Germinate 2020 Winter
It is time for round two of GERMINATEOver 200 attendees watched hours of professional develop made FOR Ag Teachers, BY Ag Teachers.After compiling all the surveys, you all wanted MORE! More virtual PD!So, it's coming atcha.JANUARY 1-5, 2020!And we need you!YES, YOU!To apply to be a speaker.Any topic. Seriously, what's your genius zone in the AgEd world. Is it classroom management, is it crushing plant sales, is it knowing every tree in North America, is it being a fantastic public speaking coach? Take your zone of genius and teach others!All speakers get FREE all-access admission to the GERMINATE conference and a chance to earn money with affiliate links!Applications CLOSE September 19, 2019. Get them in quick to reserve your topic!
How to use Canva!
Hey Teachers!I have a goodie for you today! I am a self proclaimed Instagram-a-holic! I started dabbling in Instagram at my first school and Ag Teacher How Tos has grown so much I had a share my favorite app to go along with ALL THE THINGS! I have gone through MANY apps to make lots of different things in Instagram, and right now I have a personal favorite....CANVA!
Canva is an "amazingly simple graphic design software" that "makes design simple for everyone" according to their website. And let me tell you it does mean EVERYONE!Canva can be used on the computer OR in an app on your phone. When I am making graphics for Instagram like my "what's happening this week" 
post, I tend to use the computer simply because I have a larger work space. But, I have done it in the app. The app is great for quick announcements like what you see below..
I seriously love CANVA because it makes my life a whole ton easier to share information with my students. It also has A TON of templates that you can use. No need to reinvent the wheel with Canva, you can just use a free template (you can purchase some too) and edit with you information. I have done that with the ones below...
Ok, so here is how you use it...set up an account for yourself and it will save all of your information and designs in the canva "cloud". Then decide what you would like to do...If using for Instagram, choose the Social Media post. The size is already configured to fit your picture for Instagram.
Now you have a blank canva(s), get it! If you would like to choose a template, scroll on the left sidebar and select the one you would like. If you want to let your creativity flow, start adding TEXT, IMAGES, ELEMENTS, or UPLOAD pictures/images you already have to your post.
The best way to learn Canva is to play around with it. Also, one of the best things I've done is let my students play around with it and they have come up with some creative things! I have also used some of the other templates in canva to create some awesome flyers, banners, invitations, business cards and more. Just scroll through the pre-sized canva designs to fit your needs.If you are like me, anything that makes my life a little bit simpler is welcomed with open arms. I hope Canva can be welcomed into your FFA social media life soon!Let me know if you have any questions or would like to me explain anything else in more detail. I am always open for suggestions!Happy Teaching!
Feed yourself
A few weeks ago I was in church and this message HIT ME.
While, you can associate this with spiritual thoughts I am going to focus on GROWTH.
How many times have you thought one or more of the following?
If only I was better at (fill in the blank).
I wish they had taught me that in school.
I should take more time to work on me.
I need to find some work life balance.
I wish I could be like (fill in the blank).
Guess what the common theme is...
YOU.
You are standing in your own way. You are putting the responsibility of your growth on someone else, or worse, you are putting it on you and you are failing to show up for yourself.
You have to feed yourself.
YOU have to pick up the fork and feed yourself.
I you want to be better at a certain subject, I can bet there is a YouTube video explaining exactly how to do that skill, or a professor at the local college who would walk you through it, or a person in industry who would take the time to mentor you.
But, what is the connection to those solutions...YOU!
YouTube, professors, industry professionals, fellow teachers down the road or on Instagram DON'T KNOW YOU NEED HELP, only YOU DO. And until you get out of your own way, no one will.
You gotta pick up that fork, maybe that fork is humility to raise you hand and say "Yes, I need help in this area and I'm not ashamed to say so"
Maybe that fork is acceptance that you need to start putting yourself first. Acceptance that if you care about yourself you can care even more deeply for those around you.
Maybe that fork is forgiveness that you let go of those past failures in the classroom or life. And you forgive yourself and move onto the next challenge.
You have to feed yourself the things you want.
No one else can do it for you.
So pick up the fork. And feed yourself.
