High Five Series: Final reflections – How will you use what you learned in the future?

Melanie Miller FosterPreTrip Observations

During the final reflection session of #AgEd2Malaysia, we captured the responses of all #AgEd2Malaysia participants to five final reflection questions.  This blog post is part of a series to showcase some of the responses to those questions.  The last question prompt was:  

How will you use what you learned in the future?

Freshly painted signs for the newly constructed pollinator garden

“I hope that I can lead others and my students by example in showing acceptance and empathy for cultures different than my own.” – Jeanne, Pennsylvania Agriscience Teacher

“”I’ll use how I learned  to start a conversation with a new person and actually having an engaging conversation when I’m in the same situation or conference where I’ll be meeting someone new.  I’m going to use the teaching techniques, especially how to give direct and clear orders to students when I’m going to do my practical teaching.  I’m also will be more aware about other people thoughts and beliefs when making decision in the future.” – Yazlin, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

“I plan on sharing this experience with EVERYONE.” – Mikaella, Iowa State Agricultural Teacher Candidate

“The team spirit I learned throughout this program is something I want to carry forward in doing assignments with my friends in UTM.” – Nisah, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

“As a teacher, I will take extra time to work with ELL students in my classes because I know understand how frustrating it is to have everything translated so I can understand.” – Darla, Pennsylvania Agriscience Teacher

Preparing a visual aid for an aquaponics lesson

“I will use all the knowledge that I gained into my lesson in the future, because the method of lesson for USA and Malaysia is very different.  So, I want to mix and match all the knowledge that I got to makes my lessons more meaningful, good and effective.” – Fatin, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

“These experiences have pushed me to peel back the layers of who I am and to reflect on my beliefs.  Moving forward, I know that I will be more open-minded and patient with others.  I hope that these behaviors will be reflected by my students.  I am thankful to be more knowledgeable about different cultures & religions.  I am excited to teach my students about global awareness lessons on empathy and also global agriculture.  Overall, I just think that I will be able to provide a positive outlook towards people that are different from me.” – Shelby, Ohio Agriscience Teacher

“I will use it to tell my students to be open minded and accepting all people all over the world to learn something from them.  Join all the programs and take the opportunities.  We all are being human.  The best quote that I will give to my student later on is:  ‘Real experience is the best teacher to us’.” – Syed Huzaimi, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

Enjoying the cooler temperatures at the Desa Dairy Farm in Sabah

“Everyone is an individual with their own story to be told, you just need to let them tell it.  Continuing forward I believe I can be more inclusive of others as I understand more about the diversity of the world.  I can also relay these priceless experiences and agricultural knowledge to my family, friends, professional contacts, and future students.” – Thomas, Penn State Agricultural Teacher Candidate

“I will ensure that I will practice all the knowledge that I get when I become a teacher someday so that my students will practice it too.” – Nina, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

“I will use the strategies for reflection and content delivery every day in my own classroom, as they are an aggregation of some of the best ideas that the teachers and facilitators on this trip have to offer.” – Carson, Michigan Agriscience Teacher

“I will ensure that I’m confident when doing something.  Learn from mistakes. Always learn how to improve myself.  Need to communicate in a good way.  Always listen to others opinion (be a good listener).  Work together when in a group.  Listen actively to what leader has to say.” – Ain, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

“This trip has given me experience in living in a culture that is different from my own.  This would also help me student teaching when trying to include international agriculture in the classroom.” – Manny, Penn State Agricultural Teacher Candidate

The Final Five Blog Post series is curated by
Global Learning Specialist, Dr. Melanie Miller Foster (@GlobalMelanie).
You can reach her at melanie@psu.edu

High Five Series: Final reflections – What were some of the most challenging moments, and what made them so?

Melanie Miller FosterPost-Trip Thoughts

During the final reflection session of #AgEd2Malaysia, we captured the responses of all #AgEd2Malaysia participants to five final reflection questions.  This blog post is part of a series to showcase some of the responses to those questions.  The fourth question prompt was:  

What were some of the most challenging moments, and what made them so?

