Life Lessons

Posted on September 26, 2019 by

Continue working on your BIG Idea.  We’ll be finishing them and submitting in the next two weeks.

Leadership Development Events are rapidly approaching. No – the jobs have NOT been posted yet.  There are still other things you can be doing with respect to LDEs.

Next week, we will begin AgriScience Fair project determination, research and work.

It’s been, WOW, a LONG time (1980) since I graduated from high school!  I still remember the quote that our class chose as our motto.  “Far away there in the stars are my highest aspirations.  I may not reach them, but I can look up, see their beauty, believe in them, and try”.  I reflect on those words pretty frequently.

For today:

842

Do you recall where or how you first learned the lesson or read or heard the quote? How has this lesson or quote changed your thinking?  Has it been something that you have shared with anyone else that has a common goal?  Tell me all about it!

Your post is due Friday, September 27, 2019 at 8:15 a.m.

 

Posted in Prompts | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Just One Day

Posted on September 17, 2019 by

Which day would it be?  So may times people say _____________ was the best day of my life.  Thinking about moments that way makes me a bit sad.  If that was the “best day of my life” what have I got to look forward to?  Is it all downhill from there?  So – which day would you like to live over?  Would it be a day when things went well or would you like to take another stab at a day that maybe didn’t go so well?  What regrets do you have that you wish you could rectify? Is there a special person that you’d like to relive moments with? Tell me all about it!

Your post is due Wednesday, September 18, 2019 at 8:15 a.m.

Posted in Prompts | Leave a comment

Milk

Posted on September 10, 2019 by

This post will require YOU to do some research.  answer EACH question and provide the link for where you found the information after EACH question.  No Wikipedia!

How many types of “Milk” can you name?  What is the FDA definition of Milk?  Are there labeling laws that regulate what can be called and labeled as “Milk”?  When was the most recent time that milk labeling regulations were discussed?  What is the current status of milk labeling regulations?  Was their a comment period for labeling regulations?  What share of the “milk” market is taken by Almond, whole, skim, etc milk?  Which 3 plant based milks have the largest market share?  Choose 2 plant based milks and compare their nutritional labels to 1% cow’s milk.  Where might consumers run into trouble just picking up a container that says milk (of any type) and assuming all milk is created equal?  Have there been serious cases of health problems related to plant based milk?  Explain.

Your post is due Wednesday, September 11, 2019 at 8:15 a.m.

Posted in Prompts | Leave a comment

Personal Qualities

Posted on September 5, 2019 by

Keep working on your Concept Overview for the BIG Idea. Feel free to move on to other sections as well.

The Brat Feed will be Monday, September 16, 2019 between school and Coronation. We’ll need donations of individual bags of chips, wrapped bars, and bottled water.

FFA Dues are due September 17th!

We are still waiting on the state to post the Jobs for job interview as well as the products for Ag Sales.

What qualities in people make you crazy?  Is it dishonesty, lethargy, selfishness, indecisiveness?  Do people who are always happy and bubbly make you want to smack them? What about those who appear to always be trying out for the role of “Mr. Crabby Pants”?  How do you deal with these people or their personality qualities?

1363

Your post is due Friday, September 6, 2019 at 8:15 a.m.

Posted in Prompts | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

2019-20 Semester 1 Expectations

Posted on August 27, 2019 by


There is A LOT to read and understand here – please take your time working through this list!

Please – make a note of due dates!  These will sneak up on you and you’ll be scrambling to complete your work!

Maintain your blog and respond to prompts as assigned and by the due date. Use of correct punctuation, capitalization, grammar and spelling are required.

SAE records up to date using AET.  We’ll be working together to get our records punched in and up to date. Your Records will be a portion of your quarter grade.  Please work along with the rest of the class instead of waiting until the end of the quarter/semester!  We’ll get started as a class soon, but, you can get logged back in and get your summer recorded anytime you have your data together.  Don’t forget – if you are a “green industry” person – get your photos NOW and upload them.

