Don’t Copy What the Premier Chapter Does
In the sprawling landscape of FFA chapters and organizations, it’s easy to feel tempted to mirror the success stories of others, especially those named “Premier Chapters”.
I mean, if something works brilliantly for one chapter it will work perfectly for mine too, right?
But let’s take a step back. What does “Premier Chapter” even mean?
On the national level, it means recognizing the top chapters with innovative activities in each of the three divisions: growing leaders, building communities, and strengthening agriculture.
The top ten chapters in each division get a crystal glass table top National FFA Premier Chapter Award, and among those, one top premier chapter is chosen. Only 3-star chapters are eligible for these premier chapter awards.
Now, what about the chapters that don’t apply for this award? Does that mean they aren’t hitting these high notes? Maybe, maybe not.
Here’s the kicker: an award doesn’t determine your worth as an agriculture teacher or the success of your program.
Enter Nikki Fideldy-Doll. Nikki was a one-woman department in rural North Dakota, and if you know her, you know she’s a powerhouse of wild, awesome ideas! Take this one, for example: she got her students to design stickers for the local fire department. The students printed these stickers and sold them to the community, with profits going right back to the fire department. How cool is that?
Now, imagine implementing this idea in your own chapter. How would it pan out? Think about Jason Ferriera’s chapter with over 900 FFA members. The sheer number of sticker designs could be overwhelming. How would they even pick which designs to sell? And who would do the selling? And what if they don’t even have a relationship with that fire department or the fire department doesn’t need donations? That isn’t going to have the same results.
The point is, it’s not about the number of designs. It’s about the impact this event had on the fire department in her community. This chapter decided to find a need in THEIR community and find a solution to serve them.
Instead of chasing huge numbers or copying and pasting what you see on social media, try focusing on impact for YOUR audience (chapter members, community or the agriculture industry. The more successful chapter isn't the one with the most stickers, fruit sold; it's the one that makes an impact in their community.
Here is another example, let’s talk about Sarah Nerswick’s story—it’s short and sweet. They held a chapter telethon event with only 11 FFA members helping. Those members called and left messages of encouragement to every FFA member in the chapter.
While looking from outside of this event you might be thinking that the number of members might seem small and insignificant. It is more about the impact those 11 members provided the chapter that played a part in getting named a Premier Chapter for Growing Leaders at the national level. A 20-member community service event that shows the power of collaboration can surely be an impactful event. This isn’t about individual efforts but the strength of the group.
If you’re nodding along but wondering, “Cool, but we want to win a National Chapter award but need some good ideas for activities that work for our chapter”, we’ve got just the activity for you to try with your officer team.
Our friend Nikki whipped up this workshop in 2022 and it was a huge hit. This activity helps you brainstorm ideas that can make a big impact in your chapter and community—aka, a recipe for success!
Remember, the National Chapter award focuses on three divisions: growing leaders, strengthening agriculture, and building communities. Each division has quality standards for your chapter to focus on when designing an activity.
Nikki has broken down each standard into its own slide, so you can focus on one activity at a time. Each standard comes with a prompting idea, like a statistic or mystery item, to get those creative juices flowing.
For example, one group used rubber ducks as their mystery item and ended up planning a boat launch cleanup with a “duck pond prize” to incorporate the ducks! Creative, right?
We’ve found this activity works best with a small group for brainstorming. We aren’t saying you need to utilize balloons, rubber ducks or cowboy hats in your events. This is just a strategy to shake things up and get creative thinking outside the box.
Try it with your chapter officers and see what awesome ideas you come up with to help your chapter or community. We’ve provided two versions for you to try—your challenge is to actually incorporate one of these activities into your chapter’s Program of Activities (POA) this year!
Here’s the link to the activity slides!
One thing is clear: there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for success in chapters.
What works for one might not work for another—and that’s totally okay.
Instead of copying the premier chapters, let’s celebrate the uniqueness of our own chapters. By staying true to ourselves, focusing on impact over numbers, and rallying together as a community, we can carve out our own paths to success. So go ahead, you do you, boo boo!
