Every Problem Is A Gift

This weeks essential question:

What is the Problem-Solving Approach?

Key Questions: 

1. What is problem solving?
Today, problem solving includes a complex set of cognitive, behavioral, and attitudinal components.  In 1983, Mayer defined problem solving as a multiple step process where the problem solver must find relationships between past experiences (schema) and the problem at hand and then act upon a solution.
Mayer suggested three characteristics of problem solving:
1) Problem solving is cognitive but is inferred from behavior.
2) Problem solving results in behavior that leads to a solution.
3) Problem solving is a process that involves manipulation of or operations on previous knowledge (Funkhouser and Dennis, 1992).

2. How is problem solving related to project based?
In order for students to accomplish projects used in project based learning, they are require to utilize higher order thinking as well as problem-solving. In my classroom at Boonsboro, I will be conducting a large animal science unit which will include a cattle diseases research project. This project will be based upon open-ended questions that students are able to think through and come up with conclusion. For this project, students will be working in groups, however, projects can also be individual tasks. Students are required to use critical thinking and problem solving to come up with the topics and information that they would like to include in this project.

References:

Kirkley, J. (2003). Principles for teaching problem solving. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.117.8503&rep=rep1&type=pdf Note: Principles to Teach Problem Solving (Canvas 16 pages

Larmer, J. & Mergendoller, J.R. (2010). The main course, not dessert: How are students reaching 21st century goals? With 21st century project based learning. Retrieved from http://bie.org/object/document/main_course_not_dessert

Larmer, J. & Mergendoller, J.R. (2010). 8 essentials for project-based learning. Retrieved from http://www.sbcss.k12.ca.us/attachments/article/1058/8_Essentials_article_small_file_size_Oct2012v ersion.pdf

Phipps, L.J., Osborn, E.W., Dyer, J.E., & Ball, A.L. (2008) Handbook on agricultural education in public schools, 1st Edition. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. Note: Chapter 15 – Problem Solving 

One Down.

One Down. 

13 More To Go. 

This week, I finalized my VERY.FIRST.UNIT.PLAN. 

I am so thankful that I initially began by creating my First Original Lesson Plan that will be taught in this unit as it helped me to create the unit and get the wheels turning.

In High School, I took Veterinary Science courses and was at one point in time (as any other young teenage girl) convinced that I was going to be a veterinarian. When I was determining my student teaching placement, I wanted to channel that inner love and passion for animal sciences, however, I knew that I needed to improve in areas as well.

Boonsboro focuses mainly on plant science and agricultural mechanics. So when I was told that I would be teaching an introduction to agriculture class and could include both a large animal and small animal unit, I was excited... and a little nervous.

I took two years of veterinary science, and now I was being challenged to incorporate whatever I felt was important for large and small animals into 6 short weeks.

For my first unit plan, I decided to focus on the large animal science unit. After not only having two peer reviewers look over the unit, but also verbally discussing my unit with some other peers and mentors, I am incredibly excited to see how I can make this unit plan even better.

While I am nervous for the feedback I could receive, I keep reminding myself that this is only the first unit plan, and things can only go up from here!

Wish me luck!

Effective Questioning

This week, in AEE 412, we will be exploring the following:

How do we transition between techniques utilizing effective questioning?

It is amazing how these weekly investments seem to be lining up just perfectly with where my mind is going and what questions I have in terms of how to make myself a better teacher for my future students.

Key Questions:
1. Are all questions the same?
-Through the reading this week, I have not only discovered why questions are important, but that there are in fact different types of questions. Questions can be effective, open-ended, and closed-ended. I also learned that different questioning strategies are also beneficial for my students. Questions can be geared towards explanations, comparing and contrasting, how to do something, and making predictions.

2. What is the coolest teacher "question tip" you want to incorporate?
-One of the coolest things that I got out of this reading was from the Pursue Passion article. The article describes how Google allows their employees to spend one full work day working on a project that they are passionate about. As a result- approximately 50% of Google's products were originated from their employees spending this 20% (one full work day) on their passions. I would really like to incorporate this kind of mindset into my agriculture classrooms. On Fridays, I would like to incorporate either FFA Fridays or SAE Fridays. During these times, I would like students to plan a workshop, come up with an SAE project, come up with a class project, or come up with something else that they are passionate about to work on for a small portion of the class period. By incorporating this into my classroom, I believe that my students will be more motivated to come to class and more enthusiastic about the subject. By allowing students to pursue their passions, it gives them a sense of accomplishment and responsibility. They will have a say in what they decide to create.