Ep. 7 Hosting a Summer Camp
This was probably the most asked question of my summer."Wait, how do you run a summer camp?"So, I decided to get some of my favorite ag teachers who are rocking summer camps with their FFA programs to record with me all the things you want to know about hosting a summer camp!So, here it is my friends!Episode 7 of the Green & Growing PodcastHosting a Summer Camp with Catrina Pollard and Cecily Gunter!
Things I am LOVING-Gearing up (my brain) for School Edition
Alright y'all you can't avoid it any longer.You walk into any store and you see it...BACK TO SCHOOLBackpacks, school supplies, jazzy new outfits and more.But, instead of DREADING let's CELEBRATE with some of the things I am loving for BACK TO SCHOOL.(Not gonna lie, I LOVE BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING, as a kid it was the only type of shopping I liked!)So here ya go! Here are some of my favorite things right now!#1-Teachers Pay Teachers *SALE for MY SHOP on TPT July 29,Aug 1!Why? I am all about being FOR teachers. Why not support some while making my life a little bit easier. That's what we want, isn't it? So here are some of my favorite resources I have purchased (or free downloads) from TPT!First Day Activities from Write on With Miss G (Investigate the Teacher and Back to School Stations)Start Up Notebooks (my resource) Saves me 5 minutes EVERYDAY (That's 900 minutes a school year, 15 HOURS over the school year I have saved by banking all my start ups (bell-ringers) for a year and reusing them year after year.Project Ideas, Creed Project, Sub Plans, and MORE.Growth Mindset Bundle from The Superhero Teacher ( I use this in my leadership class)#2 Perfectly Planned Planner by ATDOne-She is a BALLING middle school ag teacher that I am thankful to call friend. My planner is customized to what I want. I don't add the FFA pages because I make officer notebooks, but I do add the lesson planning pages because I plan all the things on paper first. This is QUALITY stuff my friends!#3 One Less ThingIf you haven't checked out One Less Thing, you should. They are two ag teachers who have created amazing resources for the ag classroom. I personally have their Basic Ag curriculum and it SAVED me my first year teaching in a new state. I love to pick and choose lessons from that curriculum to enhance my content knowledge on areas I'm not super confident. If you are a new teacher, this is a MUST. You can purchase with school funds too!#4 Teacher Care CrateY'all the amount of LOVE teachers have for this company is amazing. I got my first care crate this summer and it was plant themed, and seriously LOVED IT ALL. I mean my whole life is green & growing so give my a palm headband, growth sticker, plant themed notepad, and keep growing print for my desk...I'M SOLD. These crates are easy to gift to a friend or to gift to yourself! The August theme is back to school. You can check her out on Instagram too!#5 My Ag Teacher CommunityI thrive on personal connections and communication. I have absolutely loved growing this past year with a community of ag teachers moving toward growth. I love this Black Panther Quote that says "just because something works, doesn't mean it can't be improved." But, don't take my word for it. Hear what some people involved in the G&G Mastermind and GERMINATE attendees had to sayG&G Mastermind "It's a great way to meet new ag teachers from across the states and collaborating on ideas, sharing stories, and swapping tricks of the trade without leaving the comfort of your house/school""I really loved the comradery across the country. We may all have been from different states, but we all have the same issues. PD always gets me pumped and keeps me from burning out throughout the school year.""G&G Mastermind truly helped me to connect to others in my field. It helped me to re-spark my flame after several years teaching; giving me new ideas, inspiring me to try new things, and to step out of my comfort zone."And guess what! We are starting up another round of G&G Mastermind soon! Stay tuned for more info soon!GERMINATE Attendees"So thankful for this resource and excited to see this community grow together!""Great sessions! I liked how it was on your own. It's hard scheduling PD in the summer so this was very beneficial. I also liked hearing from teachers across the US.""Overall, this was a great experience and I would definitely do it again!"Want to get in on these events? The G&G Mastermind is enrolling soon, check back here for an informational video . The next GERMINATE Virtual Conference will be THIS winter JANUARY 1-5, 2020, just in time for you to recharge those batteries for second semester._____________________________________ Being the best teacher you can be by sharing with others is really what you want isn't it?*None of this is sponsored, just my honest opinion on products I love!