Shelby and Fatin with their host parents in the FELDA

“Living with my host family at FELDA was challenging because of language barriers. I wanted so badly to talk with my host mom and grandma but felt helpless because we didn’t speak the same language.  Along those same lines, our first teaching experience was challenging because of the language barrier.  I have never felt so helpless in the classroom.” – Shelby, Ohio Agriscience Teacher

“My challenge task making reflection and teaching in class.  I feel unusually anxious and nervous.  I also felt afraid to answer any question asked because of my lack of self confidence.” – Azira, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

“Personally, I was very scared to fail at times, riding bikes, the waterfall experience, communicating and assimilating into the group.  But as we step out of our comfort zone and tackle fears we grow and build new strengths.” – Thomas, Penn State Agricultural Teacher Candidate

“To talk in front of public especially in English.  This is because I don’t have enough confidence.  I also had a lot of challenges in understanding some words in English.” – Nisah, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

“Some of the most challenging moments of this trip were communicating with my host family at FELDA because I could not speak Malay.  I had so much to tell and ask this family but felt guilty to bother Yazlin, my UTM roommate to translate my thoughts.” – Darla, Pennsylvania Agriscience Teacher

Ali and Melissia team teaching an aquaponics lesson

 

“The most challenging moment in this program is when I am the only student who had to (partner with) two USA students when teaching a lesson at the first school.  This is because I’m not too good to communicate with them.  Beside I don’t have the teaching experience.” – Ali, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

The warm welcome from the UTM students and faculty at the airport

“The most challenging moment for me is to teach for me the first time at the school.  This is because not only I’m going to teach the students, who most of them does not used to foreign teacher, but it is also my first time teaching in a real class at school.  The other challenging moment is when we first met at the airport and I’m afraid to how I’m supposed to approach them for the first time.” – Yazlin, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

 

“The most challenging moments is having using the same bathroom with USA students because we use wet toilets and they use dry toilet.  But day by day we are flexible, to go through this challenge.  I’m happy to stay with them.  For me, throw out this toilet challenge and lets make a new experience.” – Syed Huzaimi, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

“Learning everyone’s names at the beginning was challenging because I had never heard names that unique before.  I really wanted to know them and correctly say them though because I feel that is one of the best ways to show respect and that you care about them.” – Tessa, Iowa State Agricultural Teacher Candidate

The Final Five Blog Post series is curated by
Global Learning Specialist, Dr. Melanie Miller Foster (@GlobalMelanie).
You can reach her at melanie@psu.edu

High Five Series: Final reflections – What was your most meaningful interaction with a person from another culture?

Melanie Miller FosterPost-Trip Thoughts

During the final reflection session of #AgEd2Malaysia, we captured the responses of all #AgEd2Malaysia participants to five final reflection questions.  This blog post is part of a series to showcase some of the responses to those questions.  The third question prompt was:  

What was your most meaningful interaction with a person from another culture?

Azira and Kaitlin symbolically locking a padlock representing group unity

“The most meaningful interaction happened in FELDA when we were put together a room with a U.S. friend.  It started a meaningful conversation about culture. We learned about differences and similarities.”  – Ali, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

“Meeting the man in charge of the Sikh Temple. He wanted us to understand his religion so badly that he took a lot of time to walk around and really explain everything so we could reach an understanding.  He kept saying how his religion was a loving religion and that they accept everyone and will feed them.” – Jeanne, Pennsylvania Agriscience Teacher

“Sharing same room together.  When they (U.S. friends) understand and respect our culture,  especially at prayer time.  Sharing our thoughts about our culture and religion.” – Ain, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

“Shelby, Mickaella, and myself traveled to a point on Mr. Kinabolu where Azaira’s brother lost his life.  She shared with us their strong connection, and several stories and memories and as closure she wanted to visit this site on the mountain where she held a picture of him before he passed. It was awesome to be there for her as she went through several emotions, sad, guilty, nervousness, closure.” – Melissia, Indiana Agriscience Teacher

“The most meaningful interaction was when I started speak to them for the very first time and they accept me openly as a new friend.  They helped me a lot when I faced difficulty especially when I don’t understand them and gave positive encouragement.” – Nina, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

“The most meaningful interaction I had in Malaysia was a short but powerful conversation with my host grandfather.  He said, “When you leave, represent yourself, your family, and your home.” He had the respect enough for me to offer words of wisdom like I was his own grandson. We stayed at his place for just a few days, and in that time, it was enough to make a mutual connection.  That’s a powerful thing to feel respect.” – Carson, Michigan Agriscience Teacher

Lots of time to get to know each other on the bus!

