As I am writing this blog, the Rascal Flatts, "My Wish", song came into my head. The 2014 cohorts time at University Parking is coming to end and we are reflecting on our time here. It is now time to be "gettin' where we're getting to" with student teaching as the next step. Lab was a very vital component to AEE 412 as it really solidified what we were learning in class.
A good example of applying what we learned in class was interest approaches for me. I planned my lesson out and thought that I had a good interest approach -- making a crop identification book. But then as I went through that part of the lesson with my lab section I decided that the book was more of a project rather than an interest approach. It was things like this that were really beneficial. Really being able to see what worked and what didn't work. It is impressive how some things sound really good in your head, but then when you put it on paper or actually say it out loud....it doesnt work.
Lab was also a good time to really learn from our peers, we got peer feedback right away in class as we filled out evaluation forms, then we got verbal feedback through watching voicethreads and lastly we got more feedback through commenting on each others blogs. This allowed us to see what each other was doing and who had similar fears or positive uplifting experiences. Sometimes it seemed like we were the blind leading the blind, but it always worked out in the end. In class we were assigned different roles, mine was sleepy, hard worker, bully, and complainer. I think that my peers got to see a different side of me with some of the off the wall comments that I made; but also a realistic side to what students may be like. Unfortunately a lot of inspiration for the things that I said, came from people that I was in class with in high school. Valerie's first day of teaching she wanted us to get a paper signed by our parents/guardians and I said some smart comment about not wanting to do that and not having anyone to sign it and she asked me who I lived with and I was like ehh a different person every night. This story doesn't exactly come from high school, but I think that this is a scenario that could definitely happen at some point in our professional careers. It is important to be prepared for those times so we are best able to help the student.
On a lighter note, we also got to learn how to deal with students who talked too much or who were distracted by technology. My cousin told me that high school students have taken to snap chatting teachers... my students better not do that! Lab gave us practice to look out for certain things that students try to keep under the radar.
Lab also consisted of larger projects such as Fall Leadership Conference, Micro Teaching and LifeKnowledge Lesson. All of these were great as we got to be in front of real students! It also drove home the point of being prepared. Students are in school for a reason,to learn, and it is important that the person in charge of making sure they learn something is prepared and ready to go each day they walk into that school building.
Overall, lab was really beneficial and I am glad that I have all these blogs to reflect on in the next couple year and laugh at myself and go "did I really try that?". I've learned more about myself in that I have to try extra hard to display enthusiasm since I tend to keep my emotions hidden. I have also grown as an educator and feel more comfortable with lesson planning and implementing what I have written. While AEE 412 lab is a lot of work, it is definitely helpful and prepares preservice teachers for their students teaching experience.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Friday, December 6, 2013
Creativity Lab
This past Wednesday, lab started out as an mystery. Laura slid a sketchy mini van into the Ferguson parking lot and big guys jumped out and put bags over my lab sections heads and threw us into the van before Laura peeled out of the parking lot and we were on our way to destination unknown.
Okay, that's not what really happened.
We calmly walked to Dr. Ewings van in the parking garage and I sat in the backseat so I could play with his children's toys. Laura drove us to the dollar store and said that we could spend five dollars on things that we could use in our classes this spring. We were supposed to think outside the box and pick things that we could use for creative activities.
I picked...
a yellow ball for my leadership class to write a marketing plan about. Why would people want a yellow ball? It also has a dual purpose as it can be used for review to ask questions and pass it around the room and who ever has it has to answer.
paper that had a picture of a suitcase on it so students could write in it what they thought the most important stuff that they were learning in it and could carry it around as their suitcase of knowledge.
coffee filters to use for drainage for different types of soil which can be used in my ag leadership class and my 8th grade exploratory agriculture
teacher signs on a stick that say things like be quiet, line up, etc but can also be used on the back side for the SWOT analysis, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for my marketing section. SWOT can also be used whenever making any major decision as it assess all angles of the decision.
play money for my students to think about budgeting and how much stuff actually costs in a variety of classes.
Overall, the class was really interesting and kind of fun when you got into it. It was a little frustrating at first because we were not use to this kind of setting and thinking out-side the box, but I think that people really got a lot out of it and will be able to use their items in the future.
Okay, that's not what really happened.
We calmly walked to Dr. Ewings van in the parking garage and I sat in the backseat so I could play with his children's toys. Laura drove us to the dollar store and said that we could spend five dollars on things that we could use in our classes this spring. We were supposed to think outside the box and pick things that we could use for creative activities.
I picked...
a yellow ball for my leadership class to write a marketing plan about. Why would people want a yellow ball? It also has a dual purpose as it can be used for review to ask questions and pass it around the room and who ever has it has to answer.
paper that had a picture of a suitcase on it so students could write in it what they thought the most important stuff that they were learning in it and could carry it around as their suitcase of knowledge.
coffee filters to use for drainage for different types of soil which can be used in my ag leadership class and my 8th grade exploratory agriculture
teacher signs on a stick that say things like be quiet, line up, etc but can also be used on the back side for the SWOT analysis, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for my marketing section. SWOT can also be used whenever making any major decision as it assess all angles of the decision.
play money for my students to think about budgeting and how much stuff actually costs in a variety of classes.
Overall, the class was really interesting and kind of fun when you got into it. It was a little frustrating at first because we were not use to this kind of setting and thinking out-side the box, but I think that people really got a lot out of it and will be able to use their items in the future.
Friday, November 29, 2013
LifeKnowledge Lesson
So much teaching in the past two weeks!!! I believe I probably had the most dramatic change from micro teaching to my LikeKnowledge lesson in regards to demographics in the classroom. At Central Mountain I taught 9 senior boys. For my LikeKnowledge Lessons I taught two periods of 8th graders, the first one had 25 students and the second one had 17.
My lesson was on being prepared and planning effectively. I said when I picked this lesson out during the study night in Ferguson, this is pretty much the pot calling the kettle black, as I am not always the most prepared person. But, I made my copies, got my materials, read and re-read and re-re-read the lesson plan, and made a PowerPoint for the day. As I left my house at 5:20 in the morning I realized that I never asked if I would be able to use a PowerPoint while I was there, ( see this whole prepared thing) and thought that I would be okay since I remembered seeing smart boards and they typically have PowerPoint. Well, they have never used a PowerPoint in that room before so I wrote my slides on the board, and went along with my lesson plan.
I met the students at the door and handed them note cards that they could make into name cards on their desk so I would be able to call on individual students. I gave them my name and said that I would be student teaching there in the spring and started with the lesson by going over the objectives. I generally followed the lesson plan provided on LifeKnowledge and if you wish to see what I taught you can find it here on the link https://www.ffa.org/documents/learn/MS047.pdf. I do not feel like going through word for word what I did.
This class was huge with 25 students, probably the biggest I have taught by myself. There was also a very chatty and ants-in-his pants boy that was squirming in the back row. I called on him a lot for examples and also had to individually bring him back on task while I was walking around to see what the students were doing.There was also one point when the class was working together and was especially chatty, but it was time to move to another part of the lesson. I tried to get their attention once, but it didn't work so in my teacher voice I said "ONE, TWO, THREE, EYES ON ME" which was quite effective. One student repeated me under his breath and probably included an eye roll, but if they would have been paying attention I would not have to revert back to childish sayings. While this worked really well for me in this classroom, I feel that if I had tried that with the senior boys it would not have worked at all. This is where understanding your audience comes in.
The second class went much better than the first one. There were less students and I changed a lot of the things that did not work in the first class. I had the students read off the board and think more in depth about some of the activities that we were completing. The office kept calling kids to the office though while I was teaching and I was glad Mrs. B was there to respond to the voice coming from the ceiling.
