Final Lab Reflection

For pre-service agricultural education teachers at The Pennsylvania State University we must take AEE 412 our fall semester before student teaching.  This course is jammed pack with content and assignments.  It is nothing to take lightly!  All that said it’s a class where we get to grow professionally, learn together, collaborate together, and get to teach our peers along with high school students for a three day mini unit.   

With a semester of AEE 412 lab just under wraps it was a positive experience overall.  Each week I was challenged to teach a certain approach to presenting material to my peers.  While at times I did become quite stressed out.  The knowledge and skill I learned from creating these lessons like a solid interest approach, problem solving, and inquiry have strengthened me as a to be educator.  I now realize the importance of not just standing in front of the class lecturing from a PowerPoint and students never having the opportunity to get up out of their seats.  When teaching on Wednesdays I struggled with clarity specifically clarity in my directions.  Throughout the semester lab I became better at conveying my thoughts and directions across to my students.  I really witnessed this during my three day microteaching experience.  Wednesdays also taught me how much you have to be prepared to teach just a lesson let alone an entire school day!  I found myself preparing days in advance for my teaching.  I also witnessed first-hand how well my lessons would go if I had all my materials prepared and lesson solidly written before going into teach.  This in turn was a confidence booster and helped me succeed during lab. 

Individually, I have grown in the sense of becoming more familiar with teaching techniques and how you might incorporate them into certain types of material I may be teaching.  Throughout the semester and specifically during my microteaching experience I saw the powerfulness of having bell work, greeting students, and starting class with some type of interest approach.  I always thought bell work was dumb, but when looking at classroom management techniques having a consistent schedule set of procedures makes starting class that much easier.  The whole greeting the students’ thing just puts that personal touch on the class. 

Getting up in front of my classmates and being front and center built on my public speaking skills I already had.  Being able to own the classroom and speak in a teacher voice is essential when actually going out and teaching.  I also, learned how to manage students who might be disruptive, rude, or disengaged.  When we began role playing in class I have to say we gave each other a run for our money!  It was all in good fun and meant to only give us an outlook on what might occur while student teaching.  Professionally I have grown realizing that students will only take me as serious as I take myself.  Every day I must go in dressed for success and expect the same from my students while in my classroom. 

Coming into this semester I thought blogging was silly and it’s just another means of social media.  However, my viewpoints have somewhat changed.  Reflecting after pivotal moments in my short teaching career thus far is very important.  It is also just as important to reflect as soon as I can.  I have realized after completing any task worth blogging.  I have found that reflecting and putting my thoughts down into my blog makes me think about the successes, struggles, failures, and meaningful moments I had during my teaching lessons.  Blogging about it allows for me to share my thoughts with anyone.  Reading my cohort member’s blogs it made me feel good they encountered many of the same difficulties that I did.  And that in just a few short seconds I could reply to their blog and discussing anything.  At the same time I can’t imagine blogging on a regular basis when/if I had my own program.

As for improvements for AEE 412 lab

1.      Mix up lab sessions halfway through or quarterly.  This would allow for us all to observe and be a part of other cohort member’s lab.  There was a lot of comments left on the ThereNow website stating I would have loved to of been in your lab!

2.      Reflect on student performance immediately after presenting their lab.  I experienced this right after my IBI lesson.  It was very beneficial.  Discussion doesn’t have to be long, but reflect with the group and instructor after every time a student presents.

3.      The small lab groups made it very impractical to incorporate the things we had to into our lab and we were always improvising with the number of students we had.  Teaching to three students just didn’t give it that teacher student feel.  However, it is understandable nothing compares to the real thing and this is the closest we can get.

4.      Structure.  There just seemed to be a lot of confusion and hear say.

 

Early on in the semester we learned about the 5 characteristics of effective teaching by Roshenshine and Furst.  Early on these 5 characteristics were instilled into our thoughts when creating a meaningful lesson.  As a final assignment we had to create a video highlighting one of the 5 characteristics we thought we demonstrated strongly.  I chose to express variability.  I thought throughout all my lab sessions and microteaching experiences that I did a very good job mixing activities up and keeping student engagement in my lessons.  Below you can watch my short video.

LifeKnowledge Public Service Lesson

Yesterday I taught my LifeKnowledge lesson.  I chose to talk about public service.  I chose this topic because I think that public service is an important part of every community. 

                When I got there Mrs. Oberholtzer asked to have the first twenty minutes of class to review for a quiz they were having today.  During this time I got to observe the class dynamics and let me tell you what.  These students are not a lively bunch at quarter to eight in the morning.  It was like pulling teeth to get these students to answer a question or open their review packets up.  So, I realized it was going to be an uphill battle during my lesson and that I would have to be one step ahead of the students to get them engaged in my lesson. 

                I began my lesson with an interest approach reading them a story and leaving the ending out until the end of my lesson.  The first activity I had the students do was define the word civic, leadership, and come up with their own definition of civic leadership.  In the final quadrant of their folded up piece of paper I had them write or draw examples of what they thought civic leadership was.  During this activity I was impressed how well they only used their phones for looking up the words I had asked them to.  After they had all defined these words I had them group up and discuss if they had come up with different definitions or examples.  Even while they were in groups they did not speak much.  We continued on with the lesson and I passed out papers that had different public service organizations titles on it for example medical, governmental, educational, and service organizations.  During this activity I had the students come up with the professions that would be listed under these titles.  This activity went more successful than I envisioned it.  The students were quite interested in listing off the professions under each title.  We then talked about their importance in our society and without people who do services like this there would be no one to help the sick, represent our political thoughts, or protect our nation. 

