Erin Molden is a biotechnology instructor at Miami Valley Career Technical Center. She was back at Ag Biotech Academy for a second time this year. Here’s why:
I made the decision to come back to this workshop because I really enjoyed my experience last year. Much like my students, I am a hands-on learner, so the active, hands-on activities help me learn fun labs that will improve my students’ experiences. I also love networking with fellow teachers, industry reps, and everyone else at the workshop! Learning how other teachers work in their classrooms and approach lessons is a wonderful byproduct of this workshop!
The most useful part of the workshop for me is seeing how the teacher leaders work in the classroom. I am still new in the world of teaching—getting ready to start my 3rd year—so I love learning how other teachers approach a lesson and answer student questions while keeping learning on track.
I really enjoyed the year two experience and I hope to come back next year. Last year I didn’t know what questions to ask and this year I was able to observe and ask questions of other participants and teacher leaders. The new Biotechnology standards for Ohio are geared towards Medical Bioscience, which only covers part of the overall career possibilities in the biotechnology world. I am excited to share with my students about other opportunities to do similar work in agriculture. I know that it will spark their interest and help them focus on job fields open to them.
