In the summer of 2024, I had the chance to work at the Cook County Farm Bureau. This job allowed me to not only expand my knowledge but to grow as a teacher. This summer job connects to standard five relating to engaging instruction. In the photo, I am educating youth and adults living in Chicago, Illinois, about pollinators and their importance in the agricultural industry. I went to two different zoos, the Lincoln Park Zoo and Brookfield Zoo. At both of these locations, I was able to educate Chicagoland residents about agriculture. This instruction was flexible, differentiated, and personalized to meet the needs of a diverse population due to the limited amount of prior knowledge these individuals had. Also, both of these education opportunities were outside, so it was important to manage the educational environment the best I could due to environmental factors. This was a great way for me as an individual to interact with all types of people and try different teaching strategies, depending on how long the person wanted to stay at my booth and how much I needed to draw them in. The booth I was working at used everyday materials to create a craft that could be taken home and used as a reminder of how important pollination is. 

*This photo was published in the Cook County Fram Bureau Co-Operater, their monthly newspaper*

During this summer at the Cook County Farm Bureau, I assisted with putting on two Professional Development Seminars. These seminars collected teachers from all backgrounds, ranging from special education, elementary teachers, and high school principals. Due to the diverse group of teachers we had, the instruction was flexible, differentiated, and personalized to meet the needs of a diverse student population that these teachers would go back to teach. This was a great chance to not only connect with teachers who were in the field but also to lead a few sessions. The first professional seminar was focused on pollinators and how every aspect of pizza comes from an agricultural product. The second seminar topics included soil use, the soil transition over time, ag in the classroom, and lesson plans that could be brought back to the classroom ready to use. These topics were driven by relevant content area standards and learning objectives, where the teachers were able to participate in all of these hands-on lessons. All of these topics used a variety of teaching methods, such as problem-based, inquiry-based, and challenge-based styles. Overall, helping coordinate, lead, and facilitate these professional development seminars was a great way to help build my engaging instruction while being able to experience all of the different aspects of a seminar.

*These clippings were published in the Cook County Fram Bureau Co-Operater, their monthly newspaper*