Tis the Season of.... Creativity?

After talking to one of my awesome cohort members, Jill Gordon, we decided that these blogs sound more like steps of a Pinterest craft. However, we promise that if you keep reading it is surely no Pinterest craft.




Today we had our very last AEE 412 lab ever (sad!). The instructions for this lab was to bring one of your favorite unit plans and your creative juices. We really had no idea what to expect for lab. I thought for sure we were working in groups to create better unit plans or some creative activity; however, I was wrong! Instead we were all herded out to a big old white van and shipped away to the land of $1 (aka dollar tree). This also happens to be one of my favorite stores. Not because I am cheap (well maybe a little) but rather because there are tons of inexpensive craft ideas and teaching materials there! In fact, this was exactly why were headed there.


The creativity aspect of this lab was taking a field trip to dollar tree and finding 5 items that would enhance a unit or lesson plan. Our advisors were kind enough to buy our creative finds. I was truly amazed at all the awesome ideas my peers came up with. They are some very thoughtful and creative individuals! I am truly blessed to be apart of this cohort.


I chose my 5 items based on a swine unit that I will be teaching during student teaching. I found pink paper plates, stretchy socks, brown paper bags, shaving cream, a dog toy and a military play set. I may have been that one person that chose 6 items instead of 5. Oops! Anyway, I was pretty excited about my finds. I will utilize my pink paper plates during an ear notching lab. Students will decorate their plates according to a breed of pig we learned about in class. They will attach ears on to their pig and then practice their ear notching skills.


The stretchy socks will be used to learn about the digestive system. Students will construct the parts of a pig's digestive system. I did this as my inquiry lab earlier this year and loved it! Of course, there are other materials that I will need for this lab; however, when I tried it out in lab I didn't have the right kind of socks. So I am excited to see how this lab turns out by utilizing other materials.


What is so special about a brown paper bag? Lots of things! There are a variety of activities that you can do with a brown paper bag. Specifically in my swine unit I will use these bags to "build a pig" and during review sessions. The students will use the bag as the pig's body. Which can then be attached to the pink plates which represents the pig's head.


The shaving cream will be used for students to draw the different parts of the pig out with. They will each have their own stations and they will use the shaving cream to demonstrate the different parts of the pig. That was my initial thought, however, there are many other activities that shaving cream can be used for.


The dog toy and the military set were two random ideas. The dog toy is actually a pig with two ropes as its ears. It will serve as a hall pass for when students need to use the restroom. It's cute and it fit my unit well. How could I resist? The military play set on the other hand was not so cute, but I had this idea of using it in a problem solving learning lesson. I am hoping to use the different objects in this play set up a game of Clue. The problem will be presented and they will have to solve the mystery in order to find a solution to the problem.


This was hands down my favorite lab. I love thinking outside of the box and trying to bring those creative features into my lessons. Dollar Tree is the place to go for cheap little teaching aids. I think this goes to show that adding these creative features to our lessons are not only necessary for student achievement but they can also be inexpensive.

AEE 412 Lab Reflection

It's it that time of year again! That time when just 4 months ago we were sitting in our first lab thinking, "oh boy that last day of lab is soooo far away!" and now it's here. With all the work we have due in these last few weeks I kind of wish I had that time back! However, this semester has been one great ride and I can honestly say that I appreciated our 412 lab. It pushed and challenged me in ways that I didn't think I would be challenged. I enjoyed testing out new strategies and methods that we learned about in our other AEE courses in lab and receiving immediate feedback from peers and our professor. It was also a huge benefit to watch my other peers present and teach. There are so many great ideas I gathered from them and different strategies I saw them use that I thought I would enjoying using in my own classroom.

Although, I enjoyed my lab and lab peers there are a few aspects that were frustrating as well. I did enjoy being able to test out new teaching techniques or strategies; however, I felt that I was crammed in trying to process a new technique and then trying to implement it into my lab. For example, we would learn about the problem solving approach the Friday before we have to teach it on that following Wednesday. I didn't feel confident for lab because I didn't feel like I had a lot of information about it prior. I think it would have helped to see an example of these techniques. I enjoyed seeing and being involved in a demonstration before I had to teach it. That was very helpful for me.

I had previously stated how motivated I was to teach after our microteaching lab. I absolutely loved being with all of those 8th graders in a real classroom. After teaching at Tyrone, it made me realize that lab is nothing like a real classroom. Although I knew this previously, I realized how truly beneficial microteaching was for me and I wish that I could have had this experience sooner. I wonder if there is any possible way for student teachers to work with local Ag programs and test these new strategies that we learn at these locations throughout the semester? I think student teachers need to get into the classroom sooner. I know that there might be potential barriers to this; however, microteaching was extremely beneficial for me. It was helpful to have real students to teach and real situations to deal with rather than my peers.

Overall, I like the idea of lab and the opportunities there are to grow and develop skills. I think it has a great purpose and should continue in the future; however, I think there are some revisions that could be made to make it even more beneficial for current student teachers. I have appreciated how I have grown this semester both personally and professionally. I want to thank my professors who have invested much of their time and effort in designing this course and of course dealing with all of us! :)  

Expect the Unexpected When You Provide Your Expectations (WW#10)

"People are molded more by the depth of your convictions  or expectations  than by the height of your intelligences. Success involves converting people, not to your way of knowing, but to your way of feeling. People can refuse words, but they cannot refuse an attitude or an expectation. Give your students more than they expect, and you will get back more than you ever expected."

I love this expert from our reading, which focuses on expectations and how important they are in the classroom. After reading this I am constantly reminded of my cooperating center which I taught at yesterday. I feel that many of these students need higher and positive expectations for themselves. I feel that they need someone encouraging to say "you WILL succeed" and then follow up with that motivation to help them be successful. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't see that happening; however, it gave me a new found challenge to be that encouraging someone.

I believe these positive expectations can and should start on day one. Like the reading mentioned, that first day is crucial for all students. I challenge myself to think outside of the box when planning my first day of school. I know that almost every teacher reads over the syllabus and explains their grading system. First, why is the grading system a student's main concern on the first day? I understand that they want an A and they want to know how to get that good grade, but by making that a main priority on the first day I feel puts that letter grade above all else. What about the exciting experiments or activities that you have planned that will enable your students gain a skill? What if you did an experiment the first day to introduce what your class is all about? I think we should focus on the opportunities that students will be exposed to in our classroom in order to get them excited about a class rather than the letter grade they can earn. A student can earn an A in every class but they will not have the opportunity to raise an animal, experiment with the digestive system, or work in a greenhouse (just a few examples of an Ag classroom!) in any other classroom but yours. What makes your class unique for students that will get them excited for the rest of the semester?

