I was thrilled to teach Agribusiness, a course my friend and I proposed to the school district to allow FFA students to earn speech credit for their public speaking work. This was a passion project for the both of us as we are die hard Speaking Development coaches and our students put in a ton of work every year, so of course we want them to get credit where their credit is due! Despite an initial setback where I was told I wouldn't be teaching it, I was later assigned the course district wide and dove headfirst into creating a curriculum.
Backwards Planning: The Guiding Principle
My guiding principle for establishing the curriculum was backwards planning (if you’ve never done backwards planning there are tons of books, podcasts, PDs, etc on this). I focused on what I wanted the students to accomplish by the end of the course and worked backwards from there. While I feel like this approach is common in CTE and Ag classes, where the product determines the teaching methods this has been becoming more “mainstream” in core classes in my district.
The goal was for students to act as bosses who could evaluate their employees, which led to the idea that they needed to get a job at the beginning of the semester. This led to the creation of a unit focused on job applications and resume writing. I wanted this unit to be more in-depth and realistic, preparing the students for their futures.
Unit 1: Finding a Job
The first step in finding a job was understanding how much money they needed to survive. Using the resources I provided; students calculated their required income based on their desired lifestyle and found suitable careers. They then had to find job postings and tailor their resumes accordingly. This was an exciting time in the classroom as students realized just how expensive it is to exist as an adult, for me it was very funny to listen to their commentary.
Changes for the future:
Ideally, I would have included college research in this unit, given that the students were juniors and seniors. Allowing students to research a college or trade school that could benefit them in their desired career field cold be highly beneficial. However, due to time constraints and the class's tendency to "jibber jabber," I couldn't fit it in.
Interview Preparation and Practice
After figuring out their desired job and writing their resume, the students prepared for interviews. We covered interview tips as a class and conducted mock interviews round robin style with peer feedback. After the completion of their student interviews each student reviewed their feedback and made notes of where they needed to improve. Students listened to job interview podcasts and completed note sheets, adapting questions from "Building Books with Love.” I felt like this method was beneficial since there is no way for me to teach each individual student the skills needed to perfect their interview skills based on their lacking competencies; however, by providing them high quality podcasts they can find expert advice to assist them where they need it.
In addition to the student interviews, they also scheduled and completed an interview with another teacher to gain additional feedback from another adult. Each student was required to CC me on their email requesting the practice interview with the teacher of their choice and bring back the job interview rubric at the time of their official job interview with me for their assessment.
Changes for the future:
For next year I would like to have students suggest a podcast episode to their peer(s) based on the suggestion(s) they provided in the peer interviews. This would allow them to seek out more guidance for job interviews and develop deeper relationships with their classmates.
Mock Job Interviews & Life Simulation
I uploaded resumes, cover letters, job applications, and job postings into AI to generate interview questions. AI was an amazing asset for this aspect of the project as I don’t know much about some of these careers, think structural engineers for Space X, so I needed to lean on technology to assist in the specific question areas. While I conducted interviews, the other students worked on their life simulation and budgeting sheets.
Changes for the future:
In the future, I plan to have students do college research during the interview period. The life simulation involved setting up budgeting sheets and understanding the costs associated with living independently, allowing students to get an understanding for just how far their money will (or won’t) go.
The "You're Hired" Experience
The students received "you're hired" letters printed on fancy letterhead to make them feel special after the conclusion of their interviews. I did have to plan this ahead of time since we can only print in color from our district print shop, but they enjoyed these, so it was worth it! They then began receiving paychecks twice a month, with everyone receiving the same salary to simplify grading. To make my life easier to “pay” students I pre-filled in the checks with student names and the funds and ran copies so the only thing I had to fill in for each “pay period” was the date.
Each day when students came into class, they were given an “experience” that they had to adapt into their finances. Students had to manage their finances and pay for housing and utilities, which mirrored real-life experiences. Some students made unwise spending choices, highlighting the importance of financial literacy.
Immersive Simulation
I am a huge advocate for immersive simulations to give students the experience of living the life of whatever that course is about. In Livestock Production, students run a sheep farm practicing the logistic management skills of running a farm. In Equine Science students own a few horses to understand the cost and dynamics of horse ownership. Lastly, in Floral Design, student plan a wedding from start to finish with all of the problems included that a typical wedding would have including tight budgets, restricted vendors, and quick timelines.
While it can be challenging to implement in every course, the immersive simulation in Agribusiness was enriching for the students. This bookend project allowed me to start with the end in mind, shaping the course from beginning to end.
I will keep sharing my reflections on my first year teaching this course and the changes I would make so stay tuned!