A Day with Macy and the Selinsgrove Ag Ed Program!

Today I was in a classroom, but I wasn't the one teaching. Today I got to go spend the day with my fellow cohort member and friend, Macy, at Selinsgrove High School where she is rocking it as a student teacher! When I arrived, there was maple sap being boiled down into syrup, designs being prepared for the CNC machine, baby trout growing in the back of the classroom, and a large greenhouse full of plants. Selinsgrove Ag Ed is a busy place! I had a great time and really enjoyed getting a tour of the program and seeing Macy teach.

Getting ready to strike their first arcs!!

Ms. Fisher's 9th grade classes just started their welding unit and today was their first day to burn rod! Macy did a great job demonstrating how to set up the arc welding machines and strike their first arc. It made me reflect back on my own experience teaching welding just a few weeks ago and how awesome it was to see students overcome their fears and improve through practice. I can definitely say that welding is my favorite Ag Mechanics topic to teach.

Macy also teaches Building Construction and Horticulture. In Horticulture, the students are working on designing their own greenhouse! All of the students were engaged and asking questions, and it was neat to see them apply what they have learned.

Here are some key takeaways from the day:

1. One of the great things about Ag Ed is that every program is different, so there is always something new to learn when visiting a program! I don't care if you drive to Wisconsin like we did last year for our Domestic Study Away or just down the road to the neighboring Ag Ed program, I guarantee it's unique in its own way and there's something new for you to learn.

2. I've said it once, and I'll say it again. Rapport with students is vital. I loved seeing Macy interact with her students. She interacted with each student during class, made jokes, laughed, and asked them about things going on in their lives.

3. Be adaptable and go with the flow. When I arrived, Macy informed me that her lesson for her first class wasn't going work out the way she had planned. Instead of stressing about what she was going to do, she just adapted and went with it! 

Thank you Ms. Fisher, Mrs. Fry, and Mr. Swineford for a wonderful day!

Student Teaching Week 10!

Well, #psuaged18 cohort is officially two-thirds of the way through our student teaching internships! This week was busy and full of learning - for both me and my students!

Here are some highlights from this week:

1. The WHY is essential.

This week in Biotech we continued our Applications of Biotechnology unit by discussing the Green Revolution and how biotechnology can be used to fight food insecurity right now in Africa. I began the lesson with a news clip about the current famine occurring in Africa. Then the students researched the green revolution to learn how Norman Borlaug saved over 1 million lives. I wanted to have a discussion about the positives as well as some of the downsides that resulted because I believe we should always be striving to improve. I could tell I hadn't caught the interest of some of my students because no one wanted to participate in the discussion. A few students even questioned why we were learning about agriculture in another country. After class was over, I reflected and talked with Mr. Fellenbaum and we agreed that I should begin class the next day by reviewing the Green Revolution and then taking some time to explain the why. The next day went much better and I feel that I effectively conveyed the why to my students. That biotechnology is all about using living things to benefit human life,and the Green Revolution is a perfect example of that. Students spent the next part of class researching a plant commonly grown in Africa and selecting characteristics to selectively breed for to help fight the famine. I was so impressed with their critical thinking and problem solving skills! 

2. Soil buffering capacity, soil buffering capacity, soil buffering capacity.

This week in Intro to AFNR we focused on, you guessed it, soil buffering capacity. Students followed a procedure to test the buffering capacity of water, and then they designed their own experiment to test how soil particle size affects buffering capacity. It was interesting to watch students go through that problem solving process and even experience some frustration. I think many students were so focused on being "right" that it took them longer to develop a hypothesis/procedure. When students asked questions, I tried to redirect them with a question. I really enjoy the inquiry process and I'm looking forward to further developing my skills in delivering IBI.

Goals for this coming week:

• Continue to grow in my content knowledge of small gas engines.
• Build better rapport with two of my students that I have a hard time connecting with.
• Be more confident in my decisions!

Thanks for following my journey, thus far - I'd love to hear your thoughts/advice!!

#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 Weekly Investment 4

Objectives at higher cognitive levels requires teaching at higher cognitive levels.

The cognitive level of your objectives must align with what you teach and must align with assessment. This was a focus of the weekly readings and it's something I want to always work on and continue to improve on throughout my #TeachAg Journey. The idea makes sense. Why would you expect high levels of learning from your students, teach them at a low cognitive level, and then assess them based on your objectives? It is a recipe for frustration and giving up. Thinking back to the article we read by Fink (2003), one way to ensure this doesn't happen is to "analyze the situational factors, formulate the learning goals, design the feedback and assessment procedures, and select the teaching/learning activities." Remember, begin with the end in mind.

Cooperative Learning, when purposefully planned, provides multiple developmental benefits.

This week's readings also discussed group teaching techniques and seemed to focus on cooperative learning in particular. We participated in cooperative learning in many of my high school classes, and I have experienced both the good and the bad. One particular point that was made about how to make cooperative learning effective is how you group the students. Size definitely matters; for example, if a group is too large, students can hide and get by without having to contribute. Reading about cooperative learning made me remember my Educational Psychology class I had a few semesters back. Our professor taught us an effective way to split students up into groups that promotes learning for every student. It was all about making groups with heterogeneous skill levels so that each student benefits from the cooperative learning. But with that being said, as a teacher I think you really need to ensure that each student is participating and there isn't just one student in each group doing all of the work. There is a reason I'm not a fan of group projects in college myself, so I'm determined not to have any of my students feel the same way. According to Groseta et al., the solution to that is staying engaged throughout the entire learning process by using the three steps of monitoring: observation, intervention, and evaluation.

Do you have any strategies you use to promote effective cooperative learning? I'd love to learn more!


References:

Fink, L.D. (2003) A self-directed guide to designing courses for significant learning. Retrieved from http://www.deefinkandassociates.com/GuidetoCourseDesignAug05.pdf

Groseta, K.J. & Myers, B.E. (2006). Using cooperative learning in formal and conformal education. Retrieved from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/WC/WC06200.pdf

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.

Whittington, M.S. (2005). Writing objectives in secondary agriculture courses that challenge students to think. Agriculture Education Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.naae.org/profdevelopment/magazine/archive_issues/Volume77/v77i5.pdf

#AEE412 1st Day Lab

It's the first day of school. The Goal: teach the first 10 minutes of your "first day" lesson plan. This lab was beneficial in multiple ways. First, I got to think through what would be a good way to establish classroom procedures right away, create a welcoming environment, etc. Second, I had the chance to teach for 10 minutes and practice classroom management skills with my cohort members who had transformed into students with various personalities. After watching my video, here is one thing I did well and one thing I can improve on for next time!

Gems: things that went well with my lesson.

Going over objectives and having them written on the wall/board: 

I believe it's important to go over your objectives for each lesson. This all goes back to the first domain of teaching and learning: Organization and Structure of Content Matter. Students learn better when they are aware of the structure of the content as well as see how everything their learning contributes to the end goals. Going over the objectives also helps you as a teacher remain business-like and on task by reminding yourself of what you want your students to be accomplishing during the class.

Opps: Opportunities for improvement in future lessons.

Giving clear directions and ensuring students are paying attention/understand: 

I realized while I was watching my video that students asked me to repeat directions and/or had questions about what I just asked them to do. This means that either I'm not giving clear directions and/or I did not have their attention. So, going forward I want to make sure I thoroughly plan how I want to give directions and then also make sure I ask my students to repeat back the directions after I give them. That will hopefully help my directions be more clear and ensure that students were paying attention.


I'm looking forward to practicing more during next week's lab on interest approaches! Thanks for following my blog, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

#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.