Although I challenge myself to make the first day of school an exciting one, it is also crucial to establish your classroom expectations, rules and consequences. These might not always be the most fun for students; however, it's important that students understand their boundaries and know that you are serious about your rules. If these aspects of your classroom are not covered in detail, you run the risk of having students walking all over you and having to correct disruptive behavior frequently. As a beginning teacher, this worries me. I know that if I can install my expectations, rules and consequences into my classroom from the first day, there will be a better understanding between me and them and this will most definitely help my classroom management. 

I will admit that I am a bit nervous to jump into the classroom and be my eccentric self because this is not something the students are used to. I have exciting new strategies to try and I am not sure how well they will be received; however, I have learned more than anything that it is not about me, rather it is about my students. If I have to be goofy and eccentric to get them engaged in a lesson then I will because that also means that they are learning! Give your students more than they expect, and you will get back more than you ever expected. I think this is most definitely true, but we as teachers need to take that first step and give students more than they expect. Then we will reap greater rewards from our students.

It's Knowledge for Life!

Today I went to my cooperating school to teach my life knowledge lesson. The life knowledge lesson I chose focused on defining career success. The class consisted of 14 girls who had just started learning about Parli Pro. Although a life knowledge lesson that focused on leadership and career success, I thought there were many aspects of Parli Pro that I could incorporate into this lesson as well. For this reason I choose teach about what it means to be successful in a career.

I must say, I was a bit worried about the lesson today. It was a daunting day, as my cooperating teacher informed me that two students passed away over the weekend. This worried me because I tend to be a very outgoing person and teacher, and in situations such as this the last thing students want is a hyperactive and intense lesson. I did some last minute refining in hopes that I was not too over bearing for students. It seemed to go over quite well. The students were engaged and I received positive feedback from them.

I could tell that a few students seemed down, whether just being a Monday or upset about the death of a fellow peer, I couldn't tell but I didn't push them too hard. Although a very challenging situation for any school to go through, it was a good challenge for me as beginning teacher. There are times that your lesson needs to be changed at the last minute in order to adjust it to the needs of your students. I found that it's not an easy task. I rehearsed and went through the steps of my lesson multiple times to make sure that I didn't forget any important content prior to class. I was difficult for me to stray away from what I had planned out in detail; however, it was absolutely necessary to make this change considering the situation the school and students were facing.

Overall, this was a great experience for me as I was engaged in the classroom that I will be student teaching in all next semester. I got to meet more students that I will be teaching, and I saw some that went to National Convention who were excited to see me again. It was refreshing to be welcomed into this atmosphere and it made me more excited about student teaching!  

My Microteaching Experience

For three consecutive days this past week I had the opportunity to teach 15 8th graders at Tyrone High School. I was able to put into practice a variety of the teaching strategies and techniques that we have been learning about this past semester. It was quite the experience! It was not only difficult utilizing these new strategies that I just learned, but it was also a challenge testing them out with rowdy 8th graders.

The first day was the most easy going. The students were just warming up to me and they weren't quite sure how I would interact with them. One student was having a difficult morning and so before class I talked with him out in the shop to assure him that we were going to have a great day. After asking him if he was excited for class he said, "Well I am, but you see I'm not sure if you are cool or not yet." He was a fun and interesting character to say the least. He had a few behavioral issues but I was so glad to have him in class. He helped me to see how I would react as a teacher to difficult situations.

As days 2 and 3 progressed, my students very quickly warmed up to me, which means the chatter and questions of all sorts began. I don't consider chatter to be a bad thing unless it is disrupting me or other students. In fact I encourage it because it allows them to collaborate and they challenge each other. I saw this numerous times while microteaching and I loved seeing the wheels of their creative minds turning! There were times when I had to use my "teacher look." I was pretty proud of the "look" because it worked, and I felt that I had unleashed a hidden superpower that got all 15 8th graders to listen in a matter of 5 seconds flat. Perfect! The challenge was conditioning them to understand when it was appropriate to converse and share ideas and when they should be listening quietly to me. For 8th graders this was a challenge, but they did great! They all respected me as their teacher and I greatly appreciated their willingness to do all they activities I had planned for them, especially since I was a stranger coming into their classroom. They were truly a diverse bunch and I loved getting to know to work with each of them.

Overall, I found microteaching to be so motivational.After each day of teaching I felt so empowered to go back and teach. There is something about seeing all those light bulbs in your students' heads light up after a lesson. You know for a fact that they learned something. I call this an "aha" moment. I love these "aha" moments and they are what push me to become a better teacher. How can I encourage an "aha" moment for each of my students? This is probably a cliché statement made by all teachers but I truly love when students learn something new that will positively impact their lives. It's empowering and it reminds me of why I strive to be a teacher. My microteaching experience helped me to see this first hand, as I engaged myself in the classroom and put into practice the teacher role.          

People Watching at Its Finest

People watching is one of my favorite past times. I find it very intriguing watching other people interact with each other without them knowing of my watchful eye (in a non creepy way of course).  From these observations I have found that people are very unique. We all walk, talk, dress, laugh, yell and smile differently. Although we are all very different, I have come acknowledge that this is the beauty of our diverse culture. We should appreciate these differences as they add color to our world and challenge us to accept diversity.

While I was out at the National FFA conference in Louisville Kentucky just two weeks ago, I had the most opportune time to watch people of diverse groups intermingle in one location. Students from every single US state came for this convention. There was space and a challenge presented in the back of every program for students to get a signature from every state student representative. I found this to be a pretty awesome challenge. Throughout the week I saw students running up to one another asking for autographs. They interacted, got signatures, talked about their travels, and then continued on their merry way. These interactions were great and I was amazed to see such young motivated high school students take on this challenge and be vulnerable to engage in open conversation with complete strangers in respectful manners. Call me a little biased but I think that goes to show how FFA positively shapes and impacts these young future leaders. GO FFA!


I had the opportunity to go to National Convention with the school where I will be student teaching at in the spring and also the high school that I graduated from. I wasn't sure how these students from each school were going to interact and get along as there was a combination of 5 girls and 2 boys. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. The most inspiring highlights from the trip came from the interactions of these students. The first day we stopped multiple times for breakfast, lunch and dinner. At one of these stops one of the girls from my cooperating center forgot her money in the car. Immediately, another student from the opposite school jumped in and said that he would pay for her dinner. I was so taken back by this student's generosity towards a complete stranger.

