Getting Creative on a Budget

            Today was the last lab for AEE 412. While I was somewhat sad that lab was over and the semester is winding down, today’s Creativity Lab definitely cheered me up! The lab was supposed to be a surprise but I already knew what it was from students in last year’s cohort. This didn’t make it any less interesting though. For this particular lab, we were instructed to bring a unit plan to class and a creative mind set.

            At the beginning of lab, Ms. Rice described what would be happening for lab. She explained that we would be going to the local Dollar Tree where we would each have a budget of $5. Our task was to buy items to enhance and use in one or several of our lessons for the particular unit plan that we bought to class. I brought the earth’s water resources unit plan for my aquatic resources class. I originally intended to buy items to use with the lesson about the water cycle I would be teaching in the first week. Once I arrived at the store and began shopping, that idea changed.

            I ended up buying items for the Pennsylvania aquatic life unit that I will be teaching later in my aquatic resources class. I ended up buying items to use in two different lessons as well. For a lesson I will be teaching about classifying PA aquatic life, I bought a set of plastic insects. Students can identify the insects and classify them accordingly. For the lesson I will be teaching on wetlands, I bought a plastic boat, a sponge, raffia, and straws. These items will be useful for the lesson because it is based off of the wetland metaphors lesson from Project Wild: Aquatic. Students will select an item and talk about how the item describes or relates to one of the functions of a wetland.
 

            Overall, this was a great lab and really got the creative gears turning! I was able to find my items without the assistance of peers but was glad to help some of peers who were struggling. This was also a fun way to get away from all of the stress of the end of the semester for an hour. I definitely plan on using these items, along with numerous others, when student teaching. I think that these enhanced, creative lessons are more fun for both the teacher and the students. This type of lesson allows students to think in depth while expressing their ideas in a more creative manner!

Goodbye Semester of Boom...Hello Student Teaching!

          It is hard to believe that the fall semester of my senior year is coming to a close and in a few short weeks, I will begin student teaching at Elizabethtown! Looking back on the semester, it has definitely been quite an adventure. I experienced many laughs, tears, struggles, rewards, and arguably most important: personal growth. Coming into the semester, I knew the workload would be crazy. I knew I would question if I truly wanted to be an agricultural educator. I also knew that I would probably have a few break downs. But there was one thing that I didn’t know…the professional, pre-service agricultural educator I would start to become.

           Looking back at the last 15 weeks, I have definitely grown, developed, and matured in all aspects of my life. My parents have noticed positive changes in my from the way I dress to the way I speak to the way I present myself. I have all of my core agricultural education classes and experiences to thank for that. One of the biggest reasons for these positive changes is due to my participation in AEE 412 Methods of Teaching Agriculture lab. On the first day of lab, I remember I was so nervous and shaky to present a five minute reflective teaching lab in front of five of my fellow student teachers! By the time I carried out my final lab, the Life Knowledge lesson at my cooperating center, I wasn’t even nervous! I taught that lesson in front of my cooperating teacher too!

           AEE 412 lab was a positive experience overall. Despite the use of role playing cards to simulate an actual classroom, it was hard to make the lab section feel like an actual high school classroom. I know that resources are limited and we have to work with what is available. That being said, I greatly appreciate the feedback from the lab instructor and my peers. If possible, I think it would be so much more beneficial to conduct labs in an actual classroom; micro-teaching was an awesome experience because of this! I also thought about the possibility of having high school agricultural teachers bring students to Penn State for a day and allowing student teachers to teach the students on campus as a potential lab.
 
           As far as what I wish would have been discussed more in depth for a better understanding in lab, I would have to say I wish we discussed how to “actually teach.” We talked about many methods of teaching throughout the semester and had the opportunity to demonstrate the methods. However, we were just given an assignment for our first lab and thrown into it. I just feel that a lot of the feedback my classmates and I received would have been beneficial to hear before we began teaching in lab.

             Looking back on the semester, I know that I have definitely become a more reflective learner/teacher. After classes, and especially after labs, I would pull out a notebook that I always carry with me and jot down thoughts. I found that reflecting directly after the event or experience is most beneficial for me. Writing down notes, thoughts, and ideas directly after the fact helps me process what just occurred, what went well, and what areas I need to improve. I found myself enjoying writing reflective blogs after lab. Even though I had rough time watching some of my labs through thereNow, it turned out to be very impactful when it came to reflecting upon the experience. During events that occurred later in the semester, I was always the first person to encourage and initiate reflection. I made sure the van I rode home in from National Convention reflected on the trip as well as the group I worked with during micro-teaching!

             Overall, I know I will continue to incorporate reflection into my future experiences, especially during student teaching. I plan to personally reflect every day while reflecting with my cooperating teaching several times a week. Incorporating reflection into my preparation, teaching, and learning in the future will definitely make me a better educator. I will have a better understanding of what worked well for my students and myself as well as identifying areas of which to improve. Reflection will continue to help grow into a better educator and into a better individual overall. I will continue to reflect on all areas of my life: personal and professional.

             No matter where life takes me in a few short months after graduation, I will never forget the important lessons from this semester, relationships I have built, and skills I have gained. This semester has been everything I imagined and then some. It is hard to believe that my time in Happy Valley is winding down but I am ready for the next part of my life. I am ready to be in front of a classroom in Elizabethtown, changing the lives of students! I’m still figuring out who I am, where I’m supposed to be, and what I’m supposed to do but after everything I have been through this semester, I can honestly say that I have a better idea.

Please watch my final lab reflection video here!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEDGIZQfLsQ

Life Knowledge Lessons: Leaving an Impression!

          On Tuesday November 25th, I spent the day at Elizabethtown High School with my cooperating teacher Mr. Anderson. It was the last day of school before Thanksgiving break and the school day was only a half day. I observed his first period ag mechanics class, taught an FFA Life Knowledge lesson in his intro to agriculture class second period, worked with him on student teaching preparation third period during his flex period, and observed his fourth period aquatics class. I had a great day observing, teaching, and catching up with Mr. Anderson! Saying that I am excited for student teaching in January is an understatement!

         I taught the Life Knowledge lesson number 29 Valuing My Contributions. The lesson described what a contribution is, allowed students to provide examples of how they can contribute to their school, family, and community, and create contribution goals to work towards in the future. I chose this lesson because I think it is important for individuals to positively contribute and impact their school, family, and local community. I wanted to try to open the eyes of my future students and help them realize there is so much more to the world around them. I also felt that this lesson ties in nicely with FFA and community service.

          I started off the lesson by handing out a piece of candy to each student as part of my interest approach. I instructed students not to eat the candy until I told them to do so. I asked students how they felt when they received the candy and then how they felt once they were allowed to eat the candy. This led into the beginning of the lesson: defining a contribution. I discussed this with the students and then asked them to provide examples of how they can positively contribute to their school, family, and community. Students were then assigned to groups of three and had to draw four more examples of ways they can contribute to each of the three categories. Students presented their posters afterwards. To finish up class, students had to write one short term and one long term goal on the back of the poster pertaining to making positive contributions in their lives.

     

   I thought that the lesson went well overall! I tried to improve the lesson and make it more interactive and engaging for the students. I think the use of candy at the beginning of the lesson worked really well to get their attention and capture their interest for the class. I wasn’t nervous teaching to a group of students I had never met, nor was I nervous to teach in front of Mr. Anderson. This was a great feat for me because I’m usually very nervous before teaching! I also walked around the room as students worked and interacted with each group. I was warm and friendly throughout the lesson and tried to be enthusiastic as well!