There is a funny story from this class. I had the students write three ways to be prepared then I had them go around and initial each others reasons. When I was walking around the classroom and seeing what everyone was going one girl stopped me and asked if I would be mad that her initials are BS, I said "No, BS stands for Best Student right? So I really like your initials." She giggled at me and was like nooooo that's not what it stands for! I said ummm that is what I think it stands for, and I kept walking around the room. This kind of reminded me of our lab sessions because I say a lot of weird things when I am acting like a student, especially to Caleb.
Mrs. B completed a review on me by keeping tract of when my transitions were and completing a "glows" and "grows" for the things I did well and the things that I need to improve on. It was really nice to see how I changed my lesson from the first class to the second class.
For "grows"...
I need to make sure I have everyone's attention before giving directions
Clearly define "silently" for students
Don't turn my back on them when asking for a response
Make student helpers
Make everyone participate in class discussion
Countdown for transitions
Wait for students to listen.
"Glows"
Good wait time
Handled age group well
Got a student who never answers her to raise a hand and volunteer a response
Very willing to adapt as needed
Learned from one period to the next and adapting
Patience and understanding with students
I am glad that I completed my LifeKnowledge lesson so soon after the Central Mountain lessons because they went much better. I also felt more comfortable with this set of students since proximity control actually worked. I know that I have a lot to learn as I continue with this whole teaching business, but I am ready.
My lesson was on being prepared and planning effectively. I said when I picked this lesson out during the study night in Ferguson, this is pretty much the pot calling the kettle black, as I am not always the most prepared person. But, I made my copies, got my materials, read and re-read and re-re-read the lesson plan, and made a PowerPoint for the day. As I left my house at 5:20 in the morning I realized that I never asked if I would be able to use a PowerPoint while I was there, ( see this whole prepared thing) and thought that I would be okay since I remembered seeing smart boards and they typically have PowerPoint. Well, they have never used a PowerPoint in that room before so I wrote my slides on the board, and went along with my lesson plan.
I met the students at the door and handed them note cards that they could make into name cards on their desk so I would be able to call on individual students. I gave them my name and said that I would be student teaching there in the spring and started with the lesson by going over the objectives. I generally followed the lesson plan provided on LifeKnowledge and if you wish to see what I taught you can find it here on the link https://www.ffa.org/documents/learn/MS047.pdf. I do not feel like going through word for word what I did.
This class was huge with 25 students, probably the biggest I have taught by myself. There was also a very chatty and ants-in-his pants boy that was squirming in the back row. I called on him a lot for examples and also had to individually bring him back on task while I was walking around to see what the students were doing.There was also one point when the class was working together and was especially chatty, but it was time to move to another part of the lesson. I tried to get their attention once, but it didn't work so in my teacher voice I said "ONE, TWO, THREE, EYES ON ME" which was quite effective. One student repeated me under his breath and probably included an eye roll, but if they would have been paying attention I would not have to revert back to childish sayings. While this worked really well for me in this classroom, I feel that if I had tried that with the senior boys it would not have worked at all. This is where understanding your audience comes in.
The second class went much better than the first one. There were less students and I changed a lot of the things that did not work in the first class. I had the students read off the board and think more in depth about some of the activities that we were completing. The office kept calling kids to the office though while I was teaching and I was glad Mrs. B was there to respond to the voice coming from the ceiling.
There is a funny story from this class. I had the students write three ways to be prepared then I had them go around and initial each others reasons. When I was walking around the classroom and seeing what everyone was going one girl stopped me and asked if I would be mad that her initials are BS, I said "No, BS stands for Best Student right? So I really like your initials." She giggled at me and was like nooooo that's not what it stands for! I said ummm that is what I think it stands for, and I kept walking around the room. This kind of reminded me of our lab sessions because I say a lot of weird things when I am acting like a student, especially to Caleb.
Mrs. B completed a review on me by keeping tract of when my transitions were and completing a "glows" and "grows" for the things I did well and the things that I need to improve on. It was really nice to see how I changed my lesson from the first class to the second class.
For "grows"...
I need to make sure I have everyone's attention before giving directions
Clearly define "silently" for students
Don't turn my back on them when asking for a response
Make student helpers
Make everyone participate in class discussion
Countdown for transitions
Wait for students to listen.
"Glows"
Good wait time
Handled age group well
Got a student who never answers her to raise a hand and volunteer a response
Very willing to adapt as needed
Learned from one period to the next and adapting
Patience and understanding with students
I am glad that I completed my LifeKnowledge lesson so soon after the Central Mountain lessons because they went much better. I also felt more comfortable with this set of students since proximity control actually worked. I know that I have a lot to learn as I continue with this whole teaching business, but I am ready.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Micro Teaching
For these reflections just go with the flow and understand that my brain likes to jump around.... as you will surely be able to see...
Day 1:
Not satisfied. I had really awesome equipment with me, pants, boots, shirt, A WHOLE ENTIRE BACKPACK FULL OF FUN THINGS TO EXPLORE! And I just didn't do it how I pictured in my head. I have that problem sometimes when I don't follow my gut and always regret it. I had two different students come up and go through different sections of the pack and pull out all the equipment. When writing my lesson plan I envisioned them passing it around and really looking at it so everyone was engaged....but instead I just let him lay it on the table then I talked about it. People were interested but not truly engaged. I also read last night in the chapter 8 on classroom management that it is better to be strict then lighten up as you go because it is harder to become more strict as you so on. So today I tried to have fun with them but to also be strict and PROXIMITY CONTROL WAS NOT WORKING!! HELLO I AM BASICALLY STANDING ON YOU STOP TALKING!
AND I THOUGHT I LOST A STUDENT. Mrs. Rice observed me today and said there was about 30 seconds that my interest approach video ended and the students started talking.. but as I reflected on it on the drive home I realized that was when I thought I lost a student. One of the kids that had been in the front moved to the back of the room and I couldn't find him or remember where everyone else was sitting. So I was having a mental PANIC ATTACK and was about ready to run to Mrs. Rice and be like did a student leave? Did I really already lose a student? But then I found him a couple seats back... and I could get on with my lesson.
I was bad at timing. As I mentioned before I didn't the students engaged as I wanted to.. and I was moving really slowly at first, but then I checked the time and sped up to make sure I would cover everything, but then I went too fast and ran out of stuff so I did a choral response e-moment and reviewed the objectives and talked reviewed what we did today and what we will accomplish the rest of the week... so I DID TEACH UNTIL THE END OF THE BELL... it just happened a bit hap haphazardly.
For the last rant of the day, I don't know how to work macs.. I was confused about how to find my youtube video that I had pulled up before class. I also uploaded my powerpoint on two jumpdrives to be extra prepared.. but I uploaded Wednesdays powerpoint on one and Tuesdays on another.. and of course I would put the Wednesday one in first by accident, causing me to have a mini heart attack before checking my other jump drive. HEART ATTACKS FOR DAYS!
BUT. WE, THE INDIVIDUALS AT PENN STATE HAVE A GROWTH MINDSET I need to take what I learned today and fix it tomorrow. I didn't have a BAD lesson, it just wasn't PERFECT. But, I am not PERFECT, but I can IMPROVE. Which, I WILL DO TOMORROW.
Day 2:
Today went better than yesterday. We had a car of failures. I ran out of printing pages and only had 40 cents on me elion account to get more pages so Quinn thankfully let me use her pages but I forgot to switch it to only print on one ride for the pictures... which led me to have to change my instructions for the students. Which I need to work on my clarity of instructions.
I also need to not be passive. Passive, according to dictionary.com is "not reacting visibly to something that might be expected to produce a manifestations of an emotion or feeling." This is something I really need to work on because I want my students to know that I care about them. I know that we are only working with these students for three days, but I still care about them as human beings. It is also kind of scary that so many people tell me that I don't show emotion. This summer when I worked at the FACE youth conference with Farm Bureau, my group was working on a project and a girl asked me if I was even having any fun, and I told her I was having a blast and that I was really happy I was not in the office for a week and she told me that my face looked like I didn't want to be there... my response was that this is just my relaxed face. I'm going to have to work hard to show my students in the spring that I care about them, especially the first couple weeks until they can use to me and will be able to see that through my actions.
