It is hard to believe that four months have gone by so quickly. As I reflect on the road that I have traveled through those few short months, I begin to see how the pieces really did fit together. I began the semester feeling overwhelmed by the amount I felt I needed to learn before I was comfortable to walk in front of students. Now, I feel comfortable knowing that in only a months time I will be able to take responsibility of my students educational experience. I truly believe that I would not feel prepared without my lab experience.
We have learned to live by John Dewey's Learning by Doing concept. Throughout the course of the semester, we were allowed to learn what did and did not work for us by actually getting up and teaching. We were able to take what we had spent class time learning about and apply it. Personally, I found it completely beneficial to receive both peer feedback as well as instructor feedback. I was able to take both and then effectively reflecting on my performance. However, I feel that the most beneficial part of lab for me personally was the video recordings of our lessons. I learned so much more by taking the time to go and watch my video after the fact. I picked up on the things that I did that may have been a little off, and was able to set standards for myself to improve in those areas, and reevaluate myself upon watching the next weeks video.
Through the experience I have had this semester, I feel that I was given the opportunity and encouragement to grow as an educator. We started small and built up to working in a classroom with actual students. I now have confidence that I have developed skills that are needed to take on the responsibility of my future students. I can say this confidently because I have not merely learned about the techniques, I have had the chance to apply them. I look forward to taking these experiences with me as I take my next step into the classroom.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Creativity at it's Finest..
This week in lab we took a road trip.....to the Dollar Tree!!
We were given no direction up front other than to be sure to bring a unit plan with us the day of lab. We knew that we were traveling somewhere to bring out our creative juices, but we had no idea where that would be!
We were each allocated $5, before tax, to find 5 things that would help add to a single unit of instruction. The unit I brought along was Electricity. At first I was concerned because I didn't know how to think outside of the box. I spent the first ten minutes aimlessly walking around just to see what all the Dollar Tree had to offer. I first picked up a pack of pipe cleaners, thinking my students could practice wiring with those before using actual electrical wire. I thought this would be a fun, creative thing to bring into the classroom. However, my attention was then caught by the colored glitter glue. I really liked the idea of the students practicing before they started wiring with wire, but the pipe cleaners they wouldn't be able to take with them easily. The glitter glue on the other hand, they would be able to use that to draw on a worksheet where the different wires need connected, and they would be able to take it with them afterwards. I liked that they would have this example available to go back and refer to, whereas the pipe cleaners would likely be disassembled.
I then went on to pick up a pack of light bulbs and batteries to have for the students when they are learning about an open and closed circuit. I also picked up an extension cord so that I could demonstrate an open and closed circuit to them.
I was stuck. I had four items and I didn't know what else to get. After reviewing my unit plan, I remembered that I was teaching students how to calculate electricity bills. I picked up a pack of large fake money with intentions of using this to give different students different amounts of money to then determine what appliances they can run that would add up to that total.
After an hour in the Dollar Tree, I finally felt that I had a few really creative things to bring into my classroom for my students. I believe that we all had a lot of fun completing this task. Creativity is important, but it can also break a bank. It was good to see what all we can get for only a dollar that can be useful in our classroom.
We were given no direction up front other than to be sure to bring a unit plan with us the day of lab. We knew that we were traveling somewhere to bring out our creative juices, but we had no idea where that would be!
We were each allocated $5, before tax, to find 5 things that would help add to a single unit of instruction. The unit I brought along was Electricity. At first I was concerned because I didn't know how to think outside of the box. I spent the first ten minutes aimlessly walking around just to see what all the Dollar Tree had to offer. I first picked up a pack of pipe cleaners, thinking my students could practice wiring with those before using actual electrical wire. I thought this would be a fun, creative thing to bring into the classroom. However, my attention was then caught by the colored glitter glue. I really liked the idea of the students practicing before they started wiring with wire, but the pipe cleaners they wouldn't be able to take with them easily. The glitter glue on the other hand, they would be able to use that to draw on a worksheet where the different wires need connected, and they would be able to take it with them afterwards. I liked that they would have this example available to go back and refer to, whereas the pipe cleaners would likely be disassembled.
I then went on to pick up a pack of light bulbs and batteries to have for the students when they are learning about an open and closed circuit. I also picked up an extension cord so that I could demonstrate an open and closed circuit to them.
I was stuck. I had four items and I didn't know what else to get. After reviewing my unit plan, I remembered that I was teaching students how to calculate electricity bills. I picked up a pack of large fake money with intentions of using this to give different students different amounts of money to then determine what appliances they can run that would add up to that total.
After an hour in the Dollar Tree, I finally felt that I had a few really creative things to bring into my classroom for my students. I believe that we all had a lot of fun completing this task. Creativity is important, but it can also break a bank. It was good to see what all we can get for only a dollar that can be useful in our classroom.