3. Why would asking questions at higher levels of cognition matter?
-I believe that asking questions at a higher level of cognition matters because it allows us, as teachers, to see that our students are not just remembering and regurgitating the information, but that they are able to analyze and evaluate the topics as well. Asking questions at higher levels of cognition allows teachers to recognize what they taught well, or what they need to work on so that students are really grasping the concepts.

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 

 

Read/View: Tweak Your Teach: Dr. Tae's Building a New Culture of Teaching and Learning 

 

Read: Pursue Passion: Demand Google 20% Time at School

Go Get It!

This week, we were tasked with conducting a teaching lab with an interest approach which included an e-moment.

I chose to create an original lesson plan with an interest approach and e-moment for my introduction to agriculture class. The lesson will be conducted during my animal science unit where we will focus on lambs, hogs, and cattle.

My E-moment was entitled the Go Get It moment. This E-moment is a great way to get students up and moving. It can also be utilized at any point during a lesson when things seem dull.

I decided to try something that I had never seen before but thought was a creative and fun idea to get my students interested in the subject.

Some background:
I created this lesson to be during the middle of the week when I am teaching cattle. The beginning of the week would cover general cattle terminology and how to judge both beef cattle and dairy cattle. This topic was related to diseases in cattle, both dairy and beef. The lesson would begin with the interest approach and would lead into a group research project about one of the common cattle diseases.

Here are some gems and opps from my interest approach!

Gems: 
-The students seemed to love the e-moment and being able to get up and move around the room.

-I also feel as though I did a good job of connecting the content learned the day prior (cattle terminology) to the lesson for the day.

-I also liked how I had individual cards for each students so students were able to physically touch and see a different disease than their peers.

Opps:
-I am still struggling with finding the balance between having a loud "cheerleader" voice, and being enthusiastic yet quiet enough for my students to lean in and want to listen to what I have to say.

-I also recognized that the imaged that I had laid around the room for the students were small and difficult to see/read what the picture was portraying.

Weekly Investment #5

This week, in AEE 412, we will be exploring the following:

What structure do we need in our instruction? 

As well as applying instructional design techniques.

I could not think of a better time to address the topic of structural design as our first original lesson plan is due this week and we are reviewing our first unit plans.


Key Questions: 
1. Why are objectives important?
-Objectives, when used properly (using a verb and containing measurable components), give students the "road map" needed to see where the "destination" is for the end of the lesson. By creating objectives, and having them displayed for students; students are more likely to not "give up" due to the anxiety of wondering where they are going.

In my classroom at Boonsboro, I will emphasize the importance of having clear objectives by having the objectives either written on the board and/or on a power point presentation used during class. I will also verbally go over the objectives and ask for questions so that there is no confusion on where we are headed as a class and what I expect to cover throughout the class. 

Accepting opinions on the following idea:
The idea has run through my head of having a small sheet of paper for students with the objectives written on each day. This way, students are able to look back at the papers and recall what was taught that day and perhaps study better for an upcoming test or quiz. 

2. How does Bloom's Taxonomy impact instructional design?
- Bloom's Taxonomy impacts instructional design in a variety of ways. When creating objectives, we are able to utilize the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. Utilizing the Interactive Bloom's Taxonomy tool, educators are able to design objectives based upon the Bloom's level that they wish to address.

For example, in my Agricultural Science course, I am teaching a large animal science unit which will include both monogastric and ruminant animals. One objective that I could utilize would be to create a ruminant digestive system. Students would be challenged using the Synthesize level of Bloom's but also need to incorporate all of the levels leading up to the synthesizing, such as, listing the components of the ruminant digestive system, identifying the functions of each part of the ruminant digestive system and how they interact. 
-Side Note:
I have book marked this tool in my laptop to utilize while making lesson plans!

