SAE Fridays: An Inside Look

The pathway for SAE for All

Agricultural Experience (SAE) is an essential part of student success in my agricultural program. I have students working on a large range of projects that are helping them connect agriculture content and essential workplace skills. Some students are conducting research using the wet/dry lab, animal rooms and greenhouse, some students are working at home or with a business with animals or plants and some are looking to start their own business.

SAEs are student lead and teacher managed project that helps connect my class to possible careers. Since several of my students have their projects at school, I give them one day a week to work on their projects. While the students are working, I walk around and meet with them one on one.

How does my class look on SAE Fridays?

On Fridays I split the class by doing a review of what we talked about this week, usually a Kahoot! or Gimkit, and then we break out to work on SAE projects. My students really value the time they have to work with their projects. I allow students to work in any part of the agriculture department. As they are working I filter through the rooms and meet with students individually.

The Meeting

As students are working I go around and meet one on one with them. I am mainly seeing where they are at in terms or research or progress since the last time and how I can help.

This looks different for each student. I have 3 students tearing down small gas engines. For these students I might spend some time helping them ID parts and function of those parts. For some students doing research in the lab I might see what materials they need from me and what their procedure is. I have several students still exploring a topic they want to dive into with agriculture so, I might ask them what they read this week and how it relates to their career goals.

The 3-Circle Model of Agricultural Education

Keeping students on task

Everyone is at a different stage of their project. Some research is on hold while others are in their prime of their experiment. It is important to keep everyone engaged during this time we are working on SAE.

I currently have a class assignment where students are reading a scientific journal of their choosing and summarizing the methods and results from that research. Ideally this article would connect to their SAE. If they are at a pause in their research then I allow them to work on the journal for this week.
 I also want to start incorporating some ideas of the SAE for All guide in the foundational SAE stages that I saw while at the NAAE Conference. This included having students do mock interviews, apply for jobs and work on resume/cover letters.

My SAE Vision

SAE is an essential part of agriculture education. I use this piece to have students learn valuable skills needed for the workplace. They keep records that are graded on the Agriculture Experience Tracker (AET) website. They have written a report on their project as part of a professional skills unit to show how what they are doing can connect to a possible career. I see SAE as a way for me to connect students to the world outside of the walls of my agriculture department although most of the research and projects occur in my agricultural department.

I have found that I can be very hands off with students and their projects. If I let them become curious, they amaze me. The students come up with amazing ideas for their project and it is important for me to show them how they can achieve that goal. Not every project idea is possible but, if they can think of it then I want to see how we can get as close to their idea as possible.