        That being said, I still have a few things to work on as I enter my student teaching experience. I need to continue to improve my classroom management skills. The class was well behaved overall, it was somewhat difficult for me to get their attention as they worked because they were chatty. I think part of that was because it was a half day and their last day of school before Thanksgiving break. I also need to continue to pose questions to students to encourage them to think. I did a decent amount of this during today’s lesson but looking back, I know I could have posed more “why” and “how” questions. I also need to make sure my directions are clear and students understand what they are supposed to do.


         Overall, teaching this Life Knowledge lesson was a great opportunity for me to get to know some of my future students as well as continue to improve my teaching abilities. I also had the opportunity to continue determining my strengths and areas to improve upon. I was very thankful for all of Mr. Anderson’s support, suggestions, and advice. He was honest, open, and provided thoughtful, encouraging feedback. Teaching this lesson and being back in the classroom at Elizabethtown has me so eager to student teach in January! This was just another awesome reminder of my passion for agriculture and my desire to positively impact students through agricultural education!

Making Sure I Maintain Classroom Management!

            Wow! It’s hard to believe the semester is just about over and in about one month, I will officially begin my journey as a student teacher at Elizabethtown! This semester has flown by! As I began reading for my last weekly writing, I found the subject to be appropriate and critical, especially because I will soon be entering the classroom. I also feel that it is something many student teachers struggle with…classroom management. I was exposed to a minimal amount of this during my micro-teaching experience. Some of the boys in the back of the classroom were talkative as I was teaching. I found that proximity control, simply walking around the classroom as I taught, got the boys to straighten up and quit talking while I was teaching.

          One of the most important concepts that have been stressed by my professors this semester is to establish classroom expectations, procedures, and consequences on the first day. I have created three corresponding posters with my protocols on them to use during student teaching. I also plan to create a seating chart for the first few weeks. The seating chart will help me learn names as well manage my classroom more effectively. While I am generally an easy person to get along with, I want to stress to my students that misbehavior will not be tolerated. If students follow the rules set in place and maintain good behavior, my classes will run smoothly and learning will be more enjoyable for everyone!

          One main idea that Newcomb states in Methods of Teaching Agriculture is that classroom atmospheres are created and evolved. Good classroom management comes with practice and implementation. I know that as a student teacher, and even as a beginning teacher, I will experience some issues of student misbehavior. I will learn how to deal with situations as they arise. Like the old saying goes, practice makes perfect. One thing I can do to ensure my classroom management skills start off on the right foot is to firmly implement my expectations, procedures, and consequences on the first day.

           Another thing I can do to improve and maintain classroom management is to keep students interested in engaged. When students are generally uninterested in subject matter or disengaged from the material, they tend to behave in an undesirable way. This was evident through my micro-teaching experience as well. My students became bored with PowerPoint presentations and worksheets. They were excited to create posters and practice using turkey calls, which is understandable. I know that some class days will have more variety than others, and some content will be more interesting than other days. However, I must ensure to keep students engaged and interested in my classes to the best of my ability.

            As I look ahead to the near future of student teaching, I am not generally worried about classroom management. I will start out strong and firm with my students and make sure we are both on the same page when it comes to proper behavior. I must show confidence when I teach, address issues directly as they arise, be attentive, and learn to forgive and forget. I am certain that at some point in time, I will come across issues with student misbehavior. While I will get better at resolving issues as they arise, I feel adequately prepared at the moment. Role playing by fellow students in lab, micro teaching, and discussions about classroom management in my methods course have prepared me for the real thing. I will continue to read and learn more about how to best manage classroom behavior as my student teaching experience nears!

Micro-Teaching Produced Mega Results!

             I don’t even know where to begin when describing my micro-teaching experience the last three days other than amazing! In these three short days, I feel like I have gained so much confidence, insight, and understanding of what it truly means to be an agricultural educator! Not only did I have great time teaching one period for three days in a row, I was given so much crucial and important feedback from two of my fellow student teachers and a high school agriscience teacher in Juniata County, Pennsylvania. I feel like I have grown so much as a young pre-service teacher these last three days. Was the overall experience flawless? My gosh no! There were some “rough patches” along the way but I learned from them and continued on my journey as an upcoming student teacher!

            Ms. Hannah Harris, Mr. Toby Neal, and I traveled to East Juniata High School in Juniata County, Pennsylvania to micro-teach in three of Mrs. Courtney Booher’s agriscience classes over the last three days. Prior to actually micro-teaching, we had to select a group of three, choose one of the approved cooperating high schools, select a class, topic, and prepare three lessons. I chose to teach Mrs. Booher’s third period wildlife and fisheries science class which had twelve students enrolled. I prepared my three day unit on the Eastern Turkey. The class periods were 43 minutes long, almost double the 84 minute periods I am planning for student teaching in the spring. Our first observational visit occurred on Friday November 14th and we began teaching the following Monday.

             On Monday, I prepared my lesson on basic turkey anatomy and characteristics. I prepared a short PowerPoint, had students complete a short parts identification worksheet that I went over with them in class, and then let them practice using turkey calls for the remainder of class. I thought the first day went fairly well but there is always room for improvement. I was somewhat nervous as it was my first time actually teaching in front of a classroom. I talked too fast as I went over the

information in my PowerPoint. This was noted in my feedback from Mrs. Booher. She also suggested that I explain why the bellwork was used and use it to lead into the lesson. Some other feedback included using proximity control when teaching and moving throughout the room. Mrs. Booher as well as my peers noted that it was evident that I know the material; I just need to be confident when teaching it!

            I feel that Tuesday was by far my best day micro-teaching. My lesson was about the lifecyle and breeding season of turkeys. I started off class with another short PowerPoint. I then had students complete a worksheet answering questions about turkey breeding seasons and life cycles. Afterwards, I had students create a poster summarizing the lifecycle of a turkey in at least four steps. I chose several students to stand up and explain their poster as class time was winding down. I was surprised by this activity because some of the boys in the back who I thought weren’t paying attention ending up having some of the most accurate and creative posters! My feedback for this day was much better. I took Mrs. Booher’s advice from Monday and put it to use: I walked around the classroom as I taught; I interacted with students as they worked, and overall I was more confident. She suggested posing more questions in class and speaking louder when instructing.

           Wednesday’s lesson was not my personal best. The lesson started off on the wrong foot as the video camera failed to record properly. I started teaching and a few minutes into my presentation, realized I forgot to have my students complete bellwork. This threw me off and I let it get the best of me. After I was done teaching, I had students complete a summarizing quiz on information I taught to them over the last three days. A few minutes into the quiz, I allowed students to use their notes as a reward for taking good notes and following directions. Students completed a learner satisfaction form which provided me feedback as I prepare for student teaching. To finish out class, I had students create hand turkeys and write down three things they were thankful for since Thanksgiving is next

week. I planned too much time for students to take the quiz in my lesson plan, which required me to think on my feet; this is where the hand turkey idea came in. Some feedback I was provided included variety in my lessons, working on timing as I teach and prepare lessons, and continue to use questioning as I teach.

             Overall, micro-teaching was an amazing experience that provided me with so much critical feedback! This experience has proved to me that I made the right decision by following my heart and choosing to become an agricultural educator. I have learned that I put entirely too much pressure on myself and things go so much more smoothly when I am confident. I took the suggestions and feedback provided to me and used it the following day. By the last day of micro teaching, I was walking around the room, teaching without relying on the PowerPoint, and asking good transition questions to my students. That being said, I believe there is always room for improvement. I need to work on timing as I prepare lessons, talk slower as I present information, and just let my warm personality shine through as I teach. This experience has truly been impactful and I cannot wait to student teach in January!