Three R’s of Summer Break for Teachers
Welcome to summer ☀️ agriculture teachers!
While some of you may be in a great spot and are crossing the finish line with a lot of energy and excitement for what lies ahead, I also want to recognize that some of you aren’t feeling so great as you step into summer.
You might be feeling tired, worn out, and emotionally drained. Wherever you are on that spectrum, you did it.
Congratulations on finishing the school year!
As you enter into summer break, it can be easy to shut off until school starts in the fall, but what if there were a way to rest well while “getting your ducks in a row” for the next school year?
There is! This is your season of growth, renewal, and opportunity!
As the school year draws to a close and summer begins, it's time to shift gears, recharge, and prepare for the exciting journey ahead. Let’s explore three essential aspects for you to lean into this summer: rest, reflect, and get ready.
By embracing these elements, you can find the motivation and inspiration necessary to continue nurturing young minds and cultivating a thriving agricultural education community.
Three R’s of Summer Break for Teachers
1. Rest: Replenish Your Energy and Passion
After a demanding academic year, it's vital to prioritize self-care and recharge your batteries. Remember, you cannot pour from an empty cup. Embrace the beauty of this summer by taking time for yourself. Whether it's lounging in a hammock, exploring nature, or engaging in hobbies you love, allow yourself to unwind and rejuvenate.
Rest is not just about physical relaxation; it's about rekindling your passion. Take a step back from the daily routine, immerse yourself in the simplicity of life, and reconnect with who you are at your core.
Just the other day I was on a walk and I was pondering the concept of habit stacking. If you haven’t heard of it before, James Clear states: “habit stacking is a special form of an implementation intention. Rather than pairing your new habit with a particular time and location, you pair it with a current habit.” This can include listening to a podcast while going on a walk.
Now, I do think this has its benefits, but don’t put yourself in a mindset where you always have to be doing a thousand things to get better.
There is value in unplugging and just going on a walk without the distraction. Like we say rest IS productive. Or it is also okay to just read a book for fun while laying on the couch. Whatever you decide to do to rest this summer- do what works best for YOU. It’s okay to unplug for a little while!
2. Reflect: Grow Through Introspection
As an agriculture teacher, reflection is a powerful tool for growth and improvement. Use this summer as an opportunity to reflect on your teaching practices, your successes, and areas that may need refinement. Consider the lessons learned from the past year, both in the classroom and beyond, and how they can shape your future endeavors.
This might include implementing introspective practices such as journaling, meditation, or simply sitting in quiet contemplation.
By reflecting on your experiences, you can gain valuable insights, discover innovative teaching methods, and set new goals for the upcoming year.
Remember, growth is a continuous journey, and taking the time to reflect will help you evolve as an educator and mentor.
3. Get Ready: Harness the Power of Professional Development
Preparing for the next academic year begins with investing in your professional development.
Seek out opportunities to expand your knowledge, network with fellow educators, and stay up-to-date with the latest trends and advancements in agricultural education.
How can you do that?
Enroll in online courses
Attend conferences
Participate in workshops to sharpen your skills, learn innovative teaching strategies, and discover fresh perspectives.
Collaborate with other educators, share experiences, and foster a supportive community that will empower you throughout the year.
By investing in your professional development, you'll emerge from the summer break equipped with new tools and ideas to inspire your students and enhance their learning experience.
Green & Growing Education exists to offers a wide range of resources designed specifically for agriculture teachers like you.
One simple way you can build connections with other Ag teachers while intentionally preparing for the year ahead is by attending Germinate Conference.
This is a virtual conference created back in 2019 for Ag teachers so that you can immerse yourself in a virtual room with like-minded Ag teachers who are ready to encourage you and help you grow.
And feeling supported by other educators knowing that you aren’t alone in this career is what you want, right? If it is, be sure to register for Germinate today! If you still have questions, reach out to one of the team members and we can see if this conference is a good fit for you.
As an agriculture teacher, your dedication and passion are the driving forces behind the success of your students and the growth of your community.
This summer, prioritize rest, reflect on your journey, and get ready to embark on another transformative year in the classroom.
