A final reflection on lab

I wasn't to sure what to expect from lab, I had seen videos from past years labs in the final presentations but I didn't have a good grasp on what lab really was nor the impact it was going to make on me.

Lab was hands down one of the best parts of this semester, although at times I regretted choosing the 8am section I realized how lucky I was to be the first group. With out having any bias from other labs, I felt our 8am lab got to try things out, test the water, and be the inside voice of what to expect. I also feel the peers that were in my lab made it very unique. We had both Philly kids, a passionate wild life enthusiast who never experience school based ag, the local kid, the resident goat and swine expert and the most energetic, creative, passionate gal out there. Although we came from all parts of the agricultural industry, and came from different backgrounds we brought together some kick butt lesson ideas, classroom management techniques, and helpful tips and tricks to keep the energy and focus on the educator. 

Although we always started a little late, and never got out on time I think its safe to say we had one of the best lab groups. Our diversity gave us each the opportunity to teach a group of "students" who came from all different backgrounds and gave us the "teacher" a great experience! It was a great semester, and Wednesday mornings never seemed as gloomy as other mornings, lab was a great mid week pick me up, and a great experience to try out lesson plans and classroom management skills. 

 

I may not be a pro at teaching, however I feel more confident to enter the classroom ready to handle what ever the students throw at me (hopefully not literally). 

The last week of lab was a great way to end the semester, and to show us all that we were made to be agricultural educators. 

Because we are here by choice not chance!

I'm not really sure what photos would fit well into this blog, I could screen shot some photos from lab, or I could do what I did and search the web for some comic relief  (:

                        Till next time, be sure to follow me on twitter and instagram!
 

 

A van, 5$, and a lesson plan...

Can you guess where this is going? Don't worry I couldn't either. Since we are lab #1 there wasn't anyone to spoil the surprise.

So we hopped in the van with our lesson plans and headed over to the dollar tree, Penn State was kind enough to give us each 5$ to find supplies we can use in a lesson(s) of our choice to help make them more creative. At first I was a little stumped about where I could add creativity...than it hit me. In my pesticide education unit! My first lab I was going to have students identify characteristics of pest but wouldn't it be cool if students designed their own pest!?!

So I bought cotton balls, googly eyes, string, mini cup cake holders, and q-tips. Now can you build a pest out of these things? I think you could, using the cup cake holders or cotton balls to make the body and segments, the q-tips as support and the eyes well...that speaks for its self and finally the string could be used for wings, legs, or other body parts.



I know we all say we struggle with creativity but in this day and age we have access to so many resources that can help add that creative spark to our classroom, lesson, unit or day. I know I struggle with creativity but I know where to reach out and find the support I need to get that spark!

One great resource is Pinterest! I have my own account and use it in so many ways! So if you are in a rut check out my page or the awesome Teach AG! page!

Do you have a problem???

Problems based learning...or PBL as we like to call it (at least I do) can often be confused with project based learning and inquiry based learning. So I'm here to try and clear the space but in case I don't do a good enough job check out this awesome site that breaks down problems based learning and inquiry learning.






Now back to problems based learning, in lab I presented a problem to my students with a solution in mind. This is the key to problems based learning, only one end result. Our problem was presented through a video where a community member had some sort of pest eating her tomato plants. It was up to our class to help here. Since lab is a little different than the classroom I had to make some modifications, in the classroom I would have students as bell work create 5 questions they would need to ask and than we would skype in our community member who would present the information she could ( I would script it for her) and than the students could ask any additional questions they felt they needed to solve the problem of the mystery bug.

In lab students were presented a hand out with some background and than they were asked to research what pest they believed was affecting the tomato plant. (This is what day two of my class would be). After students picked their pest they created a mind map of how the pest got to the tomato plant, lack of nutrients, poor pH, to much water ect. I found the mind map to be really fun and helpful for the lab students to show why and how the pest got to only the tomato plants!