Another thing that this day has taught me is to really think about the audience that I am talking to. A lot of my information is too basic and it is hard to keep the students engaged since it is below them. They are a group of intelligent senior boys and need to be treated as such. I picked such an awesome and exciting topic for my micro teaching, but I am not utilizing it to its potential.
Today was a good lesson. Tomorrow will be better.
Day 3:
I had some cool bell work and interest approach that really got their attention! But then it went down hill and I lost their attention. As they walked in the door, I handed them note cards that had a definition that they needed to match on the board with tape. It really made them think individually and also work as a group to figure out what matched. After everyone had put their definition beside their term, I made all the students surround me and we looked to see if everything was correct. They did their too cool for school act since they didn't want to stand up since they just sat down, but I made them get up and their teacher said they were engaged.
Next I wanted to use a teaching strategy that we used during the inquiry based instruction at National FFA Convention. I wanted them to read the article individually and highlight what they thought was important. After they were done I wanted them to talk to their partner and compare what they highlighted. And thirdly, I wanted them to share with the class what they talked about. This is where I lost them. They didn't have the depth of discussion that I wanted them to, and they started to have side conversations. I wanted to jump into the class discussion to cut the side talk off and they got the points out of it that I wanted them too but it that spark I was looking for just wasn't there.
When we were going over the review Mr. May said that they needed a little more structure for that. They needed to have some questions that they should look for during the reading or have a little more instruction and structure to the reading. They don't have behavior issues, they just had a lot of stuff to talk about with each other: cars, hunting and girls.
Day 1:
Not satisfied. I had really awesome equipment with me, pants, boots, shirt, A WHOLE ENTIRE BACKPACK FULL OF FUN THINGS TO EXPLORE! And I just didn't do it how I pictured in my head. I have that problem sometimes when I don't follow my gut and always regret it. I had two different students come up and go through different sections of the pack and pull out all the equipment. When writing my lesson plan I envisioned them passing it around and really looking at it so everyone was engaged....but instead I just let him lay it on the table then I talked about it. People were interested but not truly engaged. I also read last night in the chapter 8 on classroom management that it is better to be strict then lighten up as you go because it is harder to become more strict as you so on. So today I tried to have fun with them but to also be strict and PROXIMITY CONTROL WAS NOT WORKING!! HELLO I AM BASICALLY STANDING ON YOU STOP TALKING!
AND I THOUGHT I LOST A STUDENT. Mrs. Rice observed me today and said there was about 30 seconds that my interest approach video ended and the students started talking.. but as I reflected on it on the drive home I realized that was when I thought I lost a student. One of the kids that had been in the front moved to the back of the room and I couldn't find him or remember where everyone else was sitting. So I was having a mental PANIC ATTACK and was about ready to run to Mrs. Rice and be like did a student leave? Did I really already lose a student? But then I found him a couple seats back... and I could get on with my lesson.
I was bad at timing. As I mentioned before I didn't the students engaged as I wanted to.. and I was moving really slowly at first, but then I checked the time and sped up to make sure I would cover everything, but then I went too fast and ran out of stuff so I did a choral response e-moment and reviewed the objectives and talked reviewed what we did today and what we will accomplish the rest of the week... so I DID TEACH UNTIL THE END OF THE BELL... it just happened a bit hap haphazardly.
For the last rant of the day, I don't know how to work macs.. I was confused about how to find my youtube video that I had pulled up before class. I also uploaded my powerpoint on two jumpdrives to be extra prepared.. but I uploaded Wednesdays powerpoint on one and Tuesdays on another.. and of course I would put the Wednesday one in first by accident, causing me to have a mini heart attack before checking my other jump drive. HEART ATTACKS FOR DAYS!
BUT. WE, THE INDIVIDUALS AT PENN STATE HAVE A GROWTH MINDSET I need to take what I learned today and fix it tomorrow. I didn't have a BAD lesson, it just wasn't PERFECT. But, I am not PERFECT, but I can IMPROVE. Which, I WILL DO TOMORROW.
Day 2:
Today went better than yesterday. We had a car of failures. I ran out of printing pages and only had 40 cents on me elion account to get more pages so Quinn thankfully let me use her pages but I forgot to switch it to only print on one ride for the pictures... which led me to have to change my instructions for the students. Which I need to work on my clarity of instructions.
I also need to not be passive. Passive, according to dictionary.com is "not reacting visibly to something that might be expected to produce a manifestations of an emotion or feeling." This is something I really need to work on because I want my students to know that I care about them. I know that we are only working with these students for three days, but I still care about them as human beings. It is also kind of scary that so many people tell me that I don't show emotion. This summer when I worked at the FACE youth conference with Farm Bureau, my group was working on a project and a girl asked me if I was even having any fun, and I told her I was having a blast and that I was really happy I was not in the office for a week and she told me that my face looked like I didn't want to be there... my response was that this is just my relaxed face. I'm going to have to work hard to show my students in the spring that I care about them, especially the first couple weeks until they can use to me and will be able to see that through my actions.
Another thing that this day has taught me is to really think about the audience that I am talking to. A lot of my information is too basic and it is hard to keep the students engaged since it is below them. They are a group of intelligent senior boys and need to be treated as such. I picked such an awesome and exciting topic for my micro teaching, but I am not utilizing it to its potential.
Today was a good lesson. Tomorrow will be better.
Day 3:
I had some cool bell work and interest approach that really got their attention! But then it went down hill and I lost their attention. As they walked in the door, I handed them note cards that had a definition that they needed to match on the board with tape. It really made them think individually and also work as a group to figure out what matched. After everyone had put their definition beside their term, I made all the students surround me and we looked to see if everything was correct. They did their too cool for school act since they didn't want to stand up since they just sat down, but I made them get up and their teacher said they were engaged.
Next I wanted to use a teaching strategy that we used during the inquiry based instruction at National FFA Convention. I wanted them to read the article individually and highlight what they thought was important. After they were done I wanted them to talk to their partner and compare what they highlighted. And thirdly, I wanted them to share with the class what they talked about. This is where I lost them. They didn't have the depth of discussion that I wanted them to, and they started to have side conversations. I wanted to jump into the class discussion to cut the side talk off and they got the points out of it that I wanted them too but it that spark I was looking for just wasn't there.
When we were going over the review Mr. May said that they needed a little more structure for that. They needed to have some questions that they should look for during the reading or have a little more instruction and structure to the reading. They don't have behavior issues, they just had a lot of stuff to talk about with each other: cars, hunting and girls.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Inquiry Based Instruction
Phew. That went better than I thought!
For my inquiry based instruction my initial ideas kept getting shot down, as the teachers were pushing me to be more creative and use my resources on campus. I then started running around to everyone at my fraternity and was asking about ideas that they may have, since they have more concentrated areas of study. Denise Beam, a friend of mine who also works at the dairy barns, suggested using a colostremeter. I jumped on this idea because it sounded perfect since it used a scientific piece of equipment and would fit into my Animal Science unit for my 8th grade class.
To start the lesson I had them brainstorm ideas of things a newborn mammal would need. They had said things like nutrients, love, warmth, milk, ect. I then had them read an article about why calves need colostrum. After reading the article they participated in a think-pair-share and discussed together and as a class what was read in the article.
I had two milk jugs on the table as well as two test tubes and a colostremeter. I asked them which milk I should drink. I gave that to them as their initial instruction and basically let them figure out how to use it on their own. I kept track of what they were saying on the board so I could reference it later.
When they were done figuring out which milk I should drink I had them go over their hypothesis and procedure. They figured out that they were measuring colostrum and that I should drink the regular milk instead of the milk full of colostrum that is intended for newborn calves. I asked how it related to the article that we read in the beginning of class and I reviewed the objectives of the day to make sure that they understood everything.