**Optional – Apply for an SAE Grant – due date to be announced

Proficiency Applications:  We’ll be working through the application together, a little at a time.  Proficiency awards come with CASH prizes for first through third placings on the state level.  Our members could be very competitive in Proficiency awards, in the past, we brought home a couple thousand dollars thanks to proficiency awards.  This is one of the Officer Team’s goals for the year.  Proficiency apps will be completed online within AET.  The more thorough you are in recording things for your SAE, the easier the process will be.  Proficiency apps are due in late January – so we’ll start on them this fall.

AgriScience Fair – We’ll begin selecting projects and completing background research soon. For more information, check this site as well as this one.

Seniors (with three years or more of membership – counting this year) will  complete the State FFA Degree Application – due early-January 2020.  Some of you should consider completing the Star battery for either star in placement, agribusiness, agriscience or farmer.  The star battery requires quite a bit of writing and 6 photos  and captions (very similar questions to the proficiency apps), start early!  Our work on records in AET will help to streamline this process as the information will simply “fly” into the application which we will be completing online.

Complete the BIG Idea.  Your entry is due October 15, 2019

Prepare for Leadership CDEs – whether competing or not, everyone will complete at least the following prior to November 1, 2019:  Written materials will be due October 15, 2019.

Choose two or more from this list:

Rules for all Leadership CDEs are posted here.  Check the rules for the CDE you are working on.

Ag Sales Products, pricing and discounts have not been posted.  I’m guessing that they will be similar to these.

Job Interview/Employment Skills job descriptions .

Ag Communications Media Plan Scenario for this year will focus on meeting the marketing and advertising needs of a Commodity Group

  • Complete the letter of application and resume for the Employment Skills CDE.
  • Prepare for the Ag Broadcasting CDE.  Have three 30 second commercials for fictitious agricultural products written and memorized.  Develop an outline for a 4 minute broadcast complete with times for each section (markets, weather, news etc). New in the rules this year – your broadcast MUST include Markets!
  • Using the 2015 National Extemp Speaking Topic list, available HERE, collect and compile reference materials for each topic in preparation for the Extemp Speaking CDE.  (Print articles on the various topics and compile in a folder or notebook.)
  • Prepare a written manuscript for the prepared public speaking CDE – 6-8  minutes in length on an agricultural topic.  In your own words with a works cited/bibliography page.  No plagiarism!  Check the rules for proper formatting (MLA vs APA)
  • Form a team and complete all necessary product and presentation for the:
  • Ag Communications CDE (team of 4) Prompt for this year’s Media Plan will be linked above.
  • Prepare for the Ag Sales CDE – research the specified products, develop a portfolio of product information for your category.  Develop sales pitches for each of the  products in your category.  Search for and study Written tests
  • Market Plan CDE (team of 3)
  • Ag Issues (team of 7)

There are a lot of samples available on the national ffa website at ffa.org.  Go Online to this page. Then scroll to the CDE/LDE you are interested in, click that link. At the bottom of each CDE/LDE page there will be a blue tab labeled Event Resources. You’ll find old tests etc there.  There are also videos online that I can point you to of the top four teams/individuals in the nation in many of the LDEs.

Our District includes 11 chapters.  To advance to the State Leadership CDEs you must place in the top three individuals or top two teams. District Leadership CDEs will be held Monday, November 11th after school here at West Central.  Each Chapter may enter two individuals and one team in each CDE at the District Level.  We will attend preliminary CDEs at the Jackrabbit Invite November 7th.

These requirements and expectations are subject to change at the discretion of the instructor!

For today – after reading this document – tell me on your blog the following:

  1. What two LDEs you plan to work on
  2. What category you plan to enter for the AgriScience Fair – do you have an idea already?
  3. Which proficiency area or areas do you plan to apply in?
  4. How many people can be in a group for your BIG Idea?
  5. How much money is available in SAE grants? What is the due date for SAE grants? Are there age requirements for SAE grants? If so -what are they?

Your post is due Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at 8:15 a.m.

Posted in Prompts | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Summer Vacation!

