I love dairy cows, and I love dairy farming. However, I can not afford to get in the game at this moment. Someday I will have a place and milk cows because I love it. Recently, I have been reading about companies and milk plants only taking non-rBST milk. What is the deal with that? What message is being sent? I open a dairy publication and find a two page advertisement on posilac. Who is regulating what? The purpose of the dairy business is to make money. If you have a tool that is harmless to the public and can boost profits why not use it. I think the real issue is educating the public.

Many people point to the dairy producers as the educational advocate. I think it should be the companies who are capitalizing on the milk being produced. Monsanto should be out educating the public on rBST, genetically modified crop companies should be out educations the public, dairy farmers contribute a checkoff that could be used to support these issues. Better yet, a percent of the profit a companies receives should be set up for a public awareness campaign.

Is this asking too much. I think not. Instead of having the dairy farmer learning to properly respond to public concerns on pertinent issues use the check off dollars to have representation for farmers when questions need to be answered.

I am going to try to keep up with my blog, again. I have been under a lot of pressure lately and the issues just seemed to have snowballed. Anyway, the good news is that the family and I have purchased a new truck and have been doing some camping. We have also been doing some surf fishing down at Cape Henlopen State park. I just love catching and eating those tasty blues. The kids and wife have fun on the beach while I get to fish. Can't beat that.

One a sad note I can't beleave the school shooting in PA. I went to an auctionin Bart twonship and trimmed some cow hoofs for some Amish in that area. I really do not understand what is going on with the world. the past few weeks have been filled with school shootings. I know that this was not a student, but getting shot in school is still not cool. I am scared to send my child to school. How can we as a nation unarm an entire country, but can't keep our schools safe.

That is it for know, I am off to class to learn more about writing. C'ya

I finished my comprehensive exam for my Masters in Education last Monday, 1/23/06. What a nightmare. All the things I have learned in my classes boiled into 7 questions with 7 days to finish. By the way, they were looking for a 5-7 page answer for each question. I usually take a good half a day just to develop an outline. The exam evolved around a reading list of about 10 books and 20 journal articles. I read each item on the list and took notes for future reference. I reviewed the notes the week prior to the exam to prepare. I feel that I did horrible. I felt that my answers were just rambling with no flow or continuity. Not to mention that each question would normally take a good semester to properly answer. I can't sleep or eat and my shoulders/neck are full of tension. I took a few days off last week to get my mind off the exam besides my mind was fried.

I spent my free time walking my children to school and picking them up. We also went to the grocery store and visited some friends. It is amazing how much my wife can accomplish by herself with three little monkeys running around. I did take a few days and went goose hunting. I a quickly becoming addicted to this sport. I just want to goose hunt all the time. As soon as our house is paid off I am buying a property just for hunting. I am sure that it will be after the truck and camper but it is on the list. I have some good friends who have a place for goose hunting and I just go over there for now. My place will have deer, turkey, small game and some water fowl, plus fishing. I think I should just retire and live off the land.

Speaking of retiring, my wife was contacted to apply for a job at her old company. I won't mention it because it may jinx us. We are trying to figure out how much money it will take for her to leave the kids and for me to stay at home. I would like to find a way to keep my job but work, a majority of the time, from home. We are not sure how much the salary will be but we also have to include added expenses such as gas, car, new clothes. My wife is also an excellent shopper so I am sure I can not save as much on groceries as she does. I would not mind staying at home as a full time dad I just would like to have the extra income.

I have been kicking around some ideas for a second income if I can't rearrange my work load (my wife also has to be selected, interview and be offered a good bit of cash). I have thought about doing some type of woodwork in the garage, make specialty sausage, or tutoring. I could find a part-time job at night or very early in the morning. I wake early so that is not a problem I just don't want it to place a burden on my wife if she is working. I just want to have some extra cash to send my kids to dance or karate. My Nana always said "It will work out if it is meant to be". We shall see.

That is why I have not posted for a while. I hope to to keep posting but our semester is starting next Monday. I am teaching dairy production and taking a crop class. I have the anatomy lab set and ready to go. Anyway talk at you later. Thanks for listening my shoulders are feeling better.

