As a part of my student teaching internship, I was asked to engage with the Global Learning in Agriculture (GLAG) Conference by participating in the live and on-demand webinars, GLAGreads bookclub, and GLAGjr (a program for high school students).
Keep reading to see how I included GLAG in my student teaching internship and classroom!
1. GLAG Conference
Perhaps on the biggest reason why I am a GLAG participant is because it was virtual before virtual was cool - which means that GLAG fits my schedule whenever! Even after GLAG week in February, I have still gone back to watch on-demand presentations and webinar recordings. Some of my favorite presentations were about increasing literacy skills through reading about global agriculture, the OSU GreenSeeder hand planter (a cool way to incorporate global concepts into agriculture mechanics courses), and broadening borders with Honduran sweet potatoes. The ideas and opportunities are endless and I always come away from GLAG with a million ideas. Something I would really like to incorperate into my future classroom is penpals/Zoom meetings with FFA members in other states or countries.
2. GLAGjr
While I got to participate in GLAG week as an educator, my students did not have the same opportunity - which is why GLAGjr was created! GLAGjr is the student version of the GLAG conference and it challenges students to think about global issues such as food security, peace, global competency, and sustainable development goals through online modules.
New this year my students had the opportunity to earn a digital badge for each online module they completed with 80% accuracy. I choose to use GLAGjr in my Introduction to Agriculture course, which is made up of mostly freshmen students. To increase excitement around the topic, I decided to create a bulletin board that functioned as a badge tracker. For each badge, a student earned they got a sticker on the bulletin board. I also incentivized turning in these assignments by creating different prize levels. If a student earned two badges, they received 5 points on their lowest assignment grade for the marking period. If a student earned four badges, they received an intentional snack (mini stroopwafels!!!). And if a student earned all six badges we entered their name in a drawing for a $15 Tikka Shack (a local Indian restaurant) gift card.
Overall, I think my students really enjoyed GLAGjr and I enjoyed hearing about their personal connections to the content. Several of my students shared that their families were from other countries like Ghana or Puerto Rico or that they eat traditional international dishes at home.
3. GLAGreads
This year the GLAGreads book was Teach Boldly by Jennifer Williams. I have never read a GLAG book that I didn't like, and this year was no exception. I think what I enjoyed most about Teach Boldly was that there were actionable items for me to implement in my classroom. I also began reading this book about edtech for social good as my FFA students were beginning a mask-making project to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer after a high school teacher received a daunting diagnosis. It was really neat to be reading about students working for social good as my students themselves were taking on this project.
I also had the opportunity to hear from the author herself at our last GLAGreads meeting on Earth Day! I was really inspired by Jen's thought process behind writing the book and her philopshy as an educator. She said that she strives to not be an expert, but to create spaces for others to learn and ask questions in. I thought this was really profound and I want to take this nugget of wisdom with me as I begin a new Agriculture Education program.
#PSUAgEd2021 - What are some ways you used GLAG during your student teaching? What resources or ideas stood out to you?
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