Choose from more than 80 professional NAAE professional development workshops at this year's convention to improve your teaching, your program, and your chapter.
Download a complete list of workshops being offered at the 2009 NAAE Convention
Here are a few of our favorite titles - but these are just a drop in the bucket!
Grow Our Agricultural Leaders –An Online Course for Students Interested in Teaching Ag
Wednesday, November 18 - Session II: 3:15 – 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 19 - Session III: 3:15 – 4:15 p.m.
Luke Beam, Burns High School, Lawndale, NC
Ever have a student tell you they want to be an agriculture teacher? Wish you had a course at your school they could take to learn what being an agriculture teacher is all about? Come to this workshop and learn about a new online course you can offer at your school called GOAL. Start growing your own agriculture teachers while they are still in high school! This course will also help to enhance or possibly create a student-driven PALS or Food For America program for your ag program.
Ideas for Adding Precision Agriculture Technology to Your Classroom
Wednesday, November 18 - Session II: 3:15 – 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 19 - Session II: 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Dr. Carmel Miller, Bismarck State College, Bismarck, ND
Whether your budget allows for only a basic GPS handheld or the full gamut of GPS/GIS tools, you can teach precision agriculture! This workshop will highlight classroom, lab and field experiences in precision agriculture technology. Resources and GPS/GIS activities designed for secondary and post secondary instructors will be showcased. Participants will learn how to explain the basic concepts and benefits of precision agriculture and at the same time incorporate more technology into thier curriculum.
Ready to Use Exploratory Biotechnology Curriculum
Thursday, November 19 - Session I: 12:45 – 1:45 p.m.
Friday, November 20 - Session III: 1:15 – 2:15 p.m.
Lisa Konkel and Rick Henningfeld, Big Foot High School, Walworth, WI
Agriculture education is hands-on learning and so will be this workshop. Come either to explore this lab oriented curriculum or reinforce your current biotechnology knowledge. Content will include material on basic genetic knowledge, recombinant DNA, plant tissue culturing, and using bacteria and viruses in genetic engineering. This curriculum has ready to use handouts, assignments, quizzes, tests, etc. and all with the answer keys. The labs offer alternatives for easy to acquire materials and require little prep time. This curriculum fits perfectly into an exploratory course. Come find out how easy biotechnology can be in your classroom!
Navigating the Unknown: How to Properly Use and Maintain School Greenhouses
Thursday, November 19 - Session III: 3:15 – 4:15 p.m.
Friday, November 20 - Session III: 1:15 – 2:15 p.m.
James Young and Andy McNitt, Hummert International, Earth City, MO
Imagine that you have just bought the vehicle of your dreams. Wouldn’t you want to take care of it and give it the necessary maintenance to make your investment last? Your greenhouse is an investment to your ag program and they can be very intimidating and confusing. There are so many controls and so many ideas on how things should be done. But proper maintenance and knowing how to read and use the controls will save you a lot of time and money. Attend this workshop to discover the proper use of greenhouse controls and how greenhouse maintenance can be completed to make your greenhouse run at peak capacity.
Teaching Robotics in Agriculture in the Ag Ed Classroom
Friday, November 20 - Session V: 3:45 – 4:45 p.m.
Saturday, November 21 - Session II: 9:15 – 10:15 a.m.
Dan Swafford, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
A hands-on workshop showing teachers how they can use Lego Mindstorms to teach Robotics in Agriculture. Teachers will learn the history and recent developments in robotic agriculture. All teachers will get the chance to build and program a scale model robotic tractor using legos. Teachers will also learn how to use legos to teach ag. mechanics concepts such as gear ratios and transmissions. Finally, workshop participatants will compete in a robotic tractor pull.
Hey! There’s SCIENCE in my YOGURT!
Thursday, November 19 - Session II: 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Friday, November 20 - Session V: 3:45 – 4:45 p.m.
Jennifer Moore, Zane Trace High School, Chillicothe, OH
Have you ever wished for a fun, engaging lesson to teach students the principles of life science? Try making yogurt! We all know that high school students love to eat and producing yougurt in class can help them satisfy their stomachs and learn how microorganisms affect our foods at the same time.
This is just a sampling - Download a complete list of workshops being offered at the 2009 NAAE Convention
