If you want to spend some time seeing what I am all about (and maybe what it's like to be a student pursuing Agricultural Education!), check out the recorded presentation I presented.
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Final Presentation!
As the #psuaged16 student teaching cohort prepared throughout the semester we all knew it would come down to final presentation. Students pursuing a degree in Agricultural and Extension Education at Penn State finally get to present on how we are ready for student teaching and how we got there. With the support of passionate faculty, a strong bond with my cohort members, and my fantastic family I successfully presented during finals week on how I'm ready to student teach at Wellsboro in January!
If you want to spend some time seeing what I am all about (and maybe what it's like to be a student pursuing Agricultural Education!), check out the recorded presentation I presented.
If you want to spend some time seeing what I am all about (and maybe what it's like to be a student pursuing Agricultural Education!), check out the recorded presentation I presented.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Final Lab Reflection
It feels like I just set this blog up and had my first lab experience only a few weeks ago. It's amazing to think that student teaching is closer than that first lab already. A lot has been running through my mind as we wrapped up the AEE 412 course this week.
Mostly, I've been thinking about my progression throughout the semester. With all the labs, micro teaching, and then the Life Knowledge lesson I have really racked up some experience in the classroom. I'm more excited to switch from student to teacher now than I ever have ben. I realize that it can be a "culture shock" to switch sides of the desk, but I feel prepared to do so.
I think through my AEE 412 experiences I've developed my enthusiasm (although still not my best characteristic), but I think I'm pretty good at variability. Basically, Rosenshine and Furst identified these 5 characteristics of effective teaching that are business-like, enthusiasm, clarity, opportunity to learn, and variability. I think that my variability isn't my most-improved, but I think it's my strongest. In my lessons I strive for variability because I feel that if I don't have variability I'm not excited about the lesson and the students certainly aren't either.
The video below is about 5 minutes mashed together of various experiences I've had with teaching. I wanted to share it on the blog just to see how I've developed throughout the semester. Not all of the scenes show variability, but they are definitely highlights from the semester. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Mostly, I've been thinking about my progression throughout the semester. With all the labs, micro teaching, and then the Life Knowledge lesson I have really racked up some experience in the classroom. I'm more excited to switch from student to teacher now than I ever have ben. I realize that it can be a "culture shock" to switch sides of the desk, but I feel prepared to do so.
I think through my AEE 412 experiences I've developed my enthusiasm (although still not my best characteristic), but I think I'm pretty good at variability. Basically, Rosenshine and Furst identified these 5 characteristics of effective teaching that are business-like, enthusiasm, clarity, opportunity to learn, and variability. I think that my variability isn't my most-improved, but I think it's my strongest. In my lessons I strive for variability because I feel that if I don't have variability I'm not excited about the lesson and the students certainly aren't either.
The video below is about 5 minutes mashed together of various experiences I've had with teaching. I wanted to share it on the blog just to see how I've developed throughout the semester. Not all of the scenes show variability, but they are definitely highlights from the semester. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Friday, November 27, 2015
How to conquer classroom management struggles
Dear educator struggling with classroom management,
There is no simple solution to effective management of a classroom. There are so many variables that go into the workings of a classroom to make the environment positive or negative. Although there is no definitive answer to running a classroom effectively, there are some tips you can follow to encourage a positive environment.
First, my tip would be to stay consistent. I strongly believe that if you are too lenient and you notice students taking advantage that it will be almost impossible to change your tune to the strict respectable teacher. It would be much easier to start out strong with clear (and concise) rules and expectations to follow. Students should clearly understand what is expected of them on a daily basis and what the consequences will be if they do not meet those expectations. And most importantly, follow through! If students notice that you are not giving out that promised detention on their third offense, they (and possibly the other students) will likely not feel that they are required to follow those rules. The less consistent you are with expectations and consequences, the more push-back you will receive on those few times you decide to follow through with consequences. Basically, know what you want from students, make sure they know what you want from them, and demand that they uphold their end of the bargain on a daily basis.
My second tip for you would be to keep your game face on! No matter the situation, do not let students think they have gotten to you. Students will make inappropriate comments and they will make some poor decisions here and there, mostly because they are only human. If students know they can throw you off topic or make you uncomfortable they may take advantage of that situation. At all times students should at least think that you are prepared, motivated, dedicated, and ready to conquer anything in the classroom. Basically, expect the unexpected that students may throw at you and handle it with grace.
My third tip for anyone struggling with classroom management is to practice what you preach. You most like expect your students to show you and their classmates respect and it probably is on your list of expectations. You need to remember to also respect your students. You have to walk that fine line of being a "friend" and being a drill sergeant. You don't want students to take advantage, but you need to make it clear you respect them as people, and as students. You can still be a good teacher and be a mentor to students in need. It is difficult to find the sweet spot, but you must remember that they won't respect you unless you show them a certain level as respect. I whole-heartedly believe that a lot of classroom management problem can be avoided with encouragement of a positive classroom environment. When students feel comfortable in your room, they will be less likely to disrespect you and act out. Basically, monkey see, monkey do!
I hope these tips can assist you in conquering any obstacles related to classroom management!
There is no simple solution to effective management of a classroom. There are so many variables that go into the workings of a classroom to make the environment positive or negative. Although there is no definitive answer to running a classroom effectively, there are some tips you can follow to encourage a positive environment.
First, my tip would be to stay consistent. I strongly believe that if you are too lenient and you notice students taking advantage that it will be almost impossible to change your tune to the strict respectable teacher. It would be much easier to start out strong with clear (and concise) rules and expectations to follow. Students should clearly understand what is expected of them on a daily basis and what the consequences will be if they do not meet those expectations. And most importantly, follow through! If students notice that you are not giving out that promised detention on their third offense, they (and possibly the other students) will likely not feel that they are required to follow those rules. The less consistent you are with expectations and consequences, the more push-back you will receive on those few times you decide to follow through with consequences. Basically, know what you want from students, make sure they know what you want from them, and demand that they uphold their end of the bargain on a daily basis.
My second tip for you would be to keep your game face on! No matter the situation, do not let students think they have gotten to you. Students will make inappropriate comments and they will make some poor decisions here and there, mostly because they are only human. If students know they can throw you off topic or make you uncomfortable they may take advantage of that situation. At all times students should at least think that you are prepared, motivated, dedicated, and ready to conquer anything in the classroom. Basically, expect the unexpected that students may throw at you and handle it with grace.
My third tip for anyone struggling with classroom management is to practice what you preach. You most like expect your students to show you and their classmates respect and it probably is on your list of expectations. You need to remember to also respect your students. You have to walk that fine line of being a "friend" and being a drill sergeant. You don't want students to take advantage, but you need to make it clear you respect them as people, and as students. You can still be a good teacher and be a mentor to students in need. It is difficult to find the sweet spot, but you must remember that they won't respect you unless you show them a certain level as respect. I whole-heartedly believe that a lot of classroom management problem can be avoided with encouragement of a positive classroom environment. When students feel comfortable in your room, they will be less likely to disrespect you and act out. Basically, monkey see, monkey do!
I hope these tips can assist you in conquering any obstacles related to classroom management!
Bringing it all together... My first teaching experience at Wellsboro!
Shortly after my teaching experiences for 3 days at Williamsburg I had the opportunity to teach a lesson at my cooperating center, Wellsboro. This was my first time (of many) teaching at Wellsboro and gave me a "taste" of what to expect when I start teaching there in January!
Here is a little about what lesson I taught.... Using FFA.org I selected a LifeKnowledge lesson that had to do with meetings. I selected this lesson to teach to the FFA/Ag Leadership students so they could learn about what makes a meeting effective and a little about the order of business for meetings based on Roberts Rules of Order. They worked in groups to identify the proper order of Order of Business using prepared post-its with the titles on them. I also had them perform the opening ceremonies (getting up and moving to the appropriate spots around the room) reading from the FFA Official Manual. With limited amount of time in a class, we had time for these 2 activities, introductions, and of course feedback of my performance as a teacher!
