Jump Into Serving by Applying to Be a Germinate Conference Speaker
Germinate only exists because of AG TEACHERS like YOU who believe in sharing their expertise abundantly. And now we are ready to continue this tradition at the FIFTH Germinate Conference this July 7-11, 2021.
HERE ARE 3️⃣ ways to get involved with Germinate this summer.
1️⃣ GERMINATE SPEAKER APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN 🎉🎉🎉
Now you may be thinking…"what do I need to be a speaker?"
Here is the GERMINATE speaker check-list ✅
To be a current agriculture teacher
Have a heart for serving other teachers
Tries new things
Has an appetite for learning
Believes true success is growth
Want to talk it out? Join us for the GERMINATE Speaker Interest meeting on Monday, March 8 at 8 p.m. EST (7 p.m. CST, 6 p.m MST, 5 p.m. PST).
2️⃣ GERMINATE Conference INTERN applications open 🎉
Are you a pre-service teacher who wants to connect with agriculture teachers before becoming one yourself? You may be a good fit for the GERMINATE INTERN program.
Here is what a GERMINATE Intern needs to have to succeed...
1. Organization and strong communication skills are critical
2. An intrinsic motivation to improve will make the successful candidate(s) a compliment to the hardworking Green & Growing Education team.
3. Must be proficient in INSTAGRAM (posts, stories, comments, hashtags) and FACEBOOK (groups, comments)
4. Must be a college student.
3️⃣ GERMINATE Scholarship Application 🎉
Are you eager to gain quality professional development from fellow agriculture teachers? Is the department budget tight on your PD oppurtunities. Apply for a GERMINATE Scholarship TODAY!
ALL APPLICATIONS ARE DUE MARCH 31
Don't miss this opportunity to share, connect and grow with GERMINATE through the speaker, intern and scholarship programs!
Start With Inquiry Based Learning Using FFA Wonder Week: Downloadable Inside
If you have been around the G&G block for a bit, you know Sarah loves the Wonder Week activity created by John Spencer.
And she loves to add her own spice to that idea of adding more inquiry in simple ways to her classes.
Ready to see the newest wonder week creation?
Simple, short and sweet FFA Wonder Week!
Here is how to use this assignment
1️⃣ Download template (copy of Google Slide)
2️⃣ Provide an editable copy to your whole class (duplicate slide 3 for students, maybe even write their names on their given slide) OR post on LMS and provide each student their own copy of the slides deck
3️⃣ Allow students about 1 class period (high school) to wonder about something in FFA (ex. I wonder what the AET is? I wonder what scholarships FFA offers? I wonder how they came up with the emblem design etc.) Example from 🙋♀️ below ⬇
4️⃣ Have students present to class LIVE or via Flipgrid or your favorite tech tool
5️⃣ Enjoy the student led learning 👊
What to Do When Your FFA Officer Meetings Aren't Productive
Have you even been in a meeting (or lead a meeting *no judgement*) that
🤦🏿♀️Could have been an email
🤦🏽♂️Nothing got accomplished
🤦♀️Went longer than they told you
🤦🏻♂️You just got talked to the entire time
What kind of emotions does that spark for you ?
There is a better way!
You can take charge of the meetings you lead with this simple meeting template.
Here is how to use it so you can have a smooth and effective meeting...
1️⃣ Consistency
Use the SAME template, SAME flow, SAME time, SAME length, every time. Consistency in meetings allows you to show respect to your team members and the real value is they will come ready and prepared for what will come during the meeting!
2️⃣DECIDE
Have a section of the meeting to JUST DECIDE (preferably at the beginning). Making decisions takes energy and when you focus in on those decisions you will make them quicker and make sure you get the MOST important things done first.
3️⃣ TACKLES
Take time to review every member of the teams tackles. Tackles are something that one team members has ownership over (ex. FFA Secretary's tackle are Meeting Minutes). Give them space to rank themselves and tell the group why. This allows you to see where they need support and you can cheer them on as they complete their tackles.
Take a chance and try it out. Serve your team members with consistency this week.
One Word 2021
Y’all I loved this in 2019, and now it’s back!
The new year is around the corner (so is GERMINATE Virtual Conference).
Time to think about how we want to see 2021, and what to personally focus on to move forward.