When I was writing my lesson plan I wanted everything to be mostly B and C on the chart of inquiry based instruction. This lesson is for an 8th grade class and I didn't want them to become frustrated. I wanted to have them think independently but also have some guidance when they needed it. I would do it like this until they were more comfortable with inquiry based instruction then I would focus it to be more student based.
As for my teaching mannerisms..... I need to learn how to smile!!!!! I have a problem with smiling in class especially when it is something new and I do not feel totally comfortable with the material. I literally learned how to use the colostremeter an hour before class and do not have a dairy background besides my high school agricultural classes. I researched it all weekend but I was still unsure of myself. I am sure that confidence will come with time.. but the least I could do is smile.. really need to work on that.
Overall, I am happy with how the inquiry lesson went. I know that there is always room for improvement, but it was a good first experience!
For my inquiry based instruction my initial ideas kept getting shot down, as the teachers were pushing me to be more creative and use my resources on campus. I then started running around to everyone at my fraternity and was asking about ideas that they may have, since they have more concentrated areas of study. Denise Beam, a friend of mine who also works at the dairy barns, suggested using a colostremeter. I jumped on this idea because it sounded perfect since it used a scientific piece of equipment and would fit into my Animal Science unit for my 8th grade class.
To start the lesson I had them brainstorm ideas of things a newborn mammal would need. They had said things like nutrients, love, warmth, milk, ect. I then had them read an article about why calves need colostrum. After reading the article they participated in a think-pair-share and discussed together and as a class what was read in the article.
I had two milk jugs on the table as well as two test tubes and a colostremeter. I asked them which milk I should drink. I gave that to them as their initial instruction and basically let them figure out how to use it on their own. I kept track of what they were saying on the board so I could reference it later.
When they were done figuring out which milk I should drink I had them go over their hypothesis and procedure. They figured out that they were measuring colostrum and that I should drink the regular milk instead of the milk full of colostrum that is intended for newborn calves. I asked how it related to the article that we read in the beginning of class and I reviewed the objectives of the day to make sure that they understood everything.
When I was writing my lesson plan I wanted everything to be mostly B and C on the chart of inquiry based instruction. This lesson is for an 8th grade class and I didn't want them to become frustrated. I wanted to have them think independently but also have some guidance when they needed it. I would do it like this until they were more comfortable with inquiry based instruction then I would focus it to be more student based.
As for my teaching mannerisms..... I need to learn how to smile!!!!! I have a problem with smiling in class especially when it is something new and I do not feel totally comfortable with the material. I literally learned how to use the colostremeter an hour before class and do not have a dairy background besides my high school agricultural classes. I researched it all weekend but I was still unsure of myself. I am sure that confidence will come with time.. but the least I could do is smile.. really need to work on that.
Overall, I am happy with how the inquiry lesson went. I know that there is always room for improvement, but it was a good first experience!
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Double Entry Journals - Reading Strategy
The double entry journal is when you have a student fold a piece of paper in half length wise so they have two columns. On the one side, the student will write a phrase or sentence they they found interesting from the reading, as well as the page number. On the other side the students will write a personal response to what they found to be interesting. They will later be able to share what they found interesting and why, with the class. Here is the link for more information http://www.adlit.org/strategies/22091/
To make adaptations for the blog post I will be quoting the parts of the reading that I found interesting, then recording underneath why I found it to be interesting.
Myers and Warner " What is Inquiry Based Instruction"
"Teachers should constantly evaluate and adjust their teaching approaches to meet educational needs of their students and society."
To make adaptations for the blog post I will be quoting the parts of the reading that I found interesting, then recording underneath why I found it to be interesting.
Myers and Warner " What is Inquiry Based Instruction"
"Teachers should constantly evaluate and adjust their teaching approaches to meet educational needs of their students and society."
- This is really true since we as teachers need to be constantly working to meet our students needs. By having different teaching approaches under our belt we are better able to cater to individual students needs and keep the class interesting rather than doing the same thing every day.
Myers and Warner " Implementing Inquiry- Based Teaching Methods"
"Student ability determines how much assistance teachers will provide."
- It is important not to leave students in the dust if they need more assistance. It is also important to have a good idea of your students ability since if they get frustrated while trying to complete an inquiry based lesson it will turn them off from further experiences. It is important to start small and build them up.
"Teachers develop important questions for which they want students to research."
- It is important to be prepared so there is not as much student frustration.
"Encourage classroom discussion through process but refrain from giving the right answer."
- Inquiry based instruction is all about the students figuring out the answers! Not spoon feeding them!
Bell, Smetana, and Binns "Simplifying Inquiry"
"Students have to answer a research question though data analysis."
- Inquiry based instruction - INCORPORATING SCIENCE INTO THE CLASSROOM AND THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD. It is important that administrators can see how science is in the classroom.
" Students should progress from lower levels to higher levels throughout the year."
- There are four different inquiry levels and to "train" students how function with inquiry based lessons it is important to start at the bottom levels and work higher as the semester goes on.
Colburn "Inquiry Primer"
"Concrete thinkers have a great deal of difficulty developing an understanding of abstract concepts."
- MAKE SURE STUDENTS DO NOT HAVE A FIXED MINDSET! Have them develop a growth mindset so they will continue to learn forever.
"Teach slowly- don't move on until you and the students are ready."
- Don't rush to finish everything on the lesson plan. If you and the students are not ready... don't move on!
Focus on Inquiry - Designing Inquiry Activities (Chapter 4)
"Taught with the focus on developing lifelong learners and critical thinkers."
- IMPORTANT
"Committed to student-centered learning."
- Can't go into inquiry based instruction half butt.
"Assessment should be an ongoing process rather than isolated events."
- Important to keep in mind.
"Encourage students to feel competent and successful."
- Sometimes minor success are better than one big one as they keep positively rewarding students.
As you can see, here I demonstrated the double entry journal reading strategy. It really helps the student to think about what they are learning and apply it to their own life which will help with understanding and retention.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Evaluations
The topic this week is how to evaluate our students so we know that they are learning and that we are being effective teachers. One of my favorite quotes is "Some of us will do our jobs well and some of us will not, but we will be judged by only one thing -- the result." Vince Lombardi. By having evaluations it provides the teacher, the students, and the administration with the result. If there are bad grades maybe the teacher did a poor job in teaching the material or evaluating them based on objectives. If the students got a bad grade, a bad result, maybe they did not spend enough time preparing for the evaluation.
As a teacher I want to encourage my students to do a good job. I want them to learn the material and develop skills that will help them after high school. I liked how chapter 14, Evaluation of Learning, talked about affective assessments. In the case study it talked about two students, one that is really smart and good at tests and one that didn't do as well in school but was loved by her boss. I can relate to the second one, as I feel that while I made it by through high school and college, I am very bad at taking tests and translating what I learned onto the paper. At the same time, I never had any problem with authority figures, nor anyone that I worked under. While I personally typically despise tests, I do believe they serve a purpose and will provide me with results which are a necessity.
Thankfully, since I do dislike tests, there are many other forms of evaluation that I will utilize in the classroom. Examples including: concept maps, rubrics, check sheets, and portfolios to name a few. To make sure I have a balanced classroom and to cater to different types of learning styles my students may have, I am going to have a variety of ways to evaluate them and get results.
The readings this week provided a lot of good pointers to decrease student frustration and to provide clarity for them. It even included a website that has a lot of different resources for teachers. This one talks about making rubrics the correct way. This way they will know what they are getting evaluated on and can work on getting the result that they desire.
blogging out,
Jeanne
As a teacher I want to encourage my students to do a good job. I want them to learn the material and develop skills that will help them after high school. I liked how chapter 14, Evaluation of Learning, talked about affective assessments. In the case study it talked about two students, one that is really smart and good at tests and one that didn't do as well in school but was loved by her boss. I can relate to the second one, as I feel that while I made it by through high school and college, I am very bad at taking tests and translating what I learned onto the paper. At the same time, I never had any problem with authority figures, nor anyone that I worked under. While I personally typically despise tests, I do believe they serve a purpose and will provide me with results which are a necessity.