Life Knowledge Lesson
This week I had the opportunity to teach my actual students. A class filled with freshman who I will be teaching very soon. I was excited. I was nervous. But, I was ready. We have been working so hard all semester to prepare ourselves for the minute we walk into our class. I was ready to put everything I have learned to work with students whose learning I am soon to be completely responsible for. That being said, Thursday may have been a difficult day to do that.
I will be teaching at Athens High School, and for those of you who don't know, that is basically the North Pole of PA. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving turned into an unexpected short day, thanks to snow, and Wednesday was canceled all together. That was followed by their Thanksgiving break which ran through Tuesday. When the students came back Wednesday morning everyone helped pull together the fruit sale delivery and pick up, and Friday the State Officers were scheduled to come. If you were keeping a tally, that leaves one completely structured day in well over a weeks time, Thursday.
I walked into first period, Introduction to Agriculture with a room full of non enthused freshman. This class is held in a Biology classroom that belongs to the other Agriculture teacher, so many of the students made it into the room before I did, big mistake. As a result, I began to feel rushed, so I breezed through the beginning without truly captivating the students attention. I wanted to be sure to get to the fun group activity I had for the last half of the class, because I knew I only had a short 39 minutes to get through everything.
I had eight different behaviors of servant leaders, and instead of just lecturing about them, I wanted the students to get into groups and draw pictures to symbolize the behavior. To do this, I had the class count off by 8's to ensure that everyone was included. I believe that this worked well once the activity actually got started as well because some students were more into it than others, and if I would have let them pick their groups on their own, I believe that some groups would not have taken the assignment seriously. As they worked, I walked around to each group to talk through their ideas with them and to ensure they were staying on task.
After the groups finished I had each group present. I originally threw this in because it made sense, but after I was in the classroom I realized it was great to get the students up speaking in front of a class. Some were much more comfortable than others, but I had every student speak. I think this was a great added experience to the lesson.
After each group finished, we reviewed the 8 behaviors as a class. I then had the students write on the back of the card that was provided to them as bellwork a complete sentence explaining how they could implement these behaviors into their everyday lives to make themselves better servant leaders. This then served as their ticket out the door. As students finished up, I had them put the desks back how they were since I was not going to be in that classroom the following period, and that went right up until the bell.
Overall I think it was a good experience. I wish I would not have rushed through the beginning and spent more time developing the felt need of the lesson, so that is something I will be working on. I also plan to be in the room before students enter so that I am better able to be prepared for the lesson.
This experience left me excited to go back. I realize I still have a lot left to learn, but I truly enjoyed teaching my students.
I will be teaching at Athens High School, and for those of you who don't know, that is basically the North Pole of PA. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving turned into an unexpected short day, thanks to snow, and Wednesday was canceled all together. That was followed by their Thanksgiving break which ran through Tuesday. When the students came back Wednesday morning everyone helped pull together the fruit sale delivery and pick up, and Friday the State Officers were scheduled to come. If you were keeping a tally, that leaves one completely structured day in well over a weeks time, Thursday.
I walked into first period, Introduction to Agriculture with a room full of non enthused freshman. This class is held in a Biology classroom that belongs to the other Agriculture teacher, so many of the students made it into the room before I did, big mistake. As a result, I began to feel rushed, so I breezed through the beginning without truly captivating the students attention. I wanted to be sure to get to the fun group activity I had for the last half of the class, because I knew I only had a short 39 minutes to get through everything.
I had eight different behaviors of servant leaders, and instead of just lecturing about them, I wanted the students to get into groups and draw pictures to symbolize the behavior. To do this, I had the class count off by 8's to ensure that everyone was included. I believe that this worked well once the activity actually got started as well because some students were more into it than others, and if I would have let them pick their groups on their own, I believe that some groups would not have taken the assignment seriously. As they worked, I walked around to each group to talk through their ideas with them and to ensure they were staying on task.
Overall I think it was a good experience. I wish I would not have rushed through the beginning and spent more time developing the felt need of the lesson, so that is something I will be working on. I also plan to be in the room before students enter so that I am better able to be prepared for the lesson.
This experience left me excited to go back. I realize I still have a lot left to learn, but I truly enjoyed teaching my students.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
The Real Deal!
That being said, this experience was also a great eye opener for everything that I need to keep in mind once I am actually in front of my students.
I spent my three days teaching the Animal Science class at Central Mountain High School. I had 27 students ranging from Freshman to Seniors, and I was to spend my three days introducing the students to their rabbit unit. That being said, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I could make rabbits sound interesting to high school students. I spent a day observing the class before I taught, and during that time they were working on cats. To say the students were not enthused is by far an understatement. I made it a challenge to myself from that point to get the students excited about what I had to teach them.
