How to Schedule & Complete SAE Visits

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAEs) are personalized learning. And that means meeting with student individually over a period of time to check in.

Now, way back in 2009 went of my first set of SAE visits. And it looked like…

Visiting a kids home and their show pigs

Visiting a kids home and their show heifer

Visiting a kids home and their show goats

And that continued throughout the year and sprinkling in some county and state fairs.

And I’m going to be honest, I don’t remember visiting a non livestock SAE or even checking in with the students in class.

And that’s embarrassing !

Because I didn’t harness the goodness of SAE for EVERY student in my class. 

And we don’t want you to fall into that trap either. So we have compiled a list of resources to help you walk into the 2023-24 school year with a plan to prioritize SAE visits! 

BRAND NEW  

SAE Starter Pack

Get access to 5 of the BEST Germinate Sessions on SAEs. These sessions can help you manage the whole program of SAE from teaching about it in the classroom, observing SAEs and even mastering Proficency Awards. Grab yours for $29 today! 

Podcast #160

SAE Visits with Laura Crosby

Laura our creative director here at G&G has her summer schedule on LOCK with SAE visits. Listen to her podcast on how you can maximize 1-on-1 SAE visits in the summer.

Ag Teacher How Tos Week Training 

How to personalize instruction for every student and manage it well

If you missed it we had a BLAST changing the narrative you might have been taught to think about SAEs in June at ATHT week. You can watch the training here (and watch the other 4 free trainings too)!

Blog Post 

One way to present SAEs

Looking to spice up the way students present SAEs in your classroom? Check out this blog post and download resources to use in your classroom when you start the school year back up!

Podcast #141

SAE Folders with Jacklyn Bond

If there is one resource that helped me keep an eye on every students SAE consistently (every week!) it was learning about SAE Folders from Jacklyn Bond. Listen to the podcast to see what it’s all about. And if you want her resources to get started her full session and takeaways can be found on the SAE starter pack.

Whatever you decide is the best resource for your students and your classroom, take some action today! The time you take making decisions now will save your brain and time later!

How to Manage SAE for every student

Supervised Agricultural Experiences are a part of the three-circle model for Agriculture Education. Meaning, they are really important!

Sometimes I think about my time learning what an SAE was (spoiler alert: I was an uber confused college aged student when I learned what agriculture education was). It seemed like a really cool concept, that every student got to dive deeply into a content area of their choosing in order to gain vital skills for that career path.

But, the question that came up was…”How the heck do I manage all of these projects?”

And if you have every thought the same thing, just know we are in the same boat.

Having a personalized project for every student, that takes place outside of school hours in a range of agriculture areas that you probably aren’t specialized in can seem unsurmountable.

But, never fear there is a way for you to manage individual projects with ease and excitement!

If you are more of a listener of content, check out the podcast episode that dives deep into this right here.

Here are three ways to get kids excited about SAEs, manage them well and organize it all!

1. Find their fun

   Take a step back from proficencies for a minute. And realize NOT EVERY STUDENT’S SAE is not going to be a proficiency award. We know that every student has an SAE, but not every SAE is a proficency award level.

   And just ask yourself, “Is this student engaging in activities that step toward the mission on agriculture education?” And you may be saying this is controversial because this might mean that you allow students SAEs to be outside of the “agriculture” realm. Maybe it is babysitting, maybe it is working at a restaurant, maybe it is interning at an office.

   Will all of those activities allow students to engage in premier leadership, personal growth and career success? HECK YES they will. Because let’s be honest: Is the purpose of an educator to get an award. Is the purpose of the student to get on stage? NO! The purpose is to grow and develop. Time to step back and lean into our students fun and MEET THEM THERE!

2. Stay connected

   100 kids SAE visits, 1 a day, that is HALF a year. I find that PRETTY impossible with the other requirements as an ag teacher. And I get it, some SAEs need the observation (like But there is a way for you to stay connected with every single students SAE on a consistent basis.

   And it is as easy as having more converstations with them throughout the year.

   Think about SAE management as a unit. You wouldn’t assume a student understand the entire photosynthesis process in one class period. We cannot assume the same with SAEs. We cannot teach them once about SAE and then have them present at the end of the year/semester. Have you ever been the victim of doing a beginning of the year SAE unit, saying “you have 20 hours to complete by the end of the semster” and then the end of the semester rolls around and kids are looking at you like you have 7 heads when you say “SAE”?? Yeah, me too!

   There needs to be check points throughout the year that you check in on them. See what is going how, how are they progressing, are they doing some amazing things that warrant a proficency? You won’t know if you don’t ASK THE QUESTIONS. One way to do this is to have a monthly teacher conference with each student. This can be as simple as a few minute conversation. Asking questions like “How is your SAE going?” “What has been going well?” “What hasn’t been working well?” “What can I do to help you ?” Make sure you are doing a consistent schedule because consistency in our communication provides clarity to the students.

   If you are thinking “I don’t have the time to do that?” Ask yourself “would I rather have the fight at the end of the semester every year? Be forced to fail students because I didn’t give them enough support?”

3. Stay organized

   Have you ever heard the quote “systems create freedom?” SAEs need systems so you and your students know what is happening and what to expect next. One thing that I cannot get out of my mind is SAE Folders from Jacklyn Bond (you can grab this session SOON in a Starter Pack). This is a simple folder where students add data about their SAE records in the AET. You can choose what is important (ex. Pictures, Hours, Money earned etc.). This allowed me to see exactly where every student was at WEEKLY, see where students were confused, and able to have a quick conversation with them every week.

I hope this can help you reframe your thoughts from “SAEs are just one more thing on my to-do list” to “SAEs are a major highlight of my career and turns students into passionate adults.”

One Way to Present Student SAE Projects

So, your students have SAEs.

Great! That is a huge win.

But, you are wanting a way to have the students share about their experiences. Why? Because Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAEs) are done outside of school time. So, unless you provide a way for students to share, they may never get to see what a wide variety of skills, passions and activities other classmates are doing. And of course, the side benefit of showing off your awesome students to stakeholders like you administration.

Why don’t you try an SAE Expo?

Term and strategy coined by our very own Sarah Nerswick. Sarah found a missing link in her program when it came to SAEs. She loved seeing the end cumulation of an Agriscience Fair and wondered if there was a way to have that kind of event for SAEs.

And the SAE Expo was born! The SAE Expo is a large public exhibition of knowledge and skills gained through SAE’s. Students get to choose how they will present their SAEs (speech, demonstration, display board), spend time in class preparing, practice their presentations with classmates and then the BIG EVENT. Students share their skills, successes and plans for their SAE at the SAE Expo.

Sarah created a one-page to include student instructions and a rubric. Grab your copy here!

You can find out more about the SAE Expo on Episode 139 of the Green & Growing Education Podcast.