For being the last class of the day right before Thanksgiving break, I think it went great! I asked the students to anonymously give me feedback on the lesson and received almost completely positive reviews. From the student reviews and the evaluation of Mrs. Berndtson I came to a few conclusions on my points of improvement.
First, it was difficult for me to engage all students since I only knew the names of a few students and the ones I had not met before were apprehensive about participating. I think with time this will improve once I am familiar with students' names, personalities, and abilities. This class was a bit difficult to manage since there are freshmen who have no previous knowledge on the content (and therefore even more apprehensive about participation), but also seniors and FFA Officers (who I had the pleasure of meeting before) with a wealth of knowledge on meetings because of their extensive experience. In the future I have to be more aware of that so the same students aren't consistently answering and I can challenge the less experienced students to think about answers.
I really didn't get negative feedback, and I really do think it went well. Although engagement was tough at some points, they expressed that they enjoyed the activities (especially opening ceremonies). The last class of the day right before Thanksgiving break is bound to be difficult for engagement though! I was also very pleased with timing of this lesson within the period. During micro teaching I ran out of time to finish my lesson appropriately the first 2 days. During this lesson at Wellsboro I was pleased that I had the time to conclude, review objectives, and have students give feedback without rushing through anything. Definitely some positives and some points of improvement to think about as student teaching quickly approaches in January!
Thanks for reading and special thanks to Mrs. Berndtson for allowing me to take over the FFA/Ag Leadership class for the day to talk about effective meetings!
Here is a little about what lesson I taught.... Using FFA.org I selected a LifeKnowledge lesson that had to do with meetings. I selected this lesson to teach to the FFA/Ag Leadership students so they could learn about what makes a meeting effective and a little about the order of business for meetings based on Roberts Rules of Order. They worked in groups to identify the proper order of Order of Business using prepared post-its with the titles on them. I also had them perform the opening ceremonies (getting up and moving to the appropriate spots around the room) reading from the FFA Official Manual. With limited amount of time in a class, we had time for these 2 activities, introductions, and of course feedback of my performance as a teacher!
 |
| Leading discussion on effective meetings |
For being the last class of the day right before Thanksgiving break, I think it went great! I asked the students to anonymously give me feedback on the lesson and received almost completely positive reviews. From the student reviews and the evaluation of Mrs. Berndtson I came to a few conclusions on my points of improvement.
First, it was difficult for me to engage all students since I only knew the names of a few students and the ones I had not met before were apprehensive about participating. I think with time this will improve once I am familiar with students' names, personalities, and abilities. This class was a bit difficult to manage since there are freshmen who have no previous knowledge on the content (and therefore even more apprehensive about participation), but also seniors and FFA Officers (who I had the pleasure of meeting before) with a wealth of knowledge on meetings because of their extensive experience. In the future I have to be more aware of that so the same students aren't consistently answering and I can challenge the less experienced students to think about answers.
 |
| Assisting students in identifying the order of business |
I really didn't get negative feedback, and I really do think it went well. Although engagement was tough at some points, they expressed that they enjoyed the activities (especially opening ceremonies). The last class of the day right before Thanksgiving break is bound to be difficult for engagement though! I was also very pleased with timing of this lesson within the period. During micro teaching I ran out of time to finish my lesson appropriately the first 2 days. During this lesson at Wellsboro I was pleased that I had the time to conclude, review objectives, and have students give feedback without rushing through anything. Definitely some positives and some points of improvement to think about as student teaching quickly approaches in January!
 |
| My cooperating teacher, Mrs. Berndtson (right) and myself |
Thanks for reading and special thanks to Mrs. Berndtson for allowing me to take over the FFA/Ag Leadership class for the day to talk about effective meetings!
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Micro teaching adventure!
Before we go out into the world of student teaching, one assignment for #psuaged16 is to micro teach. Essentially we spend three days teaching a mini unit to a class not at our cooperating center. This gives us the practice of teaching more than one day, but at a place we don't have to return to in case it goes badly.
Luckily, my micro teaching experience did not go badly, and it makes me sad that I will not be returning. Myself and 2 of my cohort members had our micro teaching experience at Williamsburg and I taught the Animal Science class of about 10 students for 3 days in a row. I taught a mini unit on anatomy where they learned basic terminology/planes of the body, types of bones and joints, and some basic bones in a horse skeleton. I planned my 42 minute lessons to contain content, but to drive home their new knowledge with activities. Day 1 consisted of worksheets and then dissecting gummy bears to show the terminology. Day 2 consisted of building types of bones out of Play-doh and sharing with their classmates. The last day they guessed the parts of a horse skeleton, received a brief PowerPoint on the bones in the body, created a sentence using the first letter of bones to remember the order, then relabeled the skeleton as a class.
It was a pretty new experience to me, since before this experience I've only taught workshops and other experiences where I only teach the students once and never see them again. My biggest struggle with this experience was trying to teach everything I wanted in only 42 minutes. It seems like a decent amount of time, but when I actually tried to teach I ran out of time the first 2 days. With only 10 students, I had ample time to get to know all of their names and some of their interests which made the experience very rewarding.
On the last day the students filled out a learner satisfaction form so I could gauge what students thought about my teaching. I encouraged them to be honest and had them tell me what constructive criticism was. I wanted to introduce it that way because I told students if they didn't like something about the lessons then I expected them to tell me how it could be better. I guess this conversation didn't matter though because I got positive feedback from all ten students. The only question that I would consider it negative feedback were about my timing. Out of 10, 2 students did circle an answer saying at times the class went a little fast. I could definitely see where they were coming from since I ended up rushing through some material for days 1 & 2 when I realized how quickly class time was passing.
This experience was very helpful. First, I can better gauge my lessons for student teaching since Wellsboro class periods are also 42 minutes long (or should I say short!). I had experience with preparing lessons from day-to-day to use which will help while student teaching. This micro teaching is designed to be a super mini taste of student teaching. It really helps you get the idea of what to expect in student teaching. I am more excited than ever to continue my journey by jumping into Wellsboro for student teaching. Thanks Williamsburg for allowing me to micro teach! In the words of a Williamsburg student, "It's been real. It's been fun. It's been real fun!"
Luckily, my micro teaching experience did not go badly, and it makes me sad that I will not be returning. Myself and 2 of my cohort members had our micro teaching experience at Williamsburg and I taught the Animal Science class of about 10 students for 3 days in a row. I taught a mini unit on anatomy where they learned basic terminology/planes of the body, types of bones and joints, and some basic bones in a horse skeleton. I planned my 42 minute lessons to contain content, but to drive home their new knowledge with activities. Day 1 consisted of worksheets and then dissecting gummy bears to show the terminology. Day 2 consisted of building types of bones out of Play-doh and sharing with their classmates. The last day they guessed the parts of a horse skeleton, received a brief PowerPoint on the bones in the body, created a sentence using the first letter of bones to remember the order, then relabeled the skeleton as a class.
It was a pretty new experience to me, since before this experience I've only taught workshops and other experiences where I only teach the students once and never see them again. My biggest struggle with this experience was trying to teach everything I wanted in only 42 minutes. It seems like a decent amount of time, but when I actually tried to teach I ran out of time the first 2 days. With only 10 students, I had ample time to get to know all of their names and some of their interests which made the experience very rewarding.
On the last day the students filled out a learner satisfaction form so I could gauge what students thought about my teaching. I encouraged them to be honest and had them tell me what constructive criticism was. I wanted to introduce it that way because I told students if they didn't like something about the lessons then I expected them to tell me how it could be better. I guess this conversation didn't matter though because I got positive feedback from all ten students. The only question that I would consider it negative feedback were about my timing. Out of 10, 2 students did circle an answer saying at times the class went a little fast. I could definitely see where they were coming from since I ended up rushing through some material for days 1 & 2 when I realized how quickly class time was passing.