Three days is not a lot of time, my biggest struggle was deciding what to teach during those three days, knowing that half of the last day was going to be dedicated to an assessment and a learners satisfaction sheet. I decided to start the unit off by going over the components of the rabbit industry, followed by the breeds, moving into parts of a rabbit. From there I planned to spend the second day dedicated to genetics and the punnet square. I was going to end up my time in the classroom going over proper care of a rabbit, a review, a quiz, and ending with my learner satisfaction sheet.
My learning process began on the first day. I wasn't but five minutes into the class when I realized I had too much information to cover on just that one day. I decided that it would be better to thoroughly cover the first two objectives than to rush through them just to get to the third objective. I learned a lot from this. First being, it is far better to be over prepared! There will be some days that you will need that extra information, but other days you will find the kids are more intrigued and ask more questions, therefore taking more time. With that, I learned that it is better to really dig into a topic, not merely cover the content. So, take the time to answer those questions. As a matter of fact, don't just answer them, put a smile on your face while you are doing it, because you are clearly doing your job. We want to encourage students to think deeper, and that isn't something we can necessarily put a time limit on.
It was all fine and dandy that I ran out of time on the first day, I successfully taught the students from bell to bell, but now what was I going to do? Once I have my own classroom, I will have more time to get to all of the content when I get to it. But with three days, I had to decide what I was going to cut out. I think that this is something valuable to learn, because, even though I think that I will have a lot more time when I have more than three days to teach my students, the time still will fly. For that reason, though it is better to have extra planned then not enough, it is still important to be realistic with your planning.
My second day I planned activities to go over the punnet square. I went in assuming that majority of the students would have no previous experience with the punnet square, and I was wrong. I think that it was a good thing though, because the students who had previous experience were able to help the few students who had no experience.
On my final day, we covered the parts, reviewed for the quiz, and then took the quiz. I only had 25 students on the last day, and 20 of those students passed the quiz with above an 84%. Of the remaining 5 students, 2 received 76%, 2 earned a 64%, and 1 a 60%. This also taught me a thing or two. The first being that it is really hard to quiz after just two and a half days of material, especially if some of your students were out the first two days. The review was great to get the material to those who may have missed some, but it was not enough. I was not at the school during the students activities period or lunch or any other time that they may have had available to come talk to me about what they had missed. This, too is something that will change once I am in a classroom of my own.
As for my satisfaction forms, all of my students were either satisfied or very satisfies, with the exception of one, who was not there the first two days, therefore relaid that they felt that there was a lot to learn in a little time. Many of the other students thought that there would be a better result if I was able to be there for more time instead of trying to jam everything in to three days. Overall, however, they liked the variety of activities I brought into the classroom.
I am extremely happy with how this experience went. There were good points, great points, and things that need to be worked on. I look forward to taking everything I have learned and putting it to practice!
One last thought to conclude my reflection on this experience:
Friday, November 15, 2013
Inquiry Based Instruction
This was definitely the most challenging lab to date, but then again, that does make sense, seeing as we are nearing the end of the semester! When I began to think about where to even begin planning, I did not know where to start. We were first given the rubric that showed the five features and the amount of Learner Self-Direction. The five features of IBI include: Engagement, Evidence, Explanation, Connection, and Communication. Having the rubric in my hands caused me to see where I was trying to go, but I was still unsure of how to get there.
The next step in the learning process was taking a field trip to see IBI in action. I really liked visiting Greenwood to see how Mr. Clark included IBI in his classroom. The key element to making this trip beneficial, however, was bringing Mr. Clark in for further explanation and questioning the following Friday. While being in the classroom was nice, there was not much time for Mr. Clark to dedicate to us, seeing as he had students that needed to take precedence.
After all of the instruction, it was time to put the knowledge I had learned to use. I by no means expected to rock out a perfect lesson with a perfect result. I knew that this experience was really going to provide a (hopefully) fairly large learning curve. I had a hard time planning for the lab because I struggled to know just how much I should leave for the students to figure out on their own. I chose to teach essential nutrients in feed concentrates by providing three feed samples and testing solutions for protein, starch, and sugars. My intent was to have each group test each feed for all three nutrients. I then figured we could have the students report their findings, and each group could compare to see what results they got and if they were different. I then wanted them to ask themselves why different groups got different answers. I was wrong.
From this, I learned a few things. The main thing being that IBI is something that requires a LOT of planning. There is no telling which direction the students may take the lesson, so you need to be prepared for all of those directions. Questions also need to be formulated before hand. It is much easier to get students where you want them to be by asking them questions, if the questions are worked through and developed ahead of time.
If I could do this lab over, I would change a few things.
The next step in the learning process was taking a field trip to see IBI in action. I really liked visiting Greenwood to see how Mr. Clark included IBI in his classroom. The key element to making this trip beneficial, however, was bringing Mr. Clark in for further explanation and questioning the following Friday. While being in the classroom was nice, there was not much time for Mr. Clark to dedicate to us, seeing as he had students that needed to take precedence.
