Lasting Friendships



Today I spent the day learning what it was like to be a Seal at Selinsgrove Area School District. It was exciting to visit Macy (Ms. Fisher) as we have a long history of friendship. You see Macy and I's friendship started when we were both serving as county dairy princesses. We continued to keep up our friendship through the years running into each other at FFA events. It was that same passion for agriculture that brought us together as friends years ago that brought us back together at Penn State. I was excited to see that passion show through as Macy taught the next generation of agriculturalists.

During first block Macy taught her Building Construction class about plumbing. When she told me before class she was in the plumbing unit I was expecting to see them soldering or working with PVC. Instead she took it back tot he basics and went over something I completely over looked during my plumbing unit, she went over how to properly use a ruler. Properly using a ruler is something I often over look and assume that students know how to read measurements, boy was I wrong. Macy covered everything from reading the ruler to adding and subtracting fractions. I was impressed by her ability to break down the problems and walk students through each step. She then had the students talk their way through the presented problem.

I saw a similar teaching style as we headed to the shop for second block. Students were learning how to braise for the very first time, making the safety steps critically important. Macy first explained how to properly set up and shut off the oxy-acetylene torch. She then allowed students to work as a team to put themselves in order step-by-step for oxy-acetylene.I found that her thorough explanation truly allowed students to understand and see the steps before doing it themselves. The last steps was having students teach each other how to properly set up and turn down the oxy-acetylene, giving students the opportunity to  synthesize the given information.

Overall Macy showed a true passion for teaching even with the last day of student teaching coming at the end of the week. She continued to show me what life is like as an agriculture teacher and FFA adviser as she coached the parliamentary procedure team over lunch. I wish Macy all the luck in the world as she finishes this step of our teach ag journey. She will truly shine bright as an agricultural teacher. I am glad to call her a friend and future colleague as we partake on this teaching journey together. Her students are truly lucky to have her. Thanks for letting me spend the day with you!

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