Vermicomposting
Vermicomposting is a method of using worms to transform organic waste into a nutrient-rich fertilizer (via Hunker).Check out this cute TED ED video on vermicompostingHere is how we made our bins at our recent Young Farmer meeting.Step 1: Obtain BinsWe have used kitty litter bins, 5-gallon buckets and (FREE) ice cream bins from Kilwins. Really any TWO buckets that sit nicely together with a lid will work.Step 2: Drill Holes into the TOP bucketDrill about 4-6 holes in the lid, on the top rim of the top bucket and the bottom of the top bucket (for drainage to the other bucket). Your top bin will be your farm, the bottom bin is for drainage only.
Step 3: Add Worm friendly bedding & moisturePut newspaper cuttings (1/2 inch strips) or shredded paper in the bottom of your top bin. I've used both with great success. Take a trip to the front office of school and I bet you'll find exactly what you need! Spray a small amount of water on your paper to make a moist BUT NOT WET environment for your worms!
Step 4: Add your wormsWe bought our worms from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm which you can also buy on Amazon. For a class of 25 people we bought 500 worms for about $35. You could buy more a less depending on your situation. Place your worms under your bedding.
Step 5: Feed the wormsNow that you have a suitable home for your wigglers, feed those babies! You can feed them fresh waste (coffee grounds, tea bags, veggies, fruits,), avoid too much citrus, cooked items and don't compost meat (it is harder to process and will attract unwanted pests). The more you feed them, the more they will reproduce and the more hard-working composters in your farm.Step 6: ENJOY and harvest the black gold in a few monthsWhen you see a lot of black (worm castings) it is time to harvest. One method would be to add another bucket to your farm with the holes, moist paper bedding and food. Once the worms have finished the food in the original bin they will migrate up to the top bin leaving all that beautiful composted rich fertilizer below.
Parliamentary Procedure Inquiry Style
I actually love teaching parliamentary procedure.That may be an unpopular opinion but, I think this new inquiry style might make the non-parli-pro-believers turn to love it a little bit more.Check it out!DAY 11️⃣ Confuse the kids by saying Parliamentary Procedure a lot (optional) ⠀2️⃣ Write out the 5W’s and H questions you want kids to answer about Parliamentary Procedure⠀3️⃣ Have students work in groups to research the answers and post their answer on the board with post-it’s⠀4️⃣Review their answers (and include a little parli-pro—-a student volunteers an answer as you review, ask the class “all those in favor say yay, all those opposed no” then give them the answer you want. I had them write out the “official” answers on a note sheet⠀
⠀**ps...if you aren’t 1 to 1 NO WORRIES! Print out an article or two that contains all the answers and place them at each table, that the kids look through those to find the answers**⠀⠀DAY 21️⃣ Watch a quick video about the basics of Parli-pro (I chose a 3 mins section of a longer 4-H Parli-pro video from Oregon 4-H) stop and discuss as needed (we stopped and defined debatable, amendable and majority vote)⠀2️⃣ Show a short clip of a @nationalffa⠀Conduct of Chapter meeting nationals competition (I used 2019 video, start at 7:50 for the first chapter). Discuss how they talk, what their body language is like, how they debated etc.⠀3️⃣ Give them their assignment: they have been approached by the principal to create a demonstration of proper Parli-pro for an upcoming “hot topic” meeting (ex, no homework, early release, open lunches etc). They must address (fill in whatever you want Parli-pro related), talk for a minimum of ___ minutes, and everyone must participate.⠀4️⃣ Go write a script, you’ll perform for the class tomorrow!⠀⠀
That’s it! ⠀⠀Will it be perfect, nope! But are they learning, YES! My student teacher and I even chatted afterward saying they were all so engaged with the struggle on figuring out what and how to say everything. The struggle is where the learning happens, not when we spoon-feed the answers 😊 Honor the struggle and feel the burn! ⠀DAY 3Presentation day!⠀⠀Students got up in front of their peers to present their scripts. It was great! Students (in my opinion) had a better grasp of Parli pro doing this then I have seen my students accomplish in the past. Why?⠀⠀1️⃣ Better debates⠀2️⃣ More buy-in⠀3️⃣ More creative notions⠀⠀🥳⠀Here is a link to the grading sheet I used for the presentations. Very simple, students got points for speaking at least twice and then got scored on the impact of their debates.⠀DAY 4Time to wrap this up with some FOOD. We did a snack class meeting! Here’s whatcha do... (This lesson is from the trail mix parli-pro idea I learned my first year teaching from Allison Jennings in North Carolina)⠀1️⃣ Give each student two ability cards (see below-I made one "debate" card for each student, and then one "other motion/ability" card)⠀