From Oreos to Oil Spills: Putting My Knowledge of Inquiry Instruction to Use

             This week in lab proved to be a challenge as I had to teach an inquiry based lesson. I was really excited for this lab because I felt very prepared. I attended a seven hour workshop sponsored by NAAE and Du-Pont at FFA National Convention this year. The workshop was all about inquiry based instruction: what it is, how it can be performed, and examples of lessons to use in the classroom. Last week, our methods class took a field trip to Greenwood High School in Millerstown, Pa to watch two National Agriscience Ambassadors use inquiry instruction in their classes. We also discussed inquiry instruction in class along with having a guest presenter provide more in depth detail about inquiry and how to incorporate it into student teaching. I also had what I personally thought was a great inquiry lesson for lab. Needless to say, I felt very prepared!

         I based my inquiry lesson on pollution, focusing on oil spills, which is a topic I will be teaching in my aquatic resources class this spring. I provided a brief introduction through PowerPoint to start off class. I then led students into determining how to clean up a smaller scale oil spill by simulating an oil spill in a plastic container with water and oil. My lab peers were exposed to several different items they could use to try to soak up oil: dry dirt, cat litter, a sponge, and stall shavings. Students were provided a sheet to form a hypothesis, collet data, and formulate conclusions. Students also had scales to use if needed.

One thing I think that worked really well for this lab was the actual content of the lab. It was very inquiry based and had my lab peers asking questions and trying new methods to determine which material was best to clean up oil. I was also confident when presenting this lab. It was the first lab I performed where I did not get myself worked up and wasn’t nervous! I know we are three quarters of the way through the semester but I see it as a big improvement! I also thought that my lesson was well prepared and I generated a lot of questions to ask students as they worked.

          There were also some points for improvement in this lab however. I think in the beginning of lab, I should have let students pose questions to answer rather than give them as much guidance as I did. I should have allowed them to determine what exactly they would be solving rather than pretty much tell them to determine which material worked best to soak up the most oil. I also should have asked more questions as students worked. I create numerous questions in my lesson plan but didn’t end up asking many of them. I also should have taken advantage of the fact that I wasn’t nervous and put more passion and energy into my lesson!

           After my lab, my peers and I had a great discussion going. My peers wanted to know which material provided worked the best. We also generated questions I can ask my students when I teach this lesson during student teaching. Some of these questions included “Can you separate oil and water?” “How can you measure how much oil was soaked up?” “Why do certain materials work better to soak up oil?” I also explained how I envisioned students ultimately completing the lab: measuring the weight of a material before and after it was soaked in the oil to determine how saturated the material was. One of my peers thought of this method during lab which was encouraging to see. However, more time would be needed to carry out this method.

            Overall, I think this was one of my better lab performances! I was very excited to see my peers working hard to figure out which material worked better to soak up the most oil. I was also very pleased with all of the discussion after lab and the feedback I was provided. It was encouraging to see the anxiousness of my peers as they wanted to know the answer to the lab. I hope this occurs when I student teach. With a few adjustments and improvements, I think this lab will be ready to use during student teaching and will have an awesome outcome!

Experiencing FFA National Convention with a New Perspective!

        During FFA National Convention in Louisville, Kentucky two weeks ago, I had an assignment as part of my AEE 295 course. This third “Multicultural Moment” involved observing the behavior of individuals at convention and writing a description of these observations every day for a week. I began observing on Monday October 27th and completed my observations on Friday October 31st. As directed, we were supposed to observe interesting, positive, and negative behavior and actions of others. Overall, convention was a great experience and I learned so much from observing others. I also learned a lot about the person I am and the person I want to become!

           On Monday, the night before leaving for convention, I was shopping at Giant in State College. I blatantly watched a man cut off a woman as they both entered the store. The man wasn’t paying attention and I personally do not think he saw the woman. The woman gasped after the incident and seemed angry. From this small interaction, I realized that people need to be more considerate and pay attention to their surroundings.

           On Tuesday, I had an early start to my morning. I departed for Louisville from campus at 5:15am. We drove for five and a half hours before stopping for a late breakfast/early lunch in Ohio at Cracker Barrel. After we finished eating, everyone walked to the front of the restaurant to pay. As I got up, I noticed a woman walking back to her table. An older waitress was cleaning up the table. The customer thanked the waitress, handed her a tip, and explained that she was such a pleasant waitress and made her dining experience enjoyable. The waitress smiled very big, blushed, and thanked the customer. This made me very happy and was one of the most uplifting experiences I witnessed all week. It was reassuring to see that some individuals are still polite and courteous in today’s society.

           Wednesday evening of that week consisted of the Alpha Tau Alpha banquet and presentations. Representatives from agricultural colleges across the country were presenting Program of Excellence presentations. I noticed that students from opposing or rival schools were not paying attention to other presentations. Students were talking or were on their phones. I thought this was rude and disrespectful. I am guilty of this as well and felt very awful afterwards. This was the most depressing experience I observed all week. I made sure to keep my phone away during banquets and meetings the rest of the week.

               The most interesting event I experienced all week took place on Thursday afternoon. I waited in line for 45 minutes at the food court in the convention center during lunch. Behind me in line were a girl from Montana and several students from Michigan. The FFA member from Montana was from an Indian reservation in Montana. She was telling the Michigan FFA members about life on the “res.” The conversation lasted the entire 45 minutes with many questions from the Michigan FFA members. I found it encouraging that the students were interested in another culture. I was happy to hear their general interest in each other and how positive their interaction was!

Friday afternoon proved to be another fairly positive experience as well. I walked around the career fair and gathered resource materials to use in my future classroom. I observed how welcoming and talkative certain exhibitors were to students. Some of the individuals manning booths such as Stihl, Purina, and Tractor Supply were very friendly. They walked in front of their booths and made an effort to talk to students. On the other hand, some individuals, especially those manning college booths, were not inviting. They played on their phones and didn’t greet students as they walked past. It made me reflect on my presence, whether in the Penn State booth or in the front of the classroom. It also encouraged me to let my warm, friendly personality shine through!

Are Double Stuffed Oreos Really Double Stuffed? An Intoduction into Inquiry Based Learning

           After an awesome week at FFA National Convention, I am anxious to get back into my Penn State routine! I must admit it will be slightly difficult to transition back into reality after such an exciting week. In AEE 412 this coming week, we will be discussing inquiry based instruction. This is very fitting after the National Agriscience Pre-service Teacher Program that Howie, Rea, and I participated in on Wednesday of last week. The seven hour workshop focused all on inquiry based instruction. We completed five inquiry based lessons in the duration of the workshop, my favorite being “Are Double Stuffed Oreos Really Double Stuffed?”

            Through the workshop I took part in and the readings for this week, I have a much clearer understanding of what inquiry based instruction really is. Inquiry instruction is a teaching method that combines the scientific method with the curiosity of students to promote critical thinking skills, according to Warner & Myers. This article from the University of Florida also described the five components that must be present when using inquiry instruction. These five components include a question, investigation, the use of evidence, connecting evidence to knowledge, and sharing findings. These five items were a reiteration from what Howie, Rea, and I learned in our pre-service teacher workshop.