This experience was very helpful. First, I can better gauge my lessons for student teaching since Wellsboro class periods are also 42 minutes long (or should I say short!). I had experience with preparing lessons from day-to-day to use which will help while student teaching. This micro teaching is designed to be a super mini taste of student teaching. It really helps you get the idea of what to expect in student teaching. I am more excited than ever to continue my journey by jumping into Wellsboro for student teaching. Thanks Williamsburg for allowing me to micro teach! In the words of a Williamsburg student, "It's been real. It's been fun. It's been real fun!"
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
A Penny for your thoughts.. My IBI experience
For those of you that are blanking on what IBI stands for: Inquiry Based Instruction. It is basically allowing students to be responsible for their own learning by identifying a problem, determining their own hypotheses and procedures, collecting data, and sharing their evidence and findings. It can be very difficult to facilitate (in my opinion) but can have great rewards for students. Students tend to be used to a lot of guidance and inquiry encourages critical thinking and independent students.
This week I attempted to present an inquiry based instruction. I struggled with the planning process which wasn't surprising to me. I struggled to plan for a problems-based lesson (which is similar) so I expected to be challenged by inquiry. The main difference between problems-based and inquiry is generally that problems-based has an actual solution that the teacher expects students to arrive at while inquiry has less guidance and the teacher may not be sure where students will go with the activity.
For my IBI I wanted to introduce an animal science class to an Industry Standards, Breed Improvements, and Selection unit. My lesson was designed to put students in a certain way of thinking. My lesson didn't directly relate to animal science, but I wanted the students to be in the mindset that they had to observe and analyze what is around them. In a nutshell the lesson involved an ancient artifact (actually just a penny). Students had to analyze the artifacts given water, pipettes, petri dishes, dictionary, and worksheets along the way when student momentum seemed to slow. Students made observations of the penny (learning things along the way they never knew before) and what assumptions could be made about this mysterious civilization based on what is seen.
I used this to introduce this particular unit because I wanted the students to understand how little they have observed about an item we probably see every day. Students didn't realize the Lincoln memorial was on the penny or that there was latin on the coin. After observations and hypotheses about the civilization were shared, we got into the nitty gritty of why this is important. With some probing, the students (my awesome cohort members sitting in on my lab!) were able to articulate how important it is to make observations and determine what they mean in the animal industry. Students will have to think what industry standards are in place and why. For instance, What makes an Angus cow different from a Simmental? Students will have to think about differences that exist in the industry and what those differences mean to that animal. We briefly discussed breed improvements as well. An example was, Holstein cattle have great milk production in quantity while Jerseys are ideal for butter fat. How are these breeds improved over time and how can we improve them in the future? It is also important for students to enhance their observational skills for the selection section of the unit. Students recognized the importance of observing selection on a micro level saying, "You would select goats with a certain body confirmation to ensure they and their offspring are healthy and aesthetically pleasing, since looking nice and producing effectively is ideal."
I would say that as a first time instructor using inquiry that it went really well! I'm excited to use it while student teaching at Wellsboro. My "students" (classmates) responded well to the lab. I think that I gave enough instruction to guide them, but didn't give away answers or let them struggle to the point of frustration. I also let them think on their own before giving them worksheets to help their thinking process. This is the first week that I was told I had great energy!! So I thought the lab went well and then I was told I brought more enthusiasm this time which really made me feel like I'm improving. I can't wait to try out this lesson and many more with Wellsboro students!
This week I attempted to present an inquiry based instruction. I struggled with the planning process which wasn't surprising to me. I struggled to plan for a problems-based lesson (which is similar) so I expected to be challenged by inquiry. The main difference between problems-based and inquiry is generally that problems-based has an actual solution that the teacher expects students to arrive at while inquiry has less guidance and the teacher may not be sure where students will go with the activity.
For my IBI I wanted to introduce an animal science class to an Industry Standards, Breed Improvements, and Selection unit. My lesson was designed to put students in a certain way of thinking. My lesson didn't directly relate to animal science, but I wanted the students to be in the mindset that they had to observe and analyze what is around them. In a nutshell the lesson involved an ancient artifact (actually just a penny). Students had to analyze the artifacts given water, pipettes, petri dishes, dictionary, and worksheets along the way when student momentum seemed to slow. Students made observations of the penny (learning things along the way they never knew before) and what assumptions could be made about this mysterious civilization based on what is seen.I used this to introduce this particular unit because I wanted the students to understand how little they have observed about an item we probably see every day. Students didn't realize the Lincoln memorial was on the penny or that there was latin on the coin. After observations and hypotheses about the civilization were shared, we got into the nitty gritty of why this is important. With some probing, the students (my awesome cohort members sitting in on my lab!) were able to articulate how important it is to make observations and determine what they mean in the animal industry. Students will have to think what industry standards are in place and why. For instance, What makes an Angus cow different from a Simmental? Students will have to think about differences that exist in the industry and what those differences mean to that animal. We briefly discussed breed improvements as well. An example was, Holstein cattle have great milk production in quantity while Jerseys are ideal for butter fat. How are these breeds improved over time and how can we improve them in the future? It is also important for students to enhance their observational skills for the selection section of the unit. Students recognized the importance of observing selection on a micro level saying, "You would select goats with a certain body confirmation to ensure they and their offspring are healthy and aesthetically pleasing, since looking nice and producing effectively is ideal."
I would say that as a first time instructor using inquiry that it went really well! I'm excited to use it while student teaching at Wellsboro. My "students" (classmates) responded well to the lab. I think that I gave enough instruction to guide them, but didn't give away answers or let them struggle to the point of frustration. I also let them think on their own before giving them worksheets to help their thinking process. This is the first week that I was told I had great energy!! So I thought the lab went well and then I was told I brought more enthusiasm this time which really made me feel like I'm improving. I can't wait to try out this lesson and many more with Wellsboro students!
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Environmental Education #TeachAgChat
I had the pleasure of conducting a national Twitter chat (#TeachAgChat) November 5th with my fellow cohort member Matt Holt (@mholt5595). We both have interest in environmental education so decided on the topic: Integrating place-based environmental education in school based agricultural education to improve environmental literacy!
The planning of the Twitter chat was not too time consuming and the real stress didn't start until 5 minutes before our Twitter chat started. We spent the week leading up to the Twitter chat narrowing down the questions we wanted to ask, who would be guest experts, and what jobs Matt and I would take on for the hour we were engaging the nation in a chat about environmental education. I ended up engaging participants while Matt put most of his focus in engaging the experts to maximize their presence. I think the Twitter chat went well even with all the anticipation from the week leading up to one hour of engaging about environmental education.
We developed an infographic using easel.ly and shared it extensively through Twitter and in Facebook groups that we thought might be interested. We tweeted daily for the week to get people excited for the chat. We also spent extensive amounts of time researching experts and contacting them. Although many people never responded or said they couldn't make it, we ended up with 3 reliable experts that participated extensively through the whole chat. It was quite varied since one expert was the moderator of an #EnviroEd chat every week and another expert had never used Twitter! Overall, our experts were engaging and provided the participants with valuable resources and information.
All of the questions are sent out by the @TeachAgPSU twitter account while Matt and I moderated and facilitated discussion between participants. Throughout the chat I felt as though it was great conversation, but not moving as quickly as I thought. Once I received the statistics compared to other #TeachAgChat 's I realized I was right. Compared to the first three we had the most people participate in our chat, but also the most people that only tweeted once and a lower number of tweets. In a way it is positive that we got more people to participate, but I think if I did something similar in the future I would try harder to engage people to encourage more tweeting and interacting. It was quite an experience that required planning and networking, and well worth the experience getting to know some field experts and converse with the great minds in Ag and Enviro ed!