Lab went a little smoother than some of my past labs I did state my objectives, I moved around the room and tried to give each group equal attention, I thought I had a strong presence. However, I still lack the confidence, time management, and the lesson plan writing skills. I know however I am going to improve in these areas and with that I will become a strong confident agricultural educator who is set out to change the world!

What does Inquiry mean to you?

I can tell how labs are only improving my teaching skills, this week we had to write a lesson that was inquiry. Now what does inquiry mean to you? I can tell you what it means to me...inquiry is where you give students the skill set and knowledge to take what you give them, identify the problem and than create a solution. For lab I created a lesson titled How much is to much? This lesson focus on economic threshold and field scouting, I have a 6 week long unit on Pesticide Education and I chose to try inquiry in one of them. Now inquiry doesn't have to be full blown inquiry. And that is something I struggle with and I know many of my peers do as well. However we have gained a lot of experience and tools to help us inquiry and to help us teach our own students to inquire.

To set up my students I gave them a lab packet, scales, and cups of raisins... can you guess what they were about to do? We started of reviewing from the previous class where we talked about beneficials and pests which led nicely into how a large population of a benefical such as a lady bug is a bad thing making them a pest. Next students worked in groups to weight the cups of raisins and to record their data, using this data we analyzed an article on economic threshold to determine if we had reached our threshold in our plot of soybeans. It didn't go as smoothly as I had planed however, I believe the students got the idea and I gained a better understanding of inquiry based learning.
Now lets look at what I should have improved on...

• I need to work on stating my objectives at the beginning and ending of class
• I need to be more enthusiastic and gain a strong presence through confidence
• I need to improve on my clarity of instructions
• I need to make sure all parts of my lab handout print on all lab books (oops)
• I also need to improve on my mobility around the classroom

Now not everything I did was bad, I have noticed in myself how I am writing better lesson plans that help me gain confidence, I am also improving on how I create my presence and confidence in front of the class. I have noticed how I don't seem so shakey and nervous all the time (this is something I need to get a hold on because like animals freshman read fear...)

As the semester is winding down we are only gaining more experience and opportunities to jump in front of the classroom. I look forward to getting rid of my bad habits and gaining confidence to get out there and teach!

To find out more about inquiry check out this page it helped me figure out the differences as well as ways to improve my lesson plans!
Also check out this rubric ( great huh!?) it shows that your lesson doesn't have to be 100% inquiry but can start from more teacher centered than move to student centered

Observations from National Convention

National convention was a few weeks ago and over this time I had the chance to look back at what I observed and look at my notes from the week. On the Friday before we left we had a lesson on "tracking" tracking in this sense isn't referring to looking for that big buck but rather looking at what is going on around you. I used this new skill to observe the interactions between those around me and how my student's interacted with each other and those around them. I was really surprised about a few things

• My students treated each other with a high respect, being that they are officers I would expect tension between them however between the officer team I didn't feel any tension only respect for each other and their abilities.
• I was surprised how much different it is having an adviser pin, from going into workshops to talking to those at the booth. In some booths if you mentioned the word student teacher they just blew you off where others were willing to help and lend a hand.
• The respect students had for the National Officers and the sessions was really high, thinking back to high school I remember not being interested in workshops or sessions or thinking much about National Officers, the students I worked with were excited for sessions workshops and meeting the National Officers 

I was also interested in how the kids interacted with other members from different chapters, some were very out going where others were more laid back. It was really interesting seeing how some would approach other members for photos or signatures where  some wouldn't even ask for a signature.

I will use these hints I picked up through tracking to gauge how some students are more outgoing where others are less outgoing. I hope to help build the confidence in those who wouldn't ask for signatures and help those who do fine tune their people skills

Blogs, blogs, blogs and more blogs

Blogging is something I haven't explored until this past semester, and to be honest I'm not sure if I would have started one on my own. But now since I have been blogging, have seen the impact not only I have made (I have blog views in Poland, Germany, and South Africa as well as the US) but also the impact it has made on me as a future educator. Having the chance to blog has allowed me to explore different readings and reflect upon them and bring them down to earth and into my future classrooms. It has also given me the chance to start working on my creativity, writing, as well as a chance to express myself in a professional fashion. Blogging is a powerful tool and I have decided to see how you can use this tool effectively and efficiently in a classroom. 

