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Practical tips for your ag classroom and interesting information to incorporate in your teaching. Quick and easy resources for you to read, or “pellets” of information.
Episodes
Friday Jun 16, 2023
Friday Jun 16, 2023
Grand challenge in this episode: The Urban Heat Island Effect
About the Challenge
The purpose of this project is to leverage a preexisting online professional development resource and its large following of SBA educators to create a more effective model of professional development where teachers engage in immersive experiences in agriculture, capture those experiences via the formats already used by Owl Pellets, and share them with their peers to develop an ever-growing community of practice around grand agricultural challenges founds within teachers’ local communities and FANH careers. One of the primary goals of this project is to re-engage SBA educators in the challenges, technology, and work of their local agricultural community – making grand challenges local.
Visit the Teach Grand Challenges website.
About the Guest
Ashlee Gardner was born and raised in the great state of Texas, where she currently resides in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She earned a Master of Science in Biology from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Tyler.
She is a former high school agriculture science teacher with Dallas ISD, where her school focused on urban agriculture and environmental sustainability. She is now a healthy living research specialist with the Institute of Advancing Health through Agriculture at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Center in Dallas.
Her research interests include project-based learning and informal STEM learning. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and trying new foods!
Friday Jun 09, 2023
Friday Jun 09, 2023
Grand challenge in this episode: Invasive Species - The Ultimate Challenger
About the Challenge
The purpose of this project is to leverage a preexisting online professional development resource and its large following of SBA educators to create a more effective model of professional development where teachers engage in immersive experiences in agriculture, capture those experiences via the formats already used by Owl Pellets, and share them with their peers to develop an ever-growing community of practice around grand agricultural challenges founds within teachers’ local communities and FANH careers. One of the primary goals of this project is to re-engage SBA educators in the challenges, technology, and work of their local agricultural community – making grand challenges local.
Visit the Teach Grand Challenges website.
About the Guest
Melanie Berndtson is a 15 year Agriscience teacher from Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. She teaches in a single teacher department with courses including animal science, plant science, natural resource management, environmental science, introduction to agriscience, and leadership courses. She teaches 100 students a year and directs the Grand Canyon FFA chapter. Melanie is passionate about curriculum development and has worked on several projects creating new educational materials in the small animal science field. She enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband Greg and her beagles Sonny and Ivan when she is not teaching.
Saturday May 20, 2023
Saturday May 20, 2023
Grand challenge in this episode: Investigating Sustainable Practices in Agriculture, Food and the Environment
About the Challenge
The purpose of this project is to leverage a preexisting online professional development resource and its large following of SBA educators to create a more effective model of professional development where teachers engage in immersive experiences in agriculture, capture those experiences via the formats already used by Owl Pellets, and share them with their peers to develop an ever-growing community of practice around grand agricultural challenges founds within teachers’ local communities and FANH careers. One of the primary goals of this project is to re-engage SBA educators in the challenges, technology, and work of their local agricultural community – making grand challenges local.
Visit the Teach Grand Challenges website.
About the Guest
Joe Ramstad grew up in Forest Lake, Minnesota just north of the Twin Cities metro without any farm or direct agricultural experiences but took his first agricultural education course as a freshman and was instantly hooked! His experiences in high school inspired him to become an agricultural education teacher. He earned his undergraduate degrees in Agricultural Education and Agricultural Communication & Marketing from the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities and graduated in 2019. Since then, he has been teaching agricultural education to students in grades 5 through 12, engaging them in a variety of courses ranging from advanced welding to veterinary science. He is also currently working on his Masters of Science in Agricultural Education and Communication from the University of Florida. Sustainability is a cornerstone discussion topic that finds its way into nearly every class Joe teaches. Outside of teaching, Joe enjoys being outdoors, grilling foods and traveling!
Saturday May 13, 2023
Saturday May 13, 2023
Grand challenge in this episode: Food Banks
About the Challenge
The purpose of this project is to leverage a preexisting online professional development resource and its large following of SBA educators to create a more effective model of professional development where teachers engage in immersive experiences in agriculture, capture those experiences via the formats already used by Owl Pellets, and share them with their peers to develop an ever-growing community of practice around grand agricultural challenges founds within teachers’ local communities and FANH careers. One of the primary goals of this project is to re-engage SBA educators in the challenges, technology, and work of their local agricultural community – making grand challenges local.
Visit the Teach Grand Challenges website.
About the Guest
Lindsey Garner completed a Bachelor of Science from Michigan State University in Environmental Studies and Agriscience in 2015 and then completed a Master of Arts Degree from Michigan State University in Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Education in 2020.
Lindsey started her journey as an agriculture, food and natural resource teacher in Michigan in 2016. She currently teaches at an urban career and technical center where she sees the impact of food inequity everyday with her own students and wanted to develop teaching resources for those who wondered where all of their donated foods came from to help raise awareness of those who go hungry.