An interesting moment for me during this trip was on way home when we all reflected on our trip. I asked the students to share what their favorite thing from the week was. As they went around and shared their thoughts and feelings, I was surprised to hear that almost everyone's favorite part of the week was spending time with each other and getting to know students from the opposite school. I was expecting them to say that they loved the cave hiking, or our visit to Churchill downs, or even all the free things they got at the convention. Rather they valued their time with each other. I saw this positive bonding occurring throughout the week and I was thrilled to see a positive experience for all students as a result. 

With all these great observations, I also unfortunately noticed interactions that were not so positive. I heard comments such "well they are from New Jersey (or another state) so it doesn't surprise me." I also over heard an unfriendly conversation about people in West Virginia. While I was waiting in line to receive my American Degree, there were a few boys behind me that we talking very negatively about people in West Virginia and how they live "trashy" lives. This was disappointing to me to hear this conversation coming from two people receiving the highest degree one can get as an FFA member. I had expected individuals such as these to live up to a higher standard rather than degrade others. Although comments such as these were disappointing to hear, I can honestly report that I heard far more positive comments than I heard negative. It was those positive comments and behaviors that make me proud to be part of the FFA organization.

Overall, I had great experience at National Convention this year. It was such an interesting experience going as the role of an advisor rather than as a student. I felt that I really realized a greater purpose for myself. Rather than rushing around to grab as much free candy as I could for myself, I took my students to as many college booths as I could in order to get them information about college. I hoped that these students would make connections that would build their professional network. My purpose at convention was for them and exposing them to as many opportunities as possible, rather than for myself. This was natural desire for me to want my kids to be successful on this trip. I realized this when I returned home and it reinforced the reasons why I aspire to be an Ag teacher. I was very pleased with my experience this year and I got to connect with students that I will be teaching next semester. It got me really excited for student teaching. Who knows, I might be able to return to convention next year as an FFA advisor with my own students!  

Bringing Inquiry Based Instruction into the Classroom. TRY IT!

Photo By Daniel Foster :)

Today I had the opportunity to bring inquiry to the classroom and test it out! How did it go you may ask? Well to be quite honest, it didn't go as bad as I had expected. Planning was probably one of the hardest parts. I constantly asked myself: am I actually planning an inquiry lesson? And how much of the inquiry is student directed? This was a huge challenge for me and even after doing my lab, I find this method of teaching a bit difficult but completely worth it. Although challenging to prepare for, I realized through this process just how effective this strategy is for students in the classroom.

IBI encourages students to think at the higher levels Bloom's Taxonomy. I requires them to pull all their knowledge together and the information they don't know, they formulate questions. We often hear about teachers trying to avoid questions from students because it interrupts class time or it is disruptive; however, developing questions is the drive behind inquiry. This was a realization to me during my lab. Although I have been told this numerous times and have read different articles about inquiry, it was difficult for me to truly see it played out until I was the one articulating the lesson.

This realization came to me by playing the teacher role. While students were working in groups, what did I do? Well quite frankly, nothing as far as teaching goes! I observed my students and walked between the two groups but I wasn't teaching any content. I listened to the students and I heard them asking all sorts of questions. There were some frustrations, confusions, and others who just went with it. I wanted to just jump in and clarify all those confusions but I quickly realized the importance of inquiry based off their responses. They needed that bit of time for confusion in order to formulate questions about content they did not know yet. It was hard for me to stay quite, and not just because I am a talkative person, but because I wanted to give my students the answers right away. During this time I realized that it's not all about me talking and transferring the information. Rather student directed learning can be much more beneficial and challenges students' cognitive thinking skills.

I will admit that I am by no means a pro at conducting IBI in the classroom. However, everyone has to start somewhere and I am glad to have had this first experience in front of my cohort and advisor who could give me constructive feedback that will only help me improve next time. This was probably the toughest of the labs so far, but just getting up and testing it out has helped me to be more confident with IBI. I also truly believe that IBI is such a powerful learning tool for students, and if I truly believe this then I feel the need to develop the skills to carry out IBI in myself in order to develop the necessary skills in my students. Therefore, going forth from this I hope to put IBI into practice. IBI can be difficult for teachers but we will never improve ourselves if we don't keep practicing. So my message to other educators: keep trying it! Build and broaden your own teaching skills and expose your students to diverse learning environments that promote this higher order of thinking that will enable their own success.

What are you INQUIRING about? (WW#9)

Synonyms of inquire include inquisitive, interested, curious, questioning and analytical. These five synonyms describe perfectly the purpose of the new teaching strategy we are learning about this week: Inquiry Based Instruction. The article "The Science Teacher" by Bell, Smetana and Binns define inquiry based instruction as "involving students in a form of active learning that emphasizes questioning, data analysis, and critical thinking." I like this  short definition as it alludes to students learning in a hands on environment where learning is encouraged through the scientific method.

At first I thought inquiry based learning was really just the scientific method implemented into a lesson; however, I quickly realized that there is much preparation and thought that goes into this teaching strategy if it is to work effectively. These can cause setbacks for teachers in using inquiry based instruction. I have recognized a few challenges that may arise when planning a lesson utilizing this technique. First, it can be difficult to even recognize if you are utilizing inquiry based instruction. This method requires a research question that students can answer through data analysis. There are many classroom activities that are effective and engaging that appear inquiry based but they lack a research question and therefore they are not considered inquiry based. Second, the teacher needs to decide what level he or she will design the inquiry based activity to be at. This can also be difficult as there are diverse learners in every class and all learn at different speeds. Lower levels of inquiry based instruction should be used at the beginning of the year and progress to higher levels towards the end of the year. If a higher level activity is presented at the beginning of the year, students will not be equipped will the skills needed to be successful in the activity; however, a lower level used at the end of the year will not be challenging for students. It will not be effective in building cognitive skills. With that being said teachers must be aware of all of their learners and determine what levels are appropriate for each when planning for inquiry based instruction.

  Although a very effective strategy that promotes higher order of thinking, there are many teachers that don't utilize it because they feel unprepared to use it, they are confused by it or they feel it is too difficult to manage. This is frustrating to me that these are boundaries that are holding teachers back from implementing a classroom activity that could be beneficial to students. I realize that as a teacher I will face these same walls that might hold me back from trying something new in the classroom; however, I hope that I would push myself to try these methods and strategies. If we stay in our comfort zone as teachers we may never know the abilities we have to excel our students by utilizing new teaching techniques. I don't want the fear of failure to hold me back from providing an exceptional education to my students. Not every lesson will go perfectly and sometimes they will completely fail, but that is the beauty of learning and growing to become better!