If you want to see some of the highlights of our twitter chat on environmental education check it out here: https://storify.com/mholt5595/teachagchat?utm_campaign=website&utm_source=email&utm_medium=email
The planning of the Twitter chat was not too time consuming and the real stress didn't start until 5 minutes before our Twitter chat started. We spent the week leading up to the Twitter chat narrowing down the questions we wanted to ask, who would be guest experts, and what jobs Matt and I would take on for the hour we were engaging the nation in a chat about environmental education. I ended up engaging participants while Matt put most of his focus in engaging the experts to maximize their presence. I think the Twitter chat went well even with all the anticipation from the week leading up to one hour of engaging about environmental education.
We developed an infographic using easel.ly and shared it extensively through Twitter and in Facebook groups that we thought might be interested. We tweeted daily for the week to get people excited for the chat. We also spent extensive amounts of time researching experts and contacting them. Although many people never responded or said they couldn't make it, we ended up with 3 reliable experts that participated extensively through the whole chat. It was quite varied since one expert was the moderator of an #EnviroEd chat every week and another expert had never used Twitter! Overall, our experts were engaging and provided the participants with valuable resources and information.
All of the questions are sent out by the @TeachAgPSU twitter account while Matt and I moderated and facilitated discussion between participants. Throughout the chat I felt as though it was great conversation, but not moving as quickly as I thought. Once I received the statistics compared to other #TeachAgChat 's I realized I was right. Compared to the first three we had the most people participate in our chat, but also the most people that only tweeted once and a lower number of tweets. In a way it is positive that we got more people to participate, but I think if I did something similar in the future I would try harder to engage people to encourage more tweeting and interacting. It was quite an experience that required planning and networking, and well worth the experience getting to know some field experts and converse with the great minds in Ag and Enviro ed!
If you want to see some of the highlights of our twitter chat on environmental education check it out here: https://storify.com/mholt5595/teachagchat?utm_campaign=website&utm_source=email&utm_medium=email
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
My adventure with Greenwood at the National FFA Convention!
Unlike all of my fellow student teachers, my cooperating center (Wellsboro: Grand Canyon FFA) did not attend the 88th National FFA Convention. Basically, they go every other year (to keep it something students have to work for) unless they are competing nationally. This year just so happened to be an off year. I was extremely disappointed since I have already developed a relationship with Grand Canyon FFA officers and have gotten to know some students. I was lucky enough to still be able to attend the convention, just not with the group I would be student teaching in the Spring. Instead, the Greenwood FFA chapter adopted me for the week. Mrs. Pontius and Mr. Clark teach the Greenwood students and advise the FFA chapter. They were kind enough to allow me to take on the advisor role with their students for the week.
Before my experience started I was nervous about advising students I had never met before. I was anxious about how they would take to this strange outsider being in charge or how they would react to my presence at the convention. Plus, I was missing the Grand Canyon FFA members! Although more time with the Grand Canyon FFA would've been ideal, spending time with Greenwood FFA was a terrific experience.
It was clear that the teachers at Greenwood develop a working relationship with students based on respect, trust, and dedication. Because of the respect built between the teachers and students, Greenwood FFA members conducted themselves responsibly throughout the whole trip. The Greenwood teachers trusted the students and their ability to conduct themselves that the very first day of convention I (and a parent chaperone) were left with the bulk of the group. Some students were competing in the Novice Parliamentary Procedure Competition and both the teachers attended while trusting myself and the chaperone to take the other students to the Kentucky Speedway and the
Kentucky Horse Park. The teachers mentioned it and it was clear that if you have terrific students that understand what is expected of them, you can do extra fun things. They would not have been able to pawn off 12 ill-mannered students on a student teacher they didn't know to truck them around Kentucky.
I have only been to one other convention (last year) and I travelled with Penn State to recruit FFA Members into the College of Ag Sciences. This year was so different being placed into that advisor role, and in so many ways it was so much better! I had more responsibility since I was with a group of 18 students all week, but the rewards of bonding with these students were unforgettable. In just a week I got to know the students I travelled with as we attended general sessions, concerts (chorus, band, and Jake Owen!), and explored Kentucky.
My biggest take-away from this experience was that the relationship between students and teachers is critical for a happy student and a happy teacher. The teachers at Greenwood show their students that they care about them as people and show them a certain level of respect. They have developed a relationship with the students where they feel comfortable coming to their teachers with problems and telling them about their day. The Greenwood teachers have found that "sweet spot" where students can come to them, but yet respect them. I could not have had a better trip because Greenwood treated me like I was a third advisor, they treated me like a member of the 'Greenwood family', and even asked me if I could student teach there. This National Convention trip was unforgettable and really showed me how important it is to show students you care about them and encourage responsibility.
Check out some highlights of convention AND check out a few seconds of Greenwood FFA (and myself in the back) getting excited for the convention at 1:35! The video is not yet on youtube, so check it out on the National FFA Organization Facebook page.
Before my experience started I was nervous about advising students I had never met before. I was anxious about how they would take to this strange outsider being in charge or how they would react to my presence at the convention. Plus, I was missing the Grand Canyon FFA members! Although more time with the Grand Canyon FFA would've been ideal, spending time with Greenwood FFA was a terrific experience.
Kentucky Horse Park. The teachers mentioned it and it was clear that if you have terrific students that understand what is expected of them, you can do extra fun things. They would not have been able to pawn off 12 ill-mannered students on a student teacher they didn't know to truck them around Kentucky.
I have only been to one other convention (last year) and I travelled with Penn State to recruit FFA Members into the College of Ag Sciences. This year was so different being placed into that advisor role, and in so many ways it was so much better! I had more responsibility since I was with a group of 18 students all week, but the rewards of bonding with these students were unforgettable. In just a week I got to know the students I travelled with as we attended general sessions, concerts (chorus, band, and Jake Owen!), and explored Kentucky.
My biggest take-away from this experience was that the relationship between students and teachers is critical for a happy student and a happy teacher. The teachers at Greenwood show their students that they care about them as people and show them a certain level of respect. They have developed a relationship with the students where they feel comfortable coming to their teachers with problems and telling them about their day. The Greenwood teachers have found that "sweet spot" where students can come to them, but yet respect them. I could not have had a better trip because Greenwood treated me like I was a third advisor, they treated me like a member of the 'Greenwood family', and even asked me if I could student teach there. This National Convention trip was unforgettable and really showed me how important it is to show students you care about them and encourage responsibility.Check out some highlights of convention AND check out a few seconds of Greenwood FFA (and myself in the back) getting excited for the convention at 1:35! The video is not yet on youtube, so check it out on the National FFA Organization Facebook page.
Reflecting on Inquiry-Based Instruction
According to Alberta Learning, "Inquiry-based learning is a process where students are involved in
their learning, formulate questions, investigate widely and then
build new understandings, meanings and knowledge" (2004). Inquiry-based instruction develops interest and critical thinking skills within students. Through inquiry-based instruction, they learn how to independently solve problems and develop processes to critical thinking. Although the process is different to individuals, Alberta Learning had this helpful picture (to the right) of the steps within the process.Reflecting on the process is in the center because it is critical to the model and should be used within every step. The planning phase is usually what gets students interested. They are introduced to the issue and start to feel optimistic about solving the puzzle introduced to them. Retrieving is an important step for the teacher to interact with a guide student learning because this step can cause frustration within students. The retrieving stage involves students thinking about the information they do have and searching for the information they need. Students can develop frustrations when they run into obstacles with not enough or too much research. The processing phase involves focusing the inquiry and determining what research is necessary for the topic.
The creating phase is important because students take the knowledge they ave learned and now put it into their own words and their own format. The sharing phase is the chance students get to share what they learned with a specific audience (peers, community, etc.). I see this phase as a way to put the students in a teacher role. They get to present what they learned which will only help in their learning process. They say you learn best when you have to teach it! Finally, evaluating is essential for students to develop understanding and critique of the process. They should be able to articulate what they did and how it was important. All these steps are a great foundation to start inquiry-based instruction in any subject, but there are many ways to accomplish inquiry-based instruction!