           In the article “Simplifying Inquiry Instruction” from the National Science Teachers Association, inquiry instruction at minimum is described as an active learning process where students answer research questions through data analysis. The article brings up a great point that was also discussed in the workshop: does the activity students are performing involve a research question or data analysis? Many teachers believe that hands on activities can be considered as inquiry instruction but fail to provide a research question or allow for data analysis. Using the example I posed earlier about the double stuffed Oreo lab, this was justified as an inquiry instruction lesson. We were introduced to the activity, formulated the research question “Are Double Stuffed Oreos Really Double Stuffed?,” collected data, and analyzed our results in order to answer the question. In case you were wondering, double stuffed Oreos really are double stuffed!

                 I have gained a lot more information on inquiry based instruction through the workshop I attended and the assigned readings for this week. However, I am anxious to see how my professors at Penn State introduce the idea of inquiry based instruction and what additional information they will provide. I am already formulating ideas in my mind about how I can use inquiry based instruction in my lab next week. The AEE 412 class is taking a field trip on Wednesday to Greenwood High School in Millerstown, PA to watch inquiry instruction be used in an actual high school agriculture classroom. I am anxious to watch this be put to use and hope it will spark ideas for me to use during student teaching. I have already talked with my cooperating teaching and I plan to use the Oreo experiment on my first day teaching in my Aquatic Resources class. I have some slight changes to make but couldn’t be more excited!

From Problem Solving Lessons to Evaluating Instruction!

         In AEE 412 this week, we dug deeper into the problem solving approach in agricultural education. We learned about four different types of problem solving techniques to use in our classroom. The first was the fork road problem which allows students to solve a problem one way or another, like yes or no for example. The next technique we learned about was the possibilities factor problem which offers many choices or options as solutions for a problem. Another technique we learned about was the situation to be improved technique which allows students to determine that better options are needed to solve a problem. The last technique we learned about was the effect-cause technique where students figure out the cause of a problem that led to the present effect.

           I ended up using the situation to be improved technique in lab on Wednesday. I based my lesson out of the PA aquatic life unit in my aquatic resources class. The basis for the lesson was that an endangered species was found on a piece of land that was soon to be developed into a shopping complex. Students were tasked with determining how to go about solving the issue and presenting their ideas and solutions in a letter addressed to the local township supervisor. As I found in lab, my idea sounded better in my head. When I got up to actually present my lab, I don’t think the problem was clear enough to students. This was the topic of discussion in class on Friday, improving our ability and understanding of the problem solving approach in order to effectively teach it in our classrooms.

        As I look ahead to next week, we will be discussing how to evaluate learning through different assessment methods. I am very interested in this because assessment is one area I am struggling with as I write my unit plans. I do not want to just give a typical exam at the end of each unit. I want to allow students the opportunity to show what they have learned in ways other than taking an exam. I feel that students are constantly tested and I know that they would often prefer other means of assessment.

          One way I plan to assess my students in several of the units I am teaching is through projects. I read the University of Florida’s article on Creating and Working with Rubrics and found it very beneficial. I have already started creating rubrics for some of my lessons and can work to improve them with information in the article. I also found some other great ways to assess students in the University of Florida’s Evaluating Learning in Laboratory Settings. I like the idea of a concept map; however I would not use this as a final unit assessment. I really like the idea of using student portfolios to assess student learning. I think that I can incorporate the use of portfolios into my agricultural business class this spring.

           After completing the readings for the upcoming week, I am excited to learn more about evaluating instruction and assessment! I think this is a topic we as a cohort are all anxious to learn more about. I speculate my peers have a lot of questions as to different variations of evaluating instruction and assessment. The semester is rolling along quickly and I can’t wait to put all of my knowledge and skills to use at Elizabethtown in a few weeks!

Figuring Out How to Teach a Problem Solving Lesson

             In AEE 412 lab this week, I presented a 20 minute problem solving lab. We as student teacher candidates were required to create and present a lesson using one of the problem solving techniques we learned about in class on Monday: fork-road problem, possibilities-factor problem, situation to be improved, or effect-cause. I chose the situation to be improved technique for the lesson I would be teaching. The context for this lesson was in the aquatic resources class I will be teaching in the spring in the PA aquatic life unit. The background of my lesson was that a developer wanted to come in to a small town and develop an area where an endangered salamander species was found. The students had to identify stakeholders and factors in the issue and determine how a decision should be made, which was the situation to be improved.

             Before I dig into my actual reflection, I must begin by saying that this was the first lab where I was not nervous to stand up in front of my peers, Mrs. Rice, or the video camera in the back of the classroom! This was such a huge step for me! I would always sike myself out before lab, get all worked up, and then my lab performance would be hindered because of it. That being said, I still have some work to do as far as my lab performance. I know that I need to have more command in front of the classroom and I must also let my personality and enthusiasm shine through.

              I understand that this is a process and I will not become a great teacher overnight. I feel that I have taken another step in this process by not letting my nerves get the best of me. The next step is to show my personality and enthusiasm when teaching. I feel that it is important that I am recognizing that this is a process and things will happen in steps rather than all at once. I often found myself wishing that I could just snap my fingers and instantly become a better teacher. Sadly, I can’t. I must grow and develop as a young professional and I feel that I am well on my way! I also still find myself saying um a lot but I am working on it! I catch myself doing it when I talk, typically when I am starting to tell a story or provide an explanation. Since I have recognized this bad habit, I am continuing to improve upon it.

              One thing that I feel I do well in lab is preparation and planning. The lesson plans and accompany materials I have turned in are detailed and organized. I feel that this shows the time and effort I put into planning. Preparation is something I take very seriously, a good habit that I will carry with me into my future career. I sometimes fear that I “over plan” or provide too much detail that I try to memorize when teaching my lesson. However, I feel that I have combatted this issue by not attempting to memorize what I have written on my lesson plan word for word. I know the material and must speak from my mind while ensuring to ask important questions that are included in my lesson plans.

             Overall, I feel that I am slowly but surely improving in lab. Through reflection, identification of what went well, and recognizing areas to improve upon, I know that I will continue to improve my teaching. I have no doubt that I will continue to make improvements, big or small, and will feel confident to student teach in three months!

Changing Up Classes with Problem Based Learning!

          Whew! What a busy and productive week! My week was filled with classes, officer meetings, the Teach Ag Genius Hour, the Northern Region PAAE meeting, and an IEP observation. Staying busy sure does make the week go by fast. In AEE 412 this week, we started off class on Monday by learning about effective directions and instructions. Four important elements that should be included in classroom directions include an action verb, an attentional signal, a time limit, and a beginning signal. While discussing these in class, I noted that I had already included several of these elements in my lesson plans without even realizing it!

           The discussion then transitioned to how to effectively break students into groups and maintaining a good pace for the classroom. For the remainder of class, we talked about individual teaching techniques. These five techniques include experiments, supervised study, independent study, student notebooks, and worksheets. Reading about these in Newcomb’s and then reiterating the techniques in class really got me thinking about how I can use these in my future classroom.

         On Wednesday in lab, I took part in the first ever Teach Ag Genius Hour. Each student teacher in the cohort was responsible for creating a two to three minute presentation about an idea or topic they are passionate about and how it can be used in an educational setting. My topic involved giving students a sense of ownership about what they’re learning through selection and presentation of a current agriculture issue they were passionate about. My fellow classmates had some great ideas as well. A live Twitter feed was set up and I must say we had conversations going with individuals all throughout the country.

         On Friday, Dr. Ewing taught class and introduced us to problem solving and problem based approaches to learning. I felt that it was a good introduction but I am anxious to learn more about these ideas next week. From the lecture and this week’s reading assignments, I learned that problem based learning includes problem solving, inquiry learning, project-based teaching, and case studies. To my knowledge, learning begins with a problem or question; students work to find a solution/solve the problem while the teacher facilitates learning and allows the students to have ownership of the problem.