My challenge for myself: TRY IT! (within reason of course) but you will never know the impact you can make if you never TRY IT.

Although math, reading and writing are all components involved in agricultural education, we must not forget the importance of science. Because agriculture is a science, inquiry based instruction can be very applicable to our agriculture classes. Don't believe me? Click on the link below and view many examples of activities that are inquiry based and can be used in the Ag classroom.

Link:http://www.agintheclassroom.org/teacherresources/Lesson%20Booklets/Ag=E5%20Inquiry%20Based%20Lessons.pdf








   

Evaluating Learning (WW#8)

Wow, after reading this weeks reading materials, it is becoming more clear to me how key components of teaching fit together. One of the first questions addressed in chapter 14 is "was the evaluation based on course objectives?' This makes complete sense! If your objectives for what you want your students to learn are identified at the beginning of the course or unit then it seems only logical to design assessments based off of those objectives. Sometimes I feel that I get caught up in being creative with my assessment that I lose focus of what I am truly testing my students on what I expected them to learn. This seems like a no brainer; however, I think appropriate and effective assessment can be hard to design and implement.

In our assignments and instruction we have learned how to design instruction to meet the needs of students with IEPs and ELLs. We have also observed classrooms with these students in them. What we haven't done is learned about how we should assess these students. I have always wondered how teachers might do this fairly and accurately. The article "Grading Exceptional Learners" focused on this exact concern. This article was especially helpful in breaking evaluation into steps of how go about grading. I will be honest that I often worry about how I will assess students with special needs appropriately. There are a wide variety of learners and the same assessment or evaluation is not always applicable for all of our students.

This validates the importance of developing accommodations and adaptations for learners with special needs. These modifications allow us to align our objectives for students with special needs with the way we evaluate and grade them. Just as I mentioned before, it only makes sense to assess our students on the objectives and standards we have set for them.

Below is a link to website I found resourceful on a variety of topics for teaching students with learning disabilities. If you look on pages 23 and 45, they provide a little more clarity on these topics and provide some excellent resources: 
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/specialed/docs/learning_disabilities_guide.pdf


It is important that we create fair assessments for all of our students. One of the best ways to ensure you are grading fairly is by developing a rubric. This helps provide clarity for your students of your expectations for them. It also helps you to make sure that you are assessing your students fairly. I know as a student I always appreciated when my teacher provided a rubric because it helped me go about completing the task that included all necessary components. These tools are important to consider if we accurately wish to see our students grow and succeed in our classes.

WARNING: This may be too "cool" for you!

If you were to watch my video on my teaching for our Problem Solving Approach Lab you might find me saying "cool" far too many times! I enjoyed this lab and feel much more confident about implementing this strategy into my lessons; however, this lesson brought forth some annoying habits that I personally deal with as a teacher. One of them is saying "cool." From my previous labs I noticed that I used filler words such as "um" and "like." For some reason this week the word was "cool" (I don't think this is technically considered a filler word but I take pride in making it one).

I very much dislike watching and hearing myself speak. It's like a weird deja vou moment when watching our videos and it's the realization that all this time you sound nothing like you thought you did in real life. It's kind of a disappointment. Despite the creepy feeling when watching my video, these videos have been extremely helpful in allowing me to see my strengths and my weaknesses. We have been videoed for about four weeks now and it has been super awesome being able to watch my personal improvements since week one. Although we have gained many skills these past four weeks, I am still by no means a professional. From my video I realized that I am starting to use other filler words like "cool" and that I still am talking really fast. As I gather these observations I try to improve them for my next lab.

One aspect of my teaching that I don't believe has improved much (but I am trying!) is talking to fast. For those of you who don't know me I love to talk and I can sometimes be eccentric. Most of the time this isn't a problem; however, I notice that I sometimes fly through an important part of my lesson without checking for understanding. My reviews often say "you are very motivating and engaging but slow down a bit." The "a bit" part I think is just added to the end to make the feedback not sound so harsh or to make me feel better about myself, when in reality I should be slowing down "a lot." This may sound cheesy but sometimes I get really excitement about my content or lesson and I am ready to just dive into the material that I don't even realize how fast I am talking or explaining something. Talking fast is one thing I realize still needs improvement.

On the flip side there many positive aspects that I think I have been improving on. One skill that would be hard to develop without designing a lesson plan and teaching it in front of a class is pacing. This is one skill that was hard to even understand at first; however, now putting it into practice I have been able to pay close attention to how I utilize pacing. I think it's important that we realize both the improvements and the needs improvement aspects of our labs. Both focuses help to improve our teacher effectiveness.

Overall, this lab was based on the problem solving approach and I feel much more confident about utilizing this technique in the classroom. It provided some great insight to how students develop a higher order of thinking. Often times after a lesson I worry that my students gained information but didn't see the skills they were to be gaining. This strategy allows you to directly see a skill that is being developed in students. I get really excited when I see this outcome. After watching my other peers in my class present I realized how engaging and thought provoking this strategy can be.   I can't wait to test it out and use this teaching technique during my student teaching experience in the spring.          

Are Problems Really Problems? (WW#7)

                                                               
                                                                  Constructivism

Construct Knowledge!



 

 

When we ask kids if they are ready to go back to school we often get this daunting and dual response back. Why are kids uninterested in going to school? They automatically know that they are going to school to learn something and they assume learning is boring or sometimes difficult. It upsets me when I hear that students think school is boring or difficult. Who's fault is that? We could argue that it's the students' fault for not putting effort into their education, but I would contend that teachers hold the responsibility of creating engaging, innovative and motivating lessons. Possibly we need to put forth more effort into their education. Teachers are wonderful and I know they do in fact put in much time and effort into their classrooms. As an upcoming student teacher I am beginning to see just how much work this is! It is not an easy task. Yet still I am challenged in my classes to add variety to my lessons and think about how I can create lessons that develop 21st century skills in my students. I am convinced that I need to create different teaching strategies and activities that get my students out from behind their desks, engaged in their learning and help them to construct their own knowledge.  

 

 

Problem based learning is an opportunity to encourage this higher level of thinking in your classroom. From the reading this week I was able to pick out a description of constructivism that ties in well with problem based learning. It said "The philosophy of constructivism is that students construct knowledge from personal experiences, rather than passively absorbing information presented by teachers and others." This immediately makes me think of experiential learning. Learn by actually experiencing it! One of Dewey's philosophies was that "learning from experience helps people solve future problems." I feel as though this should be a huge part of my goals for my students. I want students to be involved in learning experiences where they will gain the necessary skills to allow them to solve problems in the future or make positive decisions. 