It has been a long time since my last post but I have been studying for my masters exam in education. I start the exam as soon as I receive the questions. I have no idea what to expect or what is going to be asked. Wish me luck.

Well I did it again, I went to a program presenting the pleasure and pain of rubrics sponsored by our Assessment office. They offered excellent ideas on how to become a better teacher through the use of rubrics. I have got to say that many participants did not know what a rubric actually means. To me a rubric is my scoring key to a particular assignment. Others have different definitions but this is how I view it. I create it to see how well my students are learning the content being presented. I actually think involving student into the rubric development will increase the students ownership of the particular assignment. I really like how our University has developed such offices to aid professors. However, how many actually take advantage of this opportunity? I think professors should have to attend these courses and receive continuing education credit to keep a "license" to teach.

I understand how the world works - mostly by money - so our promotion system is primarily based on research, grants, and publications. Furthermore, that is why most professors chose this profession. Our students, on the other hand, are here for an education and this is accomplished by educators. We do not place a high value on teaching and our students can recognize the teachers who enjoy teaching and those who "have" to teach. Should we not expect from our peers what we expect from our students, give 100% to any job you are working on. I would say YES.

Anyway, I have found an area in education that I have come to enjoy and that is teaching education. Helping teachers teach. I would like to help teachers work on improving their instructional methods to improve student learning. I would have never thought about it except as I get older I can see things more clearly once I took off the "teacher goggles". Thanks

I have a question. What is more important teaching content or teaching effective learning strategies? I would propose effective learning strategies. If you can accomplish getting students to learn these strategies it is more likely that they will learn the content. If you just teach the content the students are likely to just learn the material for the exam and then flush it.

I tend to think of teaching/learning as hunting. The objective is to harvest game but it is not the sole satisfaction. The challenge of the hunt, the ability to experiecne nature, and the thrill of trying to outsmart your game are the ultimate rush. Like learning content is the objective but having students experience self discovery, improved self esteem, and critical thinking might just be better than content. Isn't it our job, as educators, to supply our students with information that will make them successful adults. The content we teach may not be relevant to their daily lives but how we teach content may have a longer impression.

So lets try to find better ways to get our message across.

I recently read an in the Northeast Dairy Business by Pro Dairy up in Cornell. I was very impressed with the information this organization is putting together. Any way the article discusses the future of dairy research while shedding light on twelve research projects. I understand that New York is a great Dairy state and seems to be very innovative in supporting the dairy industry. The article also mentions the 1-cent checkoff, implemented in Florida back in 1988, to fund research and education. I think this is a great idea and maybe every state should have a 1-cent checkoff to help support regional research and education. I understand the "messiness" this could cause but aren't universities, companies, and farmers better off if they come together, as a group, and work on the issues.

Have you ever noticed the how much instructors really know about the subject matter they teach. Most professors have performed research in a very niche area of a discipline but are expected to teach class that covers a whole industry. I dare say that teaching is usually not high on the priority list either. I can say that I do not have all the education in the world but I love to teach and I have also been very successful operating dairy farms. I owned and worked with dairy cattle since I was born. I have been involved in every aspect of the industry - jack of all trades master of none. Dairying is a very difficult business to begin with but if we do not proper arm our students for employment in the dairy industry how can we expect to grow as an industry.

For my thirst to furnish the best way to pass my knowledge on to my students, I went to a conference to learn if my students are learning what I intend for them to learn. The session was sponsored by UD It services and presented by Dr. Marilee Bresciani. What an experience to see that so many professors are intersted in what they teach but don't actually follow up on recommendations to refine thier course. I would suggest others to attend if she comes jto your town.

I have figured out how to spell check. I have a pop up blocker.

My News Year’s resolution is to keep my blog current. I am hoping to use it to reflect my practices at work. So for today I am currently working on my web page: http://copland.udel.edu/~severson/

I have been asked to be an instructor for a Dairy Production course at the University of Delaware. I truly enjoy teaching but this will probably be my last semester teaching due to elements I will reveal later on. If you see lectures or documents you would like to borrow just shoot me an email. Much of the information has been borrowed form many sites, books and people.

Does anyone know how to use spell check on this thing?