        I also read about the need to teach problem solving in classrooms and I agree that this is a necessity. I feel that it requires deeper thinking on the student’s part. I also think that problem solving lessons can be more engaging and interesting than traditional lecture. In agriculture education, there are so many opportunities to turn traditional lessons into problem solving approaches. Sitting here typing this, I can think of several examples off the top of my head for different content areas of agriculture education!

        One website that I found while I was researching problem based learning, Learning Theories,  provided information about what problem based learning is, where it originated, defining characteristics, and history. The website also provided criticisms of problem based learning that I found interested. The website pointed out that students may not know what is important for them to learn and that teachers may not be able to cover as much material as a more lecture based classroom. While I do see and understand where these points are coming from, I believe that with trial and error, teachers will be able to figure out how to use problem based learning in their classroom effectively. I know that after gaining more insight into problem based learning and finding lessons with good examples, I will use this during student teaching and as a full time teacher. I’m not afraid to branch out and try new things, which is what student teaching will allow me to do!

References: Problem-Based Learning (PBL) | Learning Theories. (n.d.). Learning Theories. Retrieved October 11, 2014, from http://www.learning-theories.com/problem-based-learning-pbl.html

Teaching, Learning, Reflecting, and Looking Ahead!

          With another week down, we are almost at the halfway point! It is crazy how fast the semester is moving. I will be student teaching in no time. I went home this weekend after several busy weeks on campus. I was able to hit the woods Saturday morning for the first day of archery. I did not see any deer during my time in the woods but I was able to reflect on the week and look ahead to the coming week. First, I reflected on the past week of classes. On Monday in AEE 412, I learned how to properly conduct a classroom demonstration. I was exposed to a three step method that I will definitely utilize in during my student teaching experience. During that same class period, I also learned five characteristics of cooperative learning. I was somewhat unfamiliar with what constitutes cooperative learning but felt more confident after class on Monday.

          This past week was also the PA FFA’s Fall Leadership Conference in Altoona on Wednesday, October 1st. I was one of three student teachers running the treasurer workshop. This was my first time attended the conference and also my first time in an actual teaching setting this year. We had two and a half hours to teach a group of 21 PA FFA chapter treasurers about their position and duties. I feel that the workshop went well overall! The students learned a lot of information and had fun while doing so. I taught two activities during the workshop.

           For the first activity, I was nervous and shy. I feel like I rushed through the information and did not perform as well as I would have liked. About halfway through our lesson, we changed things up a bit and had the students play the human knot game. This broke up the information overload they were receiving and demonstrated leadership and cooperation skills. It was after I took part in this activity that I felt so much more relaxed and confident! For the second activity, which occurred after the human knot game, I felt so much more comfortable in front of the students and performed much better while teaching! To wrap up the week, we discussed effective questioning and instruction in AEE 412 on Friday. I found this class very beneficial and started thinking ahead to implementing effective questioning into my classes during student teaching.

          Looking ahead to this week, class will focus on individualized teaching techniques and problem solving approaches to learning. I was very fond of the readings in Newcomb’s Methods of Teaching Agriculture book this week. Chapter 7, Individualized Teaching Techniques, provided great insight into the individualized teaching method. Students learn different ways, at different paces, and have differing background knowledge in agricultural content areas. Newcomb describes supervised study, experiments, independent study, and the use of notebooks all as effective individualized teaching techniques. I found it interesting that the basis of an SAE project combines the idea of all four of these techniques into one!

        I am gaining many perspectives about teaching and am viewing it in a different light. When I am sitting in class, I observe my professors and form connections with the teaching techniques and strategies I have read about. I make mental notes in my mind of what works well and how I can implement these into my future classroom one day. I have reflected on Fall Leadership Conference and that gave me the opportunity to see what worked for me and what areas I still need to improve upon. I know that the more teaching experience I have prior to student teaching, the better my performance as a student teacher will be!

Receiving Feedback to Improve the Unit Planning Process!

           For my Aquatic Resources class I will be teaching this spring at Elizabethtown Area High School, my first unit of instruction will be Earth’s Water Resources. This unit will be two weeks long and will cover the hydrologic cycle, aquatic ecosystems, water resources, and watersheds. The unit will be assessed with a hydrological cycle poster. Other assignments in the unit include worksheets, color identification maps, case studies, and an in class debate. The unit is designed for an 11th and 12th grade class with 25 students enrolled.

       There are several items I hope to accomplish by the end of this unit. First and foremost, I hope to increase student learning and understanding of Earth’s water resources. I hope to promote student interest in aquatics and agriculture. I hope to increase student appreciation for the environment and Earth’s natural resources while keeping students engaged during class. I also want my students to feel like they have a purpose and can accomplish anything.

          As far as personal items I hope to accomplish by the end of this unit, I have several as well. First, I hope to improve my instruction. This will be the first class, and first unit, I will be teaching in the spring. I hope to discover my teaching style and find what works for me. I also want my students to want to come to class. I want to be the teacher whose class every student wants to attend. I am also hoping to experience the “aha” moment when a new idea or concept clicks for a student.

        The two peer reviews I received for this assignment proved to be very helpful. One reviewer suggested I add the content area under the agricultural standards, which is one thing I will do when I edit my unit plan. I also had a typo under the one section of my unit plan which this reviewer also pointed out. I received a lot of positive feedback from this reviewer as well. She liked several of my lesson ideas and thought my students will too. She felt that I put a lot of time into my unit plan and my passion for the subject showed.

         The other peer reviewer suggested I review my daily student learning objectives and make sure each of the three required parts were present. I reviewed these objectives and found that most were missing the criteria under which the objectives should be reached. I worked through each daily learning objective and made the appropriate changes. This reviewer also suggested I write which day each of my learning assessments will be used in class. This information is found in the beginning of the unit plan so I did not feel it was necessary to repeat myself. I did appreciate the suggestion and will keep it in mind as I write future unit plans.

        Overall, I have a better understanding of unit plans and see them as a necessity in the planning and preparation process. Feedback from my peers has been beneficial as well. I put a lot of time and effort into my first unit plan and I feel that this was evident to my classmates who peer reviewed my plan. I believe that if I put all of the hard work and time into these planning assignments now, I will be better prepared for the future and will have to spend less time making corrections later. With that being said, I know there is always room for improvement and I appreciate any feedback and suggestions I receive!

Writing Objections and Looking Ahead at What is to Come!

         What a busy week this week! In AEE 412, we talked about learning objectives and introduced the idea of group teaching techniques. I enjoyed this week because learning objectives are very important. Not only do they provide guidance for unit plans, they give lesson plans meaning and purpose. Without learning objectives, what would be the point of a lesson? On both Monday and Friday of class this week, we had several opportunities to practice writing our own learning objectives and were given feedback. This was a blessing because it will be very helpful as I continue to write lesson plans.

         I learned the three parts of a well written learning objective this week: the performance, criterion, and condition. The performance component of a learning objective is what should be achieved, what the students should be able to do. Another part of a well written learning objective is the criterion. This includes the level of achievement or how well the behavior should be performed. The last part of a well written learning objective is the condition, the circumstances under which the behavior will be achieved. When practicing writing objectives, I struggled with the conditions component. We were provided readings and practice worksheets in class throughout the week and I found these very helpful.

