End of the Road

Throughout this semester, I have been able to experience many new activities that have helped further my teaching knowledge. Every week we had different situations to push our abilities, and create a GROWTH MINDSET. Although every lab had its positives and negatives, there was always something I could take away from the lesson. I was always looking to my cohort members for some guidance, using their own perspectives to broaden the way I thought about education. Through this lab and my other classes, I saw a large growth personally and professionally.

Professionally, this lab was a great approach to get everyone prepared for the everyday tasks teachers do by second nature. The most important items were being professional through attire, speech, and preparedness for lessons. Dressing up, being on time, and having everything ready for the lesson was just the norm for every lab. I realized how much time and effort needs to be put into lessons, especially to make them engaging and fun for students. I was also able to grow professionally through my classroom management skills. With the labs, I had specific cohort members be troubling students that I had to manage, while teaching. I learned very fast that it is tough to try and teach your lesson, covering all the materials and activities, while making sure each student is behaving in the correct manner. This part of the lab was just something we all had to pick up on quick, and throughout the semester I picked up some great techniques that are going to help me in a professional setting in the future.

On a personal level, I was able to reflect more on how I want to be as a teacher. Each week, I created blogs that were out there for anyone's reading pleasure, reflecting on my teaching experience. I have always thought reflection was key in anything a person does, because reflection is the key to creating a lasting impression and true growth. The lab and blog piece gave me great insight,when I look back, to when I first started teaching. Honestly, I was a different teacher back then, and reading my blogs can reveal what I had confidence in and what needed more work. This lab allowed me to take my own personality and put it into a teaching form. Personally, I was glad to participate in this lab  because it provided more basis for my decision on what to do as a teacher, choosing either formal or non-formal education. This experience did not bias me towards either side, but it produced more information that I will take into consideration when I, hopefully, graduate and look for a job.

This lab was beneficial to all of the teaching cohort members, no matter how good or bad they thought they did. I think each person in the teaching cohort brings a different DIVERSITY to teaching, but we all have the same goal, to produce a great Agriculture Education program.

Finding my Creative Side

This week in our lab we were tasked with a creativity challenge. This was something we were in the dark about, but it sounded like it could be really interesting and fun. Everyone got to lab and we found out we were going to the dollar store to find some other materials that would spice up our lessons in the spring when we are teaching. I was intrigued, how much stuff could you actually find at the dollar store that could be used for teaching? Well, I got my answer very quickly.

We were finding items for our units to bring them to life and add a creative aspect to the lesson planning process. I really was  not sure how my creative juices would be flowing, but I was going to try and stretch myself for this lab. Looking around the store, there was a large amount of items that people could choose. I started in the toy section, which any person would do. I walked down the aisle and I was like a young boy again. I looked up and saw this really big money. I instantly thought about doing a lesson with managing funds in the greenhouse. I kept looking around, finding really creative sticky notes to use for pasting ideas for CDEs or other ideas. I then found ice cube trays to help conduct plant experiments, a plastic container to show students soil profiles, and sprinkles to discuss pest management and its practices. I struggled towards the end to find items, but in the end I felt like I had gathered some really good items.

This experience really showed me that teachers have to be creative in many ways. They have to be thrifty with the items they buy and willing to think outside the box to keep students interested. I really liked this little trip, and feel I will be doing many more in the future. This was a fun lab, but had a very important role in how we develop our lessons while adding the "WOW" factor.

Life Knowledge Lesson

Nearing the end of the semester, everything is coming to a final conclusion. One of the last labs that we had to participate in was conducting an FFA Life Knowledge lesson at our cooperating center. I was excited to get out into the classroom at my school, especially to see the students and begin my teaching journey. My teacher, Mr. Boyer, had no real parameters for my lesson I had to teach, so I chose one I thought would apply to his freshman Ag Sciences class. I thought, since it was getting down to the end of the semester, the students might need a little help with MOTIVATION. Once I found my lesson on motivation, it took me little time to get my lesson accomplished and gain confidence in my subject. I found out, before my lesson, that the class I was teaching was his first period class, a 40 minute period, including morning announcements. I was going to be pushed for time, to say the least.