What a great opportunity to do this with your students…
But, any old worksheet just won’t do this justice! This is a BIG DEAL so it needed to be more that JUST an activity.
So, after thinking and seeing some other ideas similar to this online (like All About Me banners) I decided to make my own
And thus, the One Word Banner was made.
On the back side are prompts to run through with the kids.
Step 1: Brainstorm as many words as you can that will embody 2021.
Step 2: Circle THREE that you like the most and write why you could see that as your ONE WORD.
Step 3: Pick ONE WORD and explain why that one is the best for you in 2021.
Step 4: On the other (blank) side creatively design your ONE WORD for 2021.
After they were done I decided to hang them on my personal growth wall (I have the FFA mission on the different walls of my room).
It was a GREAT activity that the kids took seriously and I love how for the rest of the semester they will be able to SEE their personal WORD day in and day out!
Wanna try it out? Here is a link to the document!
If you try it out with your students make sure you tag @sarahnerswick & @greenandgrowingedu so I can see the awesomeness your students create!
FFA Inquiry Unit
There may be a way for your students to understand the WHY of FFA without speaking one fact about it to your students.
ENTER THE FFA INQUIRY UNIT
If you have been following along on instagram I have been chronicling my FFA Unit in my Basic Ag Classes. And A LOT of people wanted in, so here you go….
Link to LESSON PLAN: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1faiMCpUFkgyD_Zou_Q37bfSEaHU2Akg2XwkidoHYSxA/copy
Link to CSI WORKSHEET: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eDYj1G2sJ_AwhNW3uUby5UC53OoCDOE7_pzDBBPGODk/copy
Here is the LOWDOWN Day-by-Day
DAY 1
Classroom Scene Investigation
Step 1: Record clues (item you found), evidence (what it means)
Virtual Edition: Use www.ffa.org and www.gaaged.org as your “Crime Scenes” * to add more rows, RIGHT CLICK on a row, then CLICK Insert Row Above/Below (fill out the FIRST Table with Clues & Evidence)
In-Person Edition: Let students walk around your room finding clues about FFA (awards, trophies, posters, pictures etc.)
Step 2: You are charged to become the EXPERT (According to the Oxford Dictionary an expert is “a person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area.”) on FFA. Start with figuring out the 5 W’s and H using any resources you can find (including the ones you used above) FIll out the second table 5 W's & H.
DAY 2
FFA Pitch Project
Now that you have put on your expert hats, I need you to think like the National FFA CEO (Chief Executive Officer) Mark Poeschl. He was just approached by a HUGE company let’s say your favorite company (ex. Apple, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Nike etc.) because WHY NOT! To become a potential sponsor of FFA, but they have NO IDEA what it is. You need to come up with a PITCH about why that company should sponsor National FFA. Make sure you know #allthethings because you are the CEO so you are the EXPERT on this topic.
Virtual Edition: You can assign individually or groups (if you can manage them easily) have them present in class or record on FlipGrid (Fun tip: students can screen share on FlipGrid so you can see their PPT)
In-Person Edition: You can assign individually or groups. Have them present in front of the class. I also have added a day for the groups to practice present to other groups for feedback.
DAY 2 Activities: Pick company
Research FFA & company (you chose) mission/values
Continue to research WHY the company you chose should invest in FFA
-Introduction (find common connections between FFA & your company)
-Main Point 1 (choose a main reason WHY your company should invest in FFA)
-Main Point 2 (another point)
-Close (summarize what you said, and ask for the support)
Day 3 Activities: Start your script (scratch paper) & PowerPoint (Post a Template for your students to edit)
Day 4 Activities: Record & Turn in FlipGrid (screen share your PowerPoint) Grade using rubric (see lesson plan)
Day 5 Activities: Reflection Activity
Virtual Edition-Prompt questions in the chat or make a shareable google doc/word doc for students to put their thoughts-think a virtual gallery walk
In-person Edition-After Pitch Day set up Reflection Stations-6-8 stations (30-40 minutes) (Ex. Meet with Teacher, What was the best part of Pitch Day, What was the worst part of the Pitch Day, What would you/your team do differently next time, What was one thing that really stood out to you about another presentation, What do you feel about FFA now, What questions do you still have about FFA? Write a THANK YOU NOTE to judges)
-Give students 5 minutes per station, have them fill out a reflection document and turn it
Enjoy friend!