Friday May 05, 2023
Friday May 05, 2023
Grand challenge in this episode: Solving the Agriculture Labor Shortage
About the Challenge
The purpose of this project is to leverage a preexisting online professional development resource and its large following of SBA educators to create a more effective model of professional development where teachers engage in immersive experiences in agriculture, capture those experiences via the formats already used by Owl Pellets, and share them with their peers to develop an ever-growing community of practice around grand agricultural challenges founds within teachers’ local communities and FANH careers. One of the primary goals of this project is to re-engage SBA educators in the challenges, technology, and work of their local agricultural community – making grand challenges local.
Visit the Teach Grand Challenges website.
About the Guests
Ethan Dado is a fourth year agriculture, food, and natural resources (AFNR) educator and FFA advisor in Mankato, MN. Dado’s first year of teaching was also the recreation of the Mankato AFNR and FFA programming. Since the program’s inception, Dado has led the program from 40 to over 350 students and the program has been recognized at the local and state level. Dado has been selected as the Minnesota Association of Career and Technical Education Administrators, “Teacher of the Year” as well as the Minnesota Association of Agricultural Educators, “Teacher Turn the Key” recipient. Outside of teaching, Dado enjoys traveling, hiking, volleyball, and spending time with his family and friends.
Friday Apr 28, 2023
Friday Apr 28, 2023
Grand challenges in this episode: Beef Cattle Awareness and Food Inequity
About the Challenge
The purpose of this project is to leverage a preexisting online professional development resource and its large following of SBA educators to create a more effective model of professional development where teachers engage in immersive experiences in agriculture, capture those experiences via the formats already used by Owl Pellets, and share them with their peers to develop an ever-growing community of practice around grand agricultural challenges founds within teachers’ local communities and FANH careers. One of the primary goals of this project is to re-engage SBA educators in the challenges, technology, and work of their local agricultural community – making grand challenges local.
Visit the Teach Grand Challenges website.
About the Guests
Lacie Darnell is an agricultural education teacher at Norwich High School in Norwich, Kansas. Lacie has been an agricultural educator for the last eight years, with experience in southwest and south central Kansas. Lacie grew up in a small town, in which her family owned a large beef operation outside of Anthony, Kansas. From a young age, Lacie learned to love and appreciate the ranching lifestyle and has many fond memories of the farm in her childhood. From there, Lacie began being active in FFA which led her to her career in agricultural education. Her passions include agriculture awareness, specifically with animal agriculture, as well as plant and soil systems. Outside of teaching, she enjoys spending time with her fiancé, step daughter, dogs, gardening/landscaping, and attending sporting events.
Dr. Tiffany G. Morey is an agricultural educator and change agent from New Jersey. She holds a B.S. in Animal Science from Rutgers University-Cook College, an M.Ed. in Agricultural Education from the Rutgers University Graduate School of Education, and a PhD in Agricultural and Extension Education from The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Morey has a passion for educating others on where their food comes from, exploring ways to provide people with locally grown produce to create healthier and more nutritious meals, and helping to solve food accessibility, equality, and equity issues in her community. In her spare time, she enjoys riding her horse, volunteering at a therapeutic horseback riding program, running, cooking, and spending time with her family.
Friday Apr 21, 2023
Friday Apr 21, 2023
The Owl Pellets crew chats about learning across the lifespan in the final episode of the How People Learn series.
Friday Apr 14, 2023
Friday Apr 14, 2023
The Owl Pellets crew discusses a new take of motivation in this episode of the How People Learn series.
Friday Apr 07, 2023
Friday Apr 07, 2023
In this episode, we hear from Deer Park High School agriculture teacher Savannah Schroeder and Texas A&M's Peng Lu and Matt Baker about a study using eye-tracking technology to learn about the use of metacognitive strategy and reading.
- SQ5R (Scan, Question, Read, Respond, Recite, Record, Review) is a strategy to support reading comprehension
- It works by supporting information transfer from short term memory to long term memory
- Patience is key. Learning doesn’t happen by magic bullets and quick fixes. Give it time!
Friday Mar 31, 2023
Friday Mar 31, 2023
In this episode, Oklahoma State's Courtney Brown and Lauren Cline join the Owl Pellets crew to discuss shifting the conversation about what diversity brings to agriculture.
- Students left a course about African Americans in agriculture feeling empowered, able to connect, knowledgeable, ready to engage in hard conversations, and curious
- Nervous about entering this conversation? Start with your own education! Check out the Legacy of the New Farmers of America or Crucial Conversations. Think about how you can shift your perspective rather than leaning in closer to what you already know to learn more.
- Much of the conversation about what diversity brings to agriculture focuses on efficiency and production. Let’s shift the conversation to value the people and their human dignity.