#AEE 412: Lab VIII - Putting it All Together

On Friday after my 3-day micro-teaching experience, I drove down to Penn Manor HS to complete my 8th lab. For this lab we had to utilize a lesson plan from FFA's LifeKnowledge lessons. I combined portions of two lessons to make one lesson on What is Leadership? and What is service-leadership? I taught my lesson to the CASE AFNR class, which was comprised of 19 students who were mostly freshmen. I really enjoyed my day at Penn Manor; it was a great chance to reconnect with some of the students I already knew and meet some more students that I will teach in the spring. Here are some reflections from my lesson:

Gems

Making towers! What type of leader are you?

1. I used a variety of learning activities. After we learned about 3 different types of leaders, the students participated in a group activity to see what kind of leaders they were. They had to work together in groups to build a tower out of hard spaghetti and marshmallows. It was fun to watch the students work together, see who emerged as leader, and solve the challenges they faced. However, FYI: marshmallows and spaghetti were kind of messy and it was almost too challenging to build a structure with.

2. Most of the questions I asked were thoughtful and engaged the students in the discussion. During our discussions I feel like most of the questions I asked promoted deeper learning and weren't just "yes or no" questions. It also promoted participation and engagement during the PowerPoint.

3. I had students resonate instructions after they were given. After each time I gave instructions, I called on a student to restate the instructions for everyone to make sure we were all on the same page. I found this reduced the number of times students asked questions about what they were supposed to do next.

Opportunities for Improvement

1. There were a few times I provided the answer to a question because no one responded right away. This group of students was on the quieter side and often did not want to respond to my questions. I tried to restate my questions or simply wait until someone responded, but there were a few times I just gave them the answer I was looking for. No matter how awkward it may seem, I can't give them the answer because then that just tells them that they don't have to answer questions. In the future I will really work at restating the questions and waiting until someone answers.

2. Time and pacing. I also included this in my micro-teaching reflection, but that is because I realized this after both experiences. Once again, I had planned for more than what I thought we could accomplish, but I like knowing I don't have to worry about running out of things to do. During the one activity, one group of students finished WAY before everyone else. I went back and tried to ask them more questions to keep them thinking/working, but I definitely should have planned out some questions for them to work on while everyone else was finishing up. Like I mentioned in my micro-teaching blog post, I think in the future I need to be better about including "how much time" in my instructions (or asking the students how much time do they think they need and then negotiating from there) and also planning extra questions for those students who finish up really early. I think I also need to work on determining which activities are highest priority to accomplish before I teach the lesson. That way if I see we're running short on time, I can cut out a less important part so I make sure we cover everything.

#AEE412: The 3-day Micro-Teaching Lab

Up until this week, all of our teaching labs took place in Ferguson Building and our students were our fellow #psuaged18 cohort members. So while it has been good practice, it still wasn't real bananas (an inside joke from our lesson about contextual learning). However, this week was different. This week we had a 3-day micro-teaching lab at an ag program in central PA. Each of us was responsible for teaching one class for three days in a row. I taught an Animal Science class about the skeletal system, and while it was an exhausting week, I learned so much and really enjoyed the experience. I am also very thankful that we were so prepared for this from all of the scaffolding that took place throughout the semester. Here are some gems and opportunities for improvement that I took away from this experience.

Gems

1. Mixing up the way students take notes. While I was micro-teaching I tried teaching the components of bone a little differently and had my students take notes differently. I read an article Dr. Foster posted (thanks Foster!) about note-taking and one of the techniques was having a gallery walk to take notes. Basically, I used large post-it posters to write down key information about the inorganic and organic components of bone, put the posters on tables around the room, gave the students a note sheet, and set them loose to write and draw the important information. I thought it went quite well! It got students up and moving and promoted talking about what information was key. However, it is important to walk around the room to make sure everyone is understanding and not just copying the information. The learner satisfaction forms that the students filled out indicated that they enjoyed taking notes in different ways.

2. I used a variety of learning activities in each lesson. I think this is something both my cohort member, Ally, and I did very well. Each of the lessons I taught had a variety of activities to help students learn and review what they learned. We segmented our classes well and made sure that the students weren't doing the same thing for an extending period of time.

3. I included WHY learning about the skeletal system is important. This definitely could have been talked about more and reinforced, but I'm glad I included a segment on how being knowledgable about the skeletal system can help you choose animals who will produce more and live healthier lives.

Opportunities for Improvement 

1. Timing and pacing so that everyone is on track. This was a hard one for me. Thankfully I wore my watch two of the days and that really helped me keep track of time. I definitely had way too much planned, which I knew and was ok with, but I think we could have accomplished more. And even some of the students said in their learner satisfaction forms that they think we could have gone a little faster. But I also know that some of the students needed that extra time. I think in the future, I need to be better about including "how much time" in my instructions (or asking the students how much time do they think they need and then negotiating from there) and also planning extra questions for those students who finish up really early. I want my future ag classes to be full of learning for students of all learning levels. I'd love to hear about your experiences and any pro tips you have!

