Effective Communication: A Glimpse at Student Teaching

Mr. Campbell and I 

For the final lab in AEE 312, I had the opportunity to teach my first lesson at my cooperating center - Derry Area High School.  The task for the lab was to use a LifeKnowledge lesson from National FFA, adapt them, and teach it to a class in our cooperating center.  I chose to adapt a team communication lesson to bring focus on the importance and value of being an effective team communicator when holding leadership positions in organizations such as FFA.  Overall this was a great experience!  I enjoyed being at Derry for a day, and receiving feedback from my students and my cooperating teacher Mr. Campbell.  This was a growing experience that presented a few realizations, which sparked some gems and opportunities of reflection.  

Gems:

Student Engagement:
According to a few students’ feedback my lesson, energy and knowledge was “out of the ballpark.” For the lesson, I connected team communication to communication used in baseball. I have always been an avid sports fan, and this was reflected in my lesson to keep the students fully engaged.  This is important because if I am not excited about what I am teaching it, why am I teaching it? In addition, I was able to use individual and group teaching techniques to create a variety of ways for students to be engaged.  I understand that all students are all engaged differently, so it is important to provide a variety of learning styles.  

Large group discussion

Variability:
I was able to create learning experiences that allowed for visual, auditory and kinesthetic modalities to be used to increase my student engagement; in turn provided variability to the lesson.  I was able to engage them visually with a YouTube video to create the setting of a baseball stadium, small/large group discussions to engage auditory learners, and skits to encourage kinesthetic movement.  

Growth:
I was lucky enough to teach this lesson twice with some time to think and debrief.   As I reflected in that time I thought of things to change, and wrote them on sticky notes to guide me in the next class. Practice makes perfect, so round two was defiantly less rusty than round one.  In the second class I was more comfortable and confident, which allowed for more thoughtful discussion.  

Opps: 

Check for Understanding:

This has been something I have struggled with since the beginning. I am becoming better, but it is still difficult and something I need to grow in. I know how to give good directions, but still find confusion among some students.  I realized that providing direction verbally and visually is helpful. However I know there is other ways to ensure understanding than being repetitive, and it comes with time and practice.

Classroom Management:
Classroom management is going to be a challenge for me. This time was not bad, but it is an area I noticed I will have to work at. Throughout this experience and my micro-teaching experience, I faced the challenge of knowing my place in the classroom, which made me hesitate to take action to certain behaviors. For example, I had a chatty student who wanted to share multiple stories about communication used on her softball team. Although it was relevant it interrupted class, and caused delays in the lesson. Looking back, I let my discomfort of not knowing my place in the classroom interrupt my instructional time, which affected other students’ learning experience. I feel my comfort with classroom management will improve once I am able to ‘take over’ the classroom by presenting my expectations and consequences.  

Overall, I may not be 100% ready, or have all the experiences, knowledge and assignments I need yet...but I am ready to grow.  As I taught the lesson, I wanted to grow rapport with the students and be stronger in my teaching strategies for them.  My half day at Derry truly built up my excitement for the spring! I couldn't be more excited to grow and learn from Mr. Campbell and Mrs. Rippole with awesome students. 

Wild About Micro -Teaching

This week I completed my micro-teaching unit at Juniata High School. I completed three days of consecutive teaching of one class on a subject area.  Each class was 42 minutes in length. Throughout each day, I felt I was able to engage the students in the Wildlife and Fisheries Science course in a unit on Ecosystem Impacts. I am teaching an entire unit on Wildlife and Fishier Science to my Introduction to Agriculture class at Derry, so I felt this was a great introduction and practice before I student teach in the spring. Teaching a large group of students (18 high schoolers) for three days allowed me to reflect on a few things...

Stop. Recollect. Reflect.

Working with a large class presented some challenges, one reoccurring challenge that I faced was student clarity and comprehension. I had multiple diverse learners in my class, including 3 IEP students and 1 ESL, so this challenged me to present content and create understanding for all learners. I felt I failed at this on the second day of micro teaching. I presented students a predator and prey stimulation activity; I had students read the general instructions, and provided time for them to read more detailed instructions. As the class period went on, multiple hands shot up with confusion to what the directions met. I was hesitating to stop class to go over directions again because we were limited on time, as the end of the period was approaching. However, after jumping from pod to pod, and answering the same five questions, I decided to stop the students to recollect and refocus. I learned it was not a bad thing to stop to check for understanding because it can help the whole class understand and not just one person. In addition, I feel this could be a powerful tool that I could use to reflect and present higher order of thinking questions.