I think this process is essential to encourage within students so they can develop independence and problem solving skills. Like I said, this process can be used in any subject and I think Agricultural Education can implement inquiry-based instruction easily. My first instinct is to implement this inquiry-based instruction process by assigning a research paper on a controversial topic like GMO's. I could also see myself assigning a presentation for students to present research on what variables impact an ecosystem. Students could also present findings to middle school classes or fair events on the research they found on animal diseases. The possibilities are endless in how inquiry-based instruction can be implemented in agricultural education!
Check out the below resource on inquiry-based instruction!
Reference:
Alberta Learning. (2004) Focus on inquiry: a teacher?s guide to implementing inquiry-based learning. Retrieved from https://education.alberta.ca/media/313361/focusoninquiry.pdf
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Evaluating Learning Reading Reflection
Evaluating student learning can be challenging to teachers. I find it difficult to think about how to grade students that work hard, put effort into their, and genuinely try to improve when compared to the student that puts no effort in, but seems to pass with flying colors in classes.There are countless ways to evaluate students and the teacher must decide: Should students be given a test, assigned a project, present a presentation? It is the educators job to figure out what assignment or test and then what type will best evaluate student comprehension.
Although I'm only just beginning my teaching journey (with student teaching starting in January), I find myself struggling at just the thought of how I can evaluate students. I think a lot of it comes from the fact that I was the student who didn't have to study and just did well on tests in most classes. I want to encourage hard work with my students and not allow them to rest on their exceptional test taking skills. To accomplish this, I plan to implement evaluations of all types. I hope to assign projects, presentations, and tests that contain essays and short answers along with multiple choice. We know students learn in different ways and they will perform differently on various types of evaluations. To ensure there is variety in evaluation will give all students a chance to show what they have learned because there will be students like myself that excel at tests, but there will be others that will only excel at projects or presentations.
I found this weeks reading on evaluating exceptional learners particularly interesting (Jung & Guskey, 2010). Mostly, I found it important to keep in mind that you can grade students based on three different criteria: Product, Process, and Progress. It's an interesting concept to me and definitely something educators should keep in mind. Product is very typical in education because it will show a learners knowledge through a test, project, or other assessment focused on comprehension. Process criteria focuses on how students are going through their class and include grades on their behavior or their class participation. Lastly, progress emphasizes how they have developed and improved instead of their just their final comprehension level. I think that all three should be used to assess students depending on the situation. For instance: students will start at different levels in an ag mechanics lab so progress would best be used as the criteria to ensure that students improve, not just achieve a high level of comprehension.
This will be the second time I'm sharing an Edutopia video, but that just shows how much they really have to offer. This video will provoke some thought about how you assess students, whether they are elementary student or high school agriculture students! They even talk about the importance of reflection (which #psuaged16 is practicing consistently through our learning process). The video reviews the five keys to assessing students which they have indicated as: goals and measures, formative, summative, performance, and student ownership. The video will give me great insight on developing important skills for students through assessments. I recommend checking out what Edutopia has on their site and youtube regarding any topics in education.
Reference:
I found this weeks reading on evaluating exceptional learners particularly interesting (Jung & Guskey, 2010). Mostly, I found it important to keep in mind that you can grade students based on three different criteria: Product, Process, and Progress. It's an interesting concept to me and definitely something educators should keep in mind. Product is very typical in education because it will show a learners knowledge through a test, project, or other assessment focused on comprehension. Process criteria focuses on how students are going through their class and include grades on their behavior or their class participation. Lastly, progress emphasizes how they have developed and improved instead of their just their final comprehension level. I think that all three should be used to assess students depending on the situation. For instance: students will start at different levels in an ag mechanics lab so progress would best be used as the criteria to ensure that students improve, not just achieve a high level of comprehension.
Reference:
- Jung, L.A. & Guskey, T.R. (2010). Grading exceptional learners. Educational Leadership, 67(5). Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb10/vol67/num05/Grading-Exceptional-Learners.aspx
Problem Solving Approach Lab Reflection
This week I got pretty good feedback on my problem-solving approach lesson. We had to develop a lesson that challenged students to solve a problem. Sounds like an easy task (or at least I thought so), but I struggled to create a lesson for this lab. I spent hours just narrowing down a topic because I couldn't think of a great way for students to solve a problem. This reflection is based almost completely on my preparation process and not the presentation of the lesson because that is where I struggled.
During my lesson planning I kept thinking: Should I have them design a landscape? Is that even a problem? Should I have them diagnose a sick animal? Would that be too in-depth for high school level? Should I have students identify potential pollutants? I jumped around quite a bit until I finally just picked one. I decided not to perform the pollutants lesson because I already mentioned it in class earlier this week and thought I should pick something different. It was a toss-up between the other two, literally. I actually just flipped a coin and decided on animal disease diagnosis.
My struggles didn't end there. I spent way more time through this whole process than I anticipated. Hours went by and I finally picked a lesson. My next struggle was finding information that wasn't beyond high school level, but yet would challenge students. I ended up just creating my own case study for students. A lot of information out there is designed to challenge College level students and Veterinary students. So I designed the lesson from scratch because it was easier than trying to simplify any case studies I did find.
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| Facilitating group discussion |
Here's the basics to my final created lesson: Students briefly learned/reviewed the physical examination process of an animal. We then role played that I (the teacher) was a pet owner and the students were veterinarians. Throughout the review of the physical examination process they were to ask questions and observe my pet dog, Molly. They used FFA Vet Science CDE disease packets to individually diagnose Molly and then worked in a group to make a final decision on what they thought was wrong with Molly. I designed the lesson with one disease in mind knowing that students could potentially diagnose differently. In this exercise there were no tests so they had to diagnose the dog based only on symptoms they heard from the questions they asked.
My seemingly endless hours of stressing over this one lesson plan did pay off in the end. I got pretty good feedback from my peers and professor on the student problem-solving activity. I still need to work on that gosh darn enthusiasm and my transitions could use some help, but at least the planning paid off.
For future lessons I think more time should be put into the flow of the lesson and not worry so much about narrowing down a topic. More time into the planning process will benefit my lesson presentation ultimately.
After all, "Those who fail to plan, plan to fail." - Winston Churchill
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Project-Based Learning
As a student, projects were either a hit or miss for me. Some projects I could really get into, show what I could do, and explore my interests while others just weren't as "fun". As I reflect on the weekly readings this week, I keep thinking about Project-Based Learning and how it's important that projects are not just busy work for students. According to Larmer and Mergendoller, a project must be meaningful in 2 ways: 1) Students must perceive it as meaningful and something they will strive to do well on, and 2) must contain a meaningful, educational purpose. Project-Based Learning has the capability of providing both of the aspects of a meaningful project if designed and implemented properly. Projects must be thought-provoking and challenge students to solve a problem.
If you Google Project-Based Learning you will find the definition:
Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge.
I think the biggest take-away with PBL is that it is used to encourage the problem-solving within students. PBL gives students independence and encourages them to learn on their own. It requires the teacher to become more of the facilitator role and students direct their own learning through the project. In the simplest terms: the teacher does not introduce material then assign a project, the students educate themselves through the well-designed project.
To learn more about PBL, I highly recommend looking at Edutopia. They have amazing resources and information useful to all teachers, but I found this video especially helpful for PBL.
I am very excited about possibly implementing a PBL project while student teaching in the Spring. I see it as a different way to introduce a new topic to the students. Having to figure out problems or information on their own (and I will help as needed) can encourage critical thinking and problem-solving skills within the students. Critical-thinking and problem-solving skills are important for 21st century learners, and teachers must encourage development of these skills within students in many ways possible (PBL is a great one!)
In case you want to explore Project-Based Learning more with what #psuaged16 is is conquering this week:
If you Google Project-Based Learning you will find the definition:
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| 8 essentials for PBL |
I think the biggest take-away with PBL is that it is used to encourage the problem-solving within students. PBL gives students independence and encourages them to learn on their own. It requires the teacher to become more of the facilitator role and students direct their own learning through the project. In the simplest terms: the teacher does not introduce material then assign a project, the students educate themselves through the well-designed project.
To learn more about PBL, I highly recommend looking at Edutopia. They have amazing resources and information useful to all teachers, but I found this video especially helpful for PBL.
I am very excited about possibly implementing a PBL project while student teaching in the Spring. I see it as a different way to introduce a new topic to the students. Having to figure out problems or information on their own (and I will help as needed) can encourage critical thinking and problem-solving skills within the students. Critical-thinking and problem-solving skills are important for 21st century learners, and teachers must encourage development of these skills within students in many ways possible (PBL is a great one!)
In case you want to explore Project-Based Learning more with what #psuaged16 is is conquering this week:
- Larmer, J. & Mergendoller, J.R. (2010). The main course, not dessert: How are students reaching 21st century goals? With 21st century project based learning. Retrieved from http://bie.org/object/document/main_course_not_dessert
- Larmer, J. & Mergendoller, J.R. (2010). 8 essentials for project-based learning. Retrieved fromhttp://www.sbcss.k12.ca.us/attachments/article/1058/8_Essentials_article_small_file_size_Oct2012version.pdf
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Unpacking the Fall Leadership Conference Workshop
I had the immense pleasure of presenting a 2 1/2 hour workshop to 23 students holding the Reporter office in their FFA Chapters. I also had a great team (since I didn't facilitate alone) that included Sarabeth Royer, Miranda Kane, and myself. I would say that for a group of "rookies" we didn't do too bad presenting this workshop!
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| Miranda rockin' it out with media skills |
Fall Leadership Conference is attended by many chapters across PA and the workshops were designed to teach the officers about their duties. This experience is great for students because even if they already are aware of their duties, they get ample time to network with other chapter officers. Our varied group of Reporters were given blank contact sheets to take advantage of this network opportunity and students were even late to lunch trying to trade contact information!
Our workshop seemed to grab and maintain the attention of this group of students. When they first entered the room they seemed tired (many drove quite a distance) and disengaged from any activities they were about to participate in. With an explosive surprise skit, students became interested (or maybe confused) as to what was going on. I give the credit of student engagement for the lesson to this interest approach we implemented. I fully believe that the explosive interest approach hooked them into what we were about to share. If you don't believe that our interest approach was explosive: ask some PA Ag Teachers. We were so loud and excitable about the start of our workshop that we unknowingly distracted the teacher workshop next door!
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| Sarabeth facilitating a discussion on Reporter responsibilities |
I give credit to our interest approach to grabbing student's attention, but without a stellar lesson packed with activities their engagement would have surely dwindled in the nearly 3 hours they were with us. Extensive planning for a few weeks prior yielded a lesson that included activities like interviewing each other, identifying their duties (easter egg hunt style!), and reciting their opening ceremonies along with developed hand signals to assist in remembering. There truly wasn't a dull moment in our workshop and even while students were working we played music, danced around, turned off the lights at some points, and waved a flag throughout the workshop. I really felt that my team worked well and we fed off each other's energy. I believe that this resulted in students feeding off our energy!
Although I feel extremely proud of how this workshop went, there is always room for improvement and to improve we must recognize our weak points. I did feel that, at times, students got too excited and started side conversations. This seemed to only be prevalent nearing the end of the session when students started feeling comfortable with their classmates and us as facilitators. I believe we did a great job at managing the little side conversations and maintained our "organized chaos" of a workshop. Specifically, when a student seemed to be talking I would call on them to share about the activity or an idea. I would also playfully say to a student, "Oh, you're a troublemaker aren't you?!" or make eye contact with them while presenting so they knew when I noticed their conversations. I do believe that the conversations were due to hype in the workshop and constant switching around and not due to low engagement in the lessons.
Although it is still early in my journey, I felt like this was the first time that I was enthusiastic enough in my presentation. There is something about presenting to students that made me more enthusiastic than the lessons I have given to peers. It is also a possibility that presenting a workshop rather than a lesson became more fun to me. I will have to figure out how to harness my FLC workshop energy and bring that beautiful monster to every lesson I present!
Saturday, October 3, 2015
To ask, or not to ask: That is the Question
Well, maybe not whether to ask or not, but how we ask questions. Questions are used to provoke thought processes within our students and we must ask them correctly and with purpose if we are to receive thoughtful answers in return. You guessed it, this week in our Ag Ed journey we have been reading, thinking, and questioning about questions.
The type of question we ask should always be thought about: Is this question open-ended, interrogative, rhetorical, high or low level? I've learned that even a question that is rhetorical or a question that initiates lower level thinking can be used effectively. I would assume that only high level questions that involve a lot of analysis to students are ideal. Realistically, the lower level questions can "preheat the oven" and get students started in the thinking process.
As an example, questions that initiate lower level thinking might be: What are the four compartments in a ruminant stomach? or Can you explain the process of digestion? Higher level question examples would include How would you design an ideal greenhouse? or How would you critique this class of market steers?
The second question of my lower level example would require a little more higher level thought, but the first question hits the lowest level of Bloom's Taxonomy in the remembering level. The higher level thinking questions require some basic levels of remembering the components of an ideal greenhouse or market steer, but then requires students to process how they would create or judge a class. It puts the basic knowledge with application and use of their knowledge. To the right are the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy that shows the levels of thinking based on key words like describing, creating, examining, etc. We didn't spend an immense of time this week on Bloom's, but I wanted to include it in my reflection because it will directly relate the word choice in questions to what level thinking I am encouraging in students.
We have many resources on effective questioning at our disposal. I'm learning that the question is critical, but so is how you ask it and how you present the situation. In one resource (https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/WC/WC08400.pdf), Dyer presents Goodwin et al. (1992) suggestions on how instructors should react when asking questions. An instructor should reinforce the student response, probe for further information, refocus the question, redirect the question to another student, or rephrase the question for the same student. These stuck out to me because I know that asking clear questions can be a struggle for me and these strategies can help clarify questions in a lesson as well as encourage critical thinking.
As an educator it is my job to ask students clear, purposeful questions. Providing the guiding framework of questions throughout a lesson is essential to encouraging critical thinking within students. It is also my belief that providing this framework consistently in lessons will assist students in developing the critical thinking skills themselves. Over time students will rely less on the questions asked in class and will develop their own mental process to analyze information.
The type of question we ask should always be thought about: Is this question open-ended, interrogative, rhetorical, high or low level? I've learned that even a question that is rhetorical or a question that initiates lower level thinking can be used effectively. I would assume that only high level questions that involve a lot of analysis to students are ideal. Realistically, the lower level questions can "preheat the oven" and get students started in the thinking process.
As an example, questions that initiate lower level thinking might be: What are the four compartments in a ruminant stomach? or Can you explain the process of digestion? Higher level question examples would include How would you design an ideal greenhouse? or How would you critique this class of market steers?
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| Bloom's Taxonomy |
The second question of my lower level example would require a little more higher level thought, but the first question hits the lowest level of Bloom's Taxonomy in the remembering level. The higher level thinking questions require some basic levels of remembering the components of an ideal greenhouse or market steer, but then requires students to process how they would create or judge a class. It puts the basic knowledge with application and use of their knowledge. To the right are the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy that shows the levels of thinking based on key words like describing, creating, examining, etc. We didn't spend an immense of time this week on Bloom's, but I wanted to include it in my reflection because it will directly relate the word choice in questions to what level thinking I am encouraging in students.
We have many resources on effective questioning at our disposal. I'm learning that the question is critical, but so is how you ask it and how you present the situation. In one resource (https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/WC/WC08400.pdf), Dyer presents Goodwin et al. (1992) suggestions on how instructors should react when asking questions. An instructor should reinforce the student response, probe for further information, refocus the question, redirect the question to another student, or rephrase the question for the same student. These stuck out to me because I know that asking clear questions can be a struggle for me and these strategies can help clarify questions in a lesson as well as encourage critical thinking.
