Sprinkling Some Parli Pro Knowledge In Our Schools

Learning the "2 Aces in the Hole" Motions
and exploring Robert's Rules of Order

Just a few weeks ago, I had the incredible opportunity to shadow at Sherman Central School and sprinkle a little bit of Parli Pro knowledge to Mrs. Maleski's 8th grade class. The first day we talked about what Parli Pro is and why it's important. Once we covered all grounds, we then started to learn the fun stuff, MOTIONS!! 

The fundamental Principals
 are the foundation for building
your Parli Pro knowledge

The 2 key motions to keep in your back pocket are called the "2 aces in the hole."We started off pretty strong with the motion called: Question of Privilege. We had a great time talking about the power of this motion. Now that we knew the coolest motion, I taught the students the second ace: Parliamentary Inquiry On the second day of teaching, we did a quick review of
2 motions and then discussed the 4 Fundamental
 Principles
of Parli Pro . . .

1. ONE item of business at a time
2. Extend courtesy to everyone
3. Majority Rules
4. Protect the rights of the minority

Look at Mrs. Maleski's
collection of old Robert's
Rules of Order!

These students mastered the meanings of these principles and motions, so we put their new knowledge to the test by having a real meeting. The motion was made to "make a trip down to Penn State to have some ice cream and tour the university." After serious debate, the motion finally came to a vote, and the motion passed!! These students did a great job using their Parli Pro knowledge and I hope to see them in Happy Valley to have ice cream with them and give them a grand tour of Penn State!

Another Day of Parli Pro

Only November 16^th, 2019 Nell Barbour, Jenna Harnish and I had the opportunity to be a large part of the Lancaster County Leadership Conference held for first year members and officer teams. Nell, Jenna, and I created a lesson plan that dealt with the basics of parliamentary procedure that was necessary for any FFA meeting they held. We focused on creating a proper agenda, and ACEs in the hole!

There were about 20 people within our workshop, and we began our lesson with creating agendas. I have always found that kids are only ever going to be as excited as you are, so if you show them you want to be there they will get excited and want to be there too. Using part of my innovation project we put the members into groups of 2 using envelopes with numbers written on the outside. Once everyone was in their groups, they were all given a worksheet that says triple R sun and given an extra piece of papers to write ideas on. We gave the students about two minutes to work in partners and create an idea of what triple R sun meant on their scrap piece of paper. We had a flip chart with triple R sun on it as well so when we went over what each part of the acronym meant they could copy it onto their worksheet and use it for their next meeting. Once we finished this part of our workshop, we transitioned into what the different ACEs in the holes are.

Jenna and Nell took point on this part of the activity asking questions and pushing students to guess harder since I did the portion of agendas. For this portion we had students work together to guess what the phrases “question of privilege” and “parliamentary inquiry” meant. We had two separate flip charts, one for each ace in the hole. Inside of the envelopes given to the students were two brightly colored cards that looked like ace playing cards with a hole punched in the middle. We went over the definitions, if they are second able, debatable, amendable, and if a vote is needed. Each student got to write down the definition as well as the chart for each and given the wallet size cards to take home and use at their own meeting for a discussion. As a wrap up Jenna, Nell and I went over a quick mock meeting for each of the aces in the hole and asked the group if they had any questions toward the end. This was a great experience and I absolutely loved facilitating this workshop to this amazing group of kids who were actively engaged the whole time!

AEE 216 Student Service Project

What did we do?

For my service project Neve, Jenna and I teamed up to work with mostly 11th and 12th graders on a Parliamentary Procedure workshop. In our workshop we went over Agendas and the two aces in the whole with students. Agendas were particularly important and useful for these students because most of the were FFA officers and having a solid agenda is something many chapters struggle with. The two aces in the hole (Parliamentary Inquiry and Question of Privilege) were also really impactful for these students. Many had very little knowledge of Parli Pro so by teaching them about these two motions they were able to feel more comfortable getting involved in meetings. These motions that can get anyone involved in a meeting so I think its really helpful for new and old FFA office to learn for their chapter meetings.

main takeaway

Main Takeaways

Personally, my main take away from this experience is that students have very broad understandings of Parliamentary Procedure. Some students in this workshop seemed as though they knew exactly what we were talking about when we went over our objectives while others, hardly knew what Parli was. I can see this being a challenge for me in the future. As with any topic, serving the needs of the greater population of the class is a struggle. That being said, I think all of the students where able to get at least something out of this workshop regardless of their familiarity with Parliamentary Procedure.

