Welcome to the exciting new season of Owl Pellets: Tips for Ag Teachers! Join us as we set the stage for an engaging and informative season. We will discuss this season's series and how excited we are for the conversations we will have this year. Join us as we dive into what makes this season a must-listen for teachers passionate about agriculture and teacher retention.
Agricultural education classes incorporate a wide range of technical skills. Tune in as Jay Solomonson (Illinois State University) and Trent Wells (Murray State) share what technical skills we need to teach in plant science and how to grow in those skills. Journal Article https://jae-online.org/index.php/jae/article/view/298
Mentoring is a professional working alliance in which individuals work together over time to support the personal and professional growth, development, and success of the relational partners through the providsion of career and psychosocial support. Join the Owl Pellets team and we talk through what that definition means for our mentoring practice to setup our mini-series exploration of the NAP Report: Mentoring in STEMM
Special Guests: Rebecca Swenson, University of Minnesota Troy McKay, University of Minnesota Garrett Steede, University of Minnesota
How People Learn Series: Thinking about Thinking
Special Guests Antoine Alston, North Carolina A&T University Dexter Wakefield, Alcorn State University
What do school superintendents really want your ag program to teach? This episode digests research exploring how district leaders prioritize essential employability skills within SBAE curricula! Discover why critical thinking, problem-solving, and resource management are top priorities. Learn how superintendents view these skills as "very" or "extremely important" for student careers, reinforcing the need for ag teachers to deliberately incorporate them. Get actionable insights on how to prioritize, teach, and assess these vital skills to better prepare your students for college and the workforce! Journal Article: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/jrtc/vol8/iss2/3
Ready to empower every student, no matter their background? This "pellet" delivers crucial insights from research on Positive Youth Development in rural, low-SES high schools! Learn how SBAE programs are uniquely positioned to build student confidence, competence, and belonging. We'll explore the importance of trauma-informed teaching and mental health support, plus concrete strategies to foster the Five Cs of PYD in your classroom and FFA activities, ensuring every student has the support to thrive. Journal Articles: https://jae-online.org/index.php/jae/article/view/127 https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/ruraleducator/vol44/iss2/9/
Ready to fine-tune your classroom and lab skills? Ryan Best, Iowa State University, digests key research on essential instructional practices in School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE)! We'll explore how effective teaching aligns with the eight AFNR career pathways, covering everything from supervising labs and managing equipment to recruiting students and adapting to hybrid learning. Discover the practical strategies and adaptable approaches you need to meet diverse student needs, boost achievement, and find greater satisfaction in your vital role as an ag teacher. Journal Article
Another season, another mini-series! This season, Brian, Becky, and Mike are diving into how learning works. Throughout this mini-series, they will dive deep into the book "How Learning Works: 8 Research-Based Principles for Smart Learning." Marsha Lovett, Michael Birdges, Michele DiPietro, Susan Ambrose, and Maria Norman focused this book on making learning work for you and your students! Come along as Brian, Becky, and Mike break down this book and its concepts.
Ever wondered how FFA, classroom, and SAEs really impact student growth? In this week's episode, Tiffany Marzolino, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, explores ag teachers' perceptions of student development across the three-circle model! Discover why the classroom often leads, but how grading SAEs and using tech can supercharge their perceived impact. We'll also dive into making SAEs truly student-driven and navigating that biggest barrier: time. Get ready for practical tips to maximize your SAEs! Journal Article: https://jae-online.org/index.php/jae/article/view/120
Ever thought about using Jeremy Clarkson to teach agriculture? This episode discusses fascinating research on how the TV series "Clarkson's Farm" impacted undergraduate students! Erica Summerfield, South Dakota State University, reveals how showing just two episodes sparked rich dialogue and boosted understanding of food systems, farming challenges, and rural life, even among students new to agriculture. Discover how popular media can be a powerful tool for your ag classroom to bridge knowledge gaps and make complex topics accessible and relatable for diverse learners. Journal Article: https://jae-online.org/index.php/jae/article/view/2608
Ever wondered how hands-on learning can transform students and your community? This episode digs into fascinating research on land-based learning! Aaron McKim and Abbey Palmer, from Michigan State University, share how connecting high schoolers with local agriculture boosts their leadership skills, sustainability awareness, and understanding of local food. Get ready for practical models to bring real-world impact into your ag classroom! Resources: https://www.canr.msu.edu/uprc/land-based-learning-center-projects Journal Article: https://jae-online.org/index.php/jae/article/view/2767
We are back,... we are SO back! Brian, Becky, and Mike are super excited to be back with another season of Owl Pellets: Tips for Ag Teachers podcast. Be ready to tackle conversations over how learning works, getting beyond the walls of the classroom, adult partnerships, the donut model, how to communicate about your program, and many more exciting topics. You might even get to meet a member of the team who has been hiding behind the scenes for a few years. Happy listening, and here is to season 11!
Ag Ed is uniquely positioned to support boys in school. Stacy Vincent (University of Kentucky) joins the OP crew to share key findings from an experimental study looking at student performance in same-sex versus co-ed classrooms. Tune in to hear more about how students process and engage in school differently. Journal article: https://jae-online.org/index.php/jae/article/view/122
The "To Those Concerned with Teacher Retention" mini-series highlights a series of vulnerable conversations in letter form to help us ask tough questions of the education career. The series will challenge listeners to consider new solutions, imagine "what ifs," and inform future directions for education. The full journal article includes appendices for further discussion, and we welcome you to use the following resources to respond with your own letter (https://oregonstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6YGn16kf2juTGZg) or other thoughts (https://padlet.com/ag_education/collective-thought-experiment-vu3pwzetg94qo2nt). Journal Article: https://jae-online.org/index.php/jae/article/view/2604
Jamie Greig and his team at University of Tennessee knows implementing VR can feel intimidating, but with their guide to planning, process, and reflection, you'll be a VR implementation expert in no time. Journal Article: https://agdevresearch.org/index.php/aad/article/view/353
We'll just come right out and say it: Mobility might be a retention strategy. Becky Haddad (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) and Lavyne Rada (Co-Director of the Minnesota Teacher Induction Program) chat with Mike and Brian about reasonable retention, navigating the teaching career, and supporting newness across the career spectrum. Journal Article: https://jae-online.org/index.php/jae/article/view/2471
The "To Those Concerned with Teacher Retention" mini-series highlights a series of vulnerable conversations in letter form to help us ask tough questions of the education career. The series will challenge listeners to consider new solutions, imagine "what ifs," and inform future directions for education. The full journal article includes appendices for further discussion, and we welcome you to use the following resources to respond with your own letter (https://oregonstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6YGn16kf2juTGZg) or other thoughts (https://padlet.com/ag_education/collective-thought-experiment-vu3pwzetg94qo2nt). Journal Article: https://jae-online.org/index.php/jae/article/view/2604