Top Tips: What we learned from hosting by the Idaho FFA Association

The Idaho FFA Association hosted the #TeachAgChat on Thursday, March 10 and we'd love to share a few tips:

#1- Use the manual created by Dr. Foster and his students! We followed the "to-do" list in the manual in preparation for the chat. We utilized Canva- one of the sites suggested in the manual, to create a promotional graphic with the questions.

#2- Speaking of graphics, after analyzing Twitter data on posts with and without a graphic, we can difinitively say that the tweet with a graphic reached many more people. Our first tweet, posted March 5 without a graphic, made 492 impressions and had 13 total engagements. The next day, we posted a very similar tweet but added the graphic. This tweet made 7,974 impressions and had 360 total engagements. Graphics work!

#3- Send personal invites to colleagues, related Twitter accounts, and other organizations. In our case, we tagged all the state FFA associations we could find on Twitter in invitation tweets. We also sent direct messages to National FFA staff members involved in service learning. We also used our state ag teacher listserv and the national ag teacher listserv to promote, promote, promote.

#4- Don't try to tweet from two different Twitter accounts! Jaysa Fillmore, Idaho FFA Service Development Coordinator, was trying to participate from her personal account, @MrsAgTeacher, and the @IdahoFFA account. It would be been much easier to schedule responses to the questions from one account and then use the other live. It was also helpful to use Tweetdeck during the chat.

We were excited to claim the title of the first state FFA association to host a #TeachAgChat and would encourage other states to jump on board! Dr. Foster and his #TeachAg crew have done a great job creating this awesome resource for ag teachers- past, present, and future! Thanks for the opportunity!

March 24th - Professional Development for #TeachAg Candidates; Hosted by @NAAE

Host:

NAAE (@NAAE)

Topic:

Advancing your professional development as a teacher candidate

Storify Archive:

https://storify.com/RCMcLean/teachagchat-pd-for-preservice-agedu-teachers

Questions/Prompts:

March 10th - Living to Serve: Service Learning in the @NationalFFA; Hosted by @IdahoFFA (Idaho)

Host:

Idaho FFA (@IdahoFFA)

Guided by:

Ms. Jaysa Filmore (@mrsagteacher)

Topic:

Living to Serve: Service Learning in the FFA

Storify Archive of Chat:

https://storify.com/RCMcLean/service-learning-in-agedu-teachagchat-3-10-16

Quesitons/Prompts:

Top Tips: What we learned form hosting a Chat - SE POLK FFA

On February 25, 2016 The Southeast Polk FFA chapter held a #TeachAg chat on Drones in agriculture. Many experts in drones, farmers who use drones, and others were invited and participated in the chat.

SEP FFA learned that inviting experts, people who use or are a part of the main topic, and people who aren't as involved in that topic is a great way to get different perspectives on  the #TeachAg chat. Also, the SEP FFA learned that getting the news that the #TeachAg chat is happening is very important. Getting the word out is important as well as using different methods of publicity like email, social media, and maybe even phone calls (yes phone calls).

The SEP FFA also learned that as well as having experts in the field of Agriculture, specifically drones in #Ag, there are people who are new to the idea of drones and drones in Ag. This means that we must get the word out to others so that they may be educated about the benefits about drones in Ag.

February 25th - The Force Awakens: Drones in #AgEDU; Hosted by @SEPOLKFFA (Iowa)

Host:

Southeast Polk FFA (@SEPOLKFFA), Iowa (@IowaFFA)

Guided by:

Mr. Matt Eddy (@AgEd4ME), Agriscience Instructor

Mr. Austin Knight (@AustinKnight25), Southeast Polk FFA Chapter President

Topic:

Storify Archive of Chat:

https://storify.com/RCMcLean/drones-in-ag-teachagchat?utm_campaign=&utm_source=t.co&awesm=sfy.co_y3kE&utm_content=storify-pingback&utm_medium=sfy.co-twitter 

Questions/Prompts:

Q1- How do you use drones in your classroom /farm/business? #TeachAgChat

Q2- Will drones be affordable for the majority of farmers to benefit from them? #TeachAgChat

Q3- How can drones help farmers? I.D. early Probs? Surveillance Needs? Bolster Yields & Profits? Share Specific examples! #TeachAgChat

Q4- What is the Role of drones in #agriculture and #AgEdu today and in the future? #TeachAgChat

Q5- What experience have you had with legal concerns with drones? #TeachAgChat

Q6- What will the agricultural drone market look like in five years? #TeachAgChat

Q7- What kind of jobs will drones in agriculture create? #TeachAgChat

Q8- What is your biggest “Whoops” moment with your drone? #TeachAgChat