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!

Reflect and Revise

I finally feel like the school year has ended.It takes me a while.But, when I step into our Ag Teachers conference it hits me like a ton of bricks that the new school year is on the horizon.The excitement of the school year, the nervousness of welcoming new students, the anticipation of the FFA events for the year, the apprehension of teaching a new prep...So much going on in my mind (and I BET yours)!But, one thing that really helps me in this time of waiting is...REFLECTING and REVISINGI like to sit and REFLECT on what happened this past year, the good, the amazing, the bad and the ugly. Then with those things in mind, revising my boundaries for the next school year. I go into this topic in depth on the podcast in Episode 4 "Setting Boundaries not Goals" and Episode 6 "I got my first teaching job, now what?"Right not, I'm trying to reflect on last week.GERMINATE was a dream I asked y'all about in a First Friday Webinar back in the winter. Well, if you missed it, it HAPPENED last week. Over 200 ag teachers from across the nation watched HOURS of professional development session on their OWN DIME! WOW! I was simply blown away.Now, it's time for me to reflect and revise. And I need your help.If you were a GERMINATE attendee...could you fill out this survey for me? You can also shoot me a DM or an email to write out what you thought. I want ALL the feedback, the good, the amazing, the bad and the ugly!If you were not a GERMINATE attendee...shoot me a DM or write me an email about why you chose not to try it out.I appreciate all this feedback.Can I be honest with you all?I'm not sure what the future holds for Ag Teacher How Tos. Not in a bad way. I just am not sure the greatest way to meet the needs of out community. With your input you will help shape the future of this ag teacher community we have built together.You rock, 100%.

Podcasts I LOVE

So, obviously I love podcasts.I even decided to start my own as a way to provide quick and easy ....But, since I started listening to podcast about 6 months ago, I look forward to the times that I am stuck in the car for longer than 5 minutes (I live 5 minutes from everything) so I can listen to these killer podcast.Sharing my favorites so you can HOP on an join along!Agriculture, Entrepreneurship, Inspiration are my GO to topics. In no particular order, here are my go-to's.Ag with Mrs. WedgerYou gotta love an ag teacher specific podcast. I mean come on. For Ag Teachers, by an AWESOME Ag Teacher. Hannah is a teacher from Minnesota and has already made such an impact on my life through instagram and the podcast. I am thankful for her stepping up to fill the space for ag teachers on the soundwaves.Go-Getter's PodcastAnother teacher who I love. Kayse Morris is a teach turned Go-Getter who is CRUSHING the Teachers Pay Teachers space and gives SO MUCH awesome content on how to be a teacher and a side hustler. And I know a lot of you have those side hustles, and she speaks with teachers on her mind and heart and you just fall in love with her. I am a BIG fan!Created for ExperienceBilly Boughey is the Founder of Elevate Experiences. He spoke at an FFA event this past year and I haven't stopped following everything Elevate since. They provide such amazing content on how to make experiences AMAZING. He interviews amazing entrepreneurs and gets down to the core of their story. It is inspirational and educational and I have loved all the episodes so far.RISERachel. Hollis. Enough said right? Rachel's mission is to share her expertise to the world to help women live their best lives through living their dreams. She has amazing guest speakers and you can take away so much value for your life through inspiration.Goal Digger PodcastJenna Kutcher makes you feel like she is your best friend in the Goal Digger Podcast. She drops so much knowledge for you Goal Diggers/Entrepreneurs through her own expertise and amazing guest speakers. She is so real and shares her life which makes you love her so much more.Marketing PersonalitiesI am a leadership/personality style JUNKIE. With a Master's degree in Leadership I cannot get enough of learning about myself through all the things. I met Brit through our public speaking group (more on that below) and just LOVED her mission. She takes all the knowledge from Myers Briggs Type Indicators (you know like those 4 letters INFP, ESTJ etc.) and shows you how to leverage that in your business. I have learned a lot about myself through all her content. Check out her podcast, then hop on over to her website and check out my affiliate link.The Creative Speaker PodcastJess Rasdall, I don't even know how I stumbled upon her on the Instagram but I am so thankful I did. She started out as a motivational speaker and know is a public speaking coach for creative entrepreneurs. Now, at first I didn't think I "fit" as a creative, but think about teaching. That is SO CREATIVE, I mean lesson planning! You gotta get creative and reinvent constantly to keep those kids engaged. So, you can get such good ideas about speaking which has helped me be a better at providing professional development. So check her out!