After all of the instruction, it was time to put the knowledge I had learned to use. I by no means expected to rock out a perfect lesson with a perfect result. I knew that this experience was really going to provide a (hopefully) fairly large learning curve. I had a hard time planning for the lab because I struggled to know just how much I should leave for the students to figure out on their own. I chose to teach essential nutrients in feed concentrates by providing three feed samples and testing solutions for protein, starch, and sugars. My intent was to have each group test each feed for all three nutrients. I then figured we could have the students report their findings, and each group could compare to see what results they got and if they were different. I then wanted them to ask themselves why different groups got different answers. I was wrong.
From this, I learned a few things. The main thing being that IBI is something that requires a LOT of planning. There is no telling which direction the students may take the lesson, so you need to be prepared for all of those directions. Questions also need to be formulated before hand. It is much easier to get students where you want them to be by asking them questions, if the questions are worked through and developed ahead of time.
If I could do this lab over, I would change a few things.
- I would try to think of a better interest approach than just using an article. I really like the idea of bringing literacy into the lesson, however, I believe that we all used this technique because it was shown to us, and I would have liked to try something a little different.
- I would better prepare my questions ahead of time. I believe I stammered around a lot while I was trying to get the students to develop the question.
- Have more test tubes out on the table so students were encouraged to take them and run more than one test.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Evaluation of Learning
How does one go about evaluating the learning of each student? We are taught that everyone learns in different ways, so what is the best way to test students on their knowledge of the material covered? As I read through the readings dealing with this issue this weekend, I realized that there is no ideal testing scenario, but it is completely necessary. For this reason, I think that it is important to change up ways in which a student can succeed, so that everyone has a chance to truly show what they know. For this reason it is not a good idea to simply test with a straight multiple choice type test. It would be better to incorporate different types of questioning, such as true/false, short answer, essay, etc.
In my mind, a large part of Agricultural Education is learning by doing, or the hands on lab experience. So, how do we go about assessing the learning that is occurring while out in the lab? Personally, I do not think that it is enough to grade on solely completion of a project. I believe that a student should be able to explain what they did and evidence that they not only can do everything, but they also understand why each step was necessary, or why each part was necessary. To help facilitate and encourage my students to continue to make connections and seek understanding while out in the lab, I will remain engaged with the students and questioning their understanding as they work through the steps.
As I further prepare for my quickly approaching time in the classroom, assessment is something that I continue to worry about. I want to ensure that I am using both my time and the students time effectively. I want to see my students succeed. I want to see them truly get it. But above all, I want my students to want to learn. I want to assess them in a way that allows them to show they have learned the content, and to ensure that I have been effective. I believe that all of these can be tested with an effective form of assessment.
In my mind, a large part of Agricultural Education is learning by doing, or the hands on lab experience. So, how do we go about assessing the learning that is occurring while out in the lab? Personally, I do not think that it is enough to grade on solely completion of a project. I believe that a student should be able to explain what they did and evidence that they not only can do everything, but they also understand why each step was necessary, or why each part was necessary. To help facilitate and encourage my students to continue to make connections and seek understanding while out in the lab, I will remain engaged with the students and questioning their understanding as they work through the steps.
As I further prepare for my quickly approaching time in the classroom, assessment is something that I continue to worry about. I want to ensure that I am using both my time and the students time effectively. I want to see my students succeed. I want to see them truly get it. But above all, I want my students to want to learn. I want to assess them in a way that allows them to show they have learned the content, and to ensure that I have been effective. I believe that all of these can be tested with an effective form of assessment.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
The Problem Solving Approach in Action!
As I prepared for this weeks lab, I began to get really excited. I was not only excited to see how the problem solving approach would work in a classroom setting, but also for the content of my lesson! For the first time, I was going to teach a lesson on content that I was not only comfortable with, but that I have personal experience with! My lesson was on determining what information needs to be known in order to figure out why a dairy animal is not getting pregnant. This is something I deal with regularly in my own life with my dairy animals. I believe that as a result of my excitement for the lesson, I was more enthusiastic this week than I have been in the past. I am far from perfecting enthusiasm, but I do believe that I made a slight improvement. However, I recognize that I need to be enthusiastic about every topic I teach, not only the ones I have personal connections to. I believe that for me, enthusiasm is going to be a direct correlation of confidence in the content. That is something I need to work to continue to get better with.
I began working through my presentation, and everything seemed to be going smoothly at first. I asked if anyone wanted to be a veterinarian, since this will be for my Veterinary Science class. I then informed my students that they were all going to be Veterinarians today. I asked them to pair up with another partner, and then I posed the problem to them. I have a cow, Fortune, that I cannot get bred. After posing the question, they had 5 minutes to develop at least 5 questions that relayed what further information they wanted to know about Fortune before they could diagnose the problem. I really liked this because it made each group think through the problem instead of just having a handful of students call out the questions. I floated back and forth during this time and tried to get the students thinking a little bit deeper. Looking back I should have asked them more questions, but overall, I think it went well.
