New to blogs, old to National FFA Convention!

"I'm new! I don't know what to do!" -Joe Dirt  #Blogging

Every time I go back to the National FFA Convention it breathes new breath into my passion for agricultural education and the National FFA Organization. It also gives me different perspectives each and every time I visit the convention. Starting back when I was a slightly smaller freshman, attending convention blew me away with the shear size of the organization and opened my eyes to my future that I was going to pursue in the FFA. A few years later, I had the opportunity to experience the convention by competing in a National FFA CDE and as a State Officer! Whoa!!! However, I am now an old college student without the blue jacket. Instead, I have replaced it with an Penn State and National FFA polo!

 

Just a small taste of the almost 69,000 FFA members at convention!

Being involved in the National FFA Convention on the collegiate level opened my eyes to different opportunities. Reflecting back to my first Penn State National FFA Convention, I remember working the Penn State expo booth and assisting with the Food Science CDE. However, this time my experience was different. I was working briefly with the Novice Parliamentary Procedure CDE! Assisting with the novice event gave me insight to how students across the country take pride in their knowledge of parli-pro and are not afraid to show their talent off! Their demonstrations, personally motivated me to become better in our own AEE297 parli-pro class! Not only was it astonishing to see the students excited but it was also rather interesting to see Dr. Daniel Foster in full parli-pro nerd mode! 

The most of my time was spent volunteering with the National FFA Organization at the Educational Resource booth. This is were Michala Kuhlman, Miranda Kane, and I educated teachers, student teachers, State Officers, and FFA members about several new initiatives that the National FFA is offering. The first item we promoted was the new Habitudes book by Dr. Tim Elmore. The new Habitudes book is specifically directed and designed towards FFA members to develop their leadership, communication, and personal growth through stories that relate to students and pictures that captivate them. We provided teachers over 600 copies of these books when they signed up for the pilot program to implement the book into their lessons! 

During the expo, we also gave everyone insight to the tools available through National FFA's "My Journey." The best experience during the convention is the interaction we had with FFA members! Each day, we would get a cameraman and go out and interview FFA members and Advisors about their experience in the FFA! Hearing their stories were diverse and illustrated how passionate FFA members are for their organization! It also gave me an opportunity to take a MEGA SELFIE!

Overall, the experience of volunteering, CDE's,  expo, career show, sessions, NAAE workshops, and more are irreplaceable! Can't wait for the years to come!

From Left to Right: Tyler Claypool, Miranda Kane, Nathan Briggs, and Nathan Repetz.

 

Shine Greatness

The event of the year has come and gone just as quickly as it arrived, National FFA Convention. Throughout convention we saw student's from across the nation "Shine Greatness," as the retiring National FFA Officer Caleb Gustin proclaimed during session. FFA members have a way of shining their greatness where ever they go. Each and everyone of them chose to go above and beyond what is expected of them in the classroom to better each of their lives. Some individuals chose to better develop themselves in; livestock evaluation, some public speaking, and for a very select group parliamentary procedure.

This select group of students have chosen to exemplify the meaning of shining greatness. They have worked extremely hard to finally reach the big stage at national convention where they are able to put their skills to the test. It is truly inspiring to witness both the novice and senior parliamentary events. It is evident that each student not only practiced regularly with their teams but have also gone above and beyond to prepare for the event.

As these students grace the stage for the finals round, it is their time to shine greatness. A time to demonstrate all their hard work. A time to recognize all their dedication has finally paid off. Each state has amplified their reason for making it to the finals.

I was able to learn so much about teaching parliamentary procedure as well as well as how the career development event is run. Not only did I get to experience the novice event first hand I was able to be inspired by the students participating in the senior event. I cannot wait to take what I learned through these experiences to help my own students develop these skills and shine greatness.

Another Year, A New Experience

This being my fourth National FFA Convention, I was certainly familiar with the process. However, each year, I have played a different role and have had different duties. This year was no different.

I first started by assisting with the time keeping of the Novice Parliamentary Procedure event. I was able to watch a bunch of teams compete. I learned so much about what the judges look for in the contest and how to set up the contest room. I also picked up on some common themes such as average time limit (for their 13 minute debate, most finished around 9-11 minutes), norms and common colloquial, and what things the teams struggled with the most. 

I ended up taking a bunch of notes which can all be viewed in my last blog: A Slice of Parli. 