“The most meaningful interactions between me and U.S. participants was about us or Americans culture.  Talking about that makes me feel like I have been there before. A lot of new things that I learned and I just knew that there are some of my information that I know about the USA culture are totally wrong.” – Fatin, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

“My most meaningful interaction with a person from a different culture was spending time with my host brother Izzat in FELDA Ayer Hitam.  I was beyond nervous coming into the home stay, and was continuously stressing about unknown variables throughout the day, Izzat and his energy left a lasting and life-changing impression.  He took time out of his day to teach me Malya words, play games with me and just talk about life. But maybe most importantly, he reminded me that all over the world people are people and have more things in common than different.” – Thomas, Penn State Agricultural Teacher Candidate

“My most meaning interaction with a person with different culture is when I first time talk to Darla in the bust from airport to UTM.  She shares a lot about herself and that is my first time talk with other people in another language. I will never forget this moment for the rest of my life.  This is so meaningful for me to interact with people who are really different from people around me before.” – Suhana, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

“My most meaningful connections with the UTM students were the nights spent in the dorms laughing socializing about our culture differences.  Not knowing it then, but when I look back I recognize those high peaks of becoming life-long colleagues, friends, and family.” – Kristi, Iowa State Agricultural Teacher Candidate

Yazlin and Darla with their host parents

“It is when we were placed at the same house at FELDA, I learned how Darla starts the day as I have never sleep in the same room with (a person from a) different religion or culture before.  It is quite shocking at first to know that what they mean as shower in the morning is just brushing their teeth and washing their face. I’m impressed later on as how they stay fresh all day without having any odor.  I also learn it that they sleep very early.” – Yazlin, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

” Overall, I cannot pick one moment that was the most meaningful.  This trip meant everything to me and I feel like my world has been changed. I just want to share this with others now.” – Mikaella, Iowa State Agricultural Teacher Candidate

 

The Final Five Blog Post series is curated by
Global Learning Specialist, Dr. Melanie Miller Foster (@GlobalMelanie).
You can reach her at melanie@psu.edu

High Five Series: Final Reflections – What was your most powerful learning moment?

Melanie Miller FosterPost-Trip Thoughts

During the final reflection session of #AgEd2Malaysia, we captured the responses of all #AgEd2Malaysia participants to five final reflection questions.  This blog post is part of a series to showcase some of the responses to those questions.  The first question prompt was:  

What was your most powerful learning moment?

Teaching teams creating lesson plans together

“The most impactful learning moment during AgEd2Malaysia was to try to adapt and learn everything together.  Every task became easier because I have a very good team that always helps each other.  I never thought that I can become the person I am now. So, for me, I realize I can accept every challenge ahead to gain new experience.” – Fatin, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

“The first time that I walked into a school In Malaysia to teach.  We walked into the room and the students stood up and started reciting words in Malaysian.  I froze. The Malaysian students responded to them then all eyes were on me. I asked my teaching partners what I should do?  They said, ‘They are ready for you to tell them what to do.’ I had 30 students, standing quietly with excited expressions on. I asked them to sit and the lesson started.  This really taught me what it is like in Malaysian schools, seeing the culture in the schools was amazing.” – Jessica, Pennsylvania Agriscience Teacher

Wearing batik to teach at the FELDA school. Public servants, including teachers, wear batik on Sundays to support the industry

“I think my most powerful learning moment happened through the lesson planning process.  This experience forced us to rely on our strengths as a team and to trust one another. As a young teacher, it was nerve-wracking to realize I was the most experienced in the group and the student teachers were looking to me for advice.  Looking back though, I think this pushed me to trust my own abilities.”  – Shelby, Ohio Agriscience Teacher

“My most powerful learning moment was when we wore the batik and hijab to teach. Wearing the outfit made me feel confident but wearing the hijab for the few hours that I did was honestly quite hot, so it felt really nice to be able to take it off.  It was powerful for me to experience that because the Malaysian students didn’t get to take theirs off. It was important for me to have this experience to understand their religion and culture better.” – Kaitlin, Penn State Agricultural Teacher Candidate

“I learned new teaching methods.  We were divided into groups which consisted of 1 teacher from USA, 1 student from USA, and 1 UTM student.  Here we learned to change ideas and methods.” – Ali, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

“I learned the most when talking and having a sharing moment while on the bus.  Exchanging stories and always learning something new unexpectedly. For instance, I learn from Darla how maple syrup is made, as she had an experience with the whole process back at her school.  And it is also my first time knowing that maple syrup came from a maple tree.” – Yazlin, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

