As I begin to write this blog on a Friday afternoon, Monday feels like it was five years ago. Monday and Tuesday were moved to remote instruction due to the snowstorm, Wednesday was consumed by the FFA Officer Retreat, and Thursday and Friday were "normal".
At this point in my student teaching, I am feeling many emotions. I am feeling more confident with the timing of my lessons (minus that one Zoom session I thought ended at 1:30 instead of 1:35...ops). I am also feeling very grateful that I get to spend this weekend helping my Aunt Shirley add photos to the book she recently finished writing about a man from Haiti that she has known since she began going on her annual mission trips. But, at the same time, I am also feeling stressed. looking ahead to next week, I will be picking up two additional classes (Animal Science and Environmental Science) and having my first formal observation.
This week I got to learn more about the National FFA Organization and how it functions at the chapter level. As a former 4-H member, I was able to make a lot of connections between my experiences as a 4-Her and the FFA activities my students worked to complete this week. This being said, I was also able to find many differences between the two, and I will outline those similarities and differences below.
Similarities:
#1 Student Ownership
This is probably the most obvious similarity I observed at the FFA Officer Retreat compared to my experiences in 4-H. I watched as my cooperating teachers skillfully prompted the students through the decision making process. Students were the ones coming up with ideas, eliminating ideas, identifying factors that should be considered, and selecting ideas. My favorite cue that I heard the advisors use multiple times was "What do we have to consider?". I love this cue because it forces students to consider why an idea might not work. I was really impressed with what students came up with even with very little prompting. They would offer very mature suggestions like "We have to consider that Item A costs $4.00 and Item B costs $2.00" or "We have to consider how long people will use this item, will they throw it away or will it last for years".
#2 Advocacy
A large portion of the planning the officer team members and committee chairs did at Officer Retreat was centered around advocacy and outreach. A lot of planning was focused on National FFA Week (Feb 20-27), an event that celebrates FFA in the high school and also serves as a recruitment tool.
Differences:
#1 Committees, Committees, Committees
To me, it seems like there are endless committees with the National FFA Organization. Sure committees also exist with 4-H, but I was never apart of a club that utilized the committee structure to the extend that FFA does. I believe there are many benefits to utilizing the committee structure. The first being that it involves more students. Additionally, for students who can not make the time commitment to serve as an officer, because of work or other extracurricular activities, the committee structure provides additional leadership opportunities for them. However, I could imagine that the more committees you create the more management is required on the teacher's part.
#2 Career-Oriented
Not to say that 4-H is not career-oriented, but after observing the Officer Retreat, I can telll that FFA is very career-oriented. Even just in the planning the officers and committee chairs were doing they were coming up with ideas that exanded on classroom content, connected to their current SAE projects, and applied to future career goals they had.
In conlusion, as a future agriscience teacher, I beleive having a group of dedicated students serving in leadership roles would be essential for the success of an FFA Chapter. I am excited to see my students' planning come to fruition at the end of the month in the form of National FFA Week.
#PSUAgEd21 - What are ways your cooperating centers are incorpating all three circles of the Three Circle Model during FFA Week? What are your interactions with your officer teams like and what best management practices do you want to take away to your future programs?
"Learning to do, Doing to learn, Earning to live, and Living to serve" - The FFA Motto
Hey Nicole!
ReplyDeleteLooking ahead to FFA week our chapter is working on incorporating some school /district wide themed days to increase awareness of the program, as well as implementing a few little service projects (mainly thank you projects for teachers and local ag businesses). I feel like after my few interactions with the officer team (its kinda hard to see them all together since they are in different half groups) I would agree with you that having a group of dedicated and hard working students is essential to a successful program. Also, my CT puts a lot of responsibility on the officer team and members to plan and carry out many of these activities, which I think is a great way to teach them leadership skills they can use for the rest of their lives.
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteI like the approach of comparing your past experiences with your current experiences. This is a great way to elevate your learning around youth leadership through the FFA. I am very happy to see that your program promotes the three-circle model to the level that it does. It engages the student in agricultural sciences in a deep level where they can really begin to think about careers and being part of a community. It is great to see your contributions to this learning!
-Dr. Ewing
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteI loved your blog about comparing 4-H and FFA! I think that your vast knowledge of 4-H can help you incorporate some fun things into FFA Week coming up soon. To plan for the upcoming event, I will be working with my officer team this week so I am excited to facilitate that experience with them. I think one of the most important things is to have the FFA Officer team create their own plan for the week and have the autonomy of planning each event, and then be there as a resource if they get stuck, need fresh ideas, or need help executing those plans. I can't wait to hear about your FFA week!