2.  Getting materials to students. I think this stems from a habit I picked up in our other labs. Since there are only 4 "students" in our labs, I always just handed out materials to them at their desks. Well that does not work when you have larger groups of students. In the future I need to have a student from each group come up and get their materials after I explain the directions.

3. Review what a concept map was with the whole class. On the third day, I had them make a concept map that shows the relationship between the components of bone. I gave these instructions to students as they finished their gallery walk notes, but I soon realized that I should have had the whole class review what a concept map was. I guess I just kind of assumed that they all would have made one before in their other classes. We worked through it and I gave an example as I explained it to each group, but doing a whole class review would have been faster and easier. I also think that if I knew the students better I would have known that we needed to review concept maps.

Thank you for following my #TeachAg journey! I'd love to hear your thoughts and advice!

#AEE412 Lab Reflection: Inquiry Based Instruction

I was super excited about this week's lab. Back in May on our annual Domestic Study Away trip, I had my first experience with Inquiry Based Instruction. While in Wisconsin, we had the opportunity to prepare and teach an IBI lesson in Ms. Rachel Sauvola's classroom. It was challenging but I really liked what IBI was all about. 

We just completed 2 weeks of instruction on IBI, including a visit with Ms. Krista Pontius and Mr. Michael Clark at Greenwood High School, further instruction from Ms. Pontius and Mr. Mark Anderson, and a chance to plan and teach an IBI lesson on our own! I chose to plan a lesson on electromagnetism and how electricity and magnets are related. I had a lot of fun planning this lesson and brushing up on my physics. I even had a couple of my engineering friends help me out to make sure I really felt confident with the material. During lab, we taught a 20 minute "slice" of our whole lesson. Here are my takeaways:

Gems

1. I was excited about what I was teaching, and I feel like my enthusiasm helped others get excited, too.
2. I was confident in the material I was teaching, which makes me think of last week's reading on classroom management. Being knowledgable in the content you teach is an important aspect to promoting a positive learning environment.

Opportunities to Improve

1. I definitely should have included more background material on magnets and how they're related to electricity. Sometimes I feel like I have a hard time determining what high schoolers should already know/be able to figure out.
2. While I had a very general plan for this, I should have really thought through what I would do if my students were lost and weren't able to figure out how to make an electromagnet. For example, I could have written down some effective questions that I could use to help get them there.

Thanks for reading! I would love to read about your experiences with IBI and some of your "pro tips"!

#AEE412 Weekly Investment: Classroom Management

I hear that classroom management is one thing that all student teachers are nervous about as they enter into their student teaching experience. I have to say I agree. Not because I don't think I am capable or prepared, but because I know that effective classroom management is so important. I'm glad that we get to have a micro teaching experience in a few weeks to practice teaching and managing a classroom. This week's readings were very informative and provided a multitude of methods/techniques for managing a classroom. Here are some takeaways from from the readings this week:

Effective Classroom Management all comes back to the Teacher.

This point was so important and something that all teachers should understand. If you have behavior issues or problems in the classroom, chances are some of the issue has to do with your actions/attitudes as a teacher. It is so important to develop good rapport with your students, and something that I am very excited to establish. I always respected my teachers that demanded respect, laughed with us, admitted when they made mistakes, and didn't spend their days on a power trip. Our methods text even talks about finding this balance. 

Being knowledgable in the content that you teach is also an important factor in classroom management. I know I certainly would be less likely to respect a teacher that was obviously incompetent about what they were teaching. One goal that I have for my career as a teacher is to be a life-long learner and make sure that what I am teaching stays relevant and up to date. A goal that I have for the spring is to dive deep into Ag Mechanics and become comfortable with the content that I'll be teaching (cough, cough, small gas engines...). 

The First Day is KEY.

Wow, up until this semester I had no idea how important the first day of school is. The first day can set the tone for the whole year, so it is important to plan effectively and ensure your first day is a good one for all involved! You want to be welcoming and sincere as well as accomplish some key tasks on that first day to set the foundation for student success. I really appreciated that our methods book discussed the importance of having students write down or talk about what they want from the class and what they want from you as a teacher. It gives them some autonomy and lets them know that you care what they have to say. It also gives you insight into students as individuals and can help with how you approach classroom management. Covering your expectations and classroom procedures is also important because it lets your students know from day one what you expect and you can use it as a reference throughout the year as necessary.


What are some of your best practices regarding classroom management? I'd love to learn more!