After each group had their 5 questions formulated we began to answer the questions. I wanted to keep every student engaged, so I rotated back and forth from each group to take one question at a time. I was afraid that taking one groups questions all at once would cause the other groups to check out. This worked really well for the most part. Looking back, though, I wish I would have captured the questions on the board. I will have a student helper come up and write the questions down so that we can see what all we have covered. I think that this would also help the students make connections and possibly think of more questions. I also should have increased my questioning during this part. Occasionally I asked the students why they wanted to know that information, why it was important, however, I do not think that I asked enough questions to really engage the students to the best of my ability.
Overall, I think that this teaching experience went pretty well, but I definitely have room to improve. I need to continue to work on my clarity, which has gotten a little better since I have started scripting out my directions. Now, I just need to remember to look down at them :)
This week I have been reminding myself that even small progress is still progress!
I began working through my presentation, and everything seemed to be going smoothly at first. I asked if anyone wanted to be a veterinarian, since this will be for my Veterinary Science class. I then informed my students that they were all going to be Veterinarians today. I asked them to pair up with another partner, and then I posed the problem to them. I have a cow, Fortune, that I cannot get bred. After posing the question, they had 5 minutes to develop at least 5 questions that relayed what further information they wanted to know about Fortune before they could diagnose the problem. I really liked this because it made each group think through the problem instead of just having a handful of students call out the questions. I floated back and forth during this time and tried to get the students thinking a little bit deeper. Looking back I should have asked them more questions, but overall, I think it went well.
After each group had their 5 questions formulated we began to answer the questions. I wanted to keep every student engaged, so I rotated back and forth from each group to take one question at a time. I was afraid that taking one groups questions all at once would cause the other groups to check out. This worked really well for the most part. Looking back, though, I wish I would have captured the questions on the board. I will have a student helper come up and write the questions down so that we can see what all we have covered. I think that this would also help the students make connections and possibly think of more questions. I also should have increased my questioning during this part. Occasionally I asked the students why they wanted to know that information, why it was important, however, I do not think that I asked enough questions to really engage the students to the best of my ability.
Overall, I think that this teaching experience went pretty well, but I definitely have room to improve. I need to continue to work on my clarity, which has gotten a little better since I have started scripting out my directions. Now, I just need to remember to look down at them :)
This week I have been reminding myself that even small progress is still progress!
Sunday, October 13, 2013
The Problem Solving Approach
Until recently, I have never sat down and thought about how many decisions I make in a day. Each of us, as individuals, make decisions to solve problems every single day. However, I never realized the benefit that bringing this approach into a classroom could have. As I read through the book and articles, I began to think back on my time sitting in the classroom. Problem solving is a skill that needs to be developed in everyone. It is a skill that is needed for jobs of any kind. However, when looking back, I do not remember seeing this approach used very often in any of my classes. So, as a future educator, why would I not take the time to help my students develop a skill that is going to be useful to them no matter where their future takes them?
As I continued to read about the Problem Solving Approach, I learned that there are six steps that must be followed when executing this technique in the classroom, and they are as follows:
As a future educator, it is my hope that I can prepare my students for real life situations and scenarios to the best of my ability. After completing these readings and attending class on Friday, I truly believe that the problem solving approach is a way to better prepare my students for life outside of my classroom walls.
Be sure to check back later this week to find out how this approach works when I put it into practice!
As I continued to read about the Problem Solving Approach, I learned that there are six steps that must be followed when executing this technique in the classroom, and they are as follows:
- Interest Approach
- Objectives to be achieved
- Questions to be answered
- Problem Solution
- Develop possible solutions
- Acquire new knowledge, skill, and experience
- Formulate conclusions and general principles
- Testing solutions through application
- Evaluation of solutions
- Identify the problem
- Define the problem through looking at alternatives, brainstorming, and checking out different points of view
- Act on the strategies
- Look back and evaluate the effects of your acctivity
As a future educator, it is my hope that I can prepare my students for real life situations and scenarios to the best of my ability. After completing these readings and attending class on Friday, I truly believe that the problem solving approach is a way to better prepare my students for life outside of my classroom walls.
Be sure to check back later this week to find out how this approach works when I put it into practice!
Friday, October 4, 2013
Demonstration Lab
When I first read over the requirements for the demonstration lab, I was terrified. We were required to prepare an Agricultural Mechanics Demonstration, and Ag Mechanics is far from my strong point, or my comfort zone. When I began to dig deeper and actually pick a topic, I knew that I had to stay within either electricity or plumbing since these are the two ag mechanics units I will be coming. If I were to step outside either of these areas, I would not have had the opportunity to try something that I could use directly in my student teaching experience.
