Krista, Cows, and Ag Ed

     Wait, What is a SMART Goal?      Before attending Penn State last fall, I honestly had no clue what a SMART Goal was. Flash-forward to today, and I now know what it is, and also how they can help me set well thought-out goals. For my friends who read my blogs but have no clue what a SMART Goal is, let me give you the run down so you can follow the rest of my blog a little easier.  S pecific: Make your goals specific and narrow for more effective planning M easurable: Define what evidence will prove you're making progress and reevaluate when necessary A ttainable: Make sure you can reasonably accomplish your goal within a specific timeframe R elevant: Your goals should align with your values and long-term objectives T ime-Based: Set a realistic, ambitious end-date for task prioritization and motivation     Basically, SMART Goals help to set specific goals with timelines. Well-planned goals are more likely to become acted upon and achi...

       Throughout the semester, I have been able to learn about and visit a few amazing agricultural education programs throughout Pennsylvania. Each program was different from the next and I ended up seeing a wide variety of program facilities, SAEs, as well as students and teachers. Every teacher that I was able to meet was incredible welcoming, but my favorite part about each of them was how committed they are to their students and programs.  The Centers     As someone with almost no high school Ag Ed background, I found each of the programs that I was able to visit incredible in their own ways. I was given tours of schools, met some of the FFA officers, met other teachers within the schools, and even got to see some exotic small animals.       One of my favorite parts from my first visit was seeing how the students interacted with their teacher. They all genuinely loved their teacher. If their teacher was struggling, those stude...