By embracing these three essential elements, you'll find the motivation, inspiration, and renewed energy to continue making a positive impact and shaping the future of agriculture.
Remember, this is your time to rejuvenate, learn, and grow. Embrace the summer's embrace the summer's opportunities, and lean into rest, reflection, and readiness. Your journey awaits!
Three tips to PERSONALIZE your next learning experience
I have a beloved professor from college.
He was the professor who welcomed first-semester freshmen into the AgEd major with NO BACKGROUND in FFA at all with open arms.
He was the professor who encouraged me throughout undergrad as I did observation after observation and lesson after lesson.
He is also the professor who encouraged me to get my Masters and gave me an assistantship that led to getting my degree paid for, a paid instructor role and a Grad School teaching award.
I also didn’t listen to him.
I vividly remember being in one of my teaching methods classes and this professor was a stickler on the strategy of “Not smiling until Christmas”
Those of you who know, know. If you don't, basically it means that when school starts in the fall it is important to be stoic, solemn, and strict to get the kids to respect you. And then after a few months of “laying down the law,” you can loosen up around Christmas and “smile” again.
Well, hello my name is Sarah Nerswick and I am a joker.
I am a middle child, and if you have ever seen a TikTok about the oldest, middle, and little siblings I fit the middle child demeanor to a tee.
If you aren’t a middle child, here are some characteristics: Rebellious, Social, Easy Going, Attention Seeker, Prone to Levity.
And you are telling me I need to be STOIC. Seriously?
When I yell the only thing that can hear me are dogs because my high-pitched voice just gets pitchier.
This advice just doesn’t work with my DNA, my upbringing, and who I am at my core.
So, I threw it out.
And I think that this is advice we don’t hear a lot in the education field. The advice to “take it or leave it”. Sometimes advice is given as an absolute solution.
And if you are like me, we don’t subscribe to “absolute advice” We know that absolutes are “a value or principle which is regarded as universally valid…without relation of other things.”
And if we said “don’t smile until Christmas” is universally regarded then a class clown, always here for a laugh girly like me should be able to turn on the facade of a Buckingham Palace guard in a jiffy.
When you go into a learning experience (maybe that is a grad school class, a school-dictated PD experience, or even a conference you pay to go to like Germinate Conference) it is important to focus on YOU. And have a filter to help you decide what advice to take and what to throw away.
Here are three tips to PERSONALIZE your next learning experience
1️⃣ All Me Mindset
Does this sound selfish, maybe? And I’m willing to go to bat saying that you should be selfish when in a learning experience. If you are at a conference, class, or session and are only concerned about taking everything the presenter says you will take your focus off of the point of learning: Improving yourself, your craft, and your skills.
When you step into a class, absolutely you want to hear new perspectives and be open to listening to people who think differently from you. That is what makes life and the world so beautiful. You can be kind and considerate when learning while still DECIDING what advice to take into your classroom.
➡️If the class is all about integrating AI into your classroom and it is forbidden in your school system, you probably don’t need to focus on implementing this new content into your classes.
➡️If the class is all about integrating automatic waterers in your greenhouse and you only have raised beds in your program, you probably don’t need to go out and buy all the things they suggest.
Go into your next learning experience with an “All Me” mindset. Walk into that class saying to yourself “I am going to learn, be open-minded and choose what works for me”
2️⃣Do what suits you
This is tough advice for me to take. When I go to conferences I wanna hang out with my friends (can you blame me? Ag Teachers are so cool). And that makes me tend to want to do what everyone else is doing. Meaning I might go to a nursery/landscape CDE session just because my bestie is there, instead of the Agriscience session which would be much more beneficial for me.
When in a learning experience, do what suits you.
I’ve recently said “I hope no one at Germinate Conference has the same experience”
And I truly hope that rings true. I want every Germinate attendee to choose what suits them.
If that means only going to the live sessions, amazing!
If that means only watching the classroom strategy sessions, cool!
If that means focusing solely on how to increase leadership and autonomy in students, go for it!
Don’t feel pressured by peers, friends, or even what you “think” you should do. Do what suits you at this moment!