As the morning of my lesson came around, I was ready. I was very confident I had enough material, and I knew I was going to make connections with the students to show the importance of motivation. I was very excited, hoping to show this freshman class that I could be an effective teacher. As the class started, the principal walked in, and I realized he was going to be doing my evaluation. I had a moment of "OH CRAP!", but I took it in stride and jumped right into the lesson. 

The class went by ridiculously fast. I had the students engaged with questions, defining motivation, writing motivation factors on the board (increasing and decreasing motivation factors), and filling out their own individual factors of motivation. Every objective I had on the board was met, and I got great interaction from the students. During my evaluation from teacher and principal after class, I was told that I engaged students in class who rarely talk, if ever. I was so taken back by this statement. I had made a difference in some of those students, and surprisingly got them motivated to participate!!!! 

  I wish the class was a full period, though, because I was not able to completely get all my student evaluations filled out, but I really think it was productive for my TEACHER CONFIDENCE and student understanding. The FFA Life Knowledge lessons are full of great ideas and ways to incorporate different subjects into the specific subjects of our content areas. I really did enjoy this lesson and it was a great first impression on the class because I will have them again in the spring during student teaching. I know not all lessons are this positive, but it only takes one class to produce that great feeling of teacher accomplishment and drive to come back the next day to do it all over again.    

3 Days...Sink or Swim

I was able to have my first experience, in front of students, in the classroom, right before Thanksgiving break. We were able to participate in a 3-day Micro-teaching unit at Central Mountain High School. We had to complete all of our clearances and every piece of paperwork that teachers need. I felt at one point I was signing my life away. But, after all that was finished, I was able to plan and get all of my lessons together. I planned a three day mini unit on Forest Management. I set the first day up for addressing factors of the forest and different items to consider when managing occurs. The second day would be to look at case studies dealing with different forests, and how they would manage it. The last day would be to finish up the case studies, review the different objectives discussed, and take a final assessment. I was very nervous from the start, but I had a good feeling about the classes ahead. I really wanted to make this an experience to remember.

As the first day came, I was ready to get started. I was keeping these students inside for the three days, so I was very hesitant. I began the lesson with a lot of enthusiasm, and showed the importance of what I was going to be teaching. I built some rapport with the students asking them what they wanted to do in their future, and told them about myself. In my mind, it was a very engaging lesson with the group moving around, answering questions, and viewing the importance of the lesson. I was pleasantly surprised with the first day. At one point a student said, "wow, I'm actually learning something here." As a teacher, I was on top of the world! We all want each lesson to be like the one I had on my first day, and I really felt like I could conquer the world. I understood the students had a little bit of the "guest speaker" mentality, because the students were so good from a management standpoint, but I still had their respect. I had some momentum going into the second day, so I was off to a good start.



As the second day began, I was hit with a shorter period then the first day. It was about 10 minutes shorter than the day before.  That might not seem like a lot, but it really made a difference in my lesson. I had way too much information to cover, and I found myself trying to rush the lesson. After class was over, I was told by my observer, "it's not about quantity of information, it is about the depth." He also said, "anything that you put in a lesson has to have some importance to you and the subject, so take the time to learn it until the kids understand it." I took this to heart, because it seems like we over plan for every lesson, which is a good habit, but I was trying to get through it all. Another great quote from my observer was, "there's always tomorrow." I really didn't have this mentality because it was only a 3-day unit, but if I were teaching for longer I wouldn't have to worry about getting done. The second day of teaching went pretty well, not as good as the first day, but I was still able to engage the students and get them to address the objectives I set.

The final day of teaching was done sub par of what I imagined. I had to change up my lesson a little bit to compensate for the lost time the day before. I kept going with the case studies, addressing more issues and questioning the students. I had really good questioning technique, but I failed in the sense of getting the whole class involved with the questions. I got through the case studies, and had a small review. The students really didn't want to review, so I just let it go and gave them the assessment right away. Looking back, I am not sure if I should have done a more in depth review, but my content was not the best to stage a review. The assessment went fairly well and the class grades seemed to be good for the most part. The last day had ended, revealing my relief because I SURVIVED!