When giving students the chance to express themselves you are gaining an opportunity to get to know more about them. You are also giving them the opportunity to learn more about their peers. I feel that a blog can be very powerful and useful as long as you follow a few key tips.

• Make sure you build up your students, first have them "write" blogs but don't publish them. Once you have refined key skills turn 'em lose.
• Make sure you set clear guidelines- when students know whats expected of them, they can achieve it
• Gives students a chance to collaborate with one another on a few topics
• Continuously give students higher expectations, maybe require video links, more photos, or commenting on others blogs outside of the classroom
• Encourage students to comment on each others blogs and get the conversation started
• Be sure to give students honest feed back so they may continuously improve their skills

Blogging can be very powerful, and I plan on using blogs in my classroom. How cool would it be to have my animal science students find an article off the web about a break through in technology and than blog about it. Giving their outlook on a hot topic and placing it out on web and having a professional in the field comment back on it? This leads into another touchy subject in education...social media....what is okay and what is bad?

One tool that has been shown to us here at Penn State is Twitter, we were encouraged to create a twitter account and use it.  Yeah, we have assignments that say tweet, I may not be so thrilled about this but I know a high school student would be trilled with the opportunity to have a homework assignment saying tweet about your thoughts on what we learned in class. Twitter is seen often as more appropriate in the world of educators because its less secretive than Facebook, I do agree with this. And I guess that is why we all have twitter accounts here at Penn State.

There are so many different ways to use Twitter in the classroom TeacherHub.com  has a list of 50 ways to use twitter effectively. A few of my favorites include

• Tweeting out due dates
• Create a hashtag and track it
• Live tweet field trips or exciting activities
• Sync twitter with a blog
• Post sample exam questions
• Summarize

Twitter can be used to share real time changes with your students and their parents, it gives you the chance to share a change in date for a project or exam and provides students the opportunity to respond with questions or concerns. Creating a class hashtag is a concept we use here at Penn State, its a great way to share with peers and classmates assignments, comments, inspiration, and questions about class. Having the hashtag also makes it easy for stake holders to see what we are up to as well as connect with us in real time. Having a hashtag can help with your FFA to share in the experience for those who were unable to attended the meeting or event.
Live tweeting also helps keep everyone in the loop with what is going on and the exciting things you are up to. Its a great way to share a field trip with concerned parents who are uneasy with letting their kids travel. It is also a way administration can see what you and your students are up to out of the classroom. If you have a class blog or require students to keep a blog it is very easy to sync twitter with different blogging platforms. This allows the user to share out a more in depth knowledge and understanding.
Twitter can be used to have students tweet at you example exam or quiz questions, this eliminates students who "forget their paper" or can't think of a question in class. Using the class hashtag peers can also review others questions to help them prepare as well.
Twitter can also be a tool that helps students summarize topics in brief sentences of 150 characters or less. So for those who hate writing, I think we can all manage 150 characters!

Now lets get those twitter accounts started and get out students to follow professional organizations and companies and prepare not only ourselves but our students for the 21st century! There are also numerous others platforms for social media out there twitter and blogs are just two forms. Follow Teach AG's pinterst page for more tips on social media and to learn about new and upcoming platforms.

Teacherhub.com
nea.org
edutopia.org

If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave 'em! I appreciate the feedback!
Till next time,
follow me @rachie12rach

The adventures of "T-DAWG"

Wow what a week it was...now to reflect on it. 

Stuck in traffic selfie!!

 National Convention did not go as I had imagined it would, now everything did not go wrong, it just did not go as I had planned in my head which in this cases was a good thing. Because I am going to  be honest I had a large fear that the tires of my van were going to fall off and roll on by us...and thankfully that did not happen I also had imagined students full of energy and out of control..thankfully this was also an irrational fear.






Now lets not dwell on what ifs but rather what did happen! 

Takin Names and Makin Friends

The bonding, oh was there bonding and not lets talk over dinner bonding but straight up I was locked in a van driving seven students 12 hours bonding. And our bonding didn't end when we unloaded in Louisville, we spent time wondering around convention together, ate meals together, and even had unwinding x-box time together. The bonding I was able to have with these students is something I am going to rely on when I get into the classroom. It was such a great feeling when the students expressed how excited they were for January to come and for me to join them! I know I have a few kiddos on my side to stick up for me and back me up when I get in front of the room.

First session, we got front row seats! 

Oh the books! Oh the resources I was able to pick up through out the career fair. Now it's pretty sad when you get excited about a free book you realize that BAM adulthood has struck. I was so surprised with how helpful companies are (shout out to Lincoln Electric for the free book and CD's!) 

The social media...I never really used instagram all that much, but after last week WOW do I have a lot on there now! So be sure to check it out because there are a lot...and I mean A LOT of pictures of the wild adventures I had.

I could go on and on about all the great things that happened but I'm not gonna ramble on...so I'll touch on some of the highlights of the trip

1.) The Legend of T-DAWG

Look at those hats, we are ready for the Derby!

  Now this is a great story. The kiddos didn't know what to call me because  apparently Telesz is a hard name to pronounce so they asked what to call me I told them Ms. T was acceptable so that is what we started the day off with. Well as the hours of driving went on my van driving skills were pretty minimal but with the support and enthusiasm of my students to increase my confidence of driving T-DAWG came out and some how it stuck. Now you may be worrying about the respect issue, we got that covered its Ms. T-DAWG when I am teaching.

River Boat Ride

2.)  Halloween
 This was my night to shine, Mr.Honeycutt took half of the kids to a haunted house and I stuck back at the hotel with those who didn't want to go. This was my chance to show what I was made of..there were a few times that I felt unsure and afraid but we made it through the night with minimal problems. I also had the chance to show the students that I am a friend but not a peer, I got the chance to stress to them my place. I wanted them to feel comfortable to approach me with all kinds of things yet to keep very personal things to themselves. There were a few times where I had to step back and say "Hey I am a teacher, not your peer, I want to be here for you and to help you solve your problems and help you out but I don't want to hear about the things you do on the weekend or the school gossip" I think the kids have a better understanding now with my place and where I stand and I know that since there is such a small age gap at times this line is going to be difficult in the end. But after this trip I now have a better skill set on how to handle those over sharers and how to keep the line between peer and friend clear. 

Gettin Ready to head home; my Face says it all

3.) The ride home
 The ride home didn't take us 12 hours thankfully it only ended up being like 8 which is a lot better. My confidence with driving had also improved ten fold, which is now something I can add to the list of things I can do! I also had the "cool van" my kiddos recruited two new students to ride with us home and I really enjoyed getting to know these additional students as well. Now on the way home Mr.Honeycutt left us in the dust, so I had the chance to use my navigational skills and rely on my students to help us get home in one piece. I also had the chance to decide when we would stop for bathroom breaks and when I needed to tell them to hold on and we would stop soon (which was a stretch at times).

Over all National Convention was amazing and I wouldn't change anything expect for maybe the weather on the way home (my car was covered in snow). I had a blast at the sessions, walking around convention, participating in quiz bowl ( WE GOT 2nd!!!) and having the chance to just sit and unwind and play video games with the kiddos. I can't wait to have the chance to take my own chapter to National Convention and I have made this life goal...that one day I will be up there on that stage whether it be a National Officer or a National Star, one day I will be up there standing proud next to my student!

Thank you Mr. Honeycutt for giving me the chance to interact with your officers and students and for having faith in my abilities as a teacher candidate and giving me the opportunity to see what being an adviser is all about. Now there are a great many pictures that I have, I'll only share a few, but you can check out more on my instagram account and twitter!

How do you Inquire?