3️⃣ Take what you need, and throw away the rest
This is the easy advice to take. Like we learned about “Don’t smile until Christmas” it is ok to say NO to advice you are given.
You better believe there is plenty of advice I have heard in conferences, grad school classes, and even conversations with my AgEd buddies I threw right in the trash.
It is totally valid to say “Good for you, not for me”.
This is YOUR learning experience. This is YOUR life. This is YOUR career.
You get to choose what to try out. And even if you do try something out and it doesn’t work you can throw it away later. Or maybe you got advice as a newbie teacher that you couldn’t even fathom taking until Year 5. It’s totally ok to pick up advice later in life!
Our mission for G&G is to always learn. We hope you also choose to continue to learn throughout your career. We also hope you focus on yourself when you do!
How to make personal development personal again
About 4 years ago I went deep into personal development.
Reading all the books. (fiction or fun no way)
Listening to podcasts non stop (who listens to music anyway?)
Giving all my spare time to bettering myself for accolades (relationships, health etc. no need)
And admittedly it continued until I had a wakeup call recently and I took a moment to just think.
What am I trying to prove with reading only non-fiction?
Am I actually learning anything from the non-stop podcasts or are they going in one ear and out the other?
Is spending every waking moment on growth what I want to look back at when I am 80?
So I stopped.
Unfollowed a bunch of accounts.
Unsubscribed from podcasts.
Started reading for fun only.
And then I just rested to figure out the question “where do I actually want to grow?” or “what do I actually want?”
This pause over winter break and the start of the new year led me to my word of the year, revival. Which means “an improvement in the condition or the strength of something.”
Because admittedly I’ve been living for others' praise, appreciation, mentorship, compliance for too long. I am committing this year to the cause of figuring it out.
And you might be in the same place. Wanting to grow but not even knowing where to begin. And we get it - we live in a world inundated with “the next big thing” “your success starts here” “that magic pill you’ve been looking for.”
Now, I am not against personal growth, but what I AM against is toxic personal growth. I am against doing something just because everyone else is.
If you didn’t know, personal growth is UNIQUE to you. Hence the word “personal” 😉. Here is what I mean.
Let’s go to a quick lesson from Mrs. Nerswick on bell curves.
An example Bell Curve
Now, you’ve probably seen a bell curve in science class or in grad school right? It is a graph that shows the distribution of a variable symmetrical probability in statistics. You’ve probably seen it used to describe human height, test scores, or even head circumference in babies.
Ok, let’s break it down. This means that based on a variable – for this example, let’s say a personal development strategy like listening to ONLY personal development, meaning no music/audiobooks etc. – the probability of this strategy working is a bell curve.
It will work extremely well for about 3% of people who try.
It will work for 47% of people who try.
It won’t work well for 47% of people who try.
It will utterly and completely fail for 3% of people who try.
If you missed that, statistically speaking personal development strategies will only work moderately well for HALF of the people who try them.
This is why there is NO SUCH THING AS BLANKET ADVICE!
Think about it…
Does a doctor prescribe a Z pack to everyone with a stuffy nose? No, they need to make sure their patient actually has a bacterial infection and they aren’t allergic to any of the ingredients.
Does a teacher just teach the same exact lesson to every single class, every single year? No, they analyze who is in their class, the strengths, the areas for improvement, their level of knowledge in the subject and even modify the lesson in the middle of it to fit their students.
Does a therapist give the same advice to every patient? No, they listen, they ask questions, they get to know that person deeply before giving advice to help them through their journey.
Does every street have the same speed limit? No, the transportation authority researches every road, the twists, the turns, the blind spots and assigns an appropriate speed limit to that particular part of a street.
YOU ARE UNIQUE.
Your business is PERSONAL.
Your goals are PERSONAL.
Your schedule is PERSONAL.
Your priorities are PERSONAL.
Your work is PERSONAL.
So therefore, your personal development should be PERSONAL!
Success doesn’t come from following a certain formula. Success comes when you thoughtfully consider your life and your goals before subscribing to what others say is the solution and then iterating and modifying often to align with your life flows.