Posted on August 26, 2019 by

Remember when you were in elementary school and one of the first things you did in class when you went back to school was an assignment on what you did on your summer vacation? Let’s talk (write) about that a bit today! I’m still helping a few people trouble shoot some issues with their WordPress site. Hopefully we’ll have those problems ironed out today!

So – what DID you do with your 12 glorious weeks of summer vacation? What did you do, where did you go, who were you with…..AND what did you learn?

I mowed, planted trees, built fence, put down landscape fabric, sprayed weeds, canned peaches, worked at the Threshing Show, set up my classroom, etc. To me, summer is about the time for travel, a lot of travel! The word vacation is fairly synonymous with travel – California, Florida, Nashville, Reno, Atlanta, even Ontario, Canada.

I learned a great deal about all of the places we drove through. I enjoyed some great time on the beach and amazing food everywhere we went. I learned that Canada Day has morphed into Canada Week – evidently, a lot of folks from the US travel to Ontario to celebrate. Who Knew!? It took us 4 hours to go the last 8 miles to get across the bridge and back into the United States at Port Huron, MI. I would not recommend Sunday afternoon at the end of Canada Week to try to quickly get back home! I learned that licensing vehicles in Canada seems to be much more relaxed than here in the US. We attended a car auction where many vehicles were sold without a “VIN” and or a title!

I learned that someone was forward thinking enough with the goal of drawing tourists to a resort town on the Colorado River in Arizona that he arranged to buy the actual London Bridge, have it taken down, all the pieces numbered and identified, and then shipped to the Arizona dessert and erected in a town called Lake Havasu City! Don’t believe me – look it up!

Remember when you are posting – this is a school assignment – be sure that what you write about is school appropriate! Please, don’t incriminate yourself or your friends by telling me things you shouldn’t! Food for thought!

Your post is due Tuesday, August 27, 2019 at 8:15 a.m.

Posted in Prompts | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

First Post – A Successful Life

Posted on August 23, 2019 by

Refer to this post if you need a refresher course on how to create and publish a post.

Before we dig right in, let’s take a look at what I’m expecting you to be completing when it comes to blog posts.

danger1.png

Let’s compare three blog posts from the same prompt:

This was the prompt: What’s one opportunity you have now that you have not taken?  Is it the ability to try something new, take an online or college class, go out for a team/club/activity?  Or is it something less concrete? Tell me all about it.  What’s been holding you back from stepping through the door that opportunity is presenting you?

First post

“i wish i had gone out for foot ball”

Second post

“one oppertunity i had that i didn’t take was National Honors Society.  i shoulda done it my junior year, this year it woulda been pointless tho cuz i wouldn’t have been able to use it on any scholarships.  last year I was 2 lazy to fill out the paperwork is why I din’t do it.  at least I didn’t have to be in the NHS SRB though.”

Third post

“I am incredibly fortunate to have really supportive parents. They have let me do anything and everything that I have wanted to try (with the exception of Girl Scouts) in my entire life. From ballet and gymnastics to FFA and soccer they have always been on the sidelines cheering as loud as they could. The fact that they are always there is amazing considering the fact that they both wish that my main focus would involve the 4 legged creature living in the barn. The opportunities that I have to excel in rodeo and 4-H are endless. My parents would be 100% willing to pay hundreds of dollars for clinics and new equipment. However, I haven’t really taken advantage of the opportunity. I absolutely love riding, and competing but I have always known that I wouldn’t compete in college or anything like that. If there was an way that I could spend as much time with my horse as I do for soccer I would love it, but it’s simply not possible. Nevertheless I hope to be involved in the equine world forever, I couldn’t imagine my life without it.”

In comparing these posts you’ll notice one is too short and didn’t really answer most of the questions. The second is also very brief and has several spelling or grammatical errors.  The other is a bit more thoughtful and explains what the writer is talking about in greater detail.  The second writer also makes fewer grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors.

