Episodes

Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
Let’s Talk Boundaries
Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
The encouragement to set boundaries is becoming the norm in agricultural education, but that doesn't mean the boundaries come easily. Mike and Brian get the chance to grill Becky and her teammates Haley Traini (Oregon State University) and Aaron McKim (Michigan State University) as they discuss what boundary challenges for teachers might mean for the Ag Ed profession.
Journal article:
https://jae-online.org/index.php/jae/article/view/31

Tuesday Oct 17, 2023
Preparing Agricultural Leaders with Employability Skills
Tuesday Oct 17, 2023
Tuesday Oct 17, 2023
Students who know their career path believe their employability skills are better developed, but what about those who aren't so sure? Jean Parrella (Virginia Tech) joins Becky and Mike to talk about cultivating employability skills in our programs through community participation and cross-disciplinary experiences.
Journal Article:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1389224X.2023.2179086?src=

Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
Career & Psychosocial Support (2. Mentoring Mini-Series)
Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
Career support means providing career guidance, skill development, and sponsorship while psychosocial support focuses on psychological and emotional support and role modeling. Tune in as the OP team talks about how many we can do this for well and how we cultivate other mentors.

Tuesday Oct 03, 2023
Technical Skills to Teach Plant Science
Tuesday Oct 03, 2023
Tuesday Oct 03, 2023
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

Tuesday Sep 26, 2023
Best Practices for Mentoring Student Teachers
Tuesday Sep 26, 2023
Tuesday Sep 26, 2023
Cooperating teachers want to be a helpful resource to student teachers. Heather Nesbitt (University of Florida) and Debra Barry (University of Florida) help the Owl Pellets team dig in on organizational best practices for mentoring and closing the gap between demonstration and reflection.
Resources -
EDIS Series:

Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
Elements of the Student Teaching Experience
Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
Cooperating teacher and student-teacher relationships are one of the most important elements of the student-teaching experience. Dr. Peyton Sweet Moore (Georgia), Bradley Coleman (Oklahoma State University), Heather Young (University of Florida), J.C. Bunch (University of Florida), and Carla Jagger (University of Florida) join the Owl Pellets crew to talk more about the importance of communicating and navigating expectations set up success for the coop/student-teacher relationship.
Journal Article:
https://jae-online.org/index.php/jae/article/view/36/11

Tuesday Sep 12, 2023
Defining Mentoring (1. Mentoring Mini-Series)
Tuesday Sep 12, 2023
Tuesday Sep 12, 2023
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

Monday Jul 31, 2023
Teach Grand Challenges: Preparing Students for Biotechnology Careers
Monday Jul 31, 2023
Monday Jul 31, 2023
Grand challenges in this episode: Preparing Students for Biotechnology Careers
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
Julie Throne - Before teaching I had a 17 year career with the Georgia Department of Agriculture as an inspector. I have a 20 year career in teaching agriculture. Currently I teach Basic Agriscience and Technology, Horticulture/Plant Science, Nursery Landscape, Animal Science/Biotechnology, and Veterinary Science. In 2004 I participated in a plant tissue culture workshop which drew my attention to biotechnology. Since then I have participated in more training, added the principles of biotechnology into my lessons, coordinated workshops, collaborated with researchers, and have had extensive experience in the FFA Agriscience Fair and other science competitions. In my other life, my husband of 33 years and I have a 200 acre beef cattle and meat goat farm. We have three children that have all had experience in exhibiting livestock, FFA Career Development Events, leadership, and Agriscience Fair. I understand the relevance of staying current with information and technology from a producer’s perspective and an industry perspective, as well as how to utilize it to make our industry more productive.

Monday Jul 24, 2023
Teach Grand Challenges: The Dairy Dilemma
Monday Jul 24, 2023
Monday Jul 24, 2023
Grand challenge in this episode: The Dairy Dilemma
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
Catlin Goodwin is an Agriculture teacher at Granville Jr./Sr. High School in upstate New York. She earned her BS in Agricultural Education from Wilmington College in Ohio and her MS in Community Sustainability from Michigan State University. Catlin enjoys sharing her interest in the interconnected relationships throughout the agricultural systems with the students in her food science, plant science, and agricultural business classes.

Monday Jul 17, 2023
Teach Grand Challenges: Impacts of Youth Ag on Mental Health
Monday Jul 17, 2023
Monday Jul 17, 2023
Grand challenge in this episode: The Impacts of Youth Ag on Mental Health and Rehabilitation
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
Terra Eby is a fourth year teacher at Sussex Central High School in Georgetown, DE. Teaching comes to Terra as a second career. She previously worked in the agriculture community for five years before completing the alternate routes to teacher certification program.Terra grew up very involved in 4-H. She always knew that agriculture was her career of choice but was lost in knowing what her fit was. After teaching for three years, she can finally say that she has found her home in agriculture education. She is currently teaching Animal Science and enjoys getting students involved on their school farm. Terra believes there are many “Agfits” or outfits in agriculture. Her goal is to show students how they can fit in agriculture. When Terra is not teaching she enjoys running, going out on her and her husband’s boat and each season of life. Terra and her husband Daniel will be welcoming a baby boy in October 2022. She says that things will be a little more of a balancing act between family and work but they are excited for the challenges ahead.