With week 8 in the books, I can say I am halfway to completing my student teaching internship! This week was a busy week as Greenwood FFA took on their annual "Hunger Event," which featured a meal packing event this year. This event was astonishing. The number of community volunteers was incredible, and the amount of support for this project was almost overwhelming
It can be quite a balancing act to juggle chapter events with classroom instruction. On top of that, trying to incorporate SAE visits into all three can be a struggle for an agriculture teacher. I devote much of my time outside of the classroom to prepping and grading, however, I must remain faithful to the three circle model of agriculture education and retain each component for a successful program. I want to be a successful agriculture teacher, but all that ran through was the overwhelming thoughts of how much it takes to pull of even a single event. All I could take in as I participated in the event was how many contacts, phone calls, ordering, reserving and number of hands it took to pull it all off.
Not only that, but with every event there can be issues that arise. For example, through all of the calculations that went into this event, the one thing that was overlooked was whether or not the truck would fit under the oning behind the elementary school (which it didn't). We were able to make it work, something ag teachers excel at, and carry on.
I know that community stakeholders are essential to a program. Everything about a healthy program involves connections with community members, and the orchestrating of events like these. To my more seasoned agriculture teachers: how do you prepare for events? What issues do you encounter when preparing for events that you don't always anticipate? How do you balance your three circle model?
I'm so embarrassed! I can't believe that I actually missed TWO and not just the one I thought I missed at the end of last week! :-(
ReplyDelete"I know that community stakeholders are essential to a program. Everything about a healthy program involves connections with community members, and the orchestrating of events like these. To my more seasoned agriculture teachers: how do you prepare for events? What issues do you encounter when preparing for events that you don't always anticipate? How do you balance your three circle model?"
We've talked a lot about preparing for events and expecting the unexpected, so my comments will mostly focus on the third question: How do you balance your three circle model? I'm going to answer in two parts; the way I did it and the way I wish I would've done it.
In my program, we had at least a little bit of each circle. I emphasized classroom most heavily, but it probably didn't always feel that way. We did a lot of FFA stuff, and got better with managing that and having real discussions about capacity each year. I worked really hard at getting SAE rolling, but it was always the smallest circle. In the classroom, I taught 7th grade Intro to Ag, Ag Literacy (7th & 8th), Project Lead the Way Robotics, MN Wildlife, Ag Mechanics, Small Gas Engines, Welding, Advanced Welding, Animal Science, Food Chemistry, Crop & Soil Science, and Ag Work Placement. In FFA, we did everything from local community service and chapter bonding to regional/state contests, to leadership camps, etc. Basically, this meant that if it wasn't on the (personal) calendar 6 months in advance, it wasn't happening. I DO NOT advocate for this method of balance. Everyone had an SAE (Agri-Science Fair), but not everyone KNEW they had an SAE.
I really resonated with the way Brian, Kate, and Marshall broke down the three circle model on a recent Owl Pellets podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir3AjsrCizA&feature=youtu.be. I wish I would've done a lot more to incorporate FFA into my classes. We could've done a lot more to use the contests and learning opportunities, especially in Animal Science and Ag Mechanics. To go back to the high school classroom, I'd like to think I'd bring a lot more intention to my teaching practice and really utlize the three circle model to find balance rather than trying to balance the model.
Hope this helps as you think about those three circles!