Agricultural Education, School and Society

Lesson 2:	Roles and Responsibilities of Agriculture Teachers
Introduction:	In a 1960 era television show, Gomer Pyle, was fond of using the phrase, "Surprise, Surprise." Many individuals who want to become agriculture teacher are surprised to learn that teaching is hard work involving lots of hours. The average agriculture teacher works between 5-10 hours more a week than other teachers and has a myriad or responsibilities. It is a given that a teacher of agriculture teaches classes and it takes a good bit of time to prepare for and teach classes. Like all teachers, agriculture teachers also do bus duty, take tickets at ball games, monitor the cafeteria, etc. However, the job of the agriculture teacher is unique in that are also expectations related to advising the FFA and supervising student SAE programs. In this lesson we will focus on the roles and responsibilities that are somewhat unique to agriculture teachers.
Learning Objectives:	Upon completion of this lesson the learner should be able to: Describe the various roles expected of agriculture teachers. Identify specific job responsibilities of agriculture teachers. Discuss the rewards of being an agriculture teacher. Determine whether there is a shortage or surplus of agriculture teachers.
Instructional Activities:	How much do you know about the role of the agriculture teacher? Take the agriculture teacher pretest to find out. View the PowerPoint presentation on Roles of the Agriculture Teacher. Read "Why Teach Agriculture" by Gary Moore from the March/April 2008 Issue of The Agricultural Education Magazine. Also read "The Agricultural Education Life" by John Ricketts from the same publication. The National FFA has a Q&A sheet about teaching agriculture. Agriculture teachers are expected to supervise the SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) programs of students and advise the FFA. A later lesson will go more in depth on these two topic. Please click on the highlighted links to get a quick overview of each for now. Making a Difference is the title of the FFA publication designed for agriculture teachers. The January 2004 issue does a good job of explaining the relationship of classroom instruction, FFA and SAE. Please read this issue of Making a Difference to get a better understanding of the responsibilities of the agriculture teacher. Is there a surplus or shortage of agriculture teachers? The profession has been conducting research on this issue for over 30 years. Go to the American Association for Agricultural Education web site to see the latest Supply and Demand Study. Some of the charts showing the historical trends may be interesting. You can learn more about the supply and demand across the nation and in your state from this web site. Your first and foremost duty as a teacher is to teach. Hopefully, you will be an effective teacher. Read the following chapter from Teachers, Schools and Society (Sadker & Sadker): 5th edition: Chapter 3 Teacher Effectiveness 6th edition: Chapter 3 Teacher Effectiveness 7th edition: Chapter 3 Teacher Effectiveness 8th edition: Chapter 11 Teacher Effectiveness
Lagniappe:	You might enjoy looking at some of the education related cartoons at http://www.danscartoons.com/education_cartoons.htm.
Review:	After you read the chapter in the text go to the following site and see how much you learned. http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072877723/student_view0/chapter3/multiple_choice_quiz.html
Assignment:	Go to http://www.quotegarden.com/teachers.html or http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/quotes.htm and find a quote that you like about teaching or teachers. Then send an e-mail message to the rest of the class with the quote and tell the class why you like it.

Lesson 2:

Roles and Responsibilities of Agriculture Teachers

Introduction:

In a 1960 era television show, Gomer Pyle, was fond of using the phrase, "Surprise, Surprise." Many individuals who want to become agriculture teacher are surprised to learn that teaching is hard work involving lots of hours. The average agriculture teacher works between 5-10 hours more a week than other teachers and has a myriad or responsibilities. It is a given that a teacher of agriculture teaches classes and it takes a good bit of time to prepare for and teach classes. Like all teachers, agriculture teachers also do bus duty, take tickets at ball games, monitor the cafeteria, etc. However, the job of the agriculture teacher is unique in that are also expectations related to advising the FFA and supervising student SAE programs. In this lesson we will focus on the roles and responsibilities that are somewhat unique to agriculture teachers.

Learning Objectives:
Graphic of a Road Sign

Upon completion of this lesson the learner should be able to:

Describe the various roles expected of agriculture teachers.
Identify specific job responsibilities of agriculture teachers.
Discuss the rewards of being an agriculture teacher.
Determine whether there is a shortage or surplus of agriculture teachers.

Instructional
Activities:

How much do you know about the role of the agriculture teacher? Take the agriculture teacher pretest to find out.

View the PowerPoint presentation on Roles of the Agriculture Teacher.

Read "Why Teach Agriculture" by Gary Moore from the March/April 2008 Issue of The Agricultural Education Magazine. Also read "The Agricultural Education Life" by John Ricketts from the same publication.

The National FFA has a Q&A sheet about teaching agriculture.

Agriculture teachers are expected to supervise the SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) programs of students and advise the FFA. A later lesson will go more in depth on these two topic. Please click on the highlighted links to get a quick overview of each for now.

Making a Difference is the title of the FFA publication designed for agriculture teachers. The January 2004 issue does a good job of explaining the relationship of classroom instruction, FFA and SAE. Please read this issue of Making a Difference to get a better understanding of the responsibilities of the agriculture teacher.

Is there a surplus or shortage of agriculture teachers? The profession has been conducting research on this issue for over 30 years. Go to the American Association for Agricultural Education web site to see the latest Supply and Demand Study. Some of the charts showing the historical trends may be interesting. You can learn more about the supply and demand across the nation and in your state from this web site.

Your first and foremost duty as a teacher is to teach. Hopefully, you will be an effective teacher. Read the following chapter from Teachers, Schools and Society (Sadker & Sadker):

5th edition: Chapter 3 Teacher Effectiveness
6th edition: Chapter 3 Teacher Effectiveness
7th edition: Chapter 3 Teacher Effectiveness
8th edition: Chapter 11 Teacher Effectiveness

Lagniappe:

You might enjoy looking at some of the education related cartoons at http://www.danscartoons.com/education_cartoons.htm.

Review:

After you read the chapter in the text go to the following site and see how much you learned. http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072877723/student_view0/chapter3/multiple_choice_quiz.html

Assignment:

Go to http://www.quotegarden.com/teachers.html or http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/quotes.htm and find a quote that you like about teaching or teachers. Then send an e-mail message to the rest of the class with the quote and tell the class why you like it.