 

 

Of course we all know that implementing a teaching strategy like problem based learning is not something we can just throw together last minute. There are multiple steps involved in problem based learning we need consider each step and how we might facilitate them as the teacher. It's important on our part to design appropriate learning experiences that allow students to be successful. This doesn't necessarily mean that students reach positive outcomes. They can find negative results and still gain a positive learning experience from it. What is important that a problem is clearly identified to them and they understand the steps needed to reach a solution(s).   

 

 

Are problems really problems? In problem based learning, no! In fact problems are key to problem based learning. This type of learning allows students to work through a problem and come up with probable solutions. Students gain skills that will allow them to work through problems in the future too! This type of learning is important to Ag education and can easily be incorporated into our lessons because it is applicable to our content; however, in order to be effective we must make sure we as teachers are creating appropriate scenarios that allow students to gain these needed skills. 

 

Additional Resources on PBL:

 

 

I found this really neat organization that focuses on helping teachers prepare students for successful lives through problem based learning. How awesome! It's called the Buck Institute for Education (BIE). Bellow is a video they put on YouTube about PBL, but I would also encourage you to check out their website for awesome resources and materials you can use in your classroom!

 

Link to website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMCZvGesRz8#t=23

 



Teaching the Individual (WW#6)

"If there is one truism about learning, it is that each individual is different and should be taken from where he or she is to where he or she is capable of being." - Newcomb

And this would be why I aspire to be a teacher. I loved reading through our book this week and finding this gem of  a line. As teachers we need to be observant of our students' individual needs and interests. We need to understand the learning abilities of each of our students and then we need to challenge them to reach heights they never thought possible. We need to help students realize their full potential. This is how I come to understand this statement in the world of teaching. It's about taking students from where they are to where they are capable of going. What an awesome job we have as teachers!

If we plan to achieve this goal as educators then we must implement variety into our teaching. In this way we can reach all of our learners with different skills, interests, and needs. I captured this other gem of a line in my notes from class which reads: the more ways we teach, the more ways we reach!This week our reading focused on individualized teaching techniques. These techniques add variety to our classrooms. One of my favorite techniques is notebooks.

Allowing students to be responsible of their own notebooks allows them to develop good note taking skills and work at a pace that is appropriate for each individual. When writing my first unit plan this year, my end of the unit assessment was to have students hand in a portfolio including a notebook. I really liked this idea because I know it aids individuals in developing necessary skills to be successful in all avenues of life; however, I was unaware that it was considered one of the individual teaching techniques highlighted in this book.

I always make sure that my activities, lessons and instructions are created with a purpose and meaning; however, as a beginning teacher I am still learning all of the technical terms and methods to teaching. It's exciting to me to design lesson plans and activities that I find later align with techniques and methods of teaching we learn about in class. I am continually learning new things through readings and my classes. As the year progresses I am constantly piecing together the pieces of this teaching puzzle. At the beginning of the semester I was concerned about doing projects when I didn't know how to implement these activities and strategies. Although only about half way through the semester, I already feel more confident about designing effective lesson plans and constructing an overall Ag program.

Here is a link to another blog that has an excellent resource for an interactive notebook. It looks as though it is designed for the elementary level; however, I was thinking of ways I could alter it for my own classroom! I think it could be very useful!

 Link: http://www.ateacherstreasure.com/2012/04/interactive-student-notebook.html
 

Horsin' Around

I had the opportunity to write my very first unit plan for an Equine Science course that I will be teaching in the Spring! I thought this was going to be an easy assignment since I love planning and organizing; however I found myself taking a bunch of time on this assignment and it turned out to be rather difficult. My original goal with this unit plan was to cover introductory topics of equine science and dive into a little bit of everything. As I started looking at the Pa academic and ag standards I started putting them all down as standards I wanted to use because I thought they would cover good information. I very quickly discovered that in a three week unit it is impossible to cover all the standards I had wrote down. This required me to get more specific and think about what exactly I wanted to teach and how I was going to teach the information. It also made me think about the flow of topics. What was the best order to teacher the variety of topics I wanted to cover? After creating my first draft I got some good feedback from my peers about how I can best organize the content and improvements I can make. First and foremost, my peer reviewers pointed out that I needed to include my daily objectives. Somehow I forgot my daily objectives (kind of a big deal). I think maybe I was getting standards, unit goals and daily objectives confused. As we talked about these subjects in class they became more clear to me and I was able to apply this knowledge to my final draft. There were a few formatting issues that I resolved as well. Other than that the other content was all included!

For my final draft I used many of these suggestions from my peers and created a final project with many revisions.. First, I took an idea from the person's that I peer reviewed. She created a flow chart of what standards, objectives and essential questions would be used on what days during the course. I created my own format like hers and found that it was very helpful in keeping everything organized. I plan to use this format for all of my other unit plans. I have also added all of the daily objectives that I will need everyday. These changes have definitely improved my unit plan as a whole and I am grateful for the peers reviews that have helped me create a better final product. 

Are You Asking the Right Questions? (WW#5)

 

 This week I had the opportunity to read a couple articles about how we as teachers can ask appropriate questions that maximize our students' learning abilities. At first this topic made me think, "are questions really that big of a deal?"; however, I found that questions are a huge part of every lesson and can improve students' comprehension of content. It's our job to effectively create, clarify and respond to questions in our classroom in ways that build critical thinking skills.                        

                   

 

In my AEE 412 class we have been talking about Bloom's Taxonomy and how we can write effective learning objectives accordingly. My mind has slowly but surely been grasping this concept of how to write appropriate objectives. One question that came to mind while learning about Bloom's Taxonomy was, "does this concept only apply to only writing objectives?" After reading this week's articles I was able to answer my question.

 

 

The answer to this question is "NO." James E. Dyer explains that questions are categorized into two different levels: lower- level and higher-level. The lower-level questions pertain to the "lower-levels" in Bloom's Taxonomy and higher-level questions align with the "higher-levels" in Bloom's Taxonomy. At least this is how I went about understanding and remembering this concept. This is all beginning to unravel for the more I learn about Bloom's Taxonomy. I am realizing that these levels of cognitive thinking can be and should be applied throughout your entire lesson. These components should be aligned in order to aid students to a successful end result of higher order critical thinking.