3. How can Group Teaching Techniques be effective?
- Group teaching techniques such as working in small groups will allow learners to develop multiple social skills that will create better members of society, whom, are able to cooperate with others both inside and outside of the classroom. Some of these skills include listening to others, taking turns, contributing ideas, explaining yourself clearly, and encouraging others. Along with social skills, there are also academic skills that can be gained. Johnson and Johnson  explained that “learning materials with the expectation that you will have to explain it to peers results in more frequent use of higher-level reasoning strategies than does learning material to pass a test. Orally explaining the material being studied results in higher achievement than does listening to the material being explained or reading it alone” (p. 1).  Group teaching also promotes controversy which allows students to thoroughly think through, and explain their reasoning for their beliefs.

In my classes at Boonsboro, I will be utilizing group teaching techniques during all of my classes. Due to the nature of agricultural education classes being mainly hands-on experiences, my students will be working in groups fairly regularly to complete projects and assignments. Students may also be asked to discuss the bell work and/or discussion questions prior to coming together and discussing them as a class. During my FFA/Leadership Unit, I may include a parliamentary procedure section which could include debate. 
-Side Note:
The cycle of effective instruction includes teamwork. 

We were required to look into various articles including the following: 

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

- West Virginia University, (2010.). Bloom’s taxonomy. Retrieved from     http://community.wvu.edu/~lsmong/Articulate%20Blooms%20Wheel/blooms_wheel.html

- 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.

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

Teaching Lab #1: First Days!

This week in lab, we were challenged to create a lesson plan for, and present a first day lesson to our peers. Although we were to create an entire lesson plan, we were only asked to present a 10 minute section of our lesson. As I look ahead to my student teaching experience in Boonsboro, Maryland- I found this lab extremely helpful. Due to the nature of the Washington County Public Schools not beginning classes until after labor day, I truly will have a first day with my students. The first three weeks that I am at Boonsboro will be spent 1 week observing and 2 weeks finishing up a floral unit. However, shortly after those three weeks, I begin student teaching with a brand new set of students in both my Agricultural Science class and my Power Mechanics 1 class.

For this lesson, I chose to begin with my first day in Agricultural Science class.

When preparing for this lesson, we were not only asked to provide a lesson plan for the entire time that we would be teaching, which for me is 56 minutes; but we were also asked to formulate three classroom management posters entitled: Classroom Procedures, Expectations, and Consequences.

As these are just a first draft of my posters, any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! In the future I would like to make the posters more creative and engaging instead of merely words on a poster.

Classroom Procedures: 

• Obtain personal folder
• Complete bellwork 
• Turn in any homework assignments/late assignments via Turn-It-In Bin
• Complete ticket out (when asked)

Classroom Expectations:

• Be respectful 
• Use appropriate language
• Wait for Ms. Stauffer to dismiss you (not the bell)

Classroom Consequences:

• 1st Offense- Warning
• 2nd Offense- Detention with Ms. Stauffer
• 3rd Offense- Call Home/Parent-Teacher Conference
• 4th Offense- Office Referral

-Ms. Stauffer reserves the right to skip any of the above consequences and go directly to 4th offense.

Clarification: 

-The personal folders will be file folders with a tab that has each student's name on so that students can keep their bellwork books and name tags in one place. These folders will be kept in the classroom and available for students to grab on their way in every day. 

-The turn-it-in bin is a personal favorite of mine. I feel as though by having a bin for students to hand in work that they have missed or simply turning in homework; this eliminates wasted class time. However, I would still address if there were any questions regarding the homework. 

-The ticket out would be a check that I would do once a week for students to assess their learning and make sure that everyone is on the same page without asking students to speak in front of peers if they are embarrassed of not knowing or understanding a concept.

Reflecting on the first day of Agricultural Science class

Gems:                                                                                              Opps:

-The Snow Ball fight allowed the "rowdy"                              -I was struggling to find words

class to get up and moving. None of the                                    to use other than "we're going to 

students were out of hand when throwing                                 move on now, ok" when trying to gain

their snowballs.                                                                          students attention and get them back 

                                                                                                   on track.