The rest of the time at convention, I helped National FFA at the Educational Resources booth in the expo hall. I told advisors about the latest book in the Habitudes series written by Dr. Tim Elmore and also about My Journey which is offered through ffa.org.

 It was a great experience and I got to meet some really great ag advisors. I even learned that an alumnus of the Puerto Rico FFA Association is working toward ways to translate the Robert's Rules of Order to Spanish, and is looking forward to implementing formal lessons on how to use Parliamentary Procedure in Puerto Rico. 

When I had some free time and wasn't waiting in long lines at the food stands, I was able to walk around the shopping area and expo hall. I would say that while I walked around for personal leisure, I also had my teacher radar up. I began looking at different booths as resources for my future in agricultural education. We discussed some of those booths in class, but I took some pictures of the resources for Parli Pro that I found which I would hope to purchase one day as an ag teacher.

          

In addition, I came across the CASE curriculum booth where they had Penn State University's Teach Ag! flag hanging up!

While I was working at the booth, I also had the unique opportunity to interview sponsors, advisors, and members. It was really great hearing what was happening in their programs. I was especially interested to hear the advisor's interviews because I enjoyed hearing their perspective. One of the questions that was asked was "what advice would you give to your fellow teachers?" I really enjoyed listening to their responses and hope to keep in mind some of their tips and ideas. 

As if convention isn't exciting enough, I thought I'd share one fun tidbit. Despite working long hours at the booth, it made my day seeing this little guy roaming around the expo hall!

Yes, that is a flamingo.

A Slice of Parli

There was certainly a lot going on with Parliamentary Procedure during the 88th National FFA Convention though I was only able to see a small portion of it. From the general sessions, to the delegate sessions, and of course, to the Career Development Events, and everything in between, everyone caught a whiff of the Parli Pro pie.

My encounter with this event began with the Novice Parliamentary Procedure CDE. I helped with time keeping, so while my job was not quite as strenuous as some of the judges and others running the contest, I still learned a ton from watching the event. At some point, I even stole a piece of paper and started writing down notes--hey, when you’ve got as much as 13 minutes at a time (and 8 teams competing in my room alone), you tend to find ways to actively occupy your time. You can only watch the pie bake for so long!

I have included some of my observations below and have narrowed down some of the most important notes I took. Here is what I gathered from watching these young, strong minds get to work:

1. First of all, each team had a total of 14 minutes. 1 of those minutes was for them to look at their cards and write down notes. Immediately following that, they started with their 13 minute debate. In the Novice Parli Pro event, they must also include the opening and closing ceremonies (but they can skip RRRSU and just go to the N). On average, the opening ceremonies took around 2m45sec to 3m15sec to perform and the closing ceremonies easily lasted about 30 seconds. This meant at most, the team had around 9 ¾ minutes remaining for debate. Despite how low that number sounds, most teams finished minutes before the 13 minute mark came up. The only difference between Novice and the regular event is that they may only make the required motions in Novice, while the regular event needs additional debates and motions from the team.
2. Judges are very particular to wording of scripted lines (opening/closing ceremonies). So when the treasurer says “...and strive to build up our financial standings…” there would be a point deduction. Why? Because it is actually “standing” not “standings”. Certainly makes me wonder if I’ve been saying it wrong all my life!! The horror!
3. Alternatively, judges don’t care about customs or “extras” such as gavel taps or colloquial wording. As long as the right things are said or done when required, the extra taps and “properly moved and seconded” don’t really matter and end up taking time.
   
4. Questions really determined a team’s standing at the end of the day. I can’t say how much weight those points actually carried, but it could bring a great team to just a good team if they didn’t have solid answers to the questions. With this I’ll add some thoughts:
1. It’s OKAY to ask to repeat the question. Some even did it several times. No biggie.
2. “Officer Questions” or those pertaining to an office position seemed to be really hard for the members. It seemed relatively easy to me (and this is coming from someone who clearly has no Parli Pro experience). However I suppose it goes to show that one should never leave a rock unturned, or for the sake of this blog, a slice uneaten! As a future teacher, I have to remember to never assume that my students know something just because I think it’s easy.
5. Don’t be afraid to stray away from the same old, same old! When the cherry pies aren’t cutting it, try blueberry! In other words, some members really impressed me with their vocabulary. Instead of always saying “I urge the assembly…” they would say things such as “I urge the delegate body to stand by me in…”. I even heard some use words such as “diametrically” (and yes, I did have to look that one up) and “unequivocally”. While I’m sure they don’t necessarily get extra points for their flavorful words, it certainly made me want to listen more and if they were confident enough to use those words, then they were confident enough to do well in the contest. Just a thought.
   