Plan. Flex. Deviate.  

Planning truly helped me put all my thoughts together and prepare the material I wanted to present. However, I realized that that being flexible and having the ability to deviate is crucial. As I shared above, I faced challenges, and these challenges caused me to redirect and regroup the student’s attention and thoughts. I did not have this in my plan, but I had the flexibility to create it and create understanding from it. I learned that sometimes your best lessons are created in thoughtful moments of confusion.

Structure. Tradition. Management.  

These three days was just an introduction to what an entire semester might look like, but also the amount of work it will require.  I already have so many intentional thoughts of how to create structure, tradition and management in my classroom for a full semester. Beginning of class procedure such as bellwork, ticket out and other classroom management and practices are just a few things that I want to create. However, I realized that these take time, and are dependent on the teacher and truly conditioning students to think and behave in these ways. I was fortunate to micro teach in a classroom that has solid structure, tradition and management that Mrs. Morgan has created.

General Gems: 

• Flexibility
• Group work
• Variability 
• Content confidence 
• Enthusiasm

General Opportunities:

• Asking and answering questions
• Clarity in explanations 
• Checking student understanding

Learner Satisfaction: 

The forms below provide a little more insight on learner satisfaction. Overall I was pleased with the results, but I also know that I can continue to grow and improve. Also, I learned that students will share some creative suggestions!

IBI Lab Refelction #TakeTwo

This week, the 2018 cohort was tasked to develop a lesson using inquiry based instruction. I’ll be the first to admit that I was not comfortable with this task. Mainly, I was uncomfortable with my knowledge of what inquiry based instruction was and how to implement it into the classroom. However, after presenting I do not feel like this lab went terrible. In fact, I started to understand what inquiry based instruction was and how to implement it.

My lesson was about artificial insemination in cattle, and how it compares to natural breeding. During the lesson I had students participate in an experiment by forming a hypothesis, test and collect data, then form a conclusion. The experiment the students participated in was creating a reproductive tract with materials of balloons, rubber bands and life saver candies. Once the tract was created, students tried to pour water into the balloon inserted straw. We analyzed which balloon had more water in it, and connected how what level of conception each tract would allow.

Although things went well, there is always room for improvement which is why I have highlighted gems and opps below:

Gems:

• Engaging/Hands on lab
• I had good enthusiasm for being extremely sick and having to do it twice
• I created higher order questions to keep students interest and realize the importance

Opps:

• I should have looked at the remote, and realized the video stopped recording, so I would not have had to do lab TWICE!
• I should have had clear balloons and straws so students could observe the conception
• I should have had student label repro tract instead of asking them what each represented
• I should stop using filler words such as (um, like, yeah)

Classroom Managment

The 2018 Student Teacher Candidates have the opportunity to role play different types of student behavior during our contextual lab experiences. In addition, we have learned through Discipline Derby Friday’s that students will test you in multiple ways beyond the 10 behavioral cards presented in lab. In all honesty, it makes me frustrated when I experience or read about bad behavior from students.  However, I realize that these experiences are teachable moments that help prepare us for the time we will spend with our first very own students during student teaching; however, a lot of our "preparation" comes from readings and conversations with seasoned educators. As the countdown for final presentations begins, this week’s weekly investment reading on classroom management was extremely insightful.

Start Out Firm

When asked how to implement classroom management techniques, almost every seasoned educator will share that you have to be firm. Additionally, they share how you cannot expect students to rise to higher standards after they have been able to get by with lower standards. This reminds me of when the 2018 Student Teacher Candidates talked about the first day of school and how unbelievably crucial that first day is for laying the way for your classroom expectations, procedures and consequences. Therefore, I have to be firm when presenting them, and prepared to hold my students to them.

Build Rapport

We talk frequently about building a rapport with our students. With these conversations we have come to the conclusion that to gain respect, you have to give it. As teachers we must listen, evaluate, and then act rather than jumping on students before they have had a chance to adequately explain a situation.

If I am working to build my students up, to keep striving to be the best version of them, my classroom culture and student behavior will surely be more positive.

Promoting Positive Behavior

Praise is a good thing when building a positive classroom. Think about it, if we as teachers were present negative talk, our students will be less likely to be engaged in our lessons, due to fear. Therefore, it is essential to praise and reinforce the positive behavior you want to see in your classroom.  However, be cautious not to over praise because it can cause backwards growth in classroom management. Aim for the middle ground (sweet spot), so that your expectations continue to be high!