      Overall, my experience with Micro Teaching was worthwhile. It was nice to go through the whole process from lesson planning to final classroom instruction. I was happy with the outcome, and I thought I built good rapport with my class. I gained a great deal of knowledge from the feedback, and I am looking forward to teaching in my cooperating center in the spring.

The Process of Inquiry

This week's lab was based on inquiry. We had a full 2 weeks of instruction on it, but there was still something that I couldn't really grasp. It seemed like I never knew what kinds of questions to ask about inquiry learning, somewhat ironic now that I think about it. As we went through the different discussions and lessons, I was able to grasp what the students were doing and why certain things were happening, but I really couldn't wrap my head around the big picture of inquiry learning.

As I prepared for my lab, I really struggled for the right topics and sequence I wanted to provide for my students. I definitely felt lost in the process. Looking back, I shouldn't have been so stubborn and just asked someone for help. That was my first and biggest mistake. I had a few ideas in my head, and they seemed like they could work. I just simply had no confidence in anything I planned to do. I really didn't like having to use a scientific piece of equipment, but I understood how it is an important and crucial part in the inquiry lesson.

As for my lab, I decided on using a pipette for my piece of equipment, and revolved my lesson around inquiring factors that affect plants, creating an experiment of planting seeds and watching them grow into plants.

                                   

When the lab started, I felt like I was out there lost at sea. Even though I had my lesson plan, I was still feeling uncomfortable with little confidence. Throughout the lesson, the students were engaged and kept on task for most of the time. My directions could have been better and clarity was definitely something I needed to work on. Adding to my already low confidence, I got tripped up by a student's comment. I was asking students what they want to learn about plant growth, and Jeanne fired right back and said "I want to learn what is the best way to grow weed." I was just so caught off guard that I had to take a second to collect and think what to say back. I guess kids really do say the craziest things.

This lab was a reality check to me. I realized that every day is not going to be perfect and your students aren't always going to be angels. It was just one of those days, and I have to chalk it up to lack of experience. I think it was a good growth experience, revealing that I have to make sure to always stay on my toes. It takes TIME, PRACTICE, and COLLEAGUE COOPERATION to become the best teacher you can be.

"There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time." - Malcolm X

Solving the Problem One Student at a Time

Today I was able to do a teaching lab on the problem solving technique. I saw last week how some of the other students approached this, so I definitely felt that I had an advantage going into today. As I was preparing for the lesson though, I wasn't as comfortable as I have been the last couple weeks, but I didn't think anything of it. I had a solid idea of what I wanted to accomplish, dealing with the problem solving technique of possibilities/factors. This one seemed to rather easy to grasp, with parts I could engage the students with, so they would participate.




I always seem to be the most nervous right before I start speaking for the lesson, but once I tell the students to begin the bell work, I automatically feel a little more calm. I was able to have good discussions with the students, but some of the students weren't completely open with some items. I had to bring in some different areas to help them understand the idea. One example was when I asked Caleb, "Do you have any plants or a garden?" He replied with a no and so I tried to ask if his parents or anyone else he knew had a garden. He still was very stiff about agreeing to my question. I didn't really know what to say, so I tried to talk to him about completing an SAE of growing plants and assess health in the future so he felt relevance to the lesson and what he was accomplishing.

Throughout my problem solving parts, I thought I did rather well. I first described the importance to the students through a brainstorming session, then discussed what possible plant characteristics could be noticed in the plants. I did a good job engaging all students, having some be the scribe for me while others came up with ideas. Once they were finished, I talked about factors of the environment that could cause plant health to deteriorate. I broke the students up into small groups so they could interact with one another and create a list. These strategies seemed to work well with my group, because almost all of them were engaged the whole time, making them act up less.

I felt this lab went rather well, but I still got feedback dealing with my enthusiasm and being nervous up in front of the class. This feedback is well received on my end, because I enjoy things people see that I obviously cannot. I feel everyone has a different type of enthusiasm, but I'm just not sure what mine is yet. I also think the nervousness is just simply all in my head. I have to keep learning as I go, because these experiences I have make me a better teacher. Today was a good experience, and I feel the problem solving approach could do wonders for students in my future classroom.