 

Teamwork makes the dream work: Suhana, Ain, Darla and Kristi team teaching an aquaponics lesson in a high school classroom

“For me, the most powerful learning was not just about agriculture.  The thing that I learn in this program is about how to do a good lesson plan before you go to the classroom. This will really help me in the future when I become a teacher.” – Suhana, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

“My most powerful learning moment was being able to enter a mosque and witness prayer.  The entire process of cleansing with water, to the serenity and calmness of the mosque, allowed me to take a glimpse into another religion. People everywhere want to be loved, included, and to share love, and I am so blessed to have been able to witness this on this experience.  My mindset is forever changed.” – Thomas, Penn State Agricultural Teacher Candidate

“The moment that was very powerful that give impact to me is about accepting different culture from a different country.  It taught me that we as humans are nothing without everyone else. I learned a lot from this trip in the concept of cultural accepting.” – Syed Huzaimi, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

The Final Five Blog Post series is curated by
Global Learning Specialist, Dr. Melanie Miller Foster (@GlobalMelanie).
You can reach her at melanie@psu.edu

High Five Series: Final Reflections – How has this experience help you grow professionally?

Melanie Miller FosterPost-Trip Thoughts

During the final reflection session of #AgEd2Malaysia, we captured the responses of all #AgEd2Malaysia participants to five final reflection questions.  This blog post is part of a series to showcase some of the responses to those questions.  The first question prompt was:  

“How has this experience help you grow professionally?”

Communication was very important as this team worked together to try to make it over the finish line without losing any team members

“This trip helps cement the idea that there are a lot of different people in the world but that you can still find love and kindness everywhere. As a teacher it’s important to accept and love all students no matter their nationality or race. Through this trip we interacted with a lot of different races and religions.  I now have more knowledge and acceptance of other cultures.” – Jeanne, Pennsylvania Agriscience Teacher

“Learning about different people, culture, language, religion, and agriculture really has changed my perceptions about a lot of things.  All this experience will be useful to me and my future students. It also helped me to grow to become a better person. Communication and relationships are very important and that’s what I learned in #AgEd2Malaysia.” – Fatin, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

“I now have a new professional family that stretches across various states and another country.” – Thomas, Penn State Agricultural Teacher Candidate

Manny, Azira, and Nina teach an aquaponics lesson to a class of special education students

“The experience in preparing a lesson and teaching in a real situation was very valuable to me.  This is something that will help me in preparing to become a teacher one day. We have to have experiences such as these in order to understand the challenges.”- Ain, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher Candidate

“After this experience, I have more empathy for international students because I was the international student in Malaysia and can use that to help them feel more welcome in the U.S. whether that person is a student, future colleague, or fellow classmate.” – Kaitlin, Penn State Agricultural Teacher Candidate

“I have a new global perspective on agriculture that I’m excited to share with my students.” – Shelby, Ohio Agriscience Teacher

“This program helped me increase my confidence level to talk with other people that have a different language.” – Balqis, University of Teknologi Malaysia Teacher 

“This trip has helped me to become passionate about educating others about the world. There are many ways to do things and we can learn from these.  I want my students to be more open to accepting others.” – Jessica, Pennsylvania Agriscience Teacher

Learning how to break through a language barrier to become a winning handball team

“I’ve learned to accommodate for various levels of English language proficiency in a classroom and have a new outlook on the diverse needs of students in a classroom.” – Darla, Pennsylvania Agriscience Teacher

“This experience has helped me learn how to work with a diverse group of people with different backgrounds, perspectives, religions, beliefs, cultures, etc.  Because of #AgEd2Malaysia, I’ve learned to look past snap judgments or first impressions and dig deeper for a good look at how to combine our strengths to make a rockstar team.” – Tessa, Iowa State Agricultural Teacher Candidate

 

The Final Five Blog Post series is curated by
Global Learning Specialist, Dr. Melanie Miller Foster (@GlobalMelanie).
You can reach her at melanie@psu.edu

 

Final Snapshot of Malaysia: Reflections from @TeachAgPSU Manny Catala

mlc5898Post-Trip Thoughts

It’s been nearly two weeks since departing Kaula Lumpur Malaysia. We spent a total of 28 days in Malaysia traveling to schools, cultural sites, and agricultural industries. Within those areas, I’ve learned something new.