Thankfully, since I do dislike tests, there are many other forms of evaluation that I will utilize in the classroom. Examples including: concept maps, rubrics, check sheets, and portfolios to name a few. To make sure I have a balanced classroom and to cater to different types of learning styles my students may have, I am going to have a variety of ways to evaluate them and get results.
The readings this week provided a lot of good pointers to decrease student frustration and to provide clarity for them. It even included a website that has a lot of different resources for teachers. This one talks about making rubrics the correct way. This way they will know what they are getting evaluated on and can work on getting the result that they desire.
blogging out,
 |
Jeanne
Friday, October 18, 2013
Problem Solving Lab - How can you change the situation?
Mellow rainy days for mellow thoughts. I thought that I had a decent lab today. I tried to be more enthusiastic and gave myself a pep-talk before my lesson. According to my reviews I did have better enthusiasm today but that it kind of died out towards the end of the lesson, but improvement is improvement and I will take it. My comment about the weather today though, is that for all of the presentations today the audience, while they were participating in the discussion, were pretty lack luster. They just didn't seem to have that much energy or to really be into the lessons. I blame part of it on the weather. On days like these where it is the middle of the week, its dreary out, and the room is hot... this is when the teacher has to work extra hard to keep their enthusiasm up and keep the students engaged. Most of the blame can go on myself and when the weather is not providing energy, I need to.
For my interest approach I showed a video of a restaurant in New York City that is using hydroponics on their roof to provide their restaurant with vegetables for the majority of the year. I then went into the situation that our class was going to work on figuring out today. I said that they cafeteria staff had approached me saying that they need some fresh vegetables to serve to the students at lunch. With the big health kick and it costing a lot to bring fresh vegetables rather than frozen ones... they needed a change and asked me for help. I told the class that after finding the video that I just showed them that I bet that we could help the nice cafeteria staff out. We then went into a discussion of how we would be able to do this with hydroponics. Our discussion traveled from supplies that we need, vegetables to plant, marketing plans, permission from the principal, superintendent and school board. I felt that we had a lot written down and that the students were really thinking about the task at hand. However, I felt that I led the discussion too much. I asked too many leading questions rather than leaving it more open to interpretation for the students. I feel that it could have been more student led rather than teacher led. I had written in my lesson plan that I was going to have a student write what their peers were saying on the board but I didn't follow through with that. I believe in the real classroom that I will since there will be more students and I will probably have a fidgety student anyways.
My take away from my lab is to
1) Be exciting (especially if there are other factors getting students down)
2) Really know content knowledge ( I need to be more confident in myself and my teaching abilities and my knowledge)
3) Phrase questions in different ways to get different results ( more student interaction and thought rather than me leading them to the answer I am thinking of)
Keep being awesome and keep working on eating that elephant!
blogging out,
Jeanne
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Can our students solve world problems??
This weeks reading was based on teaching and utilizing peoples natural problem solving abilities for real life issues. To go into the importance of this reading, a couple of years ago I read, or heard on NPR, that NASA is having problems hiring new people to replace the ones retiring. Everyone that they interviewed had really impressive test scores and their resume looked really good, but when asked what they did for fun or if they took apart and rebuilt things when they were younger, the answer was no. These applicants that appeared qualified for the job, NASA didn't want. They wanted people who spent their time growing up being naturally curious about the things around them and completed hands on projects to break down and rebuild something. They wanted people who followed the natural learning process of problem solving.
What is this natural learning process of problem solving? According to Methods of Teaching Agriculture, chapter 4, the learning process has 6 steps.
1) Experiencing a proactive situation
2) Defining the problem - clarifying questions to be answered
3) Seeking data and information
4)Formulating possible solutions
5) Testing proposed solutions
6) Evaluating results
These 6 steps are how people learn and problem solve in their daily lives. Sometimes this process takes a matter of seconds when recalling data and information that you already have. Such as, a problem of how to get to the grocery store and avoid traffic. A teachers job is to harness peoples natural ability and utilize their learning process to help them to solve problems in the classroom and get them to think critically.
According to the book it can be accomplished this way
1) Interest Approach - motivate students to learn, create that want/need/interest
2) Objectives to be achieved
3) Problems to be solved - questions to be answered
4) Problem Solution
5) Testing solutions through application
6) Evaluation of solutions (assessments)
Problem solving as mentioned above, is an important skill in the work place and something employers are really looking for. Problem based learning really focuses on providing new learning experiences, leading the students to new knowledge, and reinforcing existing knowledge, according to Problem-Solving Teaching in AG ED. As I am going to be student teaching in the spring, the chapter also says that teachers use problem based learning when encouraged by their professors and cooperating teacher. As being apart of the Penn State Agricultural Education department, I believe that we are being highly encouraged to teach this way.
Principles for teaching Problem Solving, stresses to teach problem solving skill in the context they will be used and to practice with a similar problem. This will prepare the students for different levels of solving problems. The reading also breaks problem solving down into three characteristics of problem solving.
1) Problem solving is cognitive but is inferred from behavior
2) Problem solving results in behavior that leads to a solution
3) Problem solving is a process that involves manipulation of or operations on previous knowledge
If we are able to tap into our students natural ability and teach them how to problem solve, they will be one step closer to their desired future career. Problem solving will also give them a skill to use inside and outside the classroom and will be beneficial for all. As a teacher, problem solving also creates that need to learn and desire which will make your class more relevant and enriching to young minds.
What is this natural learning process of problem solving? According to Methods of Teaching Agriculture, chapter 4, the learning process has 6 steps.
1) Experiencing a proactive situation
2) Defining the problem - clarifying questions to be answered
3) Seeking data and information
4)Formulating possible solutions
5) Testing proposed solutions
6) Evaluating results
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| mihaelasharkova.wordpress.com |
These 6 steps are how people learn and problem solve in their daily lives. Sometimes this process takes a matter of seconds when recalling data and information that you already have. Such as, a problem of how to get to the grocery store and avoid traffic. A teachers job is to harness peoples natural ability and utilize their learning process to help them to solve problems in the classroom and get them to think critically.
According to the book it can be accomplished this way
1) Interest Approach - motivate students to learn, create that want/need/interest
2) Objectives to be achieved
3) Problems to be solved - questions to be answered
4) Problem Solution
5) Testing solutions through application
6) Evaluation of solutions (assessments)
Problem solving as mentioned above, is an important skill in the work place and something employers are really looking for. Problem based learning really focuses on providing new learning experiences, leading the students to new knowledge, and reinforcing existing knowledge, according to Problem-Solving Teaching in AG ED. As I am going to be student teaching in the spring, the chapter also says that teachers use problem based learning when encouraged by their professors and cooperating teacher. As being apart of the Penn State Agricultural Education department, I believe that we are being highly encouraged to teach this way.
Principles for teaching Problem Solving, stresses to teach problem solving skill in the context they will be used and to practice with a similar problem. This will prepare the students for different levels of solving problems. The reading also breaks problem solving down into three characteristics of problem solving.