As I went through the planning process, I decided to pull out a demonstration with electricity since I actually had some experience with it. My initial thought was to pull together the potato battery lesson and show my students what a complete circut was, as well as demonstrate how potatoes can generate energy (this can also be accomplished with lemons, limes, and other citrus). When I tried this experiment on my own however, the light was hard to see, and I was concerned about lack of student engagement if the demonstration failed. I decided then to change my lesson and simply demonstrate the properties of a complete circuit. This was a change made on Tuesday afternoon, less than 24 hours before my demonstration was due. Needless to say, I stressed myself out. Looking back, I learned a lesson that I should have grasped a long time ago. Good things take time, and in order to accomplish good things, I need to allow myself the proper time to prepare.
Moving into my presentation then, I was given many other great opportunities to learn as well. I began my lesson, and had my students do the bellwork, however, I don't think anyone actually did the work. Looking back, I should have had paper provided and communicated that this was an expectation that they needed to have done. One thing I asked them to do was draw an open circuit and a closed circuit. If this had been done I believe there would have been a smoother transition into the lesson if I had enforced that the students draw out the different circuits. This also would have given the students a picture to go back and correct and label as the learned what was going on in a circuit.
To teach my students what was going on in the circuit, I showed a video. I requested that the students take notes. Again, I do not think that my students took notes. I believe that in the future I could provide a worksheet or have a little quiz at the end to hold the students accountable for the information presented. I do not want my students to check out when a video is shown, I want them to understand that I am showing them valuable material.
Finally, my actually demonstration. I really like how it worked with having my students come up to see the demonstration up close. However, I do not think my class of 20 students will be able to see the tiny circuit I had to demonstrate with. I want to work to come up with a different way to ensure that each student can see and is engaged during the demo. I provied an operation sheet so that the students had steps to follow along with, I really liked that, however I think I will add pictures for when I use it with my students.
This lab taught me a lot when it came to preparation and presentation. I know that I still need to work on my enthusiasm as well as classroom managment. I do feel that classroom management went better this week. I paired my two chatty and distracted students with other students who were more on task. I believe that this disabled the distrations the two students were causing by playing with the materials, looking for ways to make the lesson "more interesting." Looking back I would have separateed these two immediately when I noticed they were sitting together up front for the demonstration.
Overall, this was a great experience. I look forward to keep growing from here!
As I went through the planning process, I decided to pull out a demonstration with electricity since I actually had some experience with it. My initial thought was to pull together the potato battery lesson and show my students what a complete circut was, as well as demonstrate how potatoes can generate energy (this can also be accomplished with lemons, limes, and other citrus). When I tried this experiment on my own however, the light was hard to see, and I was concerned about lack of student engagement if the demonstration failed. I decided then to change my lesson and simply demonstrate the properties of a complete circuit. This was a change made on Tuesday afternoon, less than 24 hours before my demonstration was due. Needless to say, I stressed myself out. Looking back, I learned a lesson that I should have grasped a long time ago. Good things take time, and in order to accomplish good things, I need to allow myself the proper time to prepare.
Moving into my presentation then, I was given many other great opportunities to learn as well. I began my lesson, and had my students do the bellwork, however, I don't think anyone actually did the work. Looking back, I should have had paper provided and communicated that this was an expectation that they needed to have done. One thing I asked them to do was draw an open circuit and a closed circuit. If this had been done I believe there would have been a smoother transition into the lesson if I had enforced that the students draw out the different circuits. This also would have given the students a picture to go back and correct and label as the learned what was going on in a circuit.
To teach my students what was going on in the circuit, I showed a video. I requested that the students take notes. Again, I do not think that my students took notes. I believe that in the future I could provide a worksheet or have a little quiz at the end to hold the students accountable for the information presented. I do not want my students to check out when a video is shown, I want them to understand that I am showing them valuable material.
Finally, my actually demonstration. I really like how it worked with having my students come up to see the demonstration up close. However, I do not think my class of 20 students will be able to see the tiny circuit I had to demonstrate with. I want to work to come up with a different way to ensure that each student can see and is engaged during the demo. I provied an operation sheet so that the students had steps to follow along with, I really liked that, however I think I will add pictures for when I use it with my students.
This lab taught me a lot when it came to preparation and presentation. I know that I still need to work on my enthusiasm as well as classroom managment. I do feel that classroom management went better this week. I paired my two chatty and distracted students with other students who were more on task. I believe that this disabled the distrations the two students were causing by playing with the materials, looking for ways to make the lesson "more interesting." Looking back I would have separateed these two immediately when I noticed they were sitting together up front for the demonstration.
Overall, this was a great experience. I look forward to keep growing from here!
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Effective Questions and Languaging in Instruction
Through the assigned readings for this week, I learned that teachers typically ask 300-400 questions per day. If we are asking that many questions, doesn't it make sense that we put a lot of thought into how we are asking these questions? If we are taking that much time out of day in the classroom, we should make sure that our questions are effective.
