Agriculture in the Classroom

Last week I had an amazing experience in my Elementary Education Science Curriculum and Instruction class. We had a presentation by Tammy Maxey, the Education Program Coordinator, of Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom. The Ag in the Classroom homepage gives a great description of what the foundation is all about. It states that "The Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) is an integrated educational teacher training program designed to foster an understanding of how agriculture affects the quality of our lives. The AITC program is aligned with Virginia's Standards of Learning (SOL) and provides lessons and hands-on activities appropriate for incorporation into current classroom curriculum." Tammy came to our 5o minute class and did a wonderful presentation on how to incorporate agriculture into the classroom for a range of grade levels. She gave a bit of history about the program, tested our knowledge of agriculture, and simulated multiple activities that support Ag in the Classroom. All of the activities were very engaging and were tied directly to the SOL's. She provided us with a ton of materials to take back with us. This included two different CD's with multiple lesson plans and activities to use in our own classrooms. We will also now have a lifelong connection to the VA Foundation for Ag in the Classroom through yearly publications that will be sent to our homes that all include lesson plans based around the theme of the newletter. This presentation was absolutely amazing and a great resource for teaching science. I would highly recommend that anyone use this in-service with their teachers.