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Feature Stories
Struggling with SAEs? You're not alone. | Turn to Others for Help Balancing your SAE Workload.
Creative and Innovative SAEs | SAEs Open Doors to Achievement for Diverse Students
Struggling with SAEs? You’re not alone.
~ A Note from the Editor
If you find yourself struggling to find the time to oversee SAE programs, to make site visits, or to find relevant SAEs for all of your students, you are not alone. In fact, you are in the majority.
We all know that SAEs are one-third of the three-circle model of agricultural education, along with classroom work and FFA. And SAEs are, arguably, the best way for your students to get the hands-on, real-world experience that you spend hours talking about in the classroom. So why is it that SAEs often get put on the back burner?
This issue of Making a Difference offers valuable tips and suggestions on how you can put SAEs back on top of your priority list. Our contributors have shared the importance of SAEs for educational impact, how to find innovative ones for students, and how to maintain a work-life balance and coordinate SAEs for all of your students.
In agricultural education, there’s no question that a student’s SAE is an important part of his or her program. However, SAEs can be a time-consuming part of an agriculture educator’s workload. Read Turn to Others for Help Balancing your SAE Workload for strategies on how to manage coordinating a top-notch SAE program without sacrificing your other responsibilities.
SAEs don’t have to focus on the tradition of livestock or crop production. There are hundreds of options to suit your students’ interests and skills. Read Creative and Innovative SAEs to see how three teachers use their imaginations and resources available to help their students develop unique, relevant SAEs.
Whether it’s an uncommitted student walking into an exploratory agriculture class, a kid who tends to be a low achiever in other academic areas, or teens who spend more time on city streets than rural farms, all agricultural education students can learn from SAEs. Read SAEs Open Doors to Achievement for Diverse Students to discover ways to reach all of your students through SAEs.
In this month’s Perspectives piece, FFA’s “SAE guru” Kevin Keith gives us “just the facts” in his Top Ten Frequently Asked SAE Questions article. Also be sure and check out October’s Question for the Profession, where we ask, “Should SAE Remain Part of the 3-circle Model of Agricultural Education?”
As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions and hope that you find this issue to be helpful and relevant. For those of you attending national convention, we look forward to seeing you and will look for you at the interactive classrooms in the Career Show.
Best,
Amber Striegel
Editor