Here are some links on enthusiasm and the love for teaching that gave me some better perspective. Teaching is something we constantly have to work at, but is without a doubt one of the BEST, MOST REWARDING PROFESSIONS

"What makes great Teachers"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bIQ4-3XSxU

"The love for teaching"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYtQfnERUFE

Weekly Writing Oct. 21

This week I read a large amount of information on assessment. Every topic on teaching that I study begins the same way. I always think back to my days in school and how I viewed these topics. I also think about how some of the best teachers and worst teachers did these in their classroom.

When thinking about assessment, I get a bad taste in my mouth. I especially think back to my college freshman year when I was taking the general "weed out" courses. These were math, chemistry, and biology. Each class was like a cookie cutter mold of the semester before, and everything was so systematic I couldn't grasp the learning concepts. I guess you can say I changed majors into education because I wanted to not have other students have the same experience as I did. It seemed in those courses the educators didn't take responsibility for the learning, but made it all be the student's fault. As I read through the ASCD article on classroom assessment, I read a wonderful statement that said, "indeed, teachers and students share responsibility for learning."

From this statement, I thought of the different types of assessments I have done throughout my schooling. I took essay, matching, short answer, true/false, identification, and performance exams to manage how much I learned. Most of the classes had only one form of assessments throughout the whole year, which when I look back, were very poor representations of how much I learned. There were exams at the end of lessons, maybe a quiz here or there, but some classes had no projects or anything else to represent student's knowledge.

Since my perspective has changed from sitting in class to now teaching a class, I see the importance of dealing with assessments. Along with the variability of teaching a class, there needs to be variability with the assessments used. When I think of my classroom, I definitely want to have weekly checks of the material taught, so maybe a weekly quiz would be a consistent way to judge retention. I hope to at least have one project, and presentation, for students who learn in different styles.

One of the biggest problems is anxiety of taking tests. It is something that affects every student, and I still can't understand why teachers don't change up how tests are approached. I want the graded work for my students to be beneficial to them, and not something that they are more worried about failing then revealing how much they actually know. Changing the view on assessments is something I look forward to do as a future educator. Hopefully with new changes to assessments, there can be some changes in grading. Although that is a whole different story, both end up going hand in hand.

Thinking about assessment is one of the best ways a teacher can gain insight into how much students learn, but more importantly it provides feedback to the teacher on changes that need to be made on strategies for more retention of content knowledge.

Weekly Writing Oct. 14

The problem solving technique is one that is not completely familiar to me. I know I have done this in class at times, but the articles had so many good ideas and items that help reveal to me how much students actually grow using PST. To understand the steps, and mindset of students, was a great starting place. I was able to write down the steps to teaching PST. They are:

1. Interest Approach
2. Objective to be achieved
3. Questions to be answered
4. Problem Solution:
       define possible solutions
       acquire new knowledge, skill, and equipment
       formulate conclusions and general principles
5. Testing solutions through application
6. Evaluation of solutions

It was helpful for me to write these down, especially because I have to do a lesson plan and lab experience on PST. I have started to realize that being a teacher means that you shouldn't always have to spoon feed information to students. You should be there only to facilitate the learning, and not just have students follow. The problem solving technique, to me, feels like it can be intimidating at times. There are many different parts to PST, and if some parts are not done correctly, the whole lesson could be thrown off. Making sure the questions to be solved are appropriate, understanding prior knowledge, and having the right amount of transfer knowledge are just a few of the items needing consideration when trying this technique.

Using the problem solving technique is a great way to get students to engage in a topic of interest, and follow it all the way through. Creating intermediate goals allows for appropriate feedback, and using scaffolding techniques can help as well to create an easier learning process with different variations of learning. I believe the main goal of PST is to understand the process, from an educator and student perspective, while making the problem as relevant as possible to the students.

Demonstrations are Tougher than I Thought - Lab 3

Today I took part in a demonstration activity to teach my peers about an Ag Mechanics topic. When deciding what I was going to do, I was unsure on what my topic was going to be. I took a lesson out of one of the teachers who is helping us with AEE 350, Mr. Heasley. I decided to demonstrate how to create a corner with a perfect right angle. This sounded like a good idea in my head, but today after I was finished presenting, I realized it might have been just a little too much for me at this stage. I felt good with the material and understanding, but the demonstration was not as smooth as I had  hoped. I realized I did not give out my Job Operation Sheets halfway through my demonstration, so that tripped me up, especially because that is one of the most important parts to help understand a demonstration. I had the students engaged pretty well, but there was too much time where I lost some of the students because they were  sitting at their seats. I got some great feedback and was able to understand that its okay to bring the students up in front of the class to see what was happening.