1) Problem solving is cognitive but is inferred from behavior
2) Problem solving results in behavior that leads to a solution
3) Problem solving is a process that involves manipulation of or operations on previous knowledge
If we are able to tap into our students natural ability and teach them how to problem solve, they will be one step closer to their desired future career. Problem solving will also give them a skill to use inside and outside the classroom and will be beneficial for all. As a teacher, problem solving also creates that need to learn and desire which will make your class more relevant and enriching to young minds.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Demonstration Lab
ENTHUSIASM! This is what I need to work on. Unfortunately , this is something that I always need to work on. Even this summer when I was working at the youth conference that Pennsylvania Farm Bureau hosted, students asked me if I was having fun and enjoyed being there. I was really confused by the comment since I was having a blast... I was out of the office and I was working with students. My concentrating face or relaxed face is really bland and I often look bored or angry. I need to work on reassuring my students that I am happy to be there and excited to teach. This is something that I really need to work on and change as I move forward with the semester and my teaching career. Please give me tips on how I can look outwardly enthused.
For my demonstration I taught the class how to measure a cylinder bore with a telescoping gauge and a micrometer. In the essence of time I just did the bellwork and the demonstration. We went over the procedure page where I had the students take turns reading the directions out loud. I also made a student read the objectives on the board. I wanted to get a lot of the class participating and keep all the students engaged. After we read the directions as a class in their seats I had the students come up front and each measure a section of the bore. There were three students in the class and there needs to be six measurements in the bore. The each took turns measuring and recording their measurements. Looking back I would have one student come up and explain how to do it to another student or me, before having the whole class do it together. This is something I can approve on in the spring.
The aspects of the lesson that I liked was that all the students talked in my class whether that was reading the directions or answering questions. To end the demonstration I asked the students questions to see if they understood the lesson. Mike raised his hand first both times so I called on him. Instead, I should have waited longer to give the other students an opportunity to process the question and formulate an answer.
For my demonstration I taught the class how to measure a cylinder bore with a telescoping gauge and a micrometer. In the essence of time I just did the bellwork and the demonstration. We went over the procedure page where I had the students take turns reading the directions out loud. I also made a student read the objectives on the board. I wanted to get a lot of the class participating and keep all the students engaged. After we read the directions as a class in their seats I had the students come up front and each measure a section of the bore. There were three students in the class and there needs to be six measurements in the bore. The each took turns measuring and recording their measurements. Looking back I would have one student come up and explain how to do it to another student or me, before having the whole class do it together. This is something I can approve on in the spring.
The aspects of the lesson that I liked was that all the students talked in my class whether that was reading the directions or answering questions. To end the demonstration I asked the students questions to see if they understood the lesson. Mike raised his hand first both times so I called on him. Instead, I should have waited longer to give the other students an opportunity to process the question and formulate an answer.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Individualized Teaching Techniques... Wait.. students aren't all the same?
This weeks reading assignment is based on individualized teaching techniques. In the field of agricultural sciences there are many different subjects and career paths that a student may go down. As a teacher it is impossible to have a class for every single thing a student may be interested in. This is why individualized teaching is so important in the agricultural classroom.
There are many ways to teach to an individual students, rather than the whole class such as a supervised study, experiments and independent study. In all of these the most important thing is STUDENT INTEREST. If a student is not interested in your class things will not go well, if a students is expected to do something by themselves or in a small group and they are not interested... it will not go well. Individualized teaching is meant to build upon student interests or discover new student interests. Supervised studies are mostly cognitive or affective and use a wide variety of materials to find out information about their area of interest. Experiments allow students to work hands on and learn better. It also teachers them to think systematically in a clear and thorough way. The teacher needs to direct the students through the process and make sure that they answer questions, and that the students are completing the experiment correctly. For independent studies, they are a good tool for teachers as they adapt to different student interests. They could involve programmed materials, self-paced instructional units, or computer-assisted instruction. During the study there needs to be face time between the teacher and student to answer questions, offer opinions and check progress.
While all of these are great techniques that teachers can use to increase independence in their students and cater to their needs... it needs to be done properly! Teachers must make sure that their students are actually following the plan that was developed for them. While the students are working on their projects the teacher needs to be around to answer questions and monitor progress. This is not a time for the teacher to be checking their email.
With that being said, it will be exciting to watch students utilize the opportunities that these teaching techniques provide and come up with a lot of cool information and ideas!
blogging out,
Jeanne
There are many ways to teach to an individual students, rather than the whole class such as a supervised study, experiments and independent study. In all of these the most important thing is STUDENT INTEREST. If a student is not interested in your class things will not go well, if a students is expected to do something by themselves or in a small group and they are not interested... it will not go well. Individualized teaching is meant to build upon student interests or discover new student interests. Supervised studies are mostly cognitive or affective and use a wide variety of materials to find out information about their area of interest. Experiments allow students to work hands on and learn better. It also teachers them to think systematically in a clear and thorough way. The teacher needs to direct the students through the process and make sure that they answer questions, and that the students are completing the experiment correctly. For independent studies, they are a good tool for teachers as they adapt to different student interests. They could involve programmed materials, self-paced instructional units, or computer-assisted instruction. During the study there needs to be face time between the teacher and student to answer questions, offer opinions and check progress.
While all of these are great techniques that teachers can use to increase independence in their students and cater to their needs... it needs to be done properly! Teachers must make sure that their students are actually following the plan that was developed for them. While the students are working on their projects the teacher needs to be around to answer questions and monitor progress. This is not a time for the teacher to be checking their email.
With that being said, it will be exciting to watch students utilize the opportunities that these teaching techniques provide and come up with a lot of cool information and ideas!
blogging out,
Jeanne
Monday, September 30, 2013
Reading Reflection: Effective sses of my time through field trips, questions and cooperative learning
As I was going through the reading this week I was reminded of the "do not reinvent the wheel" phrase. By completing the readings I learned about the best ways to plan a field trip so all those involved are satisfied, the ways that cooperative learning is beneficial and how to correctly ask questions in class to get the desired results. I am sure that through teaching I would eventually reach the conclusions that I have just read about, but that would have taken so much time. By reading the stories I will be able to jump into student teaching a little more prepared than if I was just figuring everything out for myself.
From Myers and the "Effective Use of Field Trips" I learned the three steps to making sure a field trip runs smoothly: pre-trip planning, trip and post trip. By working out the logistics and talking to administration and parents in the pre-trip planning, it will make it run smoother. I will also tell them what I expect the students to get out of the trip. During the trip, I will provide students with an agenda and objectives -- this will decrease students frustration and maximize student learning. To bring the experience full circle I will discuss the field trip in the post phase of planning. This will allow students to analyze their experience during the field trip. As an agricultural educator, field trips are very important to allow the student to see that what they are learning in class, will be beneficial to them in the long run. It is also a good way to provide real life experiences in a classroom.
Cooperative learning is very beneficial to classrooms at appropriate times. By having the students work together and having to explain information to each other it increases understanding. Cooperative learning also works on life skills such as listening to others, taking turns, contributing ideas, explaining oneself clearly and encouraging others. These all sound like skills that students should have learned in elementary school, but it is always a good idea to drive those skills home. These skills are what employers are going to be looking for.
There are many ways teachers can ask a question, but the key to success is doing it effectively. There are many different paths a teacher could go down, specific vs broad contents, asked to the general crowd or a direct person at a low or high cognitive level. I thought it was interesting that the reading suggested to not develop patterns while asking questions because then students will catch on and only listen when they think that they are going to have a question directed at them. By switching it up it makes the students have to pay attention at all times because they do not know when they will get called on. Questions are a good way to check for student comprehension as well. By watching to see how many people raise their hands to answer certain questions, it shows the teacher what they need to spend more time on and maybe even revert back to subject matter already taught. It is always important to work at the students pace, because that is the whole point of school -- for students to learn. I can check comprehension as well if a students gives an answer that skims the surface, I can probe them to make them think more deeply about the question and maybe come up with a better answer. I need to watch my class to see their facial expressions, to learn about their thoughts and opinions on the lesson. If they look confused, I will have to clarify, if they look bored, I will have to try to be more exciting. It is about the students, and I need to fix my class in a way that it maximizes student potential.