 

I also realized that there is a lot of preparation when crafting the appropriate questions. Not only should questions be aligned with the level of learning that your students are on, but teachers also need to be prepared to respond to students. Teachers may need to clarify a question if students do not understand what you are asking. Students might ask you a question in return that you don't know the answer to. In these cases, how are you going to respond? I realized after reading these articles that teachers need to be prepared for any situation that might come about. We ask questions to engage students, however, we must then be prepared to facilitate them and appropriately respond to them.

 

 

As student teaching is approaching, I often fear that my students are going to ask me questions that I will not have the answer too. Immediately I worry that if this happens my students wont think highly of me and rather not take my teaching seriously. Although a fear of mine, I have been thinking of ways that I can work with these situations. First of all, the article I read for this week reassured me that it is impossible for teachers to know the answer to every single question that their students ask. Phew! Secondly, the article had some solutions for these scenarios. One was to direct the question to the rest of the class and see if any other students know the answer. I thought this was clever. I also thought that with technology being a booming business for kids these days, why not allow them to utilize their cell phones or other devices to quickly research their question and share it with the rest of the class. I wouldn't want to over use this strategy but in some cases it might prove beneficial. Overall, I think that it's important for teachers to be quick on their feet in responding to students and the best way to do that is to be prepared. I hope to have these tools that I learn about and gain ready to pull out of my toolbox and use as part of my classroom management strategies.     

 

 

 

Below is a link to an article that comes from Harvard on this topic of questioning. They propose an interesting technique to utilizing questioning in the classroom. They suggest encouraging students to formulate their own questions. Click the link below and check out this new technique that allows students to develop critical thinking skills!

 

Link: http://hepg.org/hel-home/issues/27_5/helarticle/teaching-students-to-ask-their-own-questions_507#home

Does this Interest You?

This past week in our AEE 412 lab we had to do a ten minute lesson on an interest approach we would use in one of our lessons. First I should say, I LOVED this! I was so surprised by all my other classmates' creativeness to create effective interest approaches. I thought my classmates really stepped up their game this week. As a result we all gained more ideas about how we could create variability to our classrooms and utilize these different interest approaches. I know I jotted down these good ideas and I hope to use them in my future lesson plans. They were all more tools that we can add to out toolbox! 

After reviewing my own video I was able to depict some of my own strengths and weaknesses. By now I think most people have picked up on the fact that I have a pretty outgoing and sometimes eccentric personality. Although sometimes I get the label "spunky" I think this allows me to be comfortable in front of my learners and enthusiastic about teaching. I think this is one of my strengths that also allows me to be engaging with my students.

I was very happy with the results of my lab this week. I definitely prepared more and I believe improvement was the result. If you were to look at my video last week, you might notice that I said "um" more than one is suppose too. I found that it became really annoying after awhile and my students probably thought the same thing! I noticed that from watching my video and therefore this week my goal for myself was to develop a strategy that would help me not use these filler words. Being prepared definitely helped with this. Because I had my agenda for myself for class memorized and knew exactly what activity was coming next, the words naturally came to me. In the lab before I think I struggled remembering what task to cover next in class and this resulted in me using filler words. It appears though that I am progressing. My strategy? Prepare and practice!

I notice that I also struggle with a "being in the zone" problem. It's not a huge problem and most people may not even pick up on it; however, what happens is that I get very excited and enthusiastic about the content that I'm teaching or the activity we are about to do that I loose sight of my actual students involvement. I forget to mentally observe if my students are "checked in" or "checked out." I think to help this I might need to just slow down a bit. This is allow for amble time to check for understanding and still cover all necessary content.

Overall, I learned the importance of an interest approach and strategies I can utilize to hook my learners into my lesson. These are valuable skills that will help my students learn content more easily and engage them more in my classroom. This was a good learning experience for me and I hope to continue to gather resources that will help me to develop awesome sauce interest approaches for each of my lessons!

First Day of School Lab Reflection

The first day of school is always the strangest. You don't know the other students in class, they don't know you and worst of all you are wondering what in the world is your teacher going to be like. Knowing these thoughts that run through students' heads, we as teachers can help ease students on their first day of class. Our second lab in AEE 412 did just that. We created an activity where our students got to know each other, we covered our expectations, procedures and consequences, and we could even start teaching some content. It was a lot to fit in a 10 minute lesson but it was all necessary for a real life "first day of school."

I will say that this lab was harder for me to develop something creative. I feel like students don't like going over the expectations, procedures and consequences because they find them boring. My goal with this one was to find something creative so that they will remember my classroom guidelines. Although I really liked the activity I had created I found that the more creativity you add the more time you will need. We had only 10 minutes to present these things and I found that I ran out of time. Although in real life teachers will have more than 10 minutes, this was a challenge of the lab, to find appropriate and concise ways to fit the content into the allotted time. I had definitely failed this aspect of it and I hope that I can use this as another learning experience to work on these areas of time management.

After watching my video I picked up some other attributes of myself as a teacher that I thought I could work on. I noticed that I said "um" a lot! I don't think I usually use those fillers words that often, but I will admit that I did not put as much time and preparation into this lab as I did my last lab. I think that because of this I didn't have as good of a flow to my lesson and that resulted in me using filler words to help me think of what I wanted to say next. After watching myself I started to find it really annoying that I kept using "um" and so it made me think that my students probably felt the same way! It also made me realize the importance of being prepared and fully understanding the flow of my lesson. If I can better grasp this, I also think I will be able to create better transitions from one activity to the next. Transitions are another aspect that could use some work. I think one of the biggest concepts I learned from this lab is that although I have engaging activities, they wont effectively work unless I (the teacher) effectively communicate and facilitate each one. This requires me  to be prepared in knowing how I will transition from one activity to the next.

One more aspect to consider is the behavior of my students. This was a major aspect to consider because it took up much time to correct my students' misbehaviors and questions. I found that this is important to consider when planning a lesson. Also, I noticed that the more your students are engaged the less chatter and misbehavior you will have because they are focused. This was a good teaching technique that I picked up on during my lab activities.

This lab helped me realize even more areas that need improvement; however, it also helped me realize my strengths. In recognizing both weaknesses and strengths I think I can better evaluate myself and focus on these areas for my next lab!  

Reflective Teaching Lesson: Lab Refleciton

Talk about diving right into the content of our classes! Our first day of lab for AEE 412 we student teachers had to give a mini lesson on a random topic that we pulled out of a bag! Of course I picked Chess, something I knew nothing about. However, I quickly did some research and came up with a short lesson that I presented in front of my peers.