One point that really struck me was engaging both sections of students, ones who were doing the demonstration, and the students who were in the seats. I didn't even realize this until I was told after my presentation. Once I was finished, I became vigilant to this item for the next presentation. For my role play of the next presentation, I was to play the role of a sleepy student. Usually this one isn't too hard for me, laugh out loud, but at one point, when the presenter was focused on the students doing the demonstration, I was asleep for close to 3 minutes!!! I couldn't believe it, but then realized how hard it was to actually keep the students engaged while the student demonstration was occurring.  It is tough enough to watch the students so they get the demonstration right, but even harder to take care of the ones who aren't engaged!



It was a great "aha!" moment that sometimes everyone needs to be involved in the tasks. Even though I am still getting used to both teaching and class management at the same time, it is amazing to see an outsiders perspective. I know real students would do the same thing, so I my peers role playing is a great start for me to learn. I thought the demonstration lab went well, even with the hiccups and unprepared parts that arose. I gained some great teaching knowledge that will transfer into my future teachings from this lab.

Sept. 30 Weekly Writing

From the couple different readings done this week, I was able to gain a great deal of knowledge about cooperative learning, field trips, individual coaching and asking questions . When I was reading the article on field trips, I reminisced on my past field trips. They were the best days in class, because we weren’t actually in class! 

I was always interested in our field trips because we would go to environmental areas, National Parks, or other science based program. This is, when I look back, where I began my love for the environment and my idea of becoming an educator. Taking students into a non-formal setting is one of the best ways for them to learn. After the article, it was so clear why I liked field trips the most, and why I gained a lot of information. There were pre-trip, trip, and post-trip items covered which made everything much smoother once we were actually on the field trip. Getting an agenda, timetable, and list of information about the place was a great resource. Teachers have to do a lot of work for students to simply sit back and only have to worry about learning on the trips. I hope to do as many non-formal lessons as I can, because students respond to new environments with new mindsets to facilitate growth.

Going along with facilitating field trips, group work is right up there in importance. Whenever I think of cooperative learning, I get this idea of students letting one of the members do all the work, but that is a fear of all teachers I think. This cooperative learning technique gives way to open many doors that students benefit from. I honestly believe that most of the learning should be done in small groups or as one large group in class. I think singular learning is very scary for some students, and I can think back to times when I was nervous in calculus class because I had no idea what was going on, and the teacher just kept telling us to do everything on our own.

Teachers are many things to students. We have to play numerous roles in teaching, extracurricular activities, personal life, and many others. It is a tough balance, but using variability with field trips, group work, and individual coaching make each workday important and valuable. I value the role a teacher plays in student’s lives. Understanding how students learn and like to be taught is an art form, something that takes time to craft and mold, but worth all the effort in the end. Hopefully I will learn enough to create my masterpiece of teaching some day. 

 

Interest Approach Lab #2

With the second assignment of our lab taking place, the interest approach was the main focus. I had to really dig deep to figure this lesson out, and I felt from the start that I was going to have a tougher time. I first decided to find my interest approach for the assignment, and work on the lesson from there. Looking back, it was not the best strategy. As I was working from my interest approach, I found the lesson subjects and objectives were not flowing as I wanted them to. I ended up finishing the lesson, but it was not one of my best. It was frustrating for a while, but I just had to keep going to finish what I was working on.

When it came to lab time, I was a less nervous than the week before. I had in my mind that I was going to do this interest approach, and hopefully connect it so the students would understand all of the ideas. I started off and was able to get the students engaged in the activity. I gave the groups a plastic cup, a coffee filter, and a tea bag. They poured the water onto the tea bag and it filtered through the coffee paper into the bottom of the cup. The students were very intuitive to what was happening in the approach, so I felt that I had gotten my point across to lead into the objectives of the day. My interest approach felt like it really fast, and there were times that I could have put in some more information, but just couldn't find the right words to say. I think, as a future educator, you can plan your lessons out to the most specific point, but there is always another factor that is not in your control. That is how you react, your students react, and the happenings on that specific day.