Although, I did not touch on all of these. This Puzzle reinforces
classroom management from Methods of Teaching Agriculture. 

Overall, I want my students to know that I may hold them to a high expectation, but that is because I know they are more than capable of achieving this. I have realized by starting out firm, building rapport and promoting positive behavior will allow me to achieve this and good classroom management.

References: 

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

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

Inspiration and Motivation at National FFA Convention #ICanWeWill17

This year was different from my previous experiences at convention. Not only was the word ‘Advisor’ printed under my name on my badge, but my role and perspective on the purpose of convention changed.

Although, I enjoyed the many events that I participated in at the National FFA Convention, I believed it was not actions that set this convention a part from others; instead, it was the thoughtful and inspiring words shared by speakers, advisors, students and many others in attendance.

I truly felt inspired and motivated throughout my three days spent at convention. Whether I had access to my phone or a piece of paper and pen, I recorded thoughts and words that I found enlightening and encouraging.

Below I have highlighted moments with quotes that stand out the most from each day I spent at convention.

Wednesday –

At the first session of convention my students and I were inspired and motivated for the next few days ahead. Not only were we introduced to the conventions theme (check it out here), but we were also introduced and tasked to think about FFA in the next 10 years by National FFA Advisor – Dr. Brown.

Dr. Brown shared, "We must change to reflect and represent modern day 21st century agriculture to create a new era in FFA." As a future agriculture educator, I could not agree more! I have this urge of wanting a classroom and students to be forward thinkers and career driven. The words shared by Dr. Brown motivated me to ensure that I create this in my future classroom. To rise to the new era of agriculture, agriculture educators are tasked to fill our classrooms with beakers, speakers and job seekers.

At the end, Dr. Brown made us pledge by chanting, ‘I can. We will.’ Overall, it was a pledge as an individual and group to put in efforts to contribute and advance agriculture education.

Thursday-

I was able to be a self-advocate for growth by tasking myself to engage in three teacher workshops Thursday afternoon. The workshops I was able to engage in were the following:

• Living to Serve Grant 101
• Ticket of Success
• Streamlining Chapter Promotion Through Social Media

If I could choose a favorite workshop for that day, I would have chosen the Ticket of Success. This workshop shared how teaching is challenging, but can be rewarding and exciting. The workshop presenters reminded us that we were not in this alone. They encouraged us to build relationships with students, administration and the local community to build support for the program and you. Unfortunately I did not record who stated this quote, but one of the presenters shared, "I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things." 

All of the workshops were very helpful and help me develop knowledge and skills that I plan to use in my future classroom.

Friday –

To end my last evening at convention, I put on my favorite pair of jeans and boots to enjoy my favorite sport --- RODEO.

The evening was full of cheering with excitement as cowboys showed their skill of riding broncos or bulls for 8 seconds. In addition, there were motivational moments. As weird as it sounds, I felt inspired and motived while attending the rodeo. As the excitement ended for the night, the announcer shared something that his father reminded him often. His father would say, “The wealthiest man is one who gives to others and provides to society’s needs.” He proceeded to thank the agricultural educators in the audience for giving time and effort to the individuals that wear the blue corduroy jackets. Although it is not the highest paying profession, he hopes we realize that we are preparing students to contribute and join in efforts of preserving and advancing the agriculture industry. If that contribution does not make you feel wealthy, he did not know what would. Essentially, his story and thoughtful words inspired me. To top it off, after he finished my one student turned to me and said, “Thank you Ms. Wasson for choosing to become an agriculture teacher, you are going to do amazing things. I know it.” I was speechless, but now I am thankful. I am thankful for awesome students that make me feel wealthy, but mostly the chance to continue to experience this wealth in my future.

Overall, the thoughtful and encouraging words made me realize that I can create an impact on my students and they will create an impact in the agricultural industry.

Be sure to connect and keep an eye out on social media to catch more quotes that I recorded throughout convention.

Like a Box of Chocolates - Surprise Lab

We all know the popular movie Forest Gump. In addition, we all know the famous, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.” This line came to mind this past Monday when the 2018 Student Teaching Cohort was presented a “surprise lab.” This lab pushed us all outside our comfort zones, but allowed us to gain or build upon our ability to create a quality lesson under pressure.  

On Monday we were given an AFNR standard and told to create our lesson based around that standard. The lesson was due by 5pm on Tuesday. The majority of the time, we are presented a lab scenario, and given a week to create a lesson, so to just have one day had a few of us biting our nails. However, many of us can say that the experience was more tolerable than presumed.

