This artifact is the third unit of my Intro to Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources course. It is designed for 9th-grade students who have not yet identified the pathway they are interested in. The unit focuses on career exploration and developing a plan to explore at least one career during their time in my agricultural education program.
Standards AFNR.HS.20.2 and AFNR.HS.20.3 allow for this career exploration to be integrated into an Intro to AFNR class as a standalone unit. However, the learning that will occur in this unit is not separate from the rest of the course. Students will develop a personal plan for how they will explore the career for the rest of the semester and learn how they can dive deeper into career readiness through SAE and FFA involvement. This artifact will help students make more informed decisions about the classes they take in high school. I know this because the unit gives students the time and space to learn about careers in various agricultural areas and identify which pathways interest them the most.
This artifact shows my ability to integrate career development into my curriculum from the first course that students will take in my program. It displays how I believe that effective career readiness starts early on with career exploration in introductory courses. As I move toward student teaching, I will continue to refine the lesson plans I have for this unit to ensure they are as effective as they can be. Additionally, I will remember to incorporate the plans students make in Intro to AFNR into the other courses I teach. This will create a continuous career development experience for my students.