3 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Making Your Next Personal Development Move
So, before you join that membership, enroll in that course, read the book, apply for that event, or register for that conference take a moment to ponder these questions. Because you need to know what you want, what you need before you can be successful in your growth journey.
1️⃣ What are you trying to improve? Specificity is key!
It’s time to get specific. Saying “I want to improve my business” or “I want to be a better mom” or “I want to get stronger” isn’t going to cut it here.
To make sure you are finding the right strategies you must be specific with what you are trying to improve. Maybe it sounds something like:
“I want to increase revenue in my business by 10% this year.”
“I want to spend more time playing with my kids after school.”
“I want to be able to do a pull up this year.”
Specificity will allow you to start searching for strategies that specifically address that area of your life.
2️⃣ How would you define success in that specific area?
I was in a recent training that taught us about categorizing good, better, and best goals and I kinda love that. It’s not pass or fail – there is flexibility in your goals,just like life!
Let’s take “I want to be able to do a pull up this year” for example.
Your BEST goal would be “Be able to do 5 unassisted pull ups by Christmas 2024”. Your BETTER goal would be “Be able to do 1 unassisted pull up by Christmas 2024” and your GOOD goal would be “Be able to do 1 strength band assisted pull up by Christmas 2024.
Start thinking through your specific goal how you can categorize it into good, better and best results.
And the best part here is to remember that we get to edit and iterate once we get more data on our progress. Say you are progressing really easily toward your goal, go ahead and tweak it!
3️⃣ How will this align with your current life situation?
This is the step I believe a lot of people miss. Your life situation is unique.
Maybe you have children, maybe you are the caregiver for your parents/grandparents, maybe you are the sole breadwinner in your family, maybe you need to work two jobs to make ends meet.
All of that is personal to you and makes working toward your goals unique.
Blanket Personal Development strategies set people up for failure, disappointment and end up misleading many people.
Once you know your specific goal and your definition of success, see how you can fit that into your current (key word current) life situation.
Does that mean spending 10 minutes a day on this? Great!
Does that mean getting a babysitter for 2 hours every other Thursday? Great!
Does that mean working on your goal at 10 p.m. after your kids go to bed? Great!
Does that mean taking a PTO day to work on your goal? Great!
To set yourself up for success, you must set up your goal to fit into your current life situation.
REMINDER: your life ebbs and flows.
Life mimics that of Earth’s seasons. Some seasons are full, vibrant like Spring and Summer. Some seasons are set up to let go of unneeded things like Fall. And some seasons are a time of dormancy and rest, like Winter.
It is important as your life seasons change (which might be week by week or even day by day!) to change your strategies. Because progress is progress. Even if that means taking a much needed step back sometimes.
This is the part of the blog post that I am hoping you feel validated and inspired to take some action on what you learned (I wouldn’t be a good teacher if that wasn’t the goal right?!). So, here is your action step!
(And remember: this is something you can decide to take or not because this isn’t toxic personal development – either way I am cheering for you!)
Take a pause the next time you hear blanket advice and go through steps 1-3 before accepting this new strategy into your life. And if you aren’t sure how to mitigate that and want to talk through it, hit reply and we can chat through your thoughts.
Here’s to making your personal development PERSONAL again. 🥳
ONE way you can do that if you are an AGRICULTURE TEACHER is by attending Germinate Conference this July 1-3, 2024.
We hope that you DON’T have the same conference as others. WHY because you have different goals and needs for your students and chapters. I mean think about it, you teach different subjects, you teach different grade levels, you have different facilities on campus, you have different state association requirement, you have different administration, you have different students and are in different communities. What you need SHOULD be different than others.
If you want to attend only the sessions on animal science based topics, go for it.
If you want to attend all the live sessions to expand your network, do it.
If you want to watch everything to get a taste of all the new sessions, that’s awesome.
Early Bird Registration closes on May 15. Grab your registration today here.
