for a teacher(s) that I think I will work well with and can guide me as I learn more and experience what it means to be a teacher. This aspect is crucial for me so that I can optimize the amount of teaching and content knowledge I take away from the placement. I would prefer a teacher(s) with at least 4 or 5 years of teaching under their belt who teaches a myriad of content areas. However, a teacher with 20 plus years would be ideal because they have seen and experienced a lot more.
Secondly, I am looking for a program that has a good animal, plant, and environmental science program/facilities and any unique aspect that I did not experience in high school. I want to expand my knowledge on animal and plant science, but learning something new which I did not experience in FFA and Ag classes in high school is crucial for me as well. I would also like to challenge myself in teaching a basic amount of Ag mechanics. This is not a strong suit for me, but having a teacher to guide me along in teaching it will be very important if I am to teach it in the future.
Lastly, I am looking for a program that has a lot of community involvement and recruitment. When talking to other classmates in college who attended my high school about FFA and agriculture, many did not know that there was an Ag program or even what FFA was. Although we were involved in the local fair, there wasn’t too much interaction with the local community. Since it will be one of my main goals as a teacher to equip students to go out into the world and work with people in their communities and classmates, being placed in a program where I can observe that interaction will be beneficial.
Overall, I am looking for a teacher/adviser I work well with and can learn from, a program that is unique and can strengthen my content knowledge, and a program where community involvement and recruitment within the school are very prevalent. These are all important to me as I navigate student teaching and decide where and what I want to teach.
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