My AFNR standard was about the effectiveness of methods of reducing the effect of animal agriculture on the environment. Since I will be teaching an Animal Science unit and Animal Science course, I was excited to receive this taste. The topic was very tasteful, and made writing a lesson more enjoyable. Also, at this point in our teach ag journey, lesson plan writing has become a norm and is an easier task to complete than when we started.

Check out my thoughts on my execution of the lesson through gems and opps listed below:

Gems-

1. I was very impressed how composed I kept myself during this lab. The students were not cooperating, and I really wanted to yell.
2. I was very well prepared and organized for the lesson given the amount of time.
3. I was really strong in the content area so I was confident in what I was about to teach the students

Opps-

1. I still need to work on timing. I need to push students a bit and give them a time frame to complete a task right from the start and not wait until I see everyone is done. This allows free time for students, which can lead them off task.
2. I need to take control of my classroom management. I felt I let students get away with no participating, but in the moment I did not know what to do. In addition, I should have made them clear their desk to ensure there was no distraction.
3. I should have done the lab proportion of this lesson to create more student focus and engagement in the topic, but I was playing it safe by utilizing a reading passage and discussion. Basically, I need to challenge myself a more.

Overall, this lab was like a box of chocolates. We did not know what we were going to get, but the topics were tasteful, and the experience was enjoyable.  

Five Fluid Steps to Inquire Based Instruction

In my teaching philosophy I share how I want to create a classroom that creates curiosity through exploration to discovery. I want my students to not only discover different career opportunities, but to build curiosity through their passion and potential. 

According to the article by Anna J. Warner and Brian E. Myers, students engage in five activities when they engage in inquiry learning and use the scientific method, as noted in the National Science Education Standards published by the National Academy of Sciences. Although these tasks occur in a logical progression, inquiry is a fluid process, and one task may lead back to a previous task. This process is illustrated in figure below. According to the National Academy of Sciences (1995), when students learn through inquiry, they are learning through variability.

Ideally, I want each student to be engaged in classroom and laboratory instruction. Through the labs and this week’s weekly investment, I believe I have I realized how to achieve this. Below I have highlighted each step and an example of how this can be implemented into instruction to create curiosity and engagement in a plant science lesson.

1.      Question
• This is the question that gets the gears grinding, that triggers the thoughts and curiosity into exploration. For example, students walk into the room and see two tomato plant samples. The tomato plants were planted on the same day, but one is larger than the other. A question to ask is: Why does sample A seem to be growing faster than sample B?
2. Investigate

• Now that the question is presented, we must ask our students to put their detective hats on. Using some previous knowledge, students run tests, monitor field and growth conditions and keep track of results.  

3. Use Evidence to Describe, Explain & Predict

• Now, a few days later, like true researchers students will dig deeper and evaluate the data that they have collected. They will rule out collected information that does not lead them closer to a solution and use other information to predict other causes

REPEAT 

• In a really successful inquiry-based learning environment, steps 2 and 3 would keep happening until students reach a more solidified solution. Trial and error will occur, but a solid answer can be found. There is no time for failure.

4. Connect Evidence to Knowledge
• And this is where everything comes together! It's the ‘ah-ha’ moment, where students discovery and curiosity leads them to a solution as to why plant sample A was growing faster than sample B.
5. Share Findings
• This has been a learning process. It's important to share and celebrate what the students have discovered and created. It's also crucial to reflect on the learning process. Do your students understand why they explored the difference in growth in the soybean plants? What new skills and knowledge did they gain from this experience?

I am excited to see how I can implement these steps into instruction to create curiosity and engagement in a plant science lesson.

Overall, inquire based instruction allows students to develop curiosity to discover. In addition, as an agricultural educator I can play a vital role in achieving some of the standards in science, math, reading, and writing, while teaching the agricultural curriculum. This is because when students engage in inquiry, they utilize skills from across multiple disciplines (e.g., science, math, social science, language arts, and creative thinking) by collaborating with others, collecting and interpreting data, organizing and developing representations of their data, and sharing their findings with others.

References:

Warner, A.J. & Myers, B.E. (2011) What inquiry-based instruction? Retrieved from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/WC/WC07500.pdf 

The Who, What, Where, When and Why of Individualized Teaching Techniques

To begin the week, the 2018 Student Teaching Cohort engaged in discussion regarding Individualize Teaching Techniques. In addition, at the end of the week we were presented with this week’s Weekly Investment reading that introduced the Who, What, Where, When, and Why of Individualized Teaching Techniques.