As an educator it is my job to ask students clear, purposeful questions. Providing the guiding framework of questions throughout a lesson is essential to encouraging critical thinking within students. It is also my belief that providing this framework consistently in lessons will assist students in developing the critical thinking skills themselves. Over time students will rely less on the questions asked in class and will develop their own mental process to analyze information.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
First Unit Plan... Check!
As part of our teacher preparation we have to make sure we can effectively create lesson and unit plans. Planning ahead of time is the recipe for success - the more you plan, the less you have to worry about! Over the last few weeks I developed my very first unit plan. Although it has not yet been reviewed by professors (or my cooperating teacher!) my peers made the time to read it over and give feedback. Their comments and review of my own unit plan a week after finishing it has given me some insight to my planning process.
During the process I learned just how difficult unit planning is. In my head I was thinking: Oh it's just a basic skeleton of about 2-3 weeks, how hard can that be?!" Well, I was in for a surprise! The process of preparing it took me longer than I expected and I realized how important that "skeleton" of a unit plan is. Without proper thought into that unit plan, the lessons will fall apart. Preparing a unit plan requires careful consideration of the lessons you will be delivering during those class sessions to write the materials and objectives. I'll admit I didn't delegate enough time for myself to prepare my lesson plan and was not completely satisfied with it. It is only my first one though and I think I at least have a good starting point (and my peer reviewers agreed: good start but room for improvement).
While looking over my feedback I quickly realized there were some simple things I could fix like organization, adding tables, or adding more standards. I, personally, like the layout and organization of my plan so I haven't changed that, but that doesn't mean my peers didn't provide helpful feedback! Their feedback has caused me to provide my more standards that are evidenced throughout the unit and add more goals for the unit. With only two goals I could see how that was definitely a weak point: with 3 weeks of classes I am able to come up with more than two goals to work toward.
My biggest change for my updated unit plan (thanks to my peer reviewers and my own reflection after the process) is the objectives. I wrote the unit plan prior to too much research into proper objective writing. We have learned that an objective must contain a performance, condition, and criterion and I realized that many of the objectives in my original unit plan were lacking one or even two (Yikes!) of the required parts. I also need to put more thought into how accommodations and adaptations will be used throughout the unit to assist all students in the learning process.
This process was eye-opening and has really helped me understand my strong and weak points while unit planning. Shout out to my wonderful peers, Samantha Sessamen and Mason Tate, for giving me honest and constructive feedback on my unit, thank you!!
During the process I learned just how difficult unit planning is. In my head I was thinking: Oh it's just a basic skeleton of about 2-3 weeks, how hard can that be?!" Well, I was in for a surprise! The process of preparing it took me longer than I expected and I realized how important that "skeleton" of a unit plan is. Without proper thought into that unit plan, the lessons will fall apart. Preparing a unit plan requires careful consideration of the lessons you will be delivering during those class sessions to write the materials and objectives. I'll admit I didn't delegate enough time for myself to prepare my lesson plan and was not completely satisfied with it. It is only my first one though and I think I at least have a good starting point (and my peer reviewers agreed: good start but room for improvement).
While looking over my feedback I quickly realized there were some simple things I could fix like organization, adding tables, or adding more standards. I, personally, like the layout and organization of my plan so I haven't changed that, but that doesn't mean my peers didn't provide helpful feedback! Their feedback has caused me to provide my more standards that are evidenced throughout the unit and add more goals for the unit. With only two goals I could see how that was definitely a weak point: with 3 weeks of classes I am able to come up with more than two goals to work toward.
My biggest change for my updated unit plan (thanks to my peer reviewers and my own reflection after the process) is the objectives. I wrote the unit plan prior to too much research into proper objective writing. We have learned that an objective must contain a performance, condition, and criterion and I realized that many of the objectives in my original unit plan were lacking one or even two (Yikes!) of the required parts. I also need to put more thought into how accommodations and adaptations will be used throughout the unit to assist all students in the learning process.
This process was eye-opening and has really helped me understand my strong and weak points while unit planning. Shout out to my wonderful peers, Samantha Sessamen and Mason Tate, for giving me honest and constructive feedback on my unit, thank you!!
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Reading Reflection: Technology
This week was a very interesting week for readings... although it's mostly viewings. If you are at all curious of what exactly I'm talking about, watch/read these below:
- I'm Seventeen | Kate Simonds | TEDxBoise. (2015, February 9). Retrieved September 26, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OkOQhXhsIE
- TEDxDesMoines - Angela Maiers - You Matter. (2011, August 5). Retrieved September 26, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FHdHUzRnms
- Dr. Tae - Building A New Culture Of Teaching And Learning. (2011, April 23). Retrieved September 26, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta5rDVbTP1o
- Jan, K. (2011, October 24). Pursue Passion: Demand Google 20% Time at School. Retrieved September 26, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-von-jan/unstructured-classroom_b_1024404.html
These videos will spark some great thoughts in your mind, I promise it is worth the time!
Our weekly assignment has really gotten me thinking so much that I can't keep track of all of it. My main thoughts have centered around Katie Simonds: I'm Seventeen which is the first video in the bulleted list. There is just something about a confident, intelligent, seventeen-year-old demanding respect. She states that someone's idea or intelligence should not be dismissed just because of age. All people have valid thoughts that can add to a conversation, event, or organization. Angela Maiers also hits this home with You Matter because all students, all teachers, all people matter. When we tell or show people that they matter, they are encouraged to do great things.
Similarly, the Huffington Post article above talked about how Google set 20% of employees time (one work day) to pursue their own passions. They had phenomenal results with 50% of Google products by 2009 had been created during this time. Let me repeat that: 20% of time that resulted in 50% of Google products (which includes Gmail!). This is powerful! I see this as living proof that pursuing a passion results in productivity. The more you enjoy something, the more hard work is put in.
It is evident that whether you are a preservice teacher or a teacher with 25 years experience, we can all provide valuable ideas and techniques to benefit all! TeachAg! Genius hour has some time before it is presented again, but it is a great opportunity to hear innovative ideas. Although new to the profession, the PSU 2016 Student Teachers have a lot to offer to Agricultural Education and I encourage you to participate in our journey. Along the way we will learn vast amounts from the current agricultural educators, but we may also be capable of teaching people a thing or two!
I have a Twitter Chat coming up in the next few months (Date TBD) along with the TeachAg! Genius Hour. To those going my Agricultural Education Journey, I'm curious to what ideas you are most passionate about sharing! I'm thinking of conducting a Twitter Chat on The Role of Technology in the Classroom with questions regarding social media, internet, and other technology used in classrooms. Although not limited to Agricultural Education, What ideas or suggestions do you have regarding a Twitter Chat on classroom technology?
I appreciate any and all feedback!
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Interest Approach reflections
As I settle in to my apartment for the night I'm making some time to think about how my lesson in class today went. For any readers not familiar with AEE 412 (Methods of Teaching Agriculture), it is helping us get into the groove of how we will teach. Lab is specifically designed for us to present these mock lessons to fellow cohort members and receive feedback in various ways. Today we presented a 5-10 minute interest approach. An interest approach is used to capture the attention of your students and get them excited for the lesson. My interest approach was almost exactly 5 minutes which will work well (I think) for my 42 minute class sessions when I student teach at Wellsboro Area High School.
My interest approach to a pesticide lesson involved passing out candy to half of the class and they had to pretend they were their crops. I tried to give them ownership of their crops (like a farmer would typically feel about their crops) and even asked the to set them up and describe what they were growing. I had the students step aside while the other half (in this case only one student was left of the 3 person class) became the pests. To wrap up the interest approach and introduce the lesson I asked questions about how they felt about a pest damaging their crops, how they could prevent it, and even had them break down the word pesticide to understand how to define it.
I find that I tend to immediately think I did worse than I actually did. Following my lesson I felt that I fumbled questions and didn't react as well as I could to peer role playing. This was the first session that we were assigned a role while our classmates taught. For instance, I played the student distracted by technology, specifically my cell phone. The role playing from my classmates, I will admit, threw me off a bit. Immediately after the lesson I kept thinking that I could've handled the situation better although I wasn't sure exactly how.
