Teaching Philosophy Highlights

I believe that a passion for agriculture stems from experiences with nature and
the agriculture industry.
I believe that my background in agriculture has taught me perseverance and
diligence, and I wish to pass that on to students.
I believe the pursuit of an education is an experience that should be valued by all,
whether it be in academia or in the world of work
I believe an agricultural educator is a teacher, a mentor, and a community
person.
I believe the three circle model shows opportunity for students futures and their
engagement in the now.
I believe FFA is a tool to provide students with the experiences that they need to
prepare themselves for the world.
I believe all the facets of my program can and will provide the experience of travel
and worldly knowledge for my students.
I believe in optimism; all students can be reached. It is my job to ensure that no
student goes uninspired.
I believe my purpose is to provide an educational environment to produce well rounded
individuals.
I believe it is important that I understand what influences my students and lights a fire
for their future.

Ms. Emily Fisher

Teaching Philosophy
Late fall when all the corn was chopped and safely behind a dairymans fence post, all the
wheat had been shipped across the Atlantic, and all the steers bought and bedded down for a
well fed winter I found my life was broken down into seasons rather than months. I could see
the wheels in my dads head turn just as gradually as the seasons changed. He loves his job. He
lives and breathes his home and farm every day. It is not only a means to make a living but gives
him a purpose to live for. His lifestyle was not only his own. It became mine, my sisters, my
brothers, and before us it became my mothers too. This life style has taught me most of what I
know of agriculture and is the direct result of the founding principles on which I will place my
future and my career. The foundation I was given is a part of me and I would not change it for
the world. Rooted in a rural community and its ties to agriculture I was taught to respect the
industry and realize it as my own, agriculture is everyones industry after all. Not because it is
the right way to live but because it is a purposeful way to live.
I am to be an agricultural educator, an advisor, and a community person. I will have to
be aware that each student comes into my classroom with a background as unique as my own.
That one pedagogy may be right for one and wrong for the other. Presented with the three circle
model of an agricultural program I was convinced, I drank the juice, most importantly I believed
in it. The act of purposefully planning a program that gives students: lab and world experiences
through FFA, interactive classroom instruction, and a way to apply their knowledge through
SAE. This is the definition of opportunity for the future and engagement for the now.
I have chosen a profession with a tool. A tool that can shape the mind of a young person
like it did me so many times before. FFA in all its variety will accompany my classroom as it
evolves into the program I visualized from the seat of a University of Idaho classroom. FFA
provides its members, my soon to be students, the means to understand their rural
surroundings or lack thereof. I cannot deny that my chosen profession is a somewhat a public
one. It will be my responsibility to see that FFA serves to be a giving and relevant association to
the community. Members and students are a part of that community and will have pride in it, as
I will, where ever it may be. I will charge myself with ensuring that all the facets of my program
provide the experience of travel and worldly knowledge to students. There was a time when I felt
uncomfortable with the idea of such a public profession. However, we live in a world of 7 billion
people a profession that is not public is scarce. So, unafraid now of my childish insecurities of
facing the public I will do my best to promote my students and FFA in the best light possible.
FFA is revered by the community as a program the produces successful individuals.
I want to employ methods in my agricultural program that inspire and captivate students
to become the future of the industry so many people depend upon. Here I sit on the precipice of
a large community looking in, not as a student anymore, but finally as a productive member of
the public. My task is to ensure that the students interests are revealed and use their core
instruction as a base for mine. I will most certainly heed the knowledge of the generations before
me while strengthening and creating my own pedagogy. I believe it is my responsibility as a
teacher to guarantee that students in my agricultural program are conditioned to the act of
giving back to their community, through activities and events. I wish my students to know the
benefit of generosity and hard work given with a smile instead of an upturned palm. Also to up

hold the values of taking care of our elders and promoting our communitys well-being. I wish
my students to understand the ideals of compassion and full hearted appreciation. I wish them
to recognize the faith that the community puts in them as they represent them on a broader level
and be able to react in an appropriate way.
In a way the aforementioned soft skills validate the necessity of the hard skills. I believe
in producing lifelong learners that see the value in being a productive member of a cohesive
community. Without this idea America would be nothing more than a large chunk of land in the
northern hemisphere. Conveying this idea to my students will be no easy task. With a little hope
and a lot of dedicated hours I believe I will plan a classroom that promotes these ideals. I am an
idealist by nature; I see the end goal and I strive for it. However, I understand that I and the
world are not perfect. It is the pursuit of something greater that sets my classroom apart. I am
the deciding factor in my program and I teach students through the living example of
agriculture. I only have to believe that each individual can be reached to ensure that no student
goes uninspired. I believe it is important that I understand what influences my students and
lights a fire for their future. I need to know how they think, what drives them, and more
essentially how they learn. I know that I cannot provide instruction that reaches each student
individually every day. I also know that if I conduct my classroom rigidly and void of variety I
will not reach any. It is my job from the beginning of my instructional education that I continue
to build upon the pedagogical practices I know and understand. For my students I will continue
to learn, and for my students I will be purposeful in my practice. My purpose is to provide an
educational environment to produce well rounded individuals. With the communities help I will
educate students of their true potential and their innate ability to pursue their respective
interests.