WHO:  

According to Methods of Teaching students have different needs, calling for individual or at least varying treatment in the development of the learning process they are to follow. Students’ goals differ. Some may want to become an animal nutritionist, whereas others only want and need to know the basics of animal nutrition. With Individualized Teaching Techniques, teachers can create projects for a student in an area, so that the content goes beyond the basics that the teacher typically teaches; therefore, this makes it that the whole class does not need to study that specific area. Simply put, an Individualized Teaching Techniques are for individual learners that have an interest in something beyond the classroom instruction.

WHAT:

In Methods of Teaching reading and class discussion, there were five types of Individual Teaching Techniques that were implemented into agricultural classrooms. The techniques presented include:

1.            Sheets

2.            Experiments

3.            Supervised Study

4.            Independent Study

5.            Student Notebooks

WHERE:

What is awesome about Individualized Teaching Techniques is that they can be implemented inside or outside the classroom. Throughout our discussion we shared our thoughts of using all the Individualized Teaching Techniques in each portion of the three-circle model. It may be obvious of how these can be implemented into the classroom and laboratory, but you are probably unsure how all these techniques can be used in SAE. It is okay if you are questioning how because once this was presented to us, we all pondered. We assumed it would just be supervised study because that is what the ‘S’ stands for in SAE. However, after pondering we brought our thoughts together, and realized that students have notebooks and sheets to keep records, some conduct experiments with research based SAE, and lastly students work on their SAE independently.

WHEN:

Another awesome thing about Individual Teaching Techniques is that because it can be implemented where ever, it can also be implemented whenever. This is because whenever the individualized teaching techniques listed above are used, students are individually involved in searching and seeking information. They are not waiting for the teacher to tell them what they need to know. Therefore, they are not limited by what someone else decides to tell them. Instead, they are in control of their own learning. They discover as much as their current level of capability allows.

WHY:

After reading this week’s Weekly Investment and engaging in class discussion, I can say that I realized the purpose of Individualized Learning Techniques. I realized that these techniques provide opportunities to all learners to discover and learn at their own pace with their own interest in mind. I also learned so ways to implement these techniques into the three-circle model. Therefore, I am more confident in implementing individualized teaching techniques throughout my student teaching experience and teaching experience.

Reference:

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

Problem Solving Approach - Am I Prepared For This?

Ever have one of those moments where you were felt unprepared, but prepared at the same time? Well, if it exists I am pretty sure that I experienced this on Wednesday when I presented my Problem Solving Approach lesson for AEE 412 Lab. I chose to present a problem that challenged the students to perform an evaluation to select a dairy cow to add to a neighbor's herd in replacement of the owner's top producer that had recently passed. 

To be honest, I have grown up in the dairy industry, but I have only given reasons for dairy cows less than a handful of times. I am pretty rusty on my skills, so I really had to seek and search for sources of helpful material to prepare me for this lab. Researching led me to recreating and rewriting my lesson plan ideas for bell work, interest approach and instruction, there were many times that I was determined that I should not be presenting on a subject that I was not fully confident on. However, I already invested so much time and I found this to be vital content to connect to other content in my unit; therefore, I created and presented to the best of my ability. Below I have highlighted things done well (Gems) and things not done well that need to be improved (Opps) that I found after reviewing feedback from peers and watching the video recording of my lesson.

Gems-

Honesty is the best policy. Many of my lab group members and virtual mentors shared how owning up to my issue of my broken hearing aids was a good move. Not only did it show that I was being honest, but it allowed me to set the stage for expectations for the students at the beginning of the lesson. 

Also, my lab group shared how my enthusiasm was very high at the beginning, but did fade a little during the lesson. Yet, the enthusiasm at the beginning was able to captivate my lab group’s attention and made them want to learn. 

Lastly, my lab group really enjoyed having the ability to create the objectives, so they knew how to solve the problem from content they previously learned.

Opps –

Classroom management was a little rough. However this was my fault. My students were decently behaved, but I did not act upon the minor things that should have been taken care of. My hearing impairment was to blame, but I should have positioned myself around my lab group members to ensure clear communication was taking place to ensure good behavior. 

Also, I felt that I relied too much on the PowerPoint and presenting review information. This took up a chunk of time, which lost engagement of my lab group. It was suggested that instead of having students review and then choose cow, I should make the students choose the cow, and then have them develop reasoning through review. I felt that this was a great suggestion that I want to try out.