From Myers and the "Effective Use of Field Trips" I learned the three steps to making sure a field trip runs smoothly: pre-trip planning, trip and post trip. By working out the logistics and talking to administration and parents in the pre-trip planning, it will make it run smoother. I will also tell them what I expect the students to get out of the trip. During the trip, I will provide students with an agenda and objectives -- this will decrease students frustration and maximize student learning. To bring the experience full circle I will discuss the field trip in the post phase of planning. This will allow students to analyze their experience during the field trip. As an agricultural educator, field trips are very important to allow the student to see that what they are learning in class, will be beneficial to them in the long run. It is also a good way to provide real life experiences in a classroom.
Cooperative learning is very beneficial to classrooms at appropriate times. By having the students work together and having to explain information to each other it increases understanding. Cooperative learning also works on life skills such as listening to others, taking turns, contributing ideas, explaining oneself clearly and encouraging others. These all sound like skills that students should have learned in elementary school, but it is always a good idea to drive those skills home. These skills are what employers are going to be looking for.
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| Cooperative Learning http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/staffdev/mcdonald_j/downloads/21st/comm/BenefitsOfCL/OverviewOfCoopLrng_Benefits.html |
There are many ways teachers can ask a question, but the key to success is doing it effectively. There are many different paths a teacher could go down, specific vs broad contents, asked to the general crowd or a direct person at a low or high cognitive level. I thought it was interesting that the reading suggested to not develop patterns while asking questions because then students will catch on and only listen when they think that they are going to have a question directed at them. By switching it up it makes the students have to pay attention at all times because they do not know when they will get called on. Questions are a good way to check for student comprehension as well. By watching to see how many people raise their hands to answer certain questions, it shows the teacher what they need to spend more time on and maybe even revert back to subject matter already taught. It is always important to work at the students pace, because that is the whole point of school -- for students to learn. I can check comprehension as well if a students gives an answer that skims the surface, I can probe them to make them think more deeply about the question and maybe come up with a better answer. I need to watch my class to see their facial expressions, to learn about their thoughts and opinions on the lesson. If they look confused, I will have to clarify, if they look bored, I will have to try to be more exciting. It is about the students, and I need to fix my class in a way that it maximizes student potential.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Interest Approach
Wednesday I woke up not feeling my best, stuffy nose and head, hot and cold, but I knew that I had to go to school to present my lesson to the class. I am sure this will not be the last time I will feel this way and still have to "go to work". It is something that all teachers go through and I witnessed it earlier this week when I went to observe ESL students at State High. On Tuesday, the teacher apologized to her students that she could not project her voice as well because she had a cold.. I didn't realize she was feeling poorly until she said that. Teachers will become the best of 'fake it until you make it'. This is something that I am sure I will accomplish along my career.
The reason for the first paragraph was because I was a little lack luster during my interest approach. I could have been more upbeat which would have made the students more upbeat. As told to me earlier in the week, lab is a place to see if my interest approach works or not. After having presented mine, I feel that it is more of an activity rather than an interest approach. I will probably change it for something else when I am teaching the agronomy unit in the spring.
After re-watching my video I realized that I only gave auditory instruction rather than pairing it with visual. I need to change this to make it easier for the students to learn in my classroom. Not everyone learns the same way, so I need to make sure that I am addressing as many modalities as possible. The part that I liked from my presentation is that I called on students that were more quiet and not offering answers from the get go. I believe it is important to get everyone involved in the lesson to maximize learning potential.
After re-watching my video I realized that I only gave auditory instruction rather than pairing it with visual. I need to change this to make it easier for the students to learn in my classroom. Not everyone learns the same way, so I need to make sure that I am addressing as many modalities as possible. The part that I liked from my presentation is that I called on students that were more quiet and not offering answers from the get go. I believe it is important to get everyone involved in the lesson to maximize learning potential.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Importance of the different ways of learning and different methods of teaching
During the second chapter of Newcomb's Methods of Teaching Agriculture, I learned about 16 principles of learning. A lot of those are applicable to every day life; success is a strong motivating force -- everyone wants to be successful and be good at something. People also like to know how and why something will be useful to them and why they should to take the time to get to learn it.
I was reminded of animal training with some of the later principles since it says that reinforcement must follow as soon as possible after the desired behavior so it is clearly connects with the behavior. This is the same for training horses and dogs. Since you cannot explain what behavior you liked and didn't like, you have to reward them as soon as they do something well so they will associate that behavior with something good. Same goes for punishment, if they do something wrong and you wait 20 min to say "bad dog" the animal will be confused and learning will not occur.
It was interesting to read that learning is most likely to be used if it is learned in a situation similar to the one it will be used in. This makes a lot of sense and may be why people can be really bad at math or theories since they don't apply them to the real world. This is why agricultural education is different from other subjects as it applies the information learned into real life situations.
While chapter two talks about how students learn, chapter 6 talks about teaching techniques that teachers could use. Examples being, planning lectures, four different types of discussion, demonstrations, field trips, role-play, and using a resource person. It talked a lot about how especially when using demonstrations, the students have to be given time to practice something to actually understand it. It is important that they get the time to do that or else that teaching technique will not be effective.
Lectures are also sometimes used to "fill" time which is not a good way to use it at all. Lectures should be organized well and have concrete planning to actually teach the students something.
Learning doesn't work how it is depicted in the picture, students cannot just sit in class while we attempt to shove knowledge into them. We have to use the different principals of learning and teaching to really make the students comprehend and be able to apply the information.
I was reminded of animal training with some of the later principles since it says that reinforcement must follow as soon as possible after the desired behavior so it is clearly connects with the behavior. This is the same for training horses and dogs. Since you cannot explain what behavior you liked and didn't like, you have to reward them as soon as they do something well so they will associate that behavior with something good. Same goes for punishment, if they do something wrong and you wait 20 min to say "bad dog" the animal will be confused and learning will not occur.
It was interesting to read that learning is most likely to be used if it is learned in a situation similar to the one it will be used in. This makes a lot of sense and may be why people can be really bad at math or theories since they don't apply them to the real world. This is why agricultural education is different from other subjects as it applies the information learned into real life situations.
While chapter two talks about how students learn, chapter 6 talks about teaching techniques that teachers could use. Examples being, planning lectures, four different types of discussion, demonstrations, field trips, role-play, and using a resource person. It talked a lot about how especially when using demonstrations, the students have to be given time to practice something to actually understand it. It is important that they get the time to do that or else that teaching technique will not be effective.
Lectures are also sometimes used to "fill" time which is not a good way to use it at all. Lectures should be organized well and have concrete planning to actually teach the students something.
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| http://www.learningsuccess.com/memory_principles_total_success.htm |
Friday, September 20, 2013
First Day of School Lab with Policies and Expectations
This past Wednesday I completed my first lab as a teacher. I told the class my classroom expectations and and policies that they would face in the class. I also used the time to do an ice breaker with the class so they would get to know each other better.
I thought that my "students" were rather nice to me during the practice but I was told in my reviews that I got kind of wide eyed when they asked me questions. I also went a little too fast and maybe did not seem sure of myself at times. I am sure that I will get more confident as time goes on and I get more experience.
I need to take the experience from Wednesday and use it in other lab sessions and when teaching. I need to be more confident in my answers to students and be better prepared with the material that I am teaching. When Caleb asked me what class I was teaching, I didn't have an answer right away. Students will deem me as creditable if I can answer questions correctly. If I do not know what I am talking about, then they will not listen to me and will completely ignore me.
Until next time,
Jeanne
I thought that my "students" were rather nice to me during the practice but I was told in my reviews that I got kind of wide eyed when they asked me questions. I also went a little too fast and maybe did not seem sure of myself at times. I am sure that I will get more confident as time goes on and I get more experience.
I need to take the experience from Wednesday and use it in other lab sessions and when teaching. I need to be more confident in my answers to students and be better prepared with the material that I am teaching. When Caleb asked me what class I was teaching, I didn't have an answer right away. Students will deem me as creditable if I can answer questions correctly. If I do not know what I am talking about, then they will not listen to me and will completely ignore me.