           As I look ahead to next week, we will focus on group teaching techniques and transition into effective questioning during instruction. From Newcomb’s reading on group teaching techniques, I learned that there are seven different group teaching techniques: lecture, discussion, demonstration, field trip, role playing, resource people, and cooperative learning. Of these seven, I am least familiar with demonstration, resource people, and cooperative learning. I am most familiar with lecture because I have sat through plenty of them. One question I have regarding lectures is how do you make them engaging and keep student interest? I definitely do not want to talk at my students while I student teach and often worry about that.

          Also in the upcoming week, we will focus on effective questioning during instruction. I am very excited to learn how to accomplish this and put it to use in my classroom. I really like the idea of using thought provoking questions during instruction and encouraging students to think, rather than providing them with answers. I have witnessed this during several of my observations at Elizabethtown and also at an IEP observation at CPI. As the Dyer article on effective questioning states, questions are important to assess student comprehension level, establish relationships between concepts, develop students’ thinking skills, and create student interest and motivation.

          Dyer also explained the difference between lower level and higher level questions. I am beginning to pick up on the way my professors and teachers I observe differentiate between the two. Lower level questions are used to determine student comprehension and review or summarize content. Higher level questions encourage deeper thinking, encourage discussions, and allow students to solve problems. According to the University of Wisconsin’s Cooperative Extensions, open ended questions are questions that do not provide response questions while closed questions do provide response choices I am interested to see how I can incorporate each of these into my lessons and when each type is most appropriate.

         Looking back on the week and anticipating what is to come in the next week have me more excited than before! I feel like we are really digging into effective instruction and learning more details to consider in the planning and preparation process. Everything is finally starting to come together and I am picking up how topics are related and intertwined through my core ag ed classes. I am learning new concepts and skills, practicing them, and putting them to use in my unit and lesson plans. I am anxious to learn more about generating and using effective questions because I know these will work wonders in my future classroom!

When Should I Use Open-Ended Questions?. (2004). University of Wisconsin  Cooperative Extension. Retrieved September 27, 2014, from http://www.uwex.edu/ces/tobaccoeval/resources/surveyquestionstype.html

Hooking Students with Interest Approaches!

           In AEE 412 lab this week, I prepared my lesson around an interest approach that I had to deliver in class. I chose to carry out an interest approach for a lesson in my aquatic resources class. The unit was water calculations and the lesson was titled: How much water is used in the U.S. per day? There was an allotted 5-10 minutes to carry out the bellwork, interest approach, and learning objectives for the day. Similar to our last lab, each of my fellow classmates were given a role playing card and had to role play the assigned student for the duration of lab.

           Our lessons were again videotaped and then sent to each student to review and reflect upon. I just finished watching my video and I feel that lab went about as expected for me. My interest approach lab fell short of the 5 minute mark, which was slightly disappointing. Watching my video, I know I still have a lot I can improve upon. That being said, I do not want to beat myself up over my performance today. Instead of bringing myself down and being so hard on myself, I want to reflect on my time in lab and work to improve my future lab performances. I want to view this as a positive learning experience.

            I didn’t feel that my total lab experience was a bust. I feel like I have a warm and friendly presence in the classroom. I feel like I make my students feel comfortable and know that they are in a friendly, inviting learning environment. This is my hope for my future classroom. I also did a better job with my objectives in this lab. I had them posted and went over them at the end of class, which is an improvement from my previous lab. I also noticed that I did not say “um” or “uh” as much as in previous labs which was a plus!

           On the other hand, I know I still have improvements to make. For this lab, I feel like my interest approach was more interesting and engaging as I was writing it out and planning it for my lesson compared to when I actually presented it. I noticed that I should interact with students more while they are doing their bellwork rather than standing at the front of the room. I think I made slight improvements since my previous labs but there is still room for improvements. I also noticed that I need to work on my transitions. They weren’t as smooth in this lab and I must continue to work on them.

           After reviewing and reflecting on my interest approach lab, I know that I still have my work cut out for me. I know that I won’t become a great teacher overnight. It will take time, patience, and lots of practice. I find the thereNow videos very beneficial and I am glad I have the opportunity to watch my lab presentations. I still get a little nervous standing up in front of my peers and teaching but I know I have come a long way. I need to stop being so hard on myself before lab and just stand up there and teach! I need to have more confidence in myself and be more enthusiastic. I love the material I am teaching and just need to let that passion shine through! As the semester progresses, it is my hope that my lab performance and reflection will advance as well.

Writing Learning Objectives to Promote Student Thinking!

           One month in, three more to go! I know I say every week how fast time is going but boy is it ever true! This week in AEE 412, we learned about interest approaches, hooking students, and Lancelot’s Primary and Secondary Principles of Interest. I thoroughly enjoyed this week because “hooking” my students and creating motivation to learn is something I hope to do with every lesson I will teach. Utilizing interest approaches was also the focal point of lab this week, something that gave me practice as a pre-service teacher and also generated new ideas for future interest approaches.

         As I prepare for the upcoming week, the focus will be on learning objectives and teaching in groups. Whittington’s article on writing objective’s provided some great insight into writing learning objectives as a teacher. One point from the article that really stuck out to me was the idea that when writing objectives, we as teachers want to encourage students to think and form connections, not simply memorize information. She gave an example of an objective stating that students will be able to “list the compartments of the ruminant digestive system” versus students being able to “explain the compartments of the ruminant digestive system.” This is something I will keep in mind as I write objectives. What cognitive level of thinking do I want my students to reach?

           I also took a lot of information from the Groseta article on cooperative learning and hope to incorporate it into my future classes. As Groseta states, cooperative learning, a teaching strategy in which learners work in small groups, allows students to develop social skills including the ability to listen to others, explaining oneself clearly, taking turns, and respecting others opinions or ideas. I really like the idea of cooperative learning and promoting small group work. I have already incorporated small group work into some of my lessons. This group work will range from simple tasks such as creating a poster to more in depth tasks such as reading an article and working through a case study.

            Newcomb also provides seven group teaching technique ideas in his book as well. These include lecture, discussion, demonstrations, field trips, role playing, resource people, and cooperative learning. As I read this chapter, I felt somewhat ahead of the game so to speak because I have already incorporate most of these teaching techniques into my lesson plans before completing this reading! One article I found online from Iowa State’s Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching described seventeen creative learning techniques. Some overlapped with Newcomb, which demonstrated their importance and effectiveness.

          Reflecting on the week and looking ahead to the next, I understand the importance of learning objectives and their need to encourage students to think. In my lab this past week, I neglected to include learning objectives in my presentation, which did not enhance the effectiveness of my lesson. I want my students to do more than simply recall facts or memorize lists. I want them to form connections, draw conclusions and understand why or how things work the way they do. Effective learning objectives are arguably the best start to promote these levels of thinking!

References: Techniques for Creative Teaching. (2014). Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. Retrieved September 21, 2014, from http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching- resources/classroom-practice/teaching-techniques-strategies/creativity/techniques- creative-teaching/

What to Expect on the First Day of School!

             For AEE 412 lab this week, I prepared my lesson and instructed my classroom as if it were the first day of school. As part of the lab, I had to create an introductory activity for me to get to know my students. I also had to create classroom management posters: classroom expectations, procedures, and consequences. In the 10 minutes allotted, I had to complete my introductory activity and go over all three classroom management posters. Oh and one more twist was thrown on us: my fellow student teachers were each given a random card which described potential types of students we may have in our future classrooms and had to role play this student for the duration of lab.