By now you are all wondering "well how did it go?" I will start by saying that I put a lot of time and preparation into this lesson and it was only 15 minutes long! I was surprised as to how long it took me to put this together and then how fast it actually took to present. It made me think, "should I have even put that much time into it?" The answer is absolutely yes! I think my lab went well and I yielded great results. I felt that my students were engaged and they were LEARNING. Call me a nerd, but I love that outcome and that feeling of knowing your students are "getting it" or making that connection. If that's what results in my students then I absolutely must put that time and preparation into all of my lessons. This was a good realization for me as a future teacher!

 I get really excited for lessons or activities I need to present in front of others and so I think that gives me an extra boost of enthusiasm into my presentation. I know full well that I am eccentric at times and outgoing but I think that those characteristics enable me to add some excitement to my lesson. This may all sound great but I noticed from watching my video that with enthusiasm comes speed, which I must be cautious about. I think maybe I get too excited and start talking too fast. In reflecting on my video, I was worried that maybe because I talked to fast or even went through activities fast that maybe my students did grasp these concepts enough. This is definitely something I would like to work on.

How could have my lab activity gone better? As mentioned before I could have slowed down a bit. In that back of my mind, I was worrying about the time constraint of my lab presentation. In real life we may have more than 15 minutes; however, this was the challenge and so I need to rearrange or cut out pieces in order to focus on the important content and fit it into those 15 minutes. A bit more organization overall may have helped as well. After watching my video I saw that I left part of my materials on the other side of the room and other materials on the opposite side of the room. I realized that although small details they took up time. I think if I would have had all the materials laid out in one spot the lesson would have flowed better. I also need to work on how to better integrate both my hands on materials and the visual materials I have on PowerPoint or the computer. At one point I got caught up in the hands on activity that I forgot to keep up with my PowerPoint as well. Although I thought my lab went well, there are definitely areas that I can improve on!

Overall, I really enjoyed this lab. Although I hate watching or hearing myself on video, it really is a good reflective tool that will help us become better teachers. I now I know the things that I need to work on for my next lab and hopefully improve those areas.



   

Exploring Learning Objectives and Teaching in Groups (WW#4)

This week our readings focused on many teaching strategies that can be utilized to improve cognitive and learning abilities among our students. There were lots of great points and ideas to keep in mind when developing a lesson plan and creating classroom activities. I especially liked the article by Katy Groseta and Brian Myers from the university of Florida and their discussion about working in groups. Often times in high school teachers would put you into groups last minute and everyone ended up hating the activity because of poor planning and organization. After reading the article it is more clear to me the importance of group learning and most importantly the preparation that needs to go into implementing a group activity. I believe group work can be an extremely useful and beneficial to students' cognitive learning growth; however, I this can only be accomplished with appropriate preparation by the teacher.

 When planning my activities for my lessons or workshops I often put myself in the students' shoes. I ask myself, "how would I like this experience if I were in this situation?" I also  try to think of the diverse learners that I may have. Then I ask myself if my lesson would be effective for all different types of learners. When thinking about this topic my mind immediately goes back to our discussion in class about interest approaches. Interest approaches are another opportunity to engage those diverse learners in your classroom. My favorite thing about interest approaches is that there are unlimited creative activities you can use to build a great interest approach. It's a prime opportunity to be creative with your lesson and absolutely necessary in order to grasp your students' attention. I believe these aspects are important if we are to be effective teachers.

Another important aspect is developing effective learning objectives. I loved what M. Susie Whittington had said about objectives in her article, "Writing Objectives in Secondary Agricultural Courses that Challenges Students to Think." She states "When teachers fail to provide objectives at the beginning of class, students have not received the important pre-directional mind set that is necessary for learning." I will admit that I wasn't always the brightest crayon in the box as a student in high school. I needed to see the importance in what I was learning and I needed to see how it was all fitting together in order for me to be motivated to learn. As many teachers did not do these tasks, it took me longer to understand content and I was delayed in getting engaged in the lesson. This is why writing effective objectives are really important to me. I realize just how important it is that we create  a mind map for our students so that they can easily identify what they are to be learning in each lesson. If I had teachers that went over the classroom objectives for the day, I might have been more on task in school myself. I hope to provide clarity for my students by defining the objectives at the beginning of class everyday.

Bloom's Taxonomy is a great way to determine if we are developing clear objectives for our lessons. We should be keeping in mind what level of cognitive thinking are we helping our students achieve.

I found this really interesting article that links Bloom's Taxonomy and twitter. It mentions some creative ways of incorporating twitter into the classroom according to Bloom's Taxonomy. Check it out: http://www.edudemic.com/22-effective-ways-to-use-twitter-in-the-classroom-2/

Engaging Instruction (WW#3)

There were a lot of reading materials for this week; however, I think I could sit here for years reading about how to create an engaging classroom. There is much information to consider and for some reason this topic continuously grabs my attention. I love thinking about how I can create an atmosphere that gets students excited about learning. Students often have negative feelings towards school that automatically holds a dark cloud over the thought of school. Why is that? I aspire to have a class that students can’t wait to come to. I want to see kids show up early to my classes! I know that many teachers reading this may be thinking “good luck that will never happen.” Once again I ask “why is that?” Why not challenge ourselves to achieve the unimaginable. I believe this can be accomplished by being an enthusiastic teacher in an engaging classroom. However, this is our responsibility as teachers to develop this atmosphere and so we must put forth the effort if we desire to witness this positive outcome. In understanding that I am accountable for this type of learning success, I often challenge myself to “step up the game” in order to ensure student success.

Each of the readings this week provided insight on a variety of ideas and thoughts on this topic of developing engaging instruction. Therefore, I pulled out pieces that I felt stuck out to me most.

Article 1: "Motivating Students by Cultivating Self-Worth" by Jonathan Velez

“In agricultural education, we have the unique privilege of being able to work with students in a multitude of environments. This affords us the opportunity to have a greater impact on self-worth than arguably any other teacher in the school. With this privilege, comes responsibility. We have the opportunity to impact students, changing the way they view themselves, and the responsibility to build student self-worth, with the goal of lifelong motivation.”

First of all, I absolutely loved this article. It was very motivational and encouraging for me as a future educator. This excerpt from the article was so empowering for me because it’s these words that constantly remind me why I want to become an Ag teacher. We have a variety of environments to work worth and therefore we can utilize these environments to instill self-worth. Students will be more motivated in classes where they feel secure and confident that they will succeed. Wow, what a responsibility we have a teachers! Although a big responsibility, if we strive to achieve this kind of success in our students then I believe we are teaching more than just content. We are shaping students into successful and competent individuals. How many other occupations can say that? This motivates me to build my own skills so that I can be the best for my students.

