Today we heard from Mr. Charlie Bennett from the Mineral
County Technical Center in Keyser, West Virginia. He gave a fantastic
presentation on inclusion and allowed everyone to test out their inclusion strategies
through scenarios. Thank you everyone for the great questions and class discussion!
What are you curious about?
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Being a student teacher in West Virginia.
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Talk to Dr. Foster about this opportunity!
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Teaching urban agriculture.
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To hear from the COO of National FFA
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Mr. Josh Bledshoe will be with us on Tuesday,
October 7th!
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Tactics to better include all students.
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Hopefully from today’s lecture you have learned
some of the strategies to include all students. It is important for you to come
up with your own ways as well.
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Scenario #3 from the handout that Mr. Bennett
gave the class.
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There are a number of ways that this situation
can best be handled. It is important that you come to a conclusion on your own
as there is no definite right or wrong answer.
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Inclusion policies, tactics and their uses.
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School districts differ in their policies which
makes it hard to touch on the inclusion policies. Tactics that could be used in
agricultural education were discussed in class and could include doing home
visits for all students in your classrooms.
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Scenario #2 from the handout: If members of the faculty
are your superiors, how do you discuss this issue with your superiors f they
hold a bias.
o
Again there are a number of ways that this
situation can be handled. One option could be discuss the issue with a faculty
member who is not personally involved in the situation or go to the district
office and discuss it with them.
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Setting up home visits.
o
This would require both student and parent
cooperation. The best way to first go about a home visit would probably be
contact the parents directly and explain to them the reason behind doing a home
visit and why it would be beneficial to their student. Then set up a time that would
be best for the parent, child and yourself.
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Point system for practicing CDE Events.
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Point systems can vary for event but can be set
up as the following example:
§
4 positions are available on the dairy judging
team, there are 6 members signed up for the event. Every Thursday morning for
two weeks before the contest there will be practices held for students.
Students get 10 points for attending each practice. At each practice there will
be a practice exam and one class of judging to be completed for a score, each
exam will be worth a possible 20 points, each judging score will be worth a
total of 10 points. By the end of the two weeks the top four students will be
placed on the team. This ensures that only students who are actively studying
and wanting to participate are getting a spot on the team and gives everyone a
fair chance.
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Is there a simple guide/ book that helps explain
legalities and documentation?
o
I do not believe there is one specific book or
guide that explains all the legalities and documentation needed for teaching agriculture
at the high school level. The best practice would be talk to other agricultural
educators, the district office, principle, and other teachers within your
school to determine what is the best practices to be used for your specific
situation.
What did you learn?
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I learned that teachers need to be careful about
what they say and do.
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Addressing inclusion in the classroom.
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Strategies for picking students for events/ activities
when the numbers of available spots are limited.
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I learned more about those in my pods through
their poems.
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The importance of formal communication with
parents, students, and administrators.
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There are currently four job openings in West
Virginia.
What do you want to learn more about?
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Mr. Charlie Bennett’s ag program.
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This is the link to the Mineral County Technical
Center where Mr. Bennett teaches:
http://mctc.mine.tec.wv.us/index.htm
. Under that link there are numerous side tabs containing information about the
school and the different opportunities students have. If interested in seeing
the program requirements for Mr. Bennett’s classes, view the tab titled Program
Requirements.
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How to start an ag program at a high school.
o
Starting an ag program will require community,
administration, and student support before it can begin. For more information
on starting an ag program at a specific high school talk to Dr. Foster.
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I want to learn more about being an inclusive
educator in various environments beyond the classroom.
o
Talk to other agricultural educators about their
experiences and what they found works best. The best knowledge can come from
personal experiences as well.
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CDE’s and the CDE Success Plan
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CDE’s ( Career Development Events) and the CDE
Success Plan will be discussed in further detail on Tuesday, October 14th.
Also if you have any questions please feel free to contact Valerie.
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Ways to talk to administrators about sticky
situations.
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It is important to have a working relationship
with administrators. Do not just go to administrators when there is a problem
in your program but rather go visit your administrators when there is something
exciting to report from the program. Administrators look forward to hearing the
positives coming from programs in their school and it creates a positive
relationship between you and your administrator so when sticky situations do
come up, both parties feel comfortable discussing it with each other.
o
Teaching styles are discussed in later AEE
programs, but also it could be beneficial to job shadow different agricultural
educators to see how they approach teaching.
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Are there any National FFA Programs that help
promote inclusion?
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Where to find school district rules and
policies.
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School district rules and policies should be
available upon request from the district office of that specific school. They
also should be available in the office of every school in that district as
well.