How does this tie to the class?

I think that this project was very beneficial for me. I think the biggest way that it ties to the class is that it helped me solidify my understanding of the topics discussed. While yes, before this workshop could recite the topics, I can not say I fully understood them. By making the lesson plan, talking about it, and answering questions, I was able to review and more clearly understand the topics. After this workshop, I felt much more confident in my knowledge and felt like I could share more with students in the future.

Making Motions in Tomorrow's Leaders

I had an awesome opportunity to sit down with Conneaut Area Senior High School and talk to their FFA officer team about Parliamentary Procedure. The officers did not have a lot of experience with Parli Pro but neither do I! I was able to teach them the basics and at the same time, I was able to better understand it myself. They asked so many great questions and wanted to learn more. There were even two times that I was unsure of the answer so we dove into Robert's Rule of Order to find it!

The first activity was going through the process of how to make a motion. I created a set of cards on each step of making a motion, from obtaining the floor to the chair announcing the results of the vote.  Their first task was to take those steps and put them into order. I divided the officer team up into two groups to complete this activity. Each group was able to put the cards into order after a few attempts! Once we completed this activity, we went through each step and looked at how each step and process is pronounced.

After the students had a general idea of what was going on, we watched a quick 4-minute video showing the processes and steps in real-time. Once done, the officers did it for themselves! They had to run their own mock meeting! The motion that was brought to the assembly stated: CASH should purchase a cow for the FFA program. After debating for a bit, a vote was taken and it passed! Until Ms. Metrick stepped in and overruled!

I thought this demonstration was a lot of fun and I think the students had a lot of fun too. We were able to dive deeper into Robert's Rule of Order and talk about how important Parli Pro is for every meeting. I am so excited to see these students use their Parli Pro knowledge in the spring when I am student teaching.

Parliamentary Procedure from Pennsylvania to Indianapolis

An eight hour drive in a van all the way from Pennsylvania to Indianapolis allows for a lot of time to think, and think I did. I thought about how excited I was to once again attend the National FFA Convention and Expo, I thought about all the friendships I would be able to rekindle and strengthen, but most of all I thought about a new challenge that I would get to experience.

The ATA Conclave is held every year in Indianapolis at the same time as the National FFA Convention and Expo serving as a way for those pursuing Agricultural and Extension Education as their future to continue to build knowledge that applies to their major. After word spread that I planned to attend the National FFA Convention and Expo with LEAD Society, I was asked to compete in the ATA Conclave's Parliamentary Procedure contest and accepted.

I had never competed in Parliamentary Procedure before, so I was of course nervous about the event. As time passed and the contest drew nearer though, my anxiety grew. My team's busy fall semester schedules did not allow for us to practice together and the more I heard about the contest, the more intimidating it seemed. The only formal experience I had with Parliamentary Procedure was half of a semester in Dr. Foster's Practical Parliamentary Procedure course and the stories of the teams at the ATA Conclave trying to trick each other into messing up, barely being able to get a word in, and the contest's fast paced nature in general did not quiet my anxiety. In fact, approaching Indianapolis on the last few stretches of our journey from Pennsylvania, I fell silent in the van, trying to keep my nerves in check, but also trying to anticipate what to expect from the contest without having practiced with my team.

So, the contest came, and it went, and each of the prophesies that I had heard about the contest came true. The assembly repeatedly appealed the decision of each chair, crafted complicated motions, and presented questions of privilege that took away from the assembly's time to conduct business. I barely got the chance to make motions and offer discussion as catching the attention of the chair was incredibly competitive. In fact, the contest was progressing so quickly that I was having a hard time figuring out which motion was being discussed. In short, the Parliamentary Procedure competition at the ATA Conclave was even more stressful than I had anticipated it to be. However, it was also one of the most beneficial learning opportunities that I could have experienced while studying Parliamentary Procedure.