   

Article 2: "Actively Teaching: Strategies for Use in the Agriculture Classroom" by Paula Faulker, and Connie D. Baggett   

“According to Mankin et al. (2001), "Students in agriculture, Kansas State University, were asked to identify specific teaching styles, classroom environments, grading methods, and assignment types that motivated them to learn." Mankin et al. found "the most motivating characteristics in each category were an enthusiastic and interesting teaching style, an interactive classroom environment, fair grading methods, and assignment types that provided experience relevant to the profession. The most cited factor reducing motivation was a long, boring lecture."

I immediately thought about the top 5 characteristics of an effective teacher that we talked about in class. Enthusiasm and variability we two of the top five and it appears that they also align with this study which focuses on motivation. I believe an effective teacher encourages motivation among students. How do they do that? I would think that being enthusiastic and incorporating a variety of interesting teaching styles would probably be a good start!  I think an engaging classroom also gets students more interested in class. This article also provides many examples of techniques that have been used that are successful. I enjoy hearing from teachers that have tried these techniques and are able to tell us what works and what doesn’t work. As a pre-teacher this is very helpful information.

 

Article 3: “Anticipatory Set/”Hook”Research Base” by Madelyn Hunter

 “By having an activity related to what will be learned, it shifts their attention to

the learning process. Anticipatory set can also establish a readiness or anticipation for

what is to follow. For the “hook” to do so, it must pique students’ interest.”

 

After reading this I immediately reflected on my summer reading “Teach Like a Pirate” by Dave Burgess. This whole article was almost like a summary of the book. “Hooks” might at first sound like small tasks that consume time; however, from all my readings I have found that they are a vital aspect to getting your students focused on the lesson. Hooks essentially catch your students attention and reel them in for the lesson. My favorite part is that there are so many hooks that you can really spice class up every day. It never has to be the same, which adds variability to your teaching and keeps students excited about your class because of their curiosity and motivation. In this way your students become more engaged in your lesson right from the gecko!

This week in class we also talked about the different types of learners in our classes. Each student is a different type of learner and I think “hooks” are a great way to engage all types of learners in our lessons. They can really be directed towards any of the eight intelligences: Linguistic, spatial, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, naturalist and interpersonal. These eight should be considered when designing our lesson plans, but I think they are also important to consider in our interest approach. In this way we gain the attention of our diverse learners from the start and prepare them to be more engaged in the rest of the lesson.   

 Many teachers may have this fear of not being creative enough to incorporate these activities or interests approaches into their lessons. I am no expert by any means but I would strongly suggest reading "Teach Like a Pirate" by Dave Burgess. He has some awesome suggestions for "hooks" and other engaging materials. Also, below is a link to a website with different interest approach ideas specifically related to Agriculture. Some of them seem more geared toward elementary students; however, many could be utilized for short activities that help students start thinking about the lesson for the day.  Click the link below: http://www.agintheclassroom.org/teacherresources/interest_approaches.shtml  

CHECK IT OUT!

 "What the new world wants is not job seekers but job creators" ~ Paul Collard

Paul Collard is an expert speaker on "The use of creativity and culture to drive social and economic change, and to boost organisational performance." Although he shares reports based on education in England, he has a lot of resourceful information to share about creativity in the classroom.

One example of what their program did in school was have students who were disengaged in class design their own classroom. He states "It's not about having good ideas, it's having the skills to make good ideas happen.... they (the students) came out believing that they can make a difference to their own lives."

 Watch the video to see what kind of classroom the students built!

How Do We Design and Plan Instuction? (WW#2)

How do we design and plan instruction? Boy that's a big question! Before reading the readings for this week I brainstormed and wrote some ideas down of what I thought were important to developing curriculum, a course plan, or even a unit plan. I came up with a variety of ideas and thoughts of my own; however, after reading the readings my list increased by at least a page or two! There is more planning and designing than what I had expected. Although there is a lot of work that goes into designing a plan of instruction, I realize just how important it is to have this in place in order to have an organized and successful educational program. I believe chapter 7 in the handbook explains this need quite well by stating "Because there is so much planning behind the teaching and learning activities that occur in a classroom or laboratory, if a course of study isn't carefully thought out, teachers may resort to teaching a series of incoherent, irrelevant, or articulated topics." Wow, how many times have we seen this happen in schools or even experienced it as a student? It's that last minute, poor planning, unorganized lesson planning that we begin see the irrelevant or incoherent teaching. How does this positively help effect the academic success of our students? It doesn't. As teachers we need to make sure that we build a firm foundation or framework for our program that is well equipped to prepare our student for success.

 I really took interest in the Understanding by Design Framework by  Jay Mctighe and Grant Wiggins. Of the whole article that went through thier 3 different stages of backward design, I captured the the phrase that stood out to me the most, "Learning priorities are established by
long-term performance goals—what it is we want students, in the end, to be able to do with what they have learned. The bottom-line goal of education is transfer.The point of school is not to simply excel
in each class, but to be able to use one’s learning in other settings." I believe this once again reiterates the importance of having an organized plan of instruction for your program. Within your plan you must also make sure that you are achieving transferred learning. While reading this I couldn't help but to think how applicable this is for Agricultural Education. My Ag classes in high school were one of the few classes I can think of that taught me the knowledge, skills and dispositions of a topic that I could utilize in a variety of real life situations. As a future Ag educator I value this impact that my department could have on the cognitive success of each of my students. This is what motivates me to pursue this career path!

However, as I read, it comes with a lot of hard work because "piss poor planning leads to piss poor performance." Planning is key! My thoughts go back to one of our classes in AEE 412 last week when we discussed the top 5 characteristics/behaviors of an effective teacher. In class we did a vairety of mini expereiments that taught us about each of them. Although this would be considered part of the daily agenda, it was well planned out and I could shout these 5 behavors anywhere at anytime of the day. Why? Because I believe the instruction aligned with the educational goals, which means that the lesson was thought through and created in such a way that it met these specific goals. I was able to retain the information more easily because "transfer of learning" was achieved.


 Below is a really interesting video that exemplifies how transfer of learning is being utilized first hand at the college level and how it is impacting our society! Check out this link to read more:

     http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q3/daniels-awards-prize-for-competency-based-degree-to-purdue-polytechnic-institute.html