Every school we visited treated us like celebrities. Instead of a red carpet entrance, we were greeted with authentic live music performed by the students. At each of the schools, students would give us a grand tour showing us their classrooms, gardens, greenhouses, and projects.  The amount of pride and preparation that were put into our arrivals was unbelievable. It goes to show that the staff and students were just as excited to see us as we were to be there. After each of our teaching episodes, we would have a Q and A to answer any questions about America and us. As we were sharing our differences, the students listened with open curiosity. The more we interacted, the more similarities we found between each other. Differences at first are the easiest to see, but to find the similarities, we need to engage in meaningful conversations. I learned this through our Q & A and downtime we had with our UTM students.

We visited a ton of cultural sites from living with host families to visiting a cultural village. My favorite part was staying with our host families in FELDA. A memorable moment was interacting with my two host children; they were four and two. Both didn’t speak English, but that didn’t matter we used a lot of hand jesters. Even though it was hard for them to communicate with me, they still tried their best, which I appreciated. It’s not easy being surrounded by people who speak an unknown language to you but these two kids tried their best to make me feel welcome. Traveling through the countries every person we met went out of their way to make sure we felt welcomed and of course well fed. The people of Malaysia are the most humble and welcoming people I’ve ever met.

 

Before coming to Malaysia, I did a little research about the palm oil industry but to see it in practice was pretty cool! But other areas I didn’t know much about were the pineapple and rubber industry. In my research, I found out that the Palm oil tree originated in Africa and was brought over by the British as an ornamental plant. As we toured the pineapple plantations, we found out that the most popular variety of pineapples is MD2 which originated in Indonesia.  It interesting to see how plants from other cultures played a massive role in Malaysia’s agriculture.

All in all, this has been one of the best abroad experiences. If you want to learn about the world, you must travel and see it. A textbook or the internet can give you a lot of information but to truly understand a culture you must try to live it.

Mr. Manny Catala (@MCatala35) is a pre-service candidate (#psuaged19) in Agricultural Education at Penn State (@TeachAgPSU).

The power of relationships! Reflection from Jessica Weyer, Pennsylvania Agriscience Teacher

Jessica WeyerPost-Trip Thoughts

I was asked to write a reflection of the AgEd2Malaysia experience and I had no idea what to write. I was so overwhelmed by the idea of trying to translate what I have learned from a 4-week learning experience into a blog post. There are so many things that I have learned about agriculture, culture and the education system of Malaysia. I have notebooks of notes that I have taken while on the trip and things that I would like to remember about this trip. Everything from what the prayer schedule looks like for people of the Muslim faith too how much you can sell an MD2 pineapple ‘seed’ for.

After being home for a week, this task is not so daunting. If I have to boil down everything that I have learned on this trip into one-word, the word would be Relationships. Going to Malaysia was the trip of a lifetime for a number of reasons, but the relationships that were built on this trip are something that I am going to remember for the rest of my life.

When I was packing for this trip I was looking through my house and bookshelves for some books to take along on this trip. I came across some books that I was given in the #GLAG18 Conference-in-a-Box (GLAG stands for Global Learning in Agriculture. You can registere for #GLAG19 by clicking here) . I picked up a book entitled I Will Always Write Back. 

I figured I should read the first chapter of the book before I carry it to the other side of the globe.  I sat down to check it out and in 1 day I had finished the book. Now if you know me well, you know I do not read a lot and I am not a fast reader. The fact that I completed a book in a day is a big deal. This book completely opened my eyes to the power of a relationship. This book is about a pen-pal relationship that was started in 6th grade that ended up drastically changing the lives of both students. After reading the book, I was so excited to start my journey to Malaysia to make relationships of my own.

Before we even left the United States, we started to build relationships with the people on the team traveling with us. The #AgEd2Malaysia U.S. contingency was comprised of six current secondary agriculture teachers and six agricultural education teacher candidates (college students) from across the country who would come together to work together in a foreign country. We all met face to face for the first time when we were in Amsterdam and it was already like meeting up with family!

When we arrived in the airport in Johor Bahru, Malaysia we had a welcoming committee. There were 10 Malaysian students and a slew of faculty from the University of Technology Malaysia waiting for us with signs, posters and cheering voices. I remember when we were going through customs I looked out and saw the welcoming crew. I thought to my self “I have always wanted to be greeted in an airport like that, the people they are greeting are so lucky!” I was the first person through customs and when I noticed that that giant gathering of people was waiting there for me I started to get emotional. So many people were there are they were all so excited to meet me. Once we were all properly welcomed my bags were whisked from hands and taken to the bus. As we were walking, I started talking with the ‘welcoming committee’ and I realized that this team of people was going to be with us for the next 28 days.

