4 students and ACES

Even though I was in FFA as a high school I never attended conferences. So, for the first time I attended one of those conferences from an advisor standpoint. We took 4 students down to Harrisburg to attend the ACES conference. When I first got there I ran into some familiar faces that I felt like I hadn't seen in forever. It was nice being able to connect with my cohort members again.

The teacher workshop was based on the NOCTI which is basically the exam

that students that go through the Ag Ed program take if they complete the program within their school. The workshop was insightful on how to quickly gain data from the scores your students get on the exam and use those scores to see where you can strengthen your own program as well as the individual student. Being able to connect this data would make it easy to figure out an SLO plan.

During dinner on Saturday night, it was fun to see the students really get into embarrassing the advisor. I somehow got lucky enough that I wasn't elected to go up. However, some of my teacher friends weren't so lucky. It was fun to watch them and see the students cheer on their advisor. There isn't anything quite like the relationship between students and their teachers. It makes me so happy to see the connection everyone in that room had. 

I'll never forget big moments that I share with my students during this student teaching experience. I am forever grateful for having the opportunity to get to know every single one of them and all the diverse personalities they have. No matter where my career path leads me I will cherish every connection that I make.