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!