3 Ways to Share Abundantly in an industry that likes secrets
Six years ago, a FFA director out in California wanted to invite an “expert” in Agricultural Communications to teach his teachers about how to coach an Ag Comm Career Development team. He decided to take a look at the past teams who had been successful and found out that one school from one state had been dominant for the past few years.
So, he reached out to the Georgia state director and he said “don’t ask me, ask Sarah.” And thus, I found myself flying across the country to spend a weekend in the absolutely breathtaking landscape of Yosemite coaching my competition on the very competition I wanted to continue coaching my students to win.
I mentioned that this idea of coaching my competition sounded a little crazy to that director and he said something that has stuck with me ever since.
“I want my competition to be at their best, that means I need to become my best.”
Phew.
Sharing your “secrets” helps others achieve.
I’ll be honest when I was coming up in the AgEd world, secrecy was the norm. That was the only way to win. And winning was paramount.
Now, I am hopefully optimistic that this historic pastime is over and done with.
And I am on my soapbox screaming at the top of my lungs like I’m at the Eras concert that agriculture education is about sharing abundantly (which is why it is one of the G&G values).
We as a society only improve when we work together and share our resources. From the beginning of time this is how humanity began to change and grow.
That is what we as an industry must do. We must lean into sharing abundantly which means to “plentifully give a portion of something to another.”
3 Ways To Share Your Industry “Secrets” Abundantly
1️⃣ Sharing Publicly
Ok, not everyone was made for Teacher TikTok or Instagram Accounts. I get that.
When I say sharing publicly means, I simply mean that if you are at an event and someone asks a question you know the answer to, offer to share. If a teacher sends a request to observe you, let them. If someone reaches out to you because of your expertise, share it.
That is sharing publicly. That is what changes AgEd Secrecy to AgEd Collaborations.
If you are rolling your eyes at me, thinking “there is no way a competitive team actually shares,” you might be right about some people. But I also know multiple nationally competitive teachers in the G&G community who serve as specialist teachers in that very area to provide support, feedback and advice.
Also, keep in mind this is not me saying shut down your Teachers Pay Teachers stores. If you make something that took time, expert energy and you purposefully made it to help others, then by all means be compensated for your work.
The thing you are doing by even having a podcast, blog, Teacher TikTok/Instagram, or TPT store is SHARING publicly! You are taking what is in your brain and broadcasting it to who wants to listen!
2️⃣ Becoming an advocate
An advocate is simply someone who publicly supports something.
If you want to be someone who shares abundantly you can’t just hope others do it. YOU have to be willing to publicly support the act of sharing.
You can do that by leading and becoming an advocate for the collaborative culture of AgEd (I mean we say we are a family right?!)
Some examples of ways you can do that is by serving on your state teacher association board, serving as a National FFA Teacher Ambassador, becoming a CASE Lead teacher or becoming a G&G Specialist Teacher (recruitment starts in the fall).
Choose where you want to make an impact and go all in!
3️⃣ Speaking at PD conferences
There is a good chance you have to go to professional development this year. Maybe for school, your county or state. There is also a good chance those professional development events are looking for speakers. If so, THAT is your chance to continue to share publicly with others.
If you don’t know where to start, G&G is currently looking for speakers for Germinate Conference (Applications close March 8, 2024). Here is a quick look at what being a Germinate Speaker looks like:
Your work.
➡️ Apply with written application & video
➡️ Get selected
➡️ Support from a speaker coach throughout the planning & execution of your session
➡️ Complete 15-20 minute pre-recorded session & takeaway document
Your rewards.
🎉 Free registration to Germinate Summer 2024
🎉 $100 payment or donation in your name to G&G Scholarship Fund
🎉 Exclusive speaker gift
🎉 Certificate & Thank You sent to administration & state staff
Your impact.
♥️ Sharing your passion with others
♥️ Becoming a mentor teacher that helps serve other teachers
♥️ Contributing to the growth of the agriculture education industry
So, where are you going to make your impact? Where are you going to start sharing abundantly?
We hope you decide to apply to speak at Germinate Conference because there are teachers out there who can only dream of knowing what you know. This is your chance to lead them and move AgEd one step closer to being the family we claim to be.