-I was very pleased with having my

objectives written on the board                                                -I also caught myself merely telling

as well as verbally addressing them                                         students my classroom procedures,

working to incorporate all modalities!                                     expectations, and consequences when 

                                                                                                  I wanted to make it a class discussion.

-I was also pleased with having 

address all three modalities:                                                    -A peer also suggested that my bell 

kinesthetic, visual, and auditory.                                              work and ice breaker activities were

                                                                                                  similar and she had trouble determining

-I utilized the word "we" when giving                                     the difference between the two.       

directions; putting myself on the same 

level as my students.                                                                 -Although I did have the class title 

                                                                                                   on the board with the seating chart, 

-I (although unintentional),                                                        I also could have reiterated the class

left the door open slightly longer                                               while students were entering the room.

than usual to allow students who                                             

may have gotten stuck at their lockers

time to get to class. 

-I also mentioned that I 

would like to attend a basketball

game as one of my students

had mentioned that he was on the team; 

showing interest in my students 

outside of the classroom.

Overall, I was very happy with the flow of my lesson, I think that I was able to handle the class other than the phrasing when trying to gain students attention. There is always room for improvement, and I think that I have done a lot of reflecting with this first lab and will take everything that I've learned and try to improve with every teaching lab!

What Great Teachers Do Differently: Part 3

Chapters 12-19 
As a team, our time engaging in the concepts discussed in What Great Teachers Do Differently has come to a close. To finish out the book, I asked my virtual mentors the following questions and received the following responses.

How do you determine when is an appropriate time to address teasing/taunting?

I will address these items any time that it becomes concerning to me- I would rather have a talk with students and find out there friends and that's just how they communicate, than overlook an issue and there be real teasing/taunting. Additionally, anytime it interferes with the classroom it is a problem no matter what.

How do you address it without giving the student the satisfaction of your attention? I alway address these types of issues/concerns away from the other students such as calling them out into the hall or asking them to stay a few minutes after class to discuss the issue

How do you accommodate for high-achievers/gifted students? This is something I admit I am not as good at: I have found that my gifted students will dig deeper themselves and make some of those deeper connections between the curriculum and other course work.

What can you do to give high-achievers/gifted student the satisfaction of doing good work while pushing them to exceed the expectations without deflating their self conscious? Once you develop a rapport with those students it will come naturally- my classes have anywhere from 15-30 students that range in abilities from major IEP accommodations such as a 3rd grade reading and writing level to having the class valedictorian… I have found that you have to stay on your high achieving students as they will tend to slack quicker in a diversified class, where they may not feel the pressure to perform- that pressure has to come from you as the teacher- it may be comments or conversations about how they can improve an assignment or project. Additionally, sometimes the hands on components of our programs  are a nice “brain break” for the high achievers that in my opinion we expect to much of at times.

What are your opinions on standardized testing? They do a poor job of indicating a students knowledge- they only cover a small part of what students learn and in limited subjects.

How do you feel about the NOCTI? It is an ok tool for specialized programs but not for general programs with limited availability to teach all components that may be offered.

Do you feel as the book describes- standardized testing only covers a small percentage of what schools should be doing? Yes- I firmly believe that schools are designed to prepare students for embarking on society and standardised tests limit a teacher's ability to prepare students for these situations as there is so much pressure for teachers to increase test scores  

In addition to these questions, I also came up with the following comments that allowed me to connect the concepts within the book to what I will be teaching and how I can put these concepts into my own works. 

- Appeal to students emotions. In order to get a reaction that you are hoping for, you need to appeal to students emotions. Everything is driven by emotions. If we make it cool to care, there will be no wrong-doing. (In my classroom: utilize all of the fun things about FFA, make students want to engage in SAE projects and FFA activities.)
-Students first.

-Great teachers put themselves in their students shoes and are sure to approach all types of learners. No matter their home life or background. (Variability is key, get to know your students and tailor to their needs- if "Becky" is on the cheering squad, relate some instruction to that area that interests her, or if "Billy" love animals, highlight jobs that he could have in the future.) -The wording that you use can impact the kind of response that you get. Be careful not to send out negatively written notes. When people become uncomfortable, they change. (When sending letters home to parents, make sure that you are always utilizing positivity even if the letter is of a disciplinary nature- NEVER accuse students.)