Looking back over the trip the welcome that I received at the airport was not abnormal. The people of Malaysia were always so willing to ‘roll out the red carpet’ for us. It was so humbling to be treated so well everywhere we went.

The ten Malaysian students that came with us on the trip are the relationships that I will cherish the most. When traveling with a group of almost 30 people you spend a lot of time on the bus. On the bus was such a great time to talk with everyone and learn as much as you can about the culture of Malaysia. From all of the bus rides, I sat next to every one of the students. The relationships built with everyone mean so much to me. These relationships mean so much and it is hard to put into words the impact that these students have had on me. To Nisa, Nina, Azirah, Huzaimi, Hanif, Ali, Yazleen, Suhana, Fatin, Ain my new family! When we left the airport we made sure to not say goodbye, but until next time. I do not know where the next chapter will take us, but I am sure that we will meet again.

The hardest part that I now face is how do I translate the power of relationships to the high school agriculture students at my school? How do I share with them the power of these connections? I think that I am going to start a pen-pal program for my students with some of the high school students that I met in Malaysia. We will see where this path goes but I hope that it will lead to more connections.

Jessica Weyer (@JessWeyer) is a secondary agriscience teacher from Pennsylvania. 

Five More Minutes: #AgEd2Malaysia Reflections of Mikaella Koster, Iowa State Pre-Service Candidate

mlk491Post-Trip Thoughts

Our trip has ended.  We have flown home.  We have made some great relationships, friendships, and connections.  I think its safe to say that none of us are going to forget anything about this trip anytime soon. When we first arrived in Malaysia, we were asked to sit with a UTM student on the bus ride back to the hotel.  I sat with Nina.  We had a simple fast get to know you conversation on the way to Scholars Inn at UTM.  I learned a lot about her but not as much as I would in the weeks to fallow.  After we got checked into the hotel, we mostly went our separate ways for the night.  This was the beginning of a relationship we didn’t even know was going to become what it was. 

After we had our first day of structured adventures, we had a few hours of free time during the evening.  It wasn’t going to get dark for several more hours so some of us went on a bike ride with some of the other students.  We had no idea where we were going.  Some of us also learned to ride a bike, cough Thomas cough.  We rode the bikes around campus for those hours before dark and then walked back.  Those who went bike riding got to know each other pretty well but there was still so much that we were going to learn about each other in the day and weeks that were yet to come. 

Each trip has a moment that stands out to someone for some reason.  For me this was when we spontaneously went to a waterfall that was about an hour or so away from the UTM campus in JB.  This waterfall was beautiful.  Several of our Malaysian students could not swim and nether could Thomas.  There was a waterslide that was built into this area around the waterfall.  Everyone took a trip down this slide at least once, including everyone who couldn’t swim.  This trip was probably the most memorable to me because of the fact everyone there literally turreted us with their lives.  We also formed a train of everyone and attempted to go down the slide.  Really that was just a hot mess and worked nowhere close to how anyone imagined or pictured.  We all made it down the slide eventually, some just faster than others.  After spending a few hours at the waterfall we headed back to campus.  We also had the brilliant idea to get some pizza on the way home for super.  We had Huzaimi order us 10 pizzas, five of those being cheese.  We made it back to Scholars Inn with all of the pizzas, moved some furniture between rooms so there was room for everyone to sit and then opened the pizzas.  Opening the boxes we quickly discovered that there were not five cheese pizzas.  But all of them had cheese!  We all happily ate the pizzas even though there was not cheese pizza.  We also spent several hours just talking about this trip and getting to know each other.  Not only did we bond over food but we also did with music and dancing.  We taught the Malaysian students how to do Cotton Eyed Joe and a few other dances and they taught us some killer dance moves.  Full credit goes to Hanif.

Though this trip there were so many great bonding moments and each persons had their won that really stuck out to them.  I am forever going to remember so many details from this trip and all of the people.  I cannot thank anyone enough for this trip and I also cannot thank our Malaysian friends enough for being there for us.  This whole trip went so fast and it was a great experience.  I think we will always be asking for five more minutes with everyone that was there during this trip.