6. I have many, many other notes (I wrote one page, front and back!) but I’ll end with one more note. If there is anything a coach/advisor can instill upon the team members, it’s to relax. Synchronization in speech and movements look good, but can sometimes seem too rehearsed and too unnatural. What is parli pro or CDE’s in general? It’s an experience of actual careers. Not something that is memorized and regurgitated. Actual assemblies where Robert’s is used is not going to always be as smooth as peach pie. Perhaps, contradictory to what I just said, I also thought there were moments when speech and movements should be in unison. Hearing the pledge of allegiance over and over again started to get stale until one team came in said it in perfect harmony, as it should be. There wasn’t any overlapping of words or untimed word cut-offs. Additionally, when the members stood for debate or questioning, there were some teams that all held their hands behind their backs and looked as one whole pie. Other teams had members who used their hand gestures while others kept them at their side or behind their backs. In all, finding commonalities and synchronization among a team seem to make them more poised, however, encourage participants to also relax and act natural in the situations presented to them.
   

In the end, I would say I walked away from my Parli Pro experiences with a full belly, but still could have had room for more. While I kept a rather critical mind (however, constructive), I know that those students would have blown me out of the water had I been in their seat. I can only hope to cook up a team as skilled and prepared as those teams were! Here’s to anticipation of another slice of Parliamentary Procedure!

The Superbowl of CDEs

The stage is set, the contestants are ready, one minute of silence, and then "tap, tap, tap", the meeting comes to order. The 2015 Parliamentary Procedure CDE competition held at the 88th Annual National FFA Convention continually remains competitive year to year. With a diversity of states represented and always the best-of-the-best competing, the atmosphere feels similar to one of the Superbowl. I watched the final round digitally and I felt the focus, preparedness, and excitement the competing students had through my screen.

With being newly introduced to Parli Pro this semester, I was incredibly impressed by the students competing. They all demonstrated poise, confidence, and knowledge during, what seems to me, a fast paced contest. Preparation and practice is the way to be successful in this CDE and that was reiterated to me after watching the finals. Parli Pro is also a team event and knowing your team members strengths and weaknesses benefits the team in its entirety during this competition. Also the restriction of verbal communication among members within the CDE while competing forces teams to rely on their knowledge of the contest as well as picking up on the ques their teammates give them to set each other up for success.

Having all sights set on bring home the gold, Parli Pro is no joke to many. I roomed with a Parli Pro coach and through conversation, learned the hours of preparation it takes to be successful. It also takes passion and drive to coach the team. It was inspiring to listen to a PA Ag teacher who is so passionate about Parli Pro and giving and doing everything to ensure her students are as successful as they can be. As soon as the competition was over she discussed what she is prepared to do for next year to prepare her next team after participating in the Parli Pro contest for the first time.

Royers' Parli Pro Refletions from National Convention

I feel fortunate to have been able to attend the 88th National FFA Convention with the Athens FFA Chapter from Bradford County, Pennsylvania. I will be student teaching at Athens in the Spring, and was very excited to spend time with Mr. Steinfelt, the agriculture instructor at Athens, as well as 12 seniors from the Ag Program. We had a busy week experiencing the Expo Hall, the FFA Mall, the sessions, and Louisville. Therefore, I unfortunately was unable to attend the Parli Pro sessions in person.

With the marvels of technology comes recorded sessions! I was therefore able to experience the final round of the FFA Parliamentary Procedure Event right in the comfort of my own home. I was floored! I thought to myself, WOW, this really is the SuperBowl of Career Development Events

I watched the first two teams compete, Oklahoma and Wyoming. I was very impressed with the thoughtful debates from both teams. Additionally, neither team was speaking as fast and jumbled as other Parli Pro events I have witnessed, this impressed me.

The Parli Pro team from Wyoming!

The questions round was actually extremely stressful to watch! I was literally biting my lips watching as some of the students struggled with the questions. The combination of the high stakes situation, the crowd, the questions given orally etc. makes for a stressful situation!

Overall, it was very beneficial to watch the finals. These are the best and most prepared teams in the nation. The videos online are also a beneficial resource that I can share with students in the future!

Best
-Sarabeth Royer