            Each instructional lesson is videotaped and then sent to the corresponding student teacher. I received mine today and just finished watching it. I must say, it went better than my first lab. I felt more comfortable in front of my peers. That being said, I still have a lot to work on. The first thing I noticed is that I said “um” and “uh” entirely too much! I think it’s a nervous habit but it is something I need to work on. I almost wanted to pull out a pen and paper to keep track of how many times I said it. This will definitely be at the top of my list of things to improve upon.

            I also thought that I just awkwardly stood at the front of the classroom while students completed their bellwork. I feel like I should have interacted with the students more, even by simply walking around and observing what they were writing. As far as my introductory activity, it would have helped to have the M&M’s prepared ahead of time rather than taking time to give the M&M’s to each student, one by one. For the PowerPoint I used in class, I should have posted learning objectives for the day. That is something I will be sure to do next time. One other major thing I recognize and need to work on is my enthusiasm. I was kind of bored watching my own video! How can I expect kids to be excited to be in my classroom if it doesn’t even seem like I am?

            That being said, I believe there were some positive aspects about my lab performance. I did like the M&M idea as a way for students to introduce themselves and for me to get to know a little bit about them. I also think using the M&M’s was a good idea because who doesn’t like candy?! I think I did well with explaining my posters. I didn’t just read word for word each individual line and then move on; I expanded on the ideas and gave examples as well. Also, I asked students if they had any questions several times. I hope that this gesture shows students I do have their interest in mind and that my classroom is inviting and open.

           Overall, I know that I have my work cut out for me this semester in lab. I am trying not to be too hard on myself but am being critical enough to recognize the improvements I need to make as I develop into a young professional. I hope that I can work through this awkwardness that I bring upon myself when I stand up in front of my peers to teach. I feel that I put too much pressure on myself and as a result, I do not perform as well as I would like. I hope to reach a point where I can stand up in front of a classroom, feel confident in what I am about to teach, and make it through my lesson with enthusiasm, clarity, and confidence. I know lab will continuously provide me with the opportunity for growth and I cannot wait to experience it as the semester rolls on!

Diving into Planning Instruction

        Week 3 is over already?! The semester sure is flying by! Despite my allergies acting up this week, I think it was one of the best weeks I have had as an undergraduate at Penn State! This week in classes, we really started to dig into planning effective instruction; pretty much the foundation of teaching! We started off the week by examining five research approaches to learning including Understanding by Design by Wiggins and McTighe, Significant Learning by Fink, Depths of Knowledge by Webb, Bloom’s Taxonomy, and Student Centered versus Teacher Centered approaches to learning.

            It was interesting to see how even though the five approaches to learning were distinct in their own ways, they seemed to overlap and all fit together. This proved to be good background information as the week progressed and we learned how to design a unit and lesson plan. We learned that there are three types of lesson plans: informational, which teach new content, operational which teach a demonstration, and managerial which teach how to make a decision or answer a question. Working hand in hand with the three types of lessons are the three domains of learning: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective.

          From a teacher perspective, I can see the relationship between an informational lesson targeting the cognitive domain of learning, an operational lesson targeting the psychomotor domain of learning, and a managerial lesson targeting the affective domain of learning. As a future educator, I feel that it is important to identify these relationships and how the ideas work together. As far as learning styles, this week we learned about three in particular: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. It is important to teach to all three learning styles as not all students learn the same. Also, it adds variety to your classroom!

         Speaking of variety, we learned about a variety of intelligences that our future students will possess. These eight multiple intelligences as identified by Dr. Howard Gardner include: spatial, linguistic, interpersonal, musical, naturalistic, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, and logical-mathematical. As Dr. Gardner stated, students typically learn through multiple intelligences and this must be taken into consideration when teaching. An article by Anne Guignon in Education World suggests teachers approach and adapt to this idea through their lesson plans, student projects, and student assessments.

         I must admit that I feel like I “get it.” I feel like I see how everything I am learning is coming together. I am starting to view things from a different perspective. I observe my professors and their actions in class and think to myself, “how I can incorporate what they just did into my classroom?” “How can I modify this to make it work for me while I student teach?” I can sense some personal growth starting to occur and I honestly could not be more excited! I know I have a long way to go, and that’s okay, but everybody starts somewhere!

References: Guignon, A. (2010). Multiple Intelligences: A Theory for Everyone. Education World. Retrieved September 12, 2014, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr054.shtml

Cooperating Center Video Presentation!

     As you may or may not know, I will be student teaching this spring at Elizabethtown High School in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I will be under the guidance and supervision of my cooperating teacher Mr. Mark Anderson. As part of an assignment for my AEE 295 Observation of Teaching course, I was required to create a three minute video displaying my cooperating center while providing details and information about the agricultural program. My video can be viewed via the link below! Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSDeGFl5awc

First Attempt at Teaching...Ready, Set, Go!

         On Wednesday, August 27^th, 2014, I took part in my first AEE 412: Methods of Teaching Agriculture lab. This lab, the reflective teaching lab, was a basic 15 minute laboratory exercise that allowed the instructors to gauge where we as pre-service students stand at as far as basic teaching ability. On the first day of AEE 412, Monday the 25th, we randomly drew a lesson out of a packet and this was our assigned lesson to teach during lab on Wednesday. We were not given real specific instruction but were expected to teach the lesson to our peers to the best of our ability.

            I had to teach an informative lesson about tiki gods and the shape of their eyes. Each of the three shapes represented a different sentiment. After teaching the lesson, I had to give an assessment to my classmates, who were acting as my students, and determine if they were able to successfully identify the eye shape to its matching sentiment. Lastly, I had to hand out a learner satisfaction form for my classmates to complete and assess my teaching ability.

            I was really nervous to watch my video once they were uploaded on thereNow. After lab was over that day, I reflected upon the whole experience. I did not think I did a satisfactory job in lab. Watching my video reiterated this belief. The first thing I noticed was that I have a habit of saying “um.” I did not realize I said it as much as I did. I know this is a habit I will need to break. I think part of the reason for this was because I was not very comfortable with the material I was teaching. Yes it was a short lesson but I did not have previous knowledge of tikis. To help guide my lesson, I think a powerpoint would have been useful.

            Personally, the biggest reason why I feel like I did not perform well in lab is because of my lack of self-confidence. I have always struggled with this for as long as I can remember. I’m typically a shy person and I have a hard time believing in myself. I know this is one bad habit I need to break, especially before student teaching. I think that if I let my personality shine through and stop worrying so much, I will be just fine. I have come a long way since beginning college, with the help of professional organizations and other opportunities I have participated in. I know that AEE 412 lab will help me grow as a future educator and “break out of my shell.” Becoming an excellent teacher does not happen overnight but with every experience and opportunity, I am one step closer!

Designing and Planning Instruction...Penn State Style!

          The end of week two…even though the week was shorter, I feel like I learned so much more and was more productive this week. Things in my classes started to pick up and we really started diving into effective teaching and principles of teaching and learning. In AEE 412 this week, we completed different tasks and experiments that demonstrated one of the six most crucial identified characteristics of teaching. Through the completion of these tasks and from exercises in class, I have learned and stored these six characteristics in my mind: enthusiasm, clarity, variability, opportunity to learn, business like behavior, and task oriented.

            This was a continuum of the first week of classes but I feel it is important that we as pre-service teachers learn and understand the importance of these six characteristics. We also discussed and completed an activity about the sixteen principles of teaching and learning according to Newcomb et al. (2004). Actually providing examples of how each of these can be found in an agriculture classroom put the characteristics in perspective. After class, I thought about how I can apply each of these characteristics in my future classroom.