2️⃣ Explain that we will be having a class meeting and the agenda is on the board. We must determine the following: 1. Will we make a snack? 2. What 3 items will be included in the snack? 3. How will the snack be distributed?⠀3️⃣ Students must turn in their ability cards through the meeting and properly pass each agenda item before adjourning OR NO snack⠀4️⃣ You serve as chairperson and help out as needed (we added a few new motions today-question of privilege, division of assembly, and point of order)⠀5️⃣ Enjoy the snacks when the meeting is finished⠀
⠀The kids actually loved it. Saying things that made me believe they had fun! Whoop whoop, that’s a win in the teacher column! ⠀⠀And my kids, who haven’t sat through a PowerPoint on parliamentary procedure did just as well IF NOT better than the years I’ve taught this traditionally with lecture! ⠀
Veterans Day Lesson
Veterans Day (from military.com)
I am a military daughter, sister and wife. Veterans extend from way up on my family tree to my parents (yes, plural all 4 of them) sister, brother in laws, and husband. So, I want to focus on that during class tomorrow.I created this VETERANS DAY WEBQUEST to look at how FFA and agriculture connect with the military in the PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE. Feel free to use it in your classroom. It is an editable document you just need to save it to your drive first. CLICK FILE, Click MAKE A COPY, then SAVE to your DRIVE!***Big thanks to Anna Bates from San Luis Obispo FFA for sharing the resources she had about FFA history which led me to this incredible blog from Dr. Moore a retired professor from NCSU. The blog, The Friday Footnote, focuses on sharing the history of rural American and agriculture education. Definitely worth a follow!***
Wonder Week
I wonder how I can implement inquiry into my classroom?I wonder what units I should make more student-centered learning?I wonder if inquiry-based learning is hard to teach?If you have asked those questions, I hear you. I took worry about straying away from what I know and into the unknown.But, if I could tell you that trying out inquiry-based learning could save you time lesson planning, encourage student ownership over learning and hit multiple teacher evaluation standards in one lesson, that's something you would be interested in, isn't it!Well, after talking about wonder week a lot on instagram I decided to make my thoughts more permanent than a 24-hour instastory.So, here you go! Below is the IGTV all about wonder week!Also, here is a link to my WONDER WEEK information sheet.I learned everything about Wonder Week from John Spencer, you can download some free lesson ideas about Wonder Week from him at this link.So, what are you waiting for?https://www.instagram.com/tv/B4GuTKTF0Y9/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
Germinate Virtual Conference: Winter Edition
After a VERY SUCCESSFUL GERMINATE Summer CONFERENCE with...Over 200 attendees, watched 20 sessions from 15 ag teachers from 10 different states!We are BACK for MORE!The next GERMINATE VIRTUAL CONFERENCE will beJANUARY 1-5, 202030 sessions, 26 speakers from 17 different states!Registration OPENS November 1!---WHY GERMINATE?I've sat through countless professional development sessions (haven't we all)?!I've presented countless professional development sessions, some good, some lackluster.I've sat through countless professional development days where I felt like NOTHING actually related to my classroom, my students, my pathway.So, I decided WE, the agriculture teachers ACROSS the nation needed something for US.I have been LUCKY to go to NAAE and National FFA Convention and learn from AMAZING agriculture teachers from other states. But, some school systems will not allow their teachers to attend conferences like that. How are they getting served? Are they sitting in PD sessions that don't relate?So why not invite the BEST of the BEST to create sessions for EMERGING agriculture teachers in the stuff we actually want to know about.....FFA, SAE and CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION!Thus, GERMINATE was born the summer of 2019!This virtual conference will be hosted ONLINE, with recorded sessions all with a TAKEAWAY (worksheet, PPT, lesson plan etc.) from some of the best ag teachers from Alaska to the U.S Virgin Islands and Maine to Hawaii and EVERYWHERE in between!Are you as excited as I am?Have questions? Contact me here!