I found a video that sums up perfectly the ABC's of Effective Teaching.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vboA-n0b7ls
As future educators, we need to continue to think about how we will use questions in our classroom. It is my hope that I can take the pointers from this video as well as from the reading and learn to pose questions that will not only make sure the students are paying attention, but also to make sure that they are taking what the are learning it and applying it in a way that makes sense to them.
I found a video that sums up perfectly the ABC's of Effective Teaching.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vboA-n0b7ls
As future educators, we need to continue to think about how we will use questions in our classroom. It is my hope that I can take the pointers from this video as well as from the reading and learn to pose questions that will not only make sure the students are paying attention, but also to make sure that they are taking what the are learning it and applying it in a way that makes sense to them.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
What's so Interesting about an Interest Approach?
This week I also taught a brief section of a lab out of my Poultry Unit for my Animal Science class that I will be teaching in the Spring. We were to teach our Interest Approach section of the lesson plan. I honestly never would have guessed I would spend the amount of time I did preparing for this lab. The Interest Approach really does make or break the whole lesson. I quickly realized that if I did not develop something that would really catch every students attention, I would risk wasting an entire class period for some of my students.
When I finally stepped up in front of the class to teach, I was confident in my material and my plan of action. However, I made a mistake from the very beginning. My activity was to give each student an egg to examine on their own. In hindsight, I should have given clear directions before I placed eggs in front of the students. I also should have been more strict on time. Instead, I gave each student an egg then began to give them the directions for the entire activity. I had classmates who wanted to start and egg fight, had questions about the activity, and a few other things. Most of these situations could have been avoided if I gave direction first, then gave strict time to complete the task. When I use this to teach my students, I plan to give the eggs, then tell the students they have 15 seconds to observe the outside of the egg and write down what they see. After that I will have everyone crack their eggs open at the same time, and then continue with the observations of the inside of the egg.
I did conduct both my First Day of Teaching Lab and my Interest Approach Lab on the same day, so I only had a short amount of time to reflect on my first experience before I jumped into my second. As a result, I still feel that I need to work on engaging the students more and vamping up my own energy. However, I do believe I got better at cutting out filler words such as "okay!"
I am really looking forward to continuing this learning process!
When I finally stepped up in front of the class to teach, I was confident in my material and my plan of action. However, I made a mistake from the very beginning. My activity was to give each student an egg to examine on their own. In hindsight, I should have given clear directions before I placed eggs in front of the students. I also should have been more strict on time. Instead, I gave each student an egg then began to give them the directions for the entire activity. I had classmates who wanted to start and egg fight, had questions about the activity, and a few other things. Most of these situations could have been avoided if I gave direction first, then gave strict time to complete the task. When I use this to teach my students, I plan to give the eggs, then tell the students they have 15 seconds to observe the outside of the egg and write down what they see. After that I will have everyone crack their eggs open at the same time, and then continue with the observations of the inside of the egg.
I did conduct both my First Day of Teaching Lab and my Interest Approach Lab on the same day, so I only had a short amount of time to reflect on my first experience before I jumped into my second. As a result, I still feel that I need to work on engaging the students more and vamping up my own energy. However, I do believe I got better at cutting out filler words such as "okay!"
I am really looking forward to continuing this learning process!
First Day of School
While I was originally planning for my First Day of School lab, I thought that it really wasn't going to be a really challenging task. I knew that I had to go over my Classroom Expectations, Procedures, and Consequences, as well as get to know the students. However, as the time began to get closer, I found myself getting more and more nervous. I had ran through my little lesson in my head over a dozen times, but I still felt inadequately prepared when I stepped in front of my peers to give the lesson.
The very first thing I noticed was that I said "okay" about a million times.
"okay, so today we are going to...," "Okay, good, now we are going to...," "So those are my expectations for you, Okay?"
I was horrified that it kept coming out of my mouth, but it just seemed to be my go to word of the day! I learned that I need to be more cognitively focused on what I want to say next, so that I don't start using filler words such as okay. If I had developed better transition questions to ask, I would have eased into my different topics much smoother.
As I stammered my way through my lesson, I also found myself stuck in the same place for a large majority of the time. I believe that the best way to keep the students engaged is to stay engaged with them, and that is something that cannot always be done from the front of the classroom. In the future I plan to try to be more actively aware of where I am and what I am doing while teaching.
While I was designing my lesson I wanted to do something to get the students up and moving. I didn't want to have a normal first day of class where the students sat in their seats while I read my expectations to a wall of blank stares. To try to add variety I asked the students to design a skit to act out one of my classroom expectations. I think that the idea was great, however, I do not feel I executed it properly. I wanted the kids to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm for this activity to really be fun, however, I didn't start the class with bursting enthusiasm on my end. I see now that I cannot expect anything from my students that I am not willing to do either. Why should they be excited about something that I obviously am not that excited about? I could have changed the whole dynamic of my lesson if I had picked up my energy level from the very start. I will challenge myself to remember that as I move forward both in this lab setting and then as I transition into my classroom!
Overall I learned a lot from this first experience teaching in front of my peers. I was unsure of how life like this experience would be, but I am grateful that I am able to test the waters first with my peers before being thrown into the high school classroom!
The very first thing I noticed was that I said "okay" about a million times.
"okay, so today we are going to...," "Okay, good, now we are going to...," "So those are my expectations for you, Okay?"
I was horrified that it kept coming out of my mouth, but it just seemed to be my go to word of the day! I learned that I need to be more cognitively focused on what I want to say next, so that I don't start using filler words such as okay. If I had developed better transition questions to ask, I would have eased into my different topics much smoother.
As I stammered my way through my lesson, I also found myself stuck in the same place for a large majority of the time. I believe that the best way to keep the students engaged is to stay engaged with them, and that is something that cannot always be done from the front of the classroom. In the future I plan to try to be more actively aware of where I am and what I am doing while teaching.
While I was designing my lesson I wanted to do something to get the students up and moving. I didn't want to have a normal first day of class where the students sat in their seats while I read my expectations to a wall of blank stares. To try to add variety I asked the students to design a skit to act out one of my classroom expectations. I think that the idea was great, however, I do not feel I executed it properly. I wanted the kids to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm for this activity to really be fun, however, I didn't start the class with bursting enthusiasm on my end. I see now that I cannot expect anything from my students that I am not willing to do either. Why should they be excited about something that I obviously am not that excited about? I could have changed the whole dynamic of my lesson if I had picked up my energy level from the very start. I will challenge myself to remember that as I move forward both in this lab setting and then as I transition into my classroom!
Overall I learned a lot from this first experience teaching in front of my peers. I was unsure of how life like this experience would be, but I am grateful that I am able to test the waters first with my peers before being thrown into the high school classroom!
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Defining Student Objectives
As I go through my journey to work to prepare myself for my quickly approaching student teaching experience, I believe that the task of clearly stating objectives should not be taken lightly. How can we truly assess our students if we never have a set goal for them to reach? Starting a unit of instruction with no plan of action and no end goal would be like setting out to solve world hunger with no plan at all. If I were to walk into my classroom in January and begin teaching my students without stating any sort of objectives, I would end up frustrating myself as well as my students.
"Objectives...help teachers decide what is truly relevant and worthy of students' learningn versus taht which is "nice to know." (Newcomb et.al). It is all too easy for a teacher to get excited about a topic and go off on a tyrant that may in fact be a waste of the students educational time. We only have a very limited amount of time with our students in the classroom, and I do not want to waste even a minute of it. By clearly establishing objectives from the beginning, I will better be able to lay out my lessons to ensure that I am covering the most important information.
On the other side, having objectives clearly stated for the students at the beginning of each class allows them to see up front what is going to be expected of them. According to Whittington, clarity at the beginning of the class gives students a "raod map" to follow. This road map relieves anxiety and frustration that students may experience without that missing piece that helps make sense of their educational journey.
As I take this information and put it into practice I cannot help but remember my days in the classroom. It seemed that all too often I would sit in a class, unsure of what was expected of me, and stress about it. Often time the stress and frustration lead to me "checking out" in the middle of the lesson, then trying to teach myself the material while working through my homework. As a future educator, it is my hope to truly capture my students interest and keep that interest by providing them with the "road map" they will need to make it through my class. Education should not be a stressful thing. I do not want my classroom to be the cause of my students stress. I believe that working to develop clearly stated objectives each and every class period will help to accomplish this goal.
"Objectives...help teachers decide what is truly relevant and worthy of students' learningn versus taht which is "nice to know." (Newcomb et.al). It is all too easy for a teacher to get excited about a topic and go off on a tyrant that may in fact be a waste of the students educational time. We only have a very limited amount of time with our students in the classroom, and I do not want to waste even a minute of it. By clearly establishing objectives from the beginning, I will better be able to lay out my lessons to ensure that I am covering the most important information.
On the other side, having objectives clearly stated for the students at the beginning of each class allows them to see up front what is going to be expected of them. According to Whittington, clarity at the beginning of the class gives students a "raod map" to follow. This road map relieves anxiety and frustration that students may experience without that missing piece that helps make sense of their educational journey.
As I take this information and put it into practice I cannot help but remember my days in the classroom. It seemed that all too often I would sit in a class, unsure of what was expected of me, and stress about it. Often time the stress and frustration lead to me "checking out" in the middle of the lesson, then trying to teach myself the material while working through my homework. As a future educator, it is my hope to truly capture my students interest and keep that interest by providing them with the "road map" they will need to make it through my class. Education should not be a stressful thing. I do not want my classroom to be the cause of my students stress. I believe that working to develop clearly stated objectives each and every class period will help to accomplish this goal.
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