National Teach Ag Day was 3/15. I am sure many of you got
the emails from Jason Davis, Josh Bledsoe and NAAE regarding activities for the
day. I hope you participated by using the resources available for Teach Ag Day
from www.naae.org/teachag. If you’re
like me and couldn’t make it happen on 3/15, you can still do the activities. Who’s
to say Teach Ag Day couldn’t be any day?
To the best of my knowledge, this
campaign has been going on for about 3 years now. The first year I didn’t do
anything with the Teach Ag Day. But, last year, after getting several emails
about it and wanting to switch things up in class, I decided to pull a few
resources off the www.naae.org/teachag
website and see how things went. The results of using the resources were
surprising to me. Honestly, the lesson I did on Teaching Ag was truly one of
those lessons that I felt great about teaching, the kind of lesson that got my
blood flowing, the kind of lesson that students were actually paying attention
to, nodding their heads, and asking questions. What I thought was going to be a
short 15 minute lesson, ended up taking the whole 90 minute for each class.
Students got involved and it was great! It gave me a chance to reflect on my
own profession. I found myself being motivated and filled with adrenalin as I
began to share with students why I was an Ag teacher, how I became an Ag
teacher, why we need more Ag teachers… We all get caught up in the everyday
mundane. Using the resources and taking time in class to share with my students
about being an Ag teacher broke that every day cycle. Also it gave me a chance
to go back and think, man I really do have the opportunity every day to make a
positive difference in the lives of students.
Again, if you’re like me and
couldn’t get it done on March 15th, no biggie. Do it when you have
the time. It doesn’t take long to prepare. All the stuff you need is right
there on www.naae.org/teachag. The
whole purpose of this is for you to show the passion you have for what you do
to your students so they can get excited about it and possibly increase the
chances of students being interested in becoming an Ag teacher. Granted, doing
this one lesson may not singularly make a student want to become an Ag teacher,
but I can honestly say, in my own experience, that students that had expressed
some interest in becoming an Ag teacher were even more motivated to do so after
the lesson. Also, I had several students that had never shown any interest in
becoming an Ag teacher to express some interest. I have been fortunate in that
in the between this year’s senior class and last year’s graduating class I have
3 to 4 students who are currently in or heading to school to pursue a career as
an Ag teachers or are planning on changing their current plans to pursue a
career in our field. Also, if anything, it’s a great opportunity for students
to see that you are doing what you enjoy. I would strongly encourage you to
take the time to do a lesson. We need to Tag our replacements.
If you did or are going to do some
of the activities for Teach Ag Day, I encourage you to apply for the Teach Ag
Day Award, rewarded by NCATA. Applications are due to Roger Teeple by Friday,
3/23 or should be submitted at MEGA conference. The top prize is $100. Right
now the number of applicants is low, so chances of winning are high.
Chad Ayers
Western Region NCATA Vice President
No comments:
Post a Comment