Inquiry based learning is such an important topic that we need to be focusing on in the classroom. I will be honest that I did not know much about the subject until this week. There are so many different aspects and avenues that go with inquiry based learning and with such a deep topic it is hard to focus in on what is the biggest take aways.

"Inquiry based learning is a process in which students answer research questions through data analysis"

Myth Busters:

• Students can not use data that they did not collect; inquiry can happen with data collected by other sources 
• All inquiry is equal; there are 3 levels of inquiry identified by Schwab Herron, more recently a 4 level model has been developed.  

Fun Facts:

•  You don't have to give students the questions; you let students discover the questions for the problem at hand
• The complexity of the inquiry activity can vary depending on  how open the class is
• Curiosity of students and the method can enhance the development of critical thinking skills as the students are learning about science
• The 5 steps of inquiry based learning are questions, investigation, using evidence, connecting evidence, and sharing findings. 

So what do you need to know about inquiry based learning? Well, you need to know the importance this teaching technique can play in your classroom. You also need to understand how to apply the technique as well as how you can implement it into your classroom to bring it to your fullest advantage. You also need to stress the importance to your administration and parents, with their support you can apply this wonderful teaching tool into your classroom. 





There are so many resources out there to better understand inquiry based learning and teaching, and sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words...National FFA has a lot of resources out there!

National Convention: the first time outside of the jacket

Words can not describe how excited I am to be traveling to Kentucky tomorrow! Not only do I love the city, the atmosphere and the energy but getting to really know the students is what I look forward the most. Nothing like bonding on an 8 hour van ride to really meet your future students.

What really sunk into me that I am no longer a FFA member was when I started to pack and I didn't need the iconic blue corduroy jacket, it just has taken me by surprise how old I have become...I am no longer wearing the jacket I am supporting the jacket now. And after this week I will experience how amazing that is. 

Being a chaperon isn't new to me, a few weeks ago I got to experience what it's like on the other side of the table and to be honest it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was afraid I wouldn't know where I fit but I quickly found my place and my role became clear. 

Finding my role is what I think I will struggle with the most. I feel like a student still and I am pretty sure that I look like one too so how do I make myself stand out and define my role as a student teacher? I know by dressing a few steps up places me higher yet at the same time I feel no matter how professional I dress I still look like one of those high schoolers I am responsible for. I know I am going to struggle defining my role the most however, I know that once I gain respect and I act and portray myself as the adult that I am others will see that I am not the high schooler but the advisor. 

Once I get to know the students better I believe the transition into the classroom will be so much smoother. I got to spend the whole day in the classroom today and it was great getting to talk to the students about what I had planed for the spring as well as how excited we were to travel to Kentucky. I can't wait to get into the room in January and I am confident that building respect with these core 13 students will allow me to enter the classroom with some student support. 

Tomorrow will be a new day and the beginning of a new chapter for me. I am looking forward to the experience and I know its gonna be a great week. The ride may be long at times, but I know our sing-a-longs will be on point and the bonding will be deep. National Convention has always had this amazing power to bring up my sprits and remind me why I am here today. I know after this convention everything I think I knew about convention will change. Last year getting my American degree I thought that was the best experience I would have at National Convention, but I think this week will top that experience. 

Best of luck to Albion's own Shannon Copeland on her quest to represent Pennsylvania and the Albion FFA as the national officer candidate from Pennsylvania. 

So much excitement is only hours away, and here I am in my sister's dorm room blogging away and doing last minute packing for tomorrow. 6 am is going to be here quicker than I know.

Heres to a wonderful week with an amazing FFA chapter, an exceptional advisor, and a strong group of students who have personalities unlike any I have ever known. Thank you for giving me this experience and I know it will be the best it can be! 

See ya'll in Louisville! Safe travels and good luck to all those competing! 

Make sure you check out everything I will be up to on twitter @rachie12rach and on instagram! 

Rubrics in your lab: How do they fit?

This week I got to read a little more about rubrics and how to grade laboratory classes as well as how to grade exceptional learners. I found these topics really helpful because in a few of my units I plan on presenting rubrics to grade unit projects. It was really helpful to learn there are more than a few different types of rubrics

• generic 
• task specific

Each of these two types can be broken down into two more subcategories

• analytic
• holistic 

 As a future teacher I think its important to use rubrics that are useful for me as well as my students. One way it was suggested to me is to have students at the beginning identify what are the key components they feel they should be graded on as well as what weight each should hold. In the end the teacher makes the final call but I think this is a great way to have students realize what they need to work on in their projects and what holds the most importance with their learning.






When grading students you will always have exceptional learners, and its important to modify what you present to make sure they are gaining something from you lesson. Grading systems must be high quality using standards with product criteria which addresses finals and proficiency, process their level of achievement and demonstrate the progress made what learning is gained and the value to that learning,.

When working in the laboratory setting its important to try and evaluate learners in ways other than tests and quizzes because you may not be actually testing what they have learned. Some ways to achieve this are through mind maps, rubrics and vee maps. Each area has benefits and downfalls and can be used for pre-assessment to map the progress of students, they can return to their maps after the end of the unit to add what they have learned.

Preparing our students for the real-world

"If we wish to prepare a generation of students who can solve real-world problems, we must give them real-world problems to solve"

 

Today it can be seen as hard to meet the needs of each and every students, it can also be said that we are not doing enough to prepare our students to take on the world. One way we can fix this is by using more project based learning. Do you know what project based learning is? It can be defined as students learning new material through a project, not students reviewing material to create a  project. The difference between projects and project based learning is sometimes gray but we can help define this line as well as help our students see the clear difference and the advantages of project based learning.

Edutopia is one of my favorite sites hands down, they honestly have a blog and post about everything education! Here they talk about project based learning through a school's farm, students manage the animals and decided what actions to take based on what is actually happening to their farm! Now these students are training to become farmers, they are training to become problem solvers- so a fence breaks how do we pay to repair it, do we do the labor? 

Its very important that as leaders in our field of agricultural education we emphasize them importance of project based learning. We can do this through many ways shapes and forms and the possibilities are endless...now you may ask why is project based learning so important that I am writing a blog about it, well here are the facts 

• Students often find school as boring- here is a new way to engage them
• Student remember more by researching the project, working on it, completing it and than presenting it
• The 21st century workplace requires more than just spitting out facts, it requires its workers to be handed a problem and than solve it
• Students are able to take knowledge to the next level, by developing the skills used in project based learning they can apply those skills to other areas other than the classroom
• Modern technology is often a key role in project based learning

• Teacher are better able to work one-on-one with students and give the proper amount of attention needed

 There are many types of problems we can give students to solve, and other teaching techniques play a role in project based learning as well including scaffolding. It is important to remember not to give the student to much so that he or she is overwhelmed and  discouraged but at the same time you need to challenge the minds of your students. There are three types of structure for problems ranging from well structured to ill structured  I belive it is important to only provided well structure problems.

Its important to remember not to use projects as desert but use project based learning as the main course 

Students, Money and Responsibility

What do these 3 things have in common?

Lets take a moment to think about these three topics: 

• Students, we know what those are...the tiny (most of the time) people looking up at us with bright eyes (sometimes hidden by eye lids) eager to learn (for the most part) about what ever the state deems fit (not always the most valuable lessons) you teach.
• Money, the green stuff that makes the world go round and pays us to teach said students.
• Responsibility, something we believe we all have including said students (well we sure hope so) to get up and go to work every day.

Now the connection between these 3 things may becoming more clear now but if not let me fill you in on what this blog is really about.

FINANCIAL LITERACY

Yep I said it we need to learn how to become financially responsible and we need to be teaching these skills to students. How else do we expect them to get through college? I mean we surely shouldn't leave all this on the parents to teach their kids, or on the student to figure out on their own through failures. Because that is what we are setting students up for; failure, failure to understand what a loan is, what a grant is, how to budget money, how to write a check, and how credit cards work. 
Now this is a lot to take in and you would think schools would be teaching this, but they aren't. Here is a chance for agricultural education to step in and help out those students who we care oh so much about! 