Let this serve as a reminder that I’m not asking you to do brain surgery here, but I am expecting you to put forth some effort!  I realize that on some posts you simply won’t have as much to say as on others.  That’s OK.

Follow the directions on this post for accessing your “Dashboard” and creating and publishing a post.

For today:

What are the components of a successful life? What things do you think make your life successful? Are your components material things Or are they more spiritual or less concrete? Think of someone you feel is successful, why do you think they are successful? What things have they done to achieve success? How can you set yourself up for success?

Your post is due August 26, 2018 by 8:15 a.m.

Posted in Prompts | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

2019-20 Ag Leadership

Posted on August 22, 2019 by

Here are a few rules that we’ll need to follow:

1.  For student blogs we will be using WordPress. WordPress is very user friendly and as you get more comfortable you can change and edit things so the design and style fits your preferences.

WordPress has a great, easy to follow tutorial for setting up your blog.

Styling your blog in WordPress becomes a game of learning to read code; some themes are more user friendly than others!  I recommend starting with the default theme Twenty Ten.  You will be able to add your own graphics and changes colors. Also, you can change the theme as you become more comfortable with it

2.  Your blog may not contain your entire first and last name.  Only first names or an appropriate nickname.  Your blog url and title will be something like this:myblog.wordpress.com

3.  All graphics must be school and FFA appropriate.  No scantilly clad young men or women.  If in doubt, ask!

4.  Any music associated with your blog must also be school and FFA appropriate.

5.  When posting to your blog, keep in mind that your blog is a reflection of you, your family, your school, our FFA Chapter and your FFA Advisor.  Once it’s out on the web, it’s really hard to take it back!  Keep all language appropriate, use spell and grammar check! If you are talking about a specific person (or classmate), don’t use that person’s real name.

Let’s begin by going to http://wordpress.com

Screen Shot 2014-07-28 at 9.57.14 AM

2.  Your blog may not contain your entire first and last name.  Only first names or an appropriate nickname.  Many students in the past have used their school email login, for example – lp3456.Your blog url and title will be something like this: myblog.wordpress.com  If you enter a name or slug that is already in use you will get a screen something like this:

Screen Shot 2014-07-28 at 10.01.08 AM

When you find a combination that works – WooHoo, you’ll get a screen like this:

Choose a username and password and enter them in the appropriate blanks.  The default username will be the slug you came up with .  You can change your user name later if you need or want to.  

Enter your school e mail address:  

Be sure to select English in the pull down menu and click “Create Blog” Choose the Free option!  

An e mail will be sent to the e mail address you entered.  

Click on the link within the e mail you received.

We’ll get back to blog set up in a minute.  Be sure to book mark the dashboard page!  You will be using it again!

Before I totally turn you loose.  Make note of these things:

Your blog url and the login url, something like this: myblog.wordpress.com/wp-login.php

Write down your user name and password!

When you need help, please ask.

Send me an email with a link to your blog (myblog.wordpress.com)

Happy Blogging!

Posted in Prompts | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Block vs Traditional

Posted on May 17, 2019 by

Now that you’ve almost completed an entire year under a traditional, seven period day, how do you feel about it? What things did you like or do you miss about block scheduling? What things are you glad we no longer have because of the traditional schedule? Has the schedule change made a difference in your homework habits? If so, how? Do you feel like you had more homework under the block or traditional schedule? Has the change affected the number of missing assignments you have? Why or why not? If you had the power to make the decisions, which schedule would you recommend and why? Tell me all about it. What would it include and why? How long would classes be, would they meet every day, etc.

Your post is due Monday, May 20, 2019 at 8:15 a.m.

Posted in Prompts | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Greatest Accomplishment

Posted on May 10, 2019 by

What’s been your greatest accomplishment in life so far? Were you surprised that you achieved whatever it was that you did? What did you do to work toward the achievement of this goal? Now that you’ve done this great thing, what’s next? What other goals have you set to push yourself to achieve even more? What steps will you take to achieve your next goals?

Your post is due Monday, May 13, 2019 at 8:15 a.m.

Posted in Prompts | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment