3 Ways to Share Abundantly in an industry that likes secrets
Six years ago, a FFA director out in California wanted to invite an “expert” in Agricultural Communications to teach his teachers about how to coach an Ag Comm Career Development team. He decided to take a look at the past teams who had been successful and found out that one school from one state had been dominant for the past few years.
So, he reached out to the Georgia state director and he said “don’t ask me, ask Sarah.” And thus, I found myself flying across the country to spend a weekend in the absolutely breathtaking landscape of Yosemite coaching my competition on the very competition I wanted to continue coaching my students to win.
I mentioned that this idea of coaching my competition sounded a little crazy to that director and he said something that has stuck with me ever since.
“I want my competition to be at their best, that means I need to become my best.”
Phew.
Sharing your “secrets” helps others achieve.
I’ll be honest when I was coming up in the AgEd world, secrecy was the norm. That was the only way to win. And winning was paramount.
Now, I am hopefully optimistic that this historic pastime is over and done with.
And I am on my soapbox screaming at the top of my lungs like I’m at the Eras concert that agriculture education is about sharing abundantly (which is why it is one of the G&G values).
We as a society only improve when we work together and share our resources. From the beginning of time this is how humanity began to change and grow.
That is what we as an industry must do. We must lean into sharing abundantly which means to “plentifully give a portion of something to another.”
3 Ways To Share Your Industry “Secrets” Abundantly
1️⃣ Sharing Publicly
Ok, not everyone was made for Teacher TikTok or Instagram Accounts. I get that.
When I say sharing publicly means, I simply mean that if you are at an event and someone asks a question you know the answer to, offer to share. If a teacher sends a request to observe you, let them. If someone reaches out to you because of your expertise, share it.
That is sharing publicly. That is what changes AgEd Secrecy to AgEd Collaborations.
If you are rolling your eyes at me, thinking “there is no way a competitive team actually shares,” you might be right about some people. But I also know multiple nationally competitive teachers in the G&G community who serve as specialist teachers in that very area to provide support, feedback and advice.
Also, keep in mind this is not me saying shut down your Teachers Pay Teachers stores. If you make something that took time, expert energy and you purposefully made it to help others, then by all means be compensated for your work.
The thing you are doing by even having a podcast, blog, Teacher TikTok/Instagram, or TPT store is SHARING publicly! You are taking what is in your brain and broadcasting it to who wants to listen!
2️⃣ Becoming an advocate
An advocate is simply someone who publicly supports something.
If you want to be someone who shares abundantly you can’t just hope others do it. YOU have to be willing to publicly support the act of sharing.
You can do that by leading and becoming an advocate for the collaborative culture of AgEd (I mean we say we are a family right?!)
Some examples of ways you can do that is by serving on your state teacher association board, serving as a National FFA Teacher Ambassador, becoming a CASE Lead teacher or becoming a G&G Specialist Teacher (recruitment starts in the fall).
Choose where you want to make an impact and go all in!
3️⃣ Speaking at PD conferences
There is a good chance you have to go to professional development this year. Maybe for school, your county or state. There is also a good chance those professional development events are looking for speakers. If so, THAT is your chance to continue to share publicly with others.
If you don’t know where to start, G&G is currently looking for speakers for Germinate Conference (Applications close March 8, 2024). Here is a quick look at what being a Germinate Speaker looks like:
Your work.
➡️ Apply with written application & video
➡️ Get selected
➡️ Support from a speaker coach throughout the planning & execution of your session
➡️ Complete 15-20 minute pre-recorded session & takeaway document
Your rewards.
🎉 Free registration to Germinate Summer 2024
🎉 $100 payment or donation in your name to G&G Scholarship Fund
🎉 Exclusive speaker gift
🎉 Certificate & Thank You sent to administration & state staff
Your impact.
♥️ Sharing your passion with others
♥️ Becoming a mentor teacher that helps serve other teachers
♥️ Contributing to the growth of the agriculture education industry
So, where are you going to make your impact? Where are you going to start sharing abundantly?
We hope you decide to apply to speak at Germinate Conference because there are teachers out there who can only dream of knowing what you know. This is your chance to lead them and move AgEd one step closer to being the family we claim to be.