It is evident I still have things to work on, but I have grown in areas of weakness through practice and research. I always critique myself hard, and point out the negative more than the positive (as you can see above). I believe in growth, and pointing out things to improve on is always helpful to remind myself that I can do better. In addition, we are reminded that these labs are not a formative assessment, rather a self-assessment that allows us to prepare for our student teaching experience. 

How to Measure Student Growth Beyond Summative Assessments

As teachers, we write engaging lessons and labs. We implement interest approaches and problem solving methods, while including guest speakers and video clips. However, how do we know if all this matters? How do we know if it is worth all the phone calls, emails, digital searches and sharing? To know how, we must realize that everything must be purposeful to help students grow their knowledge.  To ensure growth is occurring we assess.

From this week’s reading, I have learned that assessment is not just about writing multiple choice questions, creating unit projects and counting participation points. Below I have shared how we can assess students beyond the summative assessments that provide students a grade on an exam, project or course activities.

Formative Assessment:

Formative assessment is not a part of the grading process, but a part of the instructional process.  It is when students receive input and guided feedback on their relative performance to help them improve or increase their thinking.

Check out this awesome infographic I found on formative assessment! Since my school is not one to one, I am trying to implement this form of assessment through non-digital sharing. I plan to create exit tickets, moments of pair and share, and implement color cues or thumbs up and down to show understanding.  

Self-Assessment:

Self-assessment is the ability to be a realistic judge of one’s own performance.

Self-assessment can be a powerful tool to give students ownership of their own progress. To me this means that the students are able to reflect and have growth mindset. I plan to implement this form of assessment through questioning. By asking questions, it sparks higher level of thinking. Here are a few questions I had in mind to do so:

Creating- What should I do next?

Evaluating- How well did I do?

Analyzing- Where could I use this again?

Understanding- What was important about it?

Remembering- What did I do?

Peer-Assessment:

Peer-assessment allows instructors to share the evaluation of assignments with their students

I strongly believe in creating a classroom environment where students feel comfortable giving and receiving constructive criticism from their peers. I want my classroom to be an environment of respect where my students constantly work to build each other up. I also believe that this would allow opportunity for the stronger students to help coach the weaker students. 

Overall, I look forward to implementing during my student teaching experience.

Reference:

Assessing Student Learning. (September 20, 2017). Retrieved October 08, 2017, from https://www.cte.cornell.edu/teaching-ideas/assessing-student-learning/index.html

Implementing 21st Century Skills in Problem Based Learning

After reading this week’s readings for our Weekly Investment, I have this urge of wanting a classroom and students to be forward thinkers and career driven. I realize that this means I must be innovative by creating inquiry, applicable and discovery. However, all this will engage students’ minds for Project-Based Learning.

Although the readings were very informative, I chose to share the five points that stood out to me the most about project-based learning and inquiry in the classroom.

1. 21st Century Skills: Project-based learning naturally develops 21st Century Skills into interactive and innovative outcome. In addition, project-based learning enhances problem-solving and other Life and Career Skills. This teaching method also cultivates collaboration, technological, communication and other incredibly valuable and marketable 21st Century Skills that I want to see my students gain from an agricultural science classroom.

2. Effective Questioning: Multiple readings shared how the success for project-based learning is credited to asking the right questions. A good 'Driving Question' captures the heart of the project in clear, compelling language, which gives students a sense of purpose and challenge. The Question should be provocative, open-ended, complex, and linked to the core of what you want students to learn. Questioning can help strategically scaffold throughout the project-based learning process. Lastly, questioning can help facilitate reflection and revision throughout the learning process.

3. Student Voice and Choice: I am thrilled that project-based and inquiry based learning gives students ownership on their learning experience. It provides chances for hands-on application, which is something that agricultural education classes do quite well through incorporation of classroom instruction and SAE. The discovery that happens through this method provides power and purpose to student's learning. It allows them to feel as if they are the drivers of their education that leads them into a journey with a successful destination.

4. Keep It In Context: To keep it in context means to allow yourself to create and make connections from the project or problem needing solved directly to a real-life application or situation that students in my agricultural program can understand the relevance. According to the reading, I can accomplish this by aligning the process with goals, or essentially learning objectives. Keeping the last point in mind, it would be best to have these goals designed by students, in efforts to keep them invested through ownership in their learning process. 

5. Feedback Creates Purpose: There is a difference between doing projects and doing project-based learning. The completion of the project should require that students are learning the material presented. In addition, formalizing a process for feedback and revision during a project makes learning meaningful because it emphasizes that creating high-quality products and performances is an important purpose, and often times requires more than one attempt. I want my students to know it is okay to face error, as long as they are willing to fix their mistakes to be successful in the future. 