Overall,  I realized I had a really fun interest approach, but that I need to be more enthusiastic towards the students to make them more engaged and excited for the activity. I have a new outlook on lesson plans, starting from the end point and working backwards to early parts, like the interest approach. I feel each week we have to reflect to grow as educators, so I look forward to doing more in depth teaching and critique in the upcoming weeks. 

My First Day

The First Day of School

For the AEE 412 Lab, today we did a mock simulation of the first day of school. As I began my lesson planning and preparation, I was full of mixed emotions. I felt happy, sad, anxious, and many others that made this situation much tougher than it needed to be. I was able to get my emotions together, and figure out what I needed. 

As we started lab, no one wanted to go first. Being that guy, I volunteered, even though I really didn't want to. I thought I might as well just get it over with, one or two people in front of me would not make a difference anyway. I got up there, and felt the nerves rush over me. I could feel my heart beating, and even though I knew this was all fake, it still meant something. I began the lesson and followed my plan pretty much how I wanted to do it. I definitely think the nerves I had were good, or at least I convinced myself to try and spin them off in a good way. I was able to do the lesson, but I realized it is much tougher to handle all the different students who were role playing as well. This multitasking was something I personally wasn't used to, but it was something I just had to do on my feet. I realized for the lab that teaching is supposed to be a planned, written down, specific activity, but it never works out like that. Teachers have to be adaptive, and take obstacles without missing a stride. My 10 minute presentation seemed to fly by, and I had done some good things, and some bad. 

The overall experience of the lab was promising. I realized that I can be nervous, but to keep it under control so the students don't become nervous as well. I plan on working more enthusiasm into my lessons, getting students excited and ready for class. I enjoyed teaching this little scenario, especially because I liked making connections with what the students were saying to me. Creating the rapport with the students is something I feel makes a classroom and teacher that much better. I was happy with the performance of my first day, but I see much room for improvement. It was a little bittersweet to think that in a year I could actually be doing this scenario in a real life classroom. 

Weekly Writing for Sept. 16

In this week's readings, I gathered a large amount of information on objectives and interest approach. Throughout my schooling, especially towards the later years, my teachers were demanded to put up all of the objectives and standards on the board. At the time, I saw this as just another item that I didn't need to read. But, as the class went on, and I became disengaged, I would always look back to those objectives to recapture the ideas my teacher was trying to convey. As a potential future educator, I now understand the complete importance of having an interest approach and objectives for the students.

Everything in life has objectives and an interest approach. Hobbies, jobs, and many other items have to be relevant for a person to try out and produce growth. When something new is happening, they give you different goals to accomplish, from starting out on the guitar and learning the strings, to grabbing a book and reading it cover to cover. As a teacher, one of the most effective teaching strategies I have seen is the connection to everyday items. One of my past professors, Dr. Stevens, in the Education Psychology Department at Penn State, seemed to do this without even thinking about it. Every class he taught to us had some relevance, or connection, to our lives. If it was a funny story, a past example, or a case study that he had done in previous years, it all was relevant. I always found myself nodding my head in agreement because I could relate to everything he was saying. That class was, by far, one of my favorite at Penn State. I think about my own teaching some day, and hope I can do half of what he did as an educator. Students have changed over the many years, and today's society is so fast paced a teacher has to not lose stride when things change.

When I completed the articles, I was really questioning if I could create lessons that have clear objectives, and solid interest approaches. I had to sit back, readjust my mindset, and think about what would interest me about a subject. I did this for a while, gaining some insight, but I still felt not fully there. I think all things take time, so creating objectives and interest approaches will just have to be something I have to keep practicing. Education can be an endless abyss of subjects and lessons, but objectives produce small, attainable goals that students can manage each day.

Here is a link to a thread on communities of practice that gave me a few helpful tips on creating new interest approaches: http://communities.naae.org/thread/1521?start=0&tstart=0