The end of the 2021 Private Pesticide training was just a few short weeks ago. It was (again!!!) a unique year and everyone breathed a sigh of relief as it ended. Even though we have a while until the new season begins, we can start preparing for it now.
As Educators, we spend much of our time researching the most current information and providing it to the learners whom we work with. Unlike with children’s programs, there is less of a playbook for how to teach adult learners. We often teach in a way that we learn best. For some that looks like PowerPoints with graphs, pictures, and concepts. That is an effective way to teach because many people learn through that manner. However, there are still people who need other learning tools. Some people need to think through concepts using discussions and short quizzes. It’s easy to incorporate critical thinking into discussions through leading conversational questions. And yet, for others, they may need an activity or to see a demonstration to truly learn the concept.
Every year the PowerPoints have been updated to reflect the legal changes that occurred to FIFRA, WPS, and state laws and regulations. These updates had previously been in the Box folder labeled PSEP Private Resources. This will change to SharePoint once the university has finished the transition process. Additionally, Our Inservice manual has listed a number of activities that can be incorporated into your trainings. These options include activities such as the PPE glow activity, using equipment to measure flow rates, testing water quality used for mix water, and using weather sensors to record weather conditions, as well as extra PowerPoints that highlight different topics that may be of interest to applicators. In the folder labeled Read Me First- Private curriculum is a copy of the checklists for training along with activities, PowerPoints, and videos that you can incorporate into those required sections of training. Each section on that Word document is constructed to help you understand what tools you have in your training toolbox!
With all of these tools and options, it can be a bit of work to find everything and know how the activities reinforce those required sections. We are planning to include articles in this newsletter that highlight one module (Laws and Regs, Pesticide Safety, IPM, etc.) and give a brief description of the powerpoints, videos, and activities that you can use within your trainings. We want to share these options with you to help develop your trainings in future years.
If you have any questions or suggestions regarding this plan, feel free to reach out to Jennifer Weisbrod.