 

Mikaella Koster (@MikaellaKoster) is a pre-service agricultural teacher candidate attending Iowa State University.

As We Transition Back Into the Classroom: Reflections from Indiana Agriscience Teacher Melissia Grant!

Melissa A GrantPost-Trip Thoughts

Welcome Back!

As the first full week of classes complete for me and my students here in Russiaville, Indiana, I still am experiencing a whirlwind of emotions about my experience abroad. But my biggest question still remains- How will I use my knowledge from Malaysia to impact student learning in my classroom?

As I look back on my experience abroad I am pulled in a way that helps me to evaluate my teaching strategies on a new level. I enjoyed viewing and participating in several different dynamics of teaching strategies from several other current agricultural educators and pre-service teachers. Here are some items I learned and hope to implement in my classroom during the 2018-2019 school year.

1. Ice Breaker/ Get To Know You Activity

During my teaching in Malaysia, it was important to start with an introduction activity to get familiar with your audience. As this was the first time meeting these students it was essential to set the stage for the remainder of the lesson.

 

Students participating in the Beach Ball Bonding Ice Breaker Game. Questions were given in both Malay and English for both parties to feel comfortable enough to engage and answer the questions. Questions asked were basic including What they wanted to be when they grew up and why. Where do you hope someday to travel? And what is your favorite Malaysian food?

2. Hands-On Teaching Strategies

It was both exciting and rewarding to learn in Malaysia with a hands-on learning approach. I can attest that the most rewarding experiences were those that I could feel, grasp, and touch with my hands.

A ‘How To’ demonstration was given to construct a local lemongrass tea. Not only were we given a visual during the students’ demonstration but we then followed by making our own. It was awesome to prepare the ingredients and the tea on our own. It also helped the tea was delicious!

 

Teachers we able to observe and handle the quail students raise for their eggs to sell at the local market.

3. Implementing a Community Service Event

Finally, I thought it was very beneficial that we were able to help a Malaysian community by cleaning up the local water banks filled with trash. It was such an eye-opening experience to see the amount of trash accumulated in such a small area and how much we as a group impacted the community in just a short amount of time.

Wow, the trash was unreal! How can we impact our local community with just a simple day of service? Our duty was to fill the trash bags with anything and everything.

Melissia Grant (@MelissiaGrant8) is a secondary agriscience teacher at Western High School in Indiana.

 

 

“How You Made Them Feel” – #AgEd2Malaysia Thoughts from Kaitlin Liszka, @TeachAgPSU candidate!

Kaitlin LiszkaPost-Trip Thoughts

Little did any of us really know how much of an adventure this trip really would be!

From the moment we grabbed our baggage we were greeted with a warm welcome and show of hospitality that would last through out the entire adventure.

I knew before this trip that we as Americans were not always preceded with the warmest stereotype, but this trip has really made me step back and realize why we can perceived as rude. I was truly blown away by the hospitality shown to us for the month that we were in Malaysia.

I took a unplanned detour from our itinerary and spent a day in the hospital (talk about unplanned adventures!). While I was there, three different professors from UTM came to visit me and make sure I was okay – one even brought some donuts 🙂 ! To me, this was very unexpected. I’m not saying that professors in the United States would not have been concerned about me if the countries would have been flipped and I was hospitalized in the United Statess, but the chances of one stopping in to physically make sure I was okay is pretty low, let alone three! For them, a simple phone call for a status update would be enough, and this is just a small sampling of the hospitality shown to us.

The little things they did while we were in Malaysia have reminded me of how I should treat others so that they too can feel more welcome.

The small gifts we got everywhere we went, along with the “refreshments” that really provided enough food to count as a meal, the constant help carrying your bags, we were even welcomed in to the homes of teachers from the schools we visited and the lectures from UTM, the conversations we had, and I could keep this list going until everyone was bored of reading.

Truthfully, I learned so much on this trip, that one blog post could not even begin to unpack it, but I think that this quote shared with me by one of the teachers on the Malaysia adventure before we stepped into a classroom to teach sums up the experience for me:

The reality of life is that I don’t remember all the little lessons and cool facts that I learned while on this trip, I will, however, always remember how welcome and loved the people in Malaysia made me feel, and I hope that someday I have the chance to make someone else feel the same way.

 

Ms. Kaitlin Liszka (@KaitlinLiszka) is a  pre-service agricultural education candidate (#psuaged20) at The Pennsylvania State University (@TeachAgPSU).