Basically, my fellow pre-service teacher candidate was assigned as the class clown. She really challenged me like a typical high school student would. Throughout my 5 minutes she pretended not to be interested and made comments suggesting she was "too cool for school". I felt like it was making me laugh (a nervous reaction) and I wasn't sure what to say to get her interested and on task. I tried to act like it didn't bother me and keep the instruction going as planned. Although I was aware of it, the video didn't show it that noticeably so I think I was effective.
After watching the video of my lesson, I don't think I did as poorly as I felt and my classmates and professor rated me pretty well (that has to count for something!). Although I did better than I thought, I still need to work on my teaching techniques and strategies. I thought I was able to pick up my energy for this lesson, but my evaluations evidence that I still need to be more enthusiastic and engaging. I will have to continue working on that! Any suggestions for classroom management or being an enthusiastic teacher are more than welcome!
My interest approach to a pesticide lesson involved passing out candy to half of the class and they had to pretend they were their crops. I tried to give them ownership of their crops (like a farmer would typically feel about their crops) and even asked the to set them up and describe what they were growing. I had the students step aside while the other half (in this case only one student was left of the 3 person class) became the pests. To wrap up the interest approach and introduce the lesson I asked questions about how they felt about a pest damaging their crops, how they could prevent it, and even had them break down the word pesticide to understand how to define it.
I find that I tend to immediately think I did worse than I actually did. Following my lesson I felt that I fumbled questions and didn't react as well as I could to peer role playing. This was the first session that we were assigned a role while our classmates taught. For instance, I played the student distracted by technology, specifically my cell phone. The role playing from my classmates, I will admit, threw me off a bit. Immediately after the lesson I kept thinking that I could've handled the situation better although I wasn't sure exactly how.Basically, my fellow pre-service teacher candidate was assigned as the class clown. She really challenged me like a typical high school student would. Throughout my 5 minutes she pretended not to be interested and made comments suggesting she was "too cool for school". I felt like it was making me laugh (a nervous reaction) and I wasn't sure what to say to get her interested and on task. I tried to act like it didn't bother me and keep the instruction going as planned. Although I was aware of it, the video didn't show it that noticeably so I think I was effective.
After watching the video of my lesson, I don't think I did as poorly as I felt and my classmates and professor rated me pretty well (that has to count for something!). Although I did better than I thought, I still need to work on my teaching techniques and strategies. I thought I was able to pick up my energy for this lesson, but my evaluations evidence that I still need to be more enthusiastic and engaging. I will have to continue working on that! Any suggestions for classroom management or being an enthusiastic teacher are more than welcome!
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Reading Reflection #2 - Objectives
Of the readings I read this week, Writing Objectives in Secondary Agriculture
Courses that Challenge Students to Think written by Susie Whittington really is getting stuck in my head (2005). I have been thinking extensively about this specific reading because I struggle with writing objectives. We are instructed to have objectives that contain a behavior, condition, and criterion. When writing an effective objective I must think about: What do I want my students to be able to accomplish, in what type of situation, and to what degree?
I struggle with objectives at some points because I tend to only include a behavior and condition. For instance, my first unit plan includes an objective that says: Describe environmental factors that influence animal behavior. Reading about objectives by Whittington makes me more aware that some of my objectives have been appealing to a lower cognitive level in my students. Some of the skills for writing objectives will come with time, but at least I can pinpoint my weakness and work on it. To fix the above objective I might change it to something like: Identify and predict how environmental factors influence animal behavior in a lab setting.
I think this objective has greatly improved and can make students more aware of what they are learning. According to Whittington, having an objective using 'list', 'explain', or 'create' can have students exhibit higher cognitive thinking including remembering, processing, and formulating respectively. I believe my improved objective shows that students won't just have to list environmental factors, but instead will remember the factors and then critically think about how they would impact an animal in a lab setting.
I will have some work to do upgrading my objectives to higher cognitive thinking thanks to Whittington, but as she said, "When we write objectives designed to challenge students at higher cognitive levels, we, as teachers must equally challenge ourselves to teach at higher cognitive levels" (2005). So if you want your students to do great, we as teachers must first lead by example!
If you wish to get some information on objectives:
Whittington's article: http://www.naae.org/profdevelopment/magazine/archive_issues/volume77/v77i5.pdf
Helpful page on writing objectives: http://depts.washington.edu/eproject/objectives.htm
This is a helpful chart to think about how you want students to evidence what they learn:
I struggle with objectives at some points because I tend to only include a behavior and condition. For instance, my first unit plan includes an objective that says: Describe environmental factors that influence animal behavior. Reading about objectives by Whittington makes me more aware that some of my objectives have been appealing to a lower cognitive level in my students. Some of the skills for writing objectives will come with time, but at least I can pinpoint my weakness and work on it. To fix the above objective I might change it to something like: Identify and predict how environmental factors influence animal behavior in a lab setting.
I think this objective has greatly improved and can make students more aware of what they are learning. According to Whittington, having an objective using 'list', 'explain', or 'create' can have students exhibit higher cognitive thinking including remembering, processing, and formulating respectively. I believe my improved objective shows that students won't just have to list environmental factors, but instead will remember the factors and then critically think about how they would impact an animal in a lab setting.
I will have some work to do upgrading my objectives to higher cognitive thinking thanks to Whittington, but as she said, "When we write objectives designed to challenge students at higher cognitive levels, we, as teachers must equally challenge ourselves to teach at higher cognitive levels" (2005). So if you want your students to do great, we as teachers must first lead by example!
If you wish to get some information on objectives:
Whittington's article: http://www.naae.org/profdevelopment/magazine/archive_issues/volume77/v77i5.pdf
Helpful page on writing objectives: http://depts.washington.edu/eproject/objectives.htm
This is a helpful chart to think about how you want students to evidence what they learn:
Thursday, September 17, 2015
First Day of School Reflection!
After thinking about my "First Day of School" presentation this movie scene popped into my head. I kept thinking throughout my lesson and afterward that I need to have more enthusiasm when I present my lessons. This was the perfect excuse to share a Finding Nemo scene! I thought about how I want my students to be as excited as Nemo about my lessons. Ok, so maybe they won't be that excited, but I want to at least create a classroom that they always look forward to going to.
The feedback my classmates (and professor) gave me was pretty similar across the board. Similar to the first lab session, I expected the feedback I received. From now on I at least am aware of my weaknesses and can try to focus on improving them. Enthusiasm is what I need to work on the most. Although I'm proud of how I was graded, my enthusiasm was the lowest score on every sheet (my 3 classmates and my professor filled out rubric based on my performance). I never realized how difficult it was to be energetic in front of a group even though I naturally tend to be a laid back person.
I'm struggling with ways to increase my energy and enthusiasm for my lessons. I'm just typing as I'm thinking now... Maybe I can integrate an e-moment into lesson set-up just for myself? To catch everyone up - e-moments are engaging moments. They are teaching strategies we have reviewed that are used to reach students through different modalities, appeal to multiple intelligences, and engage. They are not designed to be excessively long, but they are great to have a break from a lesson and review what's been learned. One classmate used "Hole-in-one E-moment" which included the students closing their eyes and performing a speech successfully, complete with specific details. I remember when he presented it how confident I felt about speaking even though I didn't actually present a speech. I think from now on I will try performing that e-moment in my head before my lesson. I will imagine myself in front of my classmates and presenting an exciting lesson that has them on the edge of their seats. It's really interesting thinking that I could use a teaching strategy on myself!
That was not where I was planning on going with my reflection, but I think I've come up with a strategy that might build my confidence and ultimately create more enthusiasm when I teach. Honestly I think my lack of enthusiasm comes from my personality, but I think my excitement may come off better when I develop more confidence in my teaching abilities.
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