            Towards the end of the week, class shifted gears and we started talking about how to design and plan instruction. I’m ready to dig into this topic because this is “meat and potatoes” of teaching. Without planning and preparing coursework, units, and lessons, how can one even begin to teach? One source that comes to mind regarding proper planning for effective teaching, and one I referenced in my undergraduate research project, is the Danielson Group Framework for Teaching. The framework consists of four domains, the first being Planning and Preparation. This domain includes six components necessary for effective planning ranging from demonstrating knowledge of content to designing instruction and student assessment (Danielson Group 2013).

            Reflecting upon class and the readings, I realize there are so many things to take into consideration when designing and planning instruction. First, there are standards that I as a teacher must address and meet, according to the PA Academic Standards and Assessment Anchors article on Moodle. Like the Understanding by Design Framework article states, teachers must identify desired results, determine how to assess learning, and plan lessons to achieve the desired outcomes. Bloom’s Taxonomy Chart also provides six levels of cognition that students should strive to exhibit with the assistance of teachers.

            After reading and trying to comprehend all of the information I have read regarding instruction and planning, I do not feel overwhelmed. Yes, I do know I have a lot of work ahead of me as far as planning and preparing for my upcoming semester of student teaching. However, I feel confident that I will continue to work hard and apply the information and ideas I am learning into my student teaching preparation. I have great literature resources at my fingertips, along with a great teacher preparation team. I can also utilize my cooperating teacher during this process. As I reflect on the past week, I find myself realizing the importance of establishing the courses I will teach, along with the instructional units prior to the fall semester. Everything is bit by bit, piece by piece, and I am realizing how the work I am in the process of completing fits together and is just a piece of the student teaching experience puzzle!

 

 References:

The Framework. (2013). Danielson Group. Retrieved September 6, 2014, from http://danielsongroup.org/framework/

What is Teaching and Learning? Reflections from Week One.

             Week one of classes…complete! I still am in shock that my senior year of college is finally here. This is what I have been waiting for. I am working hard this semester to prepare for my student teaching experience and become the best agricultural educator I can be. What better way to accomplish that than the agricultural education program here at Penn State?! I have already gained so much insight from this first week of classes. I have also learned a great deal of information from the first week’s reading assignments in AEE 412: Methods of Teaching Agriculture and I can't wait to see what the rest of the semester holds!

            “Methods of Teaching Agriculture” by Newcomb et al. is definitely going to be my life saver throughout the next year. I started reading the first chapter and right away started processing the information I was reading and how I can apply it to my student teaching experience. The first chapter discussed what it means to be an agricultural teacher and objectives these teachers should strive to meet while teaching. Having gone through an agricultural education program, I understand that there is more to teaching agriculture than standing in the front of the room spitting out facts.

            As Newcomb et al. suggest, agricultural teachers must provide instruction about agriculture and assist students in developing agricultural literacy, provide exploration of possible agricultural careers, develop skills and knowledge that can be used in those occupations, and prepare students for further study in agriculture. While these are basic objectives agriculture teachers must accomplish through teaching and instruction, they also serve as FFA advisors and SAE supervisors. Agriculture teachers must also work with administrators, advisory councils, and the community in order to have a successful program.

            Knowing all of this, the topic for AEE 412 this week was “what is teaching and learning?” I do have some background knowledge of teaching and learning from my undergraduate research project: Boyer’s  Scholarship Reconsidered (https://depts.washington.edu/gs630/Spring/Boyer.pdf). However, I was interested to read how Newcomb et al. described this idea. The first chapter concludes with the idea that principles of learning are translated into the practice of teaching by agricultural teachers. In the second chapter, Newcomb et al. describe sixteen principles of effective teaching ranging from organization of material to motivation to enthusiasm to clarity, just to name a few. Rosenshine and Furst have identified ten principles of effective teaching as well. Many of these overlap with principles Newcomb et al. have established.

            After completing the assigned readings and attending classes for week one, I find myself often reflecting about what I have learned. Which of the principles of teaching and learning do I feel that I understand and will demonstrate well? Which of the principles do I need to learn more about and learn how to apply to my future classroom? I have thought about how I did or did not apply these to lab on Wednesday. I have pondered future labs and considered ways to improve my upcoming labs.

            Is this change going to happen overnight? No. I know that. I will not become an effective teacher in just a few days. I understand that the process of teaching and learning, and becoming an effective agriculture teacher, takes time. I must continue to take the weekly readings seriously and make the information I am learning applicable to my life. I have awesome agricultural education resources at my fingertips and I know I must use them to my advantage. Effective reflection will become a necessity this semester and will help me grow into a great agricultural teacher!

Shows, Students, and SAE Visits

 

           SAE. Supervised Agricultural Experience. An SAE project is an essential component to any complete agricultural education program. As a student in an agricultural education program in high school, I had two SAE projects of my own. One important part of a successful SAE project is visitation to the site of the project by the ag teacher. I did not have this opportunity in high school for whatever reason. However, as a pre-service agriculture teacher, I had my first experience with an SAE visit on Wednesday August 20^th, 2014 with one of my future students, his parents, and my cooperating teacher in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.

            I had the opportunity to conduct an SAE visit with Garrett Jenkins, a junior at Elizabethtown High School. Garrett is also vice president of the Elizabethtown FFA chapter for the upcoming school year. He is the son of Gary and Kathleen Jenkins. Garrett raises sheep, goats, and steers which are part of his diversified livestock SAE projects. He also works at Meadow Vista Dairy Farms. He plans on attending college upon graduation to major in dairy science. I had met Garrett before when visiting Elizabethtown earlier in the year but had the chance to talk with him at the fair.

            At the Elizabethtown Fair this year, Garrett won Supreme Champion Market Goat, Champion Market Lamb, and Reserve Champion Steer. I never raised or showed animals growing up but I know this is very impressive! He competed for the fair’s most prestigious award: the Supreme Market Champion animal between 6 breeds. The Supreme Market Champion lamb, goat, swine, steer, rabbit, and dairy beef compete for the award. This award is unique to the Elizabethtown Fair, as I learned that evening. Garrett did not win the award but he was still very pleased to have a Supreme Champion animal. I was proud of him for his hard work and making it that far!

 

Talking with Garrett and watching as he prepares his goat for the Supreme Market Champion show.

           During the SAE visit, I observed Garrett preparing his market goat for the Supreme Market Champion award. Garrett was grooming his goat with combs, brushes, and polish. Mark Anderson, one of the agricultural education teachers at Elizabethtown High School, and my cooperating teacher, asked Garrett a few questions while we were on the visit. Garrett was asked what fitting tips make him successful in shows, how long it typically takes him to prepare his animals for shows, where else he would be showing this year, and if he will continue to show beef after doing so for the first time this year. His parents were asked about the whole experience and if they would do it again. Garrett and his parents were both eager to answer our questions and all love the experience of showing!

 

Garrett and his Supreme Champion Market Goat competing in the final show.

 

             Upon completion of my first SAE visit, I have a better understanding of SAE and know the importance of visitations. I was able to watch one of my future students in action and be rewarded for his hard work. Garrett ended up earning $4,800 at the fair after selling several of his animals. Talking with Garrett’s parents proved that SAE has been very beneficial to Garrett. He has definitely learned by doing and has applied his knowledge from the classroom and Career Development Events into his life. I look forward to conducting more SAE visits with my future students in the upcoming year. SAE is a vital component of an agricultural education program and allows students to maximize their full potential!