Until next time,
Jeanne
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Objectively Writing Objectives
As a teacher it is easy to think of cool and awesome activities that you want to do in your classroom. If you just jump into the classroom without any planning or objectives that you want to accomplish, it is most likely going to be a disaster ending with lots of frustrated students, a frustrated teacher, and no learning occurring.
Unit objectives give classrooms and teachers a purpose. They act as a guideline for students and they show administrative individuals what the students will be learning and how it will be measured.
Objectives are very important because by just adding or taking away simple words, it completely changes the cognitive meaning of the objective. An example being, to list something vs explaining something that was just learned. It is much easier to list something rather than explain it since it mostly deals with memorization.
When writing unit objectives they have to go along with the different domains of learning: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective. Cognitive deals with facts, knowledge, information and concepts.This would be to relay information back to the teacher through lists, paraphrasing, and explaining. Psychomotor deals with including both mind and motor skills at the same time and has a lot of hands-on components. Affective is the hardest objective to write since it is the hardest to measure, as it deals with attitudes, values, aesthetics and appreciation (Newcomb).
In the chapter, Planning for Instruction, it suggests the following steps when writing objectives.
It is vital for teachers to write objectives to keep the classroom flowing smoothly and for learning to occur. Learning will occur best in a low stress environment when the teacher and students are both aware of their duties and their means of accomplishing those duties.
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| http://teachers.redclay.k12.de.us/Judith.Conway/WriteEdObj.htm Write real objectives. Make your class meaningful! Don't just throw a dart and hope for the best while lesson planning! |
Unit objectives give classrooms and teachers a purpose. They act as a guideline for students and they show administrative individuals what the students will be learning and how it will be measured.
Objectives are very important because by just adding or taking away simple words, it completely changes the cognitive meaning of the objective. An example being, to list something vs explaining something that was just learned. It is much easier to list something rather than explain it since it mostly deals with memorization.
 |
| http://tech2040.pbworks.com/w/page/38193573/ABCD%20Objectives, DON'T WRITE OBJECTIVES THAT USE VAGUE VERBS. This link will bring you to a wonderful page where you can learn more about writing objectives. |
When writing unit objectives they have to go along with the different domains of learning: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective. Cognitive deals with facts, knowledge, information and concepts.This would be to relay information back to the teacher through lists, paraphrasing, and explaining. Psychomotor deals with including both mind and motor skills at the same time and has a lot of hands-on components. Affective is the hardest objective to write since it is the hardest to measure, as it deals with attitudes, values, aesthetics and appreciation (Newcomb).
In the chapter, Planning for Instruction, it suggests the following steps when writing objectives.
- Figure out the behavior that you want to be demonstrated/ measured
- The conditions under which the behavior is to occur
- The criteria by which the performance is judged (measured)
These steps make writing objectives more organized. They allow for creating the behavior but then actually figuring out a way to measure the behavior and control how/when the behavior is to occur.
It is vital for teachers to write objectives to keep the classroom flowing smoothly and for learning to occur. Learning will occur best in a low stress environment when the teacher and students are both aware of their duties and their means of accomplishing those duties.
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| http://fcit.usf.edu/assessment/basic/basicb.html, Base your objectives based on what behavior, conditions and criterion you want! |
Monday, September 9, 2013
First Day Teaching Strategies
Perusing through the assigned reading for one of my Agricultural Education classes this semester, I read a lot about different aspects of teaching and different stages that teachers go though as they start their career, such as in the book the Effective Teacher by Wong. According to the book, you do not even reach 'teacher' stage until you have made it to the final stage of IMPACT. In this stage the teacher makes a different in the lives of students and they " know how to open the door and invite their students to learn." This is the stage that every single teacher should strive for. If they don't try to make learning worthwhile, what is the point of teaching?
Another quote that I enjoyed from the book was "the biggest secret to teaching success - beg,borrow and steal". I liked this quote because it goes along with a commonly mentioned phrase in the Pennsylvania Agricultural Education community of "don't invent the wheel twice". I feel that the AGED community in Pennsylvania is essentially a big family, meaning teachers always try to help each other out. When there is an issue where a teacher needs a lesson plan or other resource for a subject, he or she can simply ask a colleague and will receive what they need. That is a wonderful thing to watch and also something I hope to experience in the future.
Understanding by Design Framework, written by Jay Mctigne and Grant Wiggins, reinforced the idea that the lessons future students will learn in my classroom will be applicable to not only other classes but also in many other aspects of their life. In my advanced biology class in high school, we had to participate in a debate concerning a controversial biology topic. Afterwards, my teacher commended my speaking skills, which I credit to spending years involved in agricultural education classes and FFA. Without these critical experiences, I would still be extremely shy and unable to speak in front of others. Based on the importance of these experiences in my life, I want my students to have the same opportunities to expand their agricultural horizons and grow as a person.
In class and in the reading Enhancing Student Learning Through Teacher Behavior by Garton, Miller and Torres, we also learned about the five behaviors that a teacher should possess, which are clarity, variability, enthusiasm, task oriented and/or business like behavior, and student opportunity to learn criterion material. Each behavior is extremely important to form the teacher-student bond necessary for success in the classroom.
I believe that if I include all that I have learned though class discussions and readings, the first day of my teaching career will be successful overall. I will survive. My goal is to make it to the final teaching stage of impact where I become a 'real' teacher. I want my students to be able to use what they learn in my classroom everywhere they go and I want to possess all the behaviors that a good teacher should have. These are my goals and I am going to work to reach them!
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| I found this picture on tumbler and thought that I would share it. See, in reality the teacher survives! |
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Last First Day of School as an Undergraduate
The first week of being back in State College is coming to an end. Being a student in the College of Agricultural Science I got the pleasure of attending 8 am classes to get me pumped up for the rest of the semester. Thankfully, they did just that.
I mentioned earlier in the week at the Penn State Ag Ed ROARS blog about how it can be scary to think of life outside of being a student. I still agree with what I said, but I don't think I have ever been more excited for school as well. In the classes I am taking I am learning about things that will actually affect me in the future. We, the 2014 spring student teachers, had to complete a mock school board meeting with our programs FFA and SAE programs on the line. Hopefully we will never have to actually be in that situation but it was good to put us on the spot and see how we react to different questions. Some were really hard to answer because we do not know necessarily all the logistics behind why things happen in the realm of education. The mock school board interview just showed us how much we have yet to learn this semester. I am just excited that all the information will be helpful in recent years to come as we start our own programs or get jobs.
This week it would be easy to become over whelmed with all the information that we have been getting and descriptions of assignments due. However, I firmly believe with a level head, and organization that we can still come out running this semester and make it the best semester possible.
Jeanne Case
Student Blogger
#psuaged14
Dover Area High School Student Teacher
I mentioned earlier in the week at the Penn State Ag Ed ROARS blog about how it can be scary to think of life outside of being a student. I still agree with what I said, but I don't think I have ever been more excited for school as well. In the classes I am taking I am learning about things that will actually affect me in the future. We, the 2014 spring student teachers, had to complete a mock school board meeting with our programs FFA and SAE programs on the line. Hopefully we will never have to actually be in that situation but it was good to put us on the spot and see how we react to different questions. Some were really hard to answer because we do not know necessarily all the logistics behind why things happen in the realm of education. The mock school board interview just showed us how much we have yet to learn this semester. I am just excited that all the information will be helpful in recent years to come as we start our own programs or get jobs.
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| Picture of Old Main I took this summer |
This week it would be easy to become over whelmed with all the information that we have been getting and descriptions of assignments due. However, I firmly believe with a level head, and organization that we can still come out running this semester and make it the best semester possible.
 |
Student Blogger
#psuaged14
Dover Area High School Student Teacher
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