Reference:

John Larmer & John R. Mergendoller PhD. (2010) 8 Essentials for Project Based Learning. Retrieved October 1, 2017, from http://www.sbcss.k12.ca.us/attachments/article/1058/8_Essentials_article_small_file_size_Oct2012version.pdf

Unit Plan Knock-Out: Round One

Knock-out!

I sit here in disbelief that I have completed my first unit plan.

I would love to say that this was a simple task; however, I can admit that I struggled to knock it out.

Below I have highlighted my efforts and struggles I went through to knock-out my fist unit plan!

Round One: Be Purposeful

I want to be purposeful in the way that I fulfilled expectations beyond the essential elements of a unit plan. I challenged myself in creating a unit plan on a subject I was familiar with because I knew the impact and purpose of learning about the dairy industry in Pennsylvania. However, this intent to be purposeful in sharing about an industry I am passionate about created stress. I wanted my students to see the passion and importance, but how could I do that in an introduction course? And better yet, only for 42 minutes for 15 days!?! This tasked me with condensing my knowledge and industry content together with hopes of creating a successful and purposeful unit for 12 ninth graders.

Round Two: Get Specific

Some people describe me as a detail-oriented individual, but in all honesty I do not enjoy thinking about details. Thinking requires a lot of brain power and focus, two things that are hard to acquire when you have the urge of senioritis. Therefore, I really don't like details, but I know details are essential to the success of my unit and lesson plans!  In my unit plan I knew I was leaving out some of the details just because I do not want to challenge my brain and focus. Yet, I didn't realize how crucial these details are until further class discussion.  I realized that my unit plans are not just to guide me, but they will help my students and my cooperating teacher while I am student teaching. Overall, I need to use brain power to focus on details as far as materials, objectives, adaptations and FFA/SAE integration.

Round Three: Receive and Believe in Positive Critical Feedback

I have always believed that positive and critical feedback is crucial to growth in skills; however, I have not figured out how to interpret critical feedback. I get offended and take things personally too easily. I try to be perfectionist and let this create a roadblock when someone would tell me that my work is not perfect, which caused me to get defensive. Also, I do not give myself the appropriate 24 hours of reflective period, I act immediately and do not give myself time to breath and reflect. I am realizing the need for critical feedback because I need to grow some skill sets to improve my unit plans in the future.

Again, I was presented with challenges and got knocked down a few times. However, I am now more determined to grow from this round and knock-out more successful and purposeful unit plans. 

"It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up." -Vince Lombardi

It's About Them

After reading articles and watching TED Talk videos for Weekly Investment #5, I feel challenged as a future educator. I cannot help reflecting and acknowledging my personal experiences as a student to my future teaching in a classroom.

While watching the TED Talk entitled I'm 17 by Kate Simonds, I thought I should be writing down her thoughts and opinions. I found myself surprised with some things she shared, but I was also not shocked once I reflected on my own experience as a student.  I have been that student who felt like their ideas and concerns did not matter in the classroom.

However, my role is changing now, I am no longer the student sitting in the back of the classroom, I will be the teacher in the front. Now I face the challenge of how I can encourage students in my own classroom, so that they feel comfortable and vulnerable to share their ideas and concerns. I need to make this about them and not me. According to Ted Talk entitled Every Kid Needs a Champion, to do this I need to acknowledge the difference of being understood and understanding. To do this it involves creating relationships by choosing to ask, listen and letting students know that they matter. National FFA shared the following of points to remember to create an understanding environment.

• It’s about them: 
• What are the student’s needs and how can you coach them towards meeting challenges and creating solutions.
• Help students help themselves: 
• Your role is to help the student create positive solutions, not give them your answers.
• Be a good listener – allow student time to share and explain.
• Help students set realistic expectations – quick fixes usually don’t work. Patience and
• looking at the challenge differently may be needed to create a successful outcome.
• Check backs: Be sure to set up a time where you can check back with student. Keeps you
• informed on student progress and shows you care!

Throughout my educational journey, I have had many mentors share with me their belief in my creativity and intelligence, and to not fear sharing both with others. This grew my confidence and made me believe I mattered when I was younger. As a future educator, I realize the importance of understanding students. This is why effective questions, lesson plans and unit plans and reading page after page of theory matter because it challenges me to think of how I will do this.

All in all, this Weekly Investment made me realize that this experience is not about me, it is about my students.