Most of us may think that oh we do SAEs students know how to budget, but do they really? It's quite different budgeting money that isn't really yours. Sure you sold your cow and used that money to buy a few more cows, but what about the feed for those new cows? You live on a farm so you put down how much it costs but you really don't need to budget for that cost. See where I am getting at? We may think we got the skills down on how to make a budget but we really don't fully understand. 

How can we fix this problem? Well there are many ways to address the issue and HELP our students, our future workers, the next generation. 

There are so many resources out there on how to teach these different topics, there are lessons already written, and we have the chance to make this happen. SO what do we focus on? Coming from the stand point of I didn't know how to write a check (yeah I know I should have learned when I got my first check book). I learned the hard way, I sent in a check and guess what it came back because I didn't do it right...I learned but it would have been so much better for me if I learned in High School so I didn't enter college a complete fool.

Another skill we need to focus on is the difference between loans, grants, and scholarships. Because I still don't know all the definitions and I'm about ready to graduate. Now it would have been awesome if I could have had the chance to learn in high school so I was better prepared to pay for college. Next we need to talk about credit and how it works. We need to understand that credit can make or break you. I still don't have a credit card because I don't feel comfortable having one. I know I need one to buy a car or buy a house but how do I start credit? Now I think if I had training in high school I would be a confident young adult.

I think I understand being financially responsible but based on what I know about everything else with financial literacy I'm probably not...sadly. So how can students work on budget? Well we can have them do their SAE, true, but that's not "real" money all the time. Sadly I don't know of a great way to do this? Maybe use class "money" which isn't "real" but use this money to buy homework passes, get points, earn money by doing extra work, invest in credit, invest in projects. Wow this might be something? Is going to FFA events work?  Can I get paid to have fun? YES! (teach ag) 


From what I have gathered there are a lot of resources out there... Here are just a few I found helpful and want to save for when I get into my own classroom. 
There are also a great amount of videos out there 
Like this one!  an online game? Now I think students would like this! It brings up a lot of good talking points and shows the value of money.

http://www.financialeducatorscouncil.org/financial-literacy-students/

http://www.cfs.wisc.edu/briefs/cfs_research_brief_2012-5.2.pdf

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/high-school-financial-literacy-resources-brian-page

http://www.bbt.com/bbtdotcom/financial-education/planning/financial-literacy.page

Now I'm asking you for help! Please help me teach my students how to be financially confident and literate. Help me help our future generations!

Community Gardens; why should you care?

A community garden can be just about anything, a few tomato plants you have in raised flower beds all the way to a large garden full of different fruits and vegetables. Now you may ask why should your FFA chapter create one? Well the list goes on and on with the benefits of a garden in your community here are just a few

• Allows the community to work with your students
• Hands on Experience  
• Gain connections through out the community
• A chance for a service learning project where students can continuously give back and enhance their communities
• It gives your program publicity and a chance to showcase what your students can do
• A garden helps teach nutritional values, not only do community members get a chance to consume fresh food, your students have the opportunity to  use this interaction as a teachable moment to show why its important to eat fresh fruits and vegetables 
• An opportunity to teach students about landscaping, farming techniques, as well as the chance to show students how to use what they have to make what they want
• A community garden gives not only your students a sense of ownership but it also gives that same thing to your community members that help take care of it or use it.
   
  Did you know it is proven that community gardens reduce crime rates that statistic has a large impact on me! 

Community gardens have so many benefits for not only your students, classroom, community, and school. Why would you let this chance slip away?

Now if you think wow community gardens cost a lot to start up...don't you fret if you are an FFA chapter you have the chance to apply for the Food For All Grant through National FFA 

For more information don't hesitate to turn to your local extension program for help getting a garden started or help maintaining one.

For a chance to talk more about community gardens come check out Genius Hour here at Penn State in Ferguson 214 @ 8am! Or to follow up away from campus be sure to check out my tweets using #TeachAgGenius