Monthly Archives: February 2016

Creating a lesson plan can be easy and difficult at the same time. Having passion for your content and strategies of how you may want to teach can be tricky also.  During the course we were allowed to review and create a revision of a syllabus for a course we would like to teach based on our interests.  Upon creating my lesson plan for a unit out of course (AEE 311), I first took the time to plan out my lesson objectives.  I wanted to take a brainstorm of how I wanted the students to learn and be able to do at the end of the class.  I pointed out the topic of the lesson, students learning preference, and what I want them to take away after the 50 minutes of instruction.  Secondly, I focused my attention on the instructional procedures. How will I gain students attention?  How will I recall their prior relevant information?  How will I present new material?  How will I elicit performance? How will I assess performance? Lastly, how will I enhance retention?  These questions I was able to point out 2/3 explanations/themes to follow as I conduct the teaching lesson that day. Thirdly, I created the general content and time for the class by listing the content/lecture point and time period to be able to stay on pace.  I included a section for material needed, and announcements that could be talked about at the beginning or end of the lesson.  Lastly, I included and planned to develop a conclusion and talking points for the next session. Something I also created in my plan was a middle note section for added points or notes going forward.  I feel that a lesson plan may not work as we can expect it to be, but we must not get to hard on ourselves and just make adjustments as you go and this teaching guide/tool will enhance our learning and experience to make the best better in teaching. THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!

Upon setting up this blog, one of my visions was to push more resources through this online tool for followers and myself and in the field.  Something that I have stumbled across was an opportunity to apply for a grant to allocate funding to land-grant university extension services for community-based programs for at-risk children and their families.More information about this grant will be found on http://nifa.usda.gov/program/children-youth-and-families-risk-cyfar-grant-program  

Syllabus are a great learning contract going forward for the instructor and for students. During the course we were allowed to review a syllabus of interest based on our teaching interests. This was very exciting and great experience on some concepts already gathered from weeks 1-4. I chose to review the course syllabus from AEE 311 Section:002. Upon reviewing the course, the course content and expectations are specific but could be better written for an undergraduate audience.  The syllabus did provide detailed explanations of grading, contact information for course instructor, required course materials, academic integrity statement, disability statement, attendance, course schedule and requirements, and teaching methods and communication. However, upon continuing to review I noticed the syllabus could have better use of technological approaches or strategies to engage the student and instructor more. In addition, based on experience and practice with creating more in depth and objectives using performance, conditions, and criterion I could revise this syllabus more matching some of the teaching methods and assignments already listed.  I even revised the format, objectives, communication strategies, expectations, and assignment page to have it more readable for the students. I think that the rationale for this assignment was to engage the students in this course a hands on experience to focus on the essential elements and components of the formation and synopsis of a course syllabus. I took alot out of this assignment going forward in my career in the agricultural teaching system. Additional resources and points on what syllabus should have can be found at http://afbh.uaa.alaska.edu/CafeModules/Syllabus.htm

Instead, the youth and their adult allies — the majority of whom were African-American or Latino and from more marginalized communities — were looking at food through a justice lens. To them, the lack of access to nutritious offerings in their communities wasn’t something that “just so happened.” It was a by-product of the injustices they saw as inherent in an increasingly globalized food system and exacerbated by being set within a context of deeply entrenched socio-economic inequalities. Their work in food, therefore, tends to promote individual and community empowerment through the creation of a healthier environment (physically and spiritually), inclusive economic development, the reclaiming of blighted and abandoned lands for cultivation, the celebration of culturally-affirming farming practices and foods, increased access to leadership training and education, and/or the enhancement of food security through greater self-sufficiency. More information at http://la.streetsblog.org/2013/07/31/got-justice-observations-on-a-food-justice-youth-summit-and-food-as-a-means-to-youth-and-community-empowerment/ 

According to U.S. Census Bureau county population estimates taken in 2005, “racial and ethnic minorities now make up 19 percent of nonmetro residents and are geographically dispersed throughout the Nation.” Overview, reports and data about critical demographic and economic trends and characteristics of rural minority residents.page7

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