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Discover how you can take the first step toward excellence in your classroom, school and community with this year’s NAAE Virtual Book Club.
This summer we will be immersing ourselves in a culture of excellence with Start. Right. Now., by Todd Whitaker, Jeffrey Zoul, and Jimmy Casas.
The book centers around the four key behaviors of excellence for teachers and leaders – Know the Way, Show the Way, Go the Way, and Grow Each Day. The goal of the book club is for participants to understand and be able to apply each of these keys to their own agricultural education programs.
As we work our way through the book, we will learn how to be more effective teachers and leaders by viewing our classrooms and schools from a new perspective.
No matter where you are in your career as an agricultural educator, this book will help you figure out ways to be even more effective as a leader because, as the book says, “our kids are worth it.”
Beginning in June, the book club will feature weekly reading assignments that will be posted on Communities of Practice. After completion of all the assignments, participants will be awarded 10 hours of professional development credit. Check out the Virtual Book Club on Communities of Practice here.
Registration for the NAAE Virtual Book Club is now available by following this link. Registration will close on June 9th, so make sure to sign up as soon as possible for this fantastic, work-at-your-own-pace professional development experience.
You can purchase Start. Right. Now. From your local bookstore or the following websites:
This is an article from the May 2017 edition of NAAE’s News & Views Newsletter. To read News & Views in its entirety, please visit this link.
If you’ve been on NAAE’s Communities of Practice professional networking site recently, you many have noticed a new logo has joined Zoetis at the top of the front page. New Holland has joined Zoetis in its’ support of agricultural education as a flagship sponsor of the site.
Thanks to the New Holland sponsorship, Communities of Practice will be able to continue to grow and reach thousands of agriculture teachers across the nation. Communities of Practice is a professional networking site for agriculture teachers. You can share ideas and lesson plans, ask questions, discuss those burning program questions, and so much more.
If you haven’t joined Communities of Practice, make sure to check it out here. The resources are endless! And with New Holland’s support, we’ll be able to add even more.
With more than a 120 -year history of innovation in agricultural equipment, New Holland has been serving the needs of farmers and ranchers across North America.
New Holland manufactures a wide range of equipment, including a full line of tractors; hay and forage equipment; and harvesting, crop production and materials handling equipment.
Worldwide, more than 3,000 New Holland dealers serve customers in 160 countries. Click here for more information about New Holland.
This is an article from the May 2017 edition of NAAE’s News & Views Newsletter. To read News & Views in its entirety, please visit this link.
The very best agricultural education programs have a reach far beyond the classroom. For many people, agricultural education is offered through a variety of programs and organizations that offer a more non-traditional classroom experience. Such is the case in Chatsworth, Ga., where the Murray County Young Farmer Organization (MCYFO) is located.
Situated in the northwest corner of Georgia, the Murray County Young Farmer Organization offers a unique opportunity for adult agricultural education to a population mostly employed by the carpet industry. With over 70 members, the MCYFO is an extension of the Murray County FFA program and teaches basic agriscience and mechanics to the community – a much needed opportunity for an area that still has over 800 farms which produce numerous agricultural commodities. In addition, the MCYFO also runs the Murray Agriculture Center and cannery in the summer.
Not only does the MCYFO provide adults with ag education, it also promotes collaboration and partnerships with its members and the students enrolled in the Murray County High School agriculture program. MCYFO members help to provide the students with guidance and expertise as guest speakers and volunteers in the classroom.
“I have the unique opportunity to bring adults into my classroom to work with my students and also facilitate as my students teach the adults new practices,” said Kip Williams, agriculture instructor at Murray County High School. “This brings the real-world to the classroom and makes a connection for both groups, as well as provides networking opportunities for my students as they become productive citizens in our local community.”
The relationships fostered in the classroom extend beyond the walls of the school building. Many MCYFO members also offer potential career experiences for the students at Murray County High School through job shadowing and employment opportunities.
“As students progress through the program, they develop their SAE and transition into work-based learning placements,” said Williams. “These placements are usually with members of the MCYFO and are in the areas of turf, horticulture, vegetable production, mechanics, and animal science. They are great connections for students and many times end up being employment opportunities for them.”
The Murray County Young Farmers Organization is an outstanding example of how partnerships can help benefit the entire community. Not only do the MCYFO members receive agricultural education, but they are also involved in the agriculture program at the high school. This relationship provides benefits to both groups and helps develop well-informed citizens that will allow the local community to prosper.
The Outstanding Postsecondary/Adult Ag Ed Program award recognizes exemplary 2-year postsecondary institutions and full time young farmer and adult agricultural education programs. Qualifying young farmer and/or adult ag ed program staff must devote at least 50 percent of their teaching time to this level of instruction.
The 2016 Outstanding Postsecondary/Adult Ag Ed Program award was sponsored by Monsanto as a special project of the National FFA Foundation. Find out more about the Outstanding Postsecondary/Adult Ag Ed Program award, including the press releases and pictures of each regional award winner by clicking this link.
A Message from our Partners as part of News & Views:
This is an article from the May 2017 edition of NAAE’s News & Views Newsletter. To read News & Views in its entirety, please visit this link.
This past year, when my children decided that they wanted to keep their gilts from the county fair and breed them, I became a little stressed. I had been an ag teacher for 18 years, but had never artificially inseminated pigs or watched them for standing heat. The pressure was on.
So, I did what all good agriculture teachers do, I Googled it. I found more information and videos than I could possibly read and watch. My Advanced Animal Science students began to sort through the videos and articles and pulled out the credible sources and highlighted themes. We also sought out local experts on the topic and asked for their advice. Our next step was to develop a calendar of events and prepare for some baby pigs.
Three months, three weeks, and the three days after breeding, we had a litter of five baby piglets. These babies were the result of the network of knowledge, resources, and contacts we had developed.
As we were searching for sources of information about swine reproduction, it was no surprise when the NAAE Communities of Practices page popped up on my Google search. It provided links to lesson plans and Power Points that fellow agriculture teachers had developed on the topic. It even provided me with email addresses so I could contact fellow agriculture teachers who had posted information on the topic. There is no way I could possibly put a value on the experience and expertise that those fellow agriculture teachers provided.
Speaking of those fellow agriculture teachers, every time we go on a field trip, I spend a great deal of time talking with the agriculture teachers who are there. My students often comment, "Mr. Stone, I think you know everyone." Well, the truth is, I do not know everyone, but NAAE has provided me an opportunity to meet and work with hundreds of agriculture teachers from across this country. Those agriculture teachers are the ones I rely on when I have questions on anything from curriculum mapping to finding information about National FFA Housing on the website.
Speaking of websites, the NAAE website also has a tremendous amount of information for downloading. These resources provide information on anything from advocacy to professional development opportunities. The NAAE staff is currently working very hard on some of the professional development opportunities. The National Teach Ag Ambassadors have just been selected and you can find more information out about these individuals at http://www.naae.org/teachag/index.cfm#ambassadors. You can also expand your network of resources by attending a CASE institute this summer, that the CASE staff has worked very hard to develop. Finally, the NAAE staff has put together quite the line up of Teacher Appreciation Week activities.
As we watch these five little pigs grow and develop into what will hopefully be our show barrows for this summer, I cannot help but think that none of this would be possible had we not developed a network of resources to help us through the process. The same is true with agriculture teachers across this country. Our professional careers would not be where they are today had we not developed a network of resources, which oftentimes begins with NAAE membership. This is just another one of my observations form my side of the barnyard.
A Message from our Partners as part of News & Views.
