#AEE412 Weekly Investment: Effective Teaching is Essential

There are two types of teachers that I will always remember from my time in school: the really good and the really bad. As I'm continuing on my #TeachAg journey to becoming an Agricultural Educator, I am realizing more and more just how much work and dedication it takes to be a good teacher. And while this is indeed a little daunting to think about, it's also exciting too.

1. Becoming an effective teacher takes time. But, it's ok to be an amateur. 

Well this certainly wasn't what I wanted to hear when I know I will be teaching people's children in approximately 15 weeks. And yet, what a relief it was to hear and read this. But, I'm still not sure I fully believe it (that being an amateur is ok). How can it be ok to not feel completely prepared when you go to teach your first real class, knowing that you are molding and teaching real students? I'm not sure, but I think my best bet is to give it my all and to do like Kayla Hack and Janae Herr told us at our student teacher workshop: trust the process. I've had the honor of meeting and being taught by so many effective, rockstar teachers. It's easy to forget that they too, started where I am now. This thought takes me back to my summer book Drive by Daniel Pink. In the section on Mastery, he talks about how the road to mastery is a pain and while you can approach mastery, it can never actually be reached. But when you have purpose, the hard work and challenges associated with mastery is all worth it. Realizing this was a comfort to me because I know my purpose. It's the same purpose all of us as teachers have: to positively affect and touch the lives of our students. Suddenly, the road to becoming a "master" teacher seems exciting and well worth it. 

2. Learning is directly related to the effectiveness of teaching methods that are put into practice.

All of the readings this week discussed this in slightly different ways, but it was definitely a common theme. Talk about pressure! From my experiences as a student, though, I would definitely agree with this. I can't think of a class that I enjoyed and truly learned in that wasn't taught by an effective teacher. And yet, I remember discussing this week in one of my classes about growth mindsets and how students have to choose to learn. So... how can both of these statements be true? Well, I think it's because that as teachers, the methods we utilize should create an environment that motivates and causes students to make that choice to learn. That is an important distinction to make. Teaching isn't just presenting information/skills to students in varied ways and then sitting back and letting students choose to learn or not. It's about engaging students and fostering autonomy, mastery, and purpose (in the words of Daniel Pink), creating a growth mindset culture, and as Wong states in The First Days of School "exhibiting positive expectations for all students" (the list could go on). 

3. Community is essential to being an effective Agricultural Educator.

The necessity of positive community relationships seems to be everywhere I look, and for good reason. To be an effective Agricultural Educator, I truly believe that your community is key. The community is a laboratory of the instructional program (Newcomb et al., 2004). I really liked this statement from my Methods of Teaching Agriculture book. By developing positive relationships within your community, you will have all kinds of experts in agriculture that want to share their knowledge with your students. How awesome is that?! Not only that, but they also help you continue on your journey as a life-long learner and ensure that what you are teaching is up-to-date with what is going on in the Ag industry. Community can also be thought of as your teaching community. From other Agricultural Educators to experienced teachers of other subjects, building positive relationships with your colleagues will help you become a more effective teacher through advice and feedback.


Thanks for following my journey so far, I'm looking forward to seeing where the rest of this semester takes us!

References

Newcomb, L.H., McCracken, J.D., Warmbrod, J.R., & Whittington, M.S. (1993). Methods of teaching agriculture. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Pink, Daniel. (2009). Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. New York: Penguin Group.

Wong, H.K. & Wong, R.T. (2009). The first days of school: How to be an effective teacher (4th ed.). Mountain View: Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc.