#TeachAgGenius, Penn State students raising the bar on innovation

Dr. Foster and many Ag Ed Students participated in
the first Teach Ag Genius Hour!

On Wednesday, October 8th, the first ever Teach Ag Genius Hour was held with the members of #psuaged15! The pre-service teachers were challenged to come to the group with innovations or ideas about education. The ideas were presented by students then followed up with open conversation allowing other classmates, professors and visitors to share their ideas and "geek" out on the topics!

The 2015 student teachers presented a wide range of topics including how to use Instagram in the classroom, the importance of elementary school agriculture programs, the importance of community gardens, innovative ways to use 3-D printing and the numerous agriculturally related apps for digital devices. These were just a few of the "lightning" talks that took place during the three rounds of Genius Hour.

Members of the Ag Ed community were invited to join in on the conversation via Twitter using the
hashtag #TeachAgGenius. This allowed the students the chance to reach out to Agriculture Educators across the nation, leaders in the agricultural industry, businesses related to the topics and anyone who wanted to participate! We had a great response from Ag teachers all across the nation!

The Genius Hour created an open space environment to discuss, ask questions and brainstorm about the creative topics each student brought forth. Jasmine Graybill (@JasmineGraybill), a 2015 student teacher, stated "it was empowering to listen to different perspectives on education and how our role as future teachers can positively impact my school, my community, and my students! All the new ideas propelled me to really think!"

To learn more about starting on the path to having a career that makes a positive impact on the lives of students across the globe by becoming an agricultural educator, please contact the agricultural teacher education program at teachag@psu.edu. Follow us on Twitter at TeachAgPSU, on Facebook, or on our blog!

Laura Metrick

Student Blogger
2015 Student Teacher
@Its_LauraBeth