Parliamentary Procedure is hard to learn from a textbook, or even in a classroom. Judging by the great leaps of knowledge that I experienced in Indianapolis, the only way to truly learn the complicated processes of Parliamentary Procedure is to partake in an assembly and learn as you go. While I had learned the purpose of each motion in Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised in class, it was not until the ATA Conclave that I was able to grasp their application and appreciate their diversity. While I sat flustered as the contest progressed at a rapid pace around me, I realized that in Parliamentary Procedure, knowledge truly is power. While I was intimidated by the assembly's aggression toward the chair, I was able to understand the integrity and purpose that Parliamentary Procedure is built upon, and recognize where the contest lacked in those areas. While participating in the Parliamentary Procedure competition at the ATA Conclave I was not prepared to win, but I was prepared to learn, and learn I did. Though it was a challenging experience, I am grateful for having had the chance to expand my knowledge and appreciation for Parliamentary Procedure from Pennsylvania to Indianapolis at the ATA Conclave.

Taylor Halbleib

More Than Just a Parli. Pro. Workshop

          On Saturday, November 16^th Neve Consylman, Nell Barbour, and I traveled to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Hosted by the Garden Spot FFA Chapter, at the Lampeter-Strasburg High School, was the 2019 Lancaster County Leadership Conference. Joining them were chapters from the surrounding schools such as Manheim, Elizabethtown, Grassland, Cloister, Penn Manor, and Lancaster County Career and Technical Center. Together, us three ladies were tasked with the challenging yet wonderful opportunity to present a 30-minute workshop on parliamentary procedure. The challenge of this workshop presented itself from the beginning. Our minds ventured for days on what we all thought were two key portions of parliamentary procedure that we needed to select to share with the students. The wonder of this opportunity, however, came from the outlook of what do we want the students to walk away with from this experience. Eventually we jointly decided on the topics of “Triple R SUN” of agendas and “Two ACES in the Hole” of motions. We incorporated methods such as visual charts, independent thought, and large group discussion to develop knowledge on the topics.

          At the conclusion of the workshop, students were asked to reflect on what they had learned. Also, how they planned to utilize it back at their home chapters. Like expected, the general answer of restating what we had just concluded instructing on was mentioned. The true moment of reflection, however, came after the session portion of the conference had ended. While standing in line for lunch a student had approached me and we began making small talk. Soon enough the conversation transitioned back to the reflection discussion in the parli. pro. workshop. As a young FFA member hoping to rise to the level of chapter office this coming spring, she thanked me for this educational experience. Using the acronyms discussed in the workshop, she began to feel more comfortable in how to get involved at chapter meetings.

          That afternoon as I was driving back to State College, I found myself replaying that conversation in my head. Coming from a chapter that did not emphasize or partake in parli. pro. activities, AEE 216 was indeed a large leap of faith for me. I constantly wondered how I would handle the information, keep up in the class, and how I would benefit from it. That day made the mock-meetings, online quizzes, and lengthy readings worth it. That day I received my reassurance in knowing that I was positively impacting someone else’s life. 

The Nuts and Bolts of Parliamentary Procedure

You made it through the first 2 weeks of Practical Parliamentary Procedure! Here is a recap to what we discussed in the past 2 weeks!

Terminology Tuesday Words:
-Parliamentary Authority- A book of rules used to help an organization run
-Deliberative Assembly- A group of people who gather for a meeting and need rules
-Quorum- The amount of members present needed to conduct business(found in bylaws)

4 rights of members:
1. To attend Meetings
2. To make motions
3. To Debate
4. To vote

4 Principles of Parliamentary Procedure
1. Extend Courtesy to everyone
2.Respect the rights of the minority
3. Majority Rules
4. One item of business at a time

7 Types of Meetings
1.Regular Meeting- weekly, monthly or quarterly meetings as described in bylaws
2. Special or called meeting- A meeting called to discuss something that occurs before the next regular meeting
3.Adjourn meeting- A meeting that is called with the motion fix the time to which to adjourn at the previous meeting. This meeting is to finish the agenda.
4.Executive Meeting- A meeting in private with the executive board and is not on the record for the rest of the membership.
5.Public Meeting- A meeting open to everyone not just your membership
6.Annual Meeting- A meeting that occurs once a year to deal with business related to the facial year
7. Electronic Meeting-  A meeting that occurs online that each member can attend and respond simultaneously

Standard Order of Business:

1. Reading and Approval of Minutes
2. Reports of officers, boards, and standing committee 
3. Report of Special committee
4. Special orders
5. Unfinished Business and General Orders
6. New Business

That's a wrap for the first two weeks! Now that we have a base we can dive deeper into what Bob says about Bylaws Next week!