References:
Cornell University Center for Teaching Excellence. (2015). Using Effective Questions. Retrieved from http://www.cte.cornell.edu/teaching-ideas/engaging-students/using-effective-questions.html

Dyer, J.E. (n.d.) Effective Questioning Techniques. Retrieved from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/WC/WC08400.pdf

National FFA LifeKnowledge. (n.d.) Coaching Session Quick Reference Guide. Retrieved from
https://www.ffa.org/myresourcedocuments/coachingguide/Basics_of_Coaching/coaching_Guide/Lesson02/pdf/Individual-Coaching-Session-Quick-Reference-Guide.pdf

Pierson, Riata (2013) Every Kid Needs a Champion: Tedx

Simonds, Kate. (2015) I'm 17. Boise: Tedx.

Tae. (2012). Tweak Your Teach. Retrieved from: https://tweakyourslides.wordpress.com/2012/12/26/tweak-your-teach-dr-taes-building-a-new-culture-of-teaching-and-learning/

Recipe for Successful Group Work

After reading this week's Weekly Investment, I have made the realization that group work can be a recipe for success to student success.

I say this because just like grandma's delicious desserts; group work is about putting together ingredients (students) and blending them together. 


Preparation:

For grandma, it is all about the design of the kitchen and the access of her appliances and ingredients that allows her to bake delicious desserts. As a future educator, it is all about setting up my classroom for productive group work to occur. To conduct group work the classroom needs to be set up in a way that can be easily adapted to accommodate small groups of students working on material. Pods, or tables are somethings I want to implement in my own classroom.

Ingredients:

For grandma, it’s about mixing the right combination of sugar and flour and baking soda. As a future educator, it’s about determining the perfect combination of abilities and the right number of students for each group in my classroom.  Research has shown that four students gives just enough for active participation by all members and works well when the groups need to be split up smaller into pairs.

Directions:

For grandma, it’s about perfectly blending the ingredients together. As a future educator, it is about me finding classroom differentiation to meet all students’ needs. By distributing students into groups, while having students with varied multiple intelligence, yet students that are like, to work together at an even pace.

Serving:

For grandma, it’s about checking on the progress of the dessert as it bakes to ensure rising occurs. For the educator, it’s about prompting yourself to move around the classroom to ensure student engagement is in the activity. This allows the educator to observe, intervene and evaluate the groups to allow for student success.

Overall, group work group work can create success within the classroom. It should be designed to empower students to encourage success. It should help add variability to instruction and help reach students with varied multiple intelligence and maximize their learning.

Detours on the Journey of Teaching

As I reflect upon my First Day Lab, I can admit that I hit a roadblock.

Reflecting back to my summer reading, Burgess suggested that we allow ‘roadblocks’ to get in our way of our intentions of doing great things. These roadblocks can simply be the following:

1. The fear of failure
2. Believing you have to figure it all out before you begin
3. Perfectionism
4. Lack of focus
5. Fear of criticism or ridicule

I admit that the fear of failure and perfectionism are roadblocks that were presented with for the First Day Lab. Especially, since students were assigned roles to play, such as the teacher's pet, the confused student, and chatty student. Since, I try to be a perfectionist, I thought I had it all figured out in my head and things were going to go smoothly, but then I was presented with questions and comments that disrupted the flow of the lesson and led to my roadblocks. To explore these roadblocks, I shared some opps (areas of growth) from the lab.

Opps - 

• Enthusiasm. Due to fearing failure, I was not displaying the enthusiasm that I have about teaching agriculture. First impressions count!
• Clarity of Instruction. I noticed some areas were confusing for the students in the classroom during the interest approach. Due to confusion, I lost their attention.  I failed to successfully communicate and develop the lesson. 
• First Impressions. Going back to first impression counts. I would have liked to create a more energetic and positive feeling when my students walked into the room. Music probably would have been a good start – I like how Karlie utilized it.

I realize that these roadblocks are just delays in the experience. I have a further journey ahead of me, and time to make up for the minor detour. In addition, I realize what got me past those roadblocks, which were gems (areas of strength) in my lesson.

• Review. The first day my classroom included some very important material - classroom expectations, procedures and consequences. I felt that I designed an appropriate amount of time to review those. In addition, to providing a handout.
•  Variability of Instruction. There is so much that goes on the first day of school, and many opportunities to transition to different material and activities to keep students engaged.

I hope to overcome the fear of failure and perfectionism, so I can be successful and effective in communicating my instruction throughout the rest of my journey.