                Some things that really worked for me that I carried with me from my microteaching were name tents, addressing students by their first name, thanking them for their participation, breaking directions up into sections, and allowing time for critical thinking.  While we all think name tents are the lamest thing.  They really help out the new teacher learning names quickly and efficiently.  Addressing students by their first name makes the classroom feel more personable.  Thanking the students and showing them that I appreciate their involvement in the lesson once again paid off for me.  A few students were brave enough to answer my questions and every time they did I said thank you and stated their name.  By the end of the lesson these students were very engaged in my lesson.  Using clarity eliminated student confusion.  Allowing for critical thinking time was a bit hard because sometimes the students just didn’t know the answer.  But I wanted to allow for them to take an educated guess.

                There you have it the successes and struggles I had during my LifeKnowledge lesson at Lampeter Strasburg High School.

Recap on My Entire Microteaching Experience

I spoke with you exactly a week ago about my microteaching experience at Central Mountain High School.  I valued every minute of it.  It was exciting and at the same time nerve wracking to be the teacher.  I spoke in depth about my first day in the classroom.  It being a week later you might have been like was it so bad he was asked not to come back.  No… my brain has been going a hundred different which ways and it just hit me now as I am unpacking from my recent journey to Minnesota that hey!  I’ve got to finish reflecting on my microteaching experience.  As I was unpacking I thought back in my head about what stuck, what was important, and what I should file away moving forward.  Here you have it.

The important things that stuck out to me to file away moving forward in my teaching career.

·        Time!  There are not enough hours in the day, but you can never plan enough especially when your school is 50 minutes away.  Anything can happen.  I was fortunate, but I created hundreds of scenarios in my head while driving that could have made me late.

·        The office ladies are people you get to know!  Got it?  These ladies knew who I was by the time my micro teaching experience was over.  The door was already being unlocked for me before I got to it.

·        Use students’ names.  By doing this it makes it a more personal learning environment.  And it helps you get to know who’s who in your class.

·        Clarity is vital.  When giving directions to your students break statements and tasks up.

·        Allow for think time.  Do not just spoon feed them the answers some silence is okay.

·        Don’t be afraid to reprimand students when they are getting out of hand.  Hollering over their voice is not a successful means of controlling your classroom.  Be straight, be blunt, be short, and move on.

·        Forty five minutes goes by super-fast!  To get through the material you have set forth for the day set time limits and stick to them.

·        Have fun!  Find your groove.

Hopefully, now you have a better understanding on how my second two days of micro teaching went.  It is an experience that is very beneficial and the feedback and constructive criticism will pay off tenfold. 

 

What... is... that? IBI Urinalysis

On Monday I presented my inquiry based instruction lab.  I’m still not 100% sure on how to present an inquiry based lesson of instruction, but Monday was a great day to start integrating inquiry based learning into my lessons.  I chose to teach a lesson on urinalysis which correlated with my renal system unit which I will be teaching in my vet science 2 class in the spring.  However, there are five things I know about inquiry based instruction that make it what it is they are 1.Question 2. Evidence 3. Evidence 4. Explanation 5. Communication. One things for sure about inquiry based instruction and that is it takes lots of preparation and planning!  Getting my materials list around and envisioning how I would like the lesson and lab to occur in my head and then formulating those thoughts into statements in my lesson takes time.  I enjoyed teaching this lab and wandering around the room and discussing with my students what they were observing and making notes of.  I can definitely see instruction like this could be very enjoyable in the spring if managed properly.

In my lab I had five different urine samples for the students to observe and then later use supplies provided to make educated guesses about what was occurring in these urine samples.  The urine samples ranged from the patient being dehydrated, having a urinary tract infection, pH being irregular, or blood in the urine to name a few.  I think one thing that I did well was allowing for the students to observe the samples and then go over some important definitions used in urinalysis.  This gave the students clarity and the ability to fill out their health chart report given to them after our brief PowerPoint Presentation.  However, at the same time inquiry based instruction is very student structured and allowing for them to formulate questions, so this is something I will need to work on. Maybe I should have had them construct questions and see where it led from there. 

Successes:

·         Preparedness.  I think that I came in ready to teach about urinalysis.  I had my materials laid out and handouts ready to be dispersed at the proper times.  I’ve come to realize preparedness is a large part of the battle. 

·         I think my clarity shined this week.  My students were rarely unsure of the directions I gave them.  I have struggled with clarity of my instructions this semester and I think this week I did much better.

·         I think I did well floating around the classroom speaking with students about their observations, but allowing them to decide what they think might be wrong with the patient.

 

Areas for Improvement:

·         Have enough supplies for all my students!  I realized if I taught this to an entire class the single bottle of pH strips would not have been enough and would have caused learner frustration and most likely disconnect with the activity.  Also, multiple samples and splitting students up into small groups.

·         Make it less teacher structured and allow the students to tailor what it is they are learning and observing.

·         Incorporate more critical thinking questions into my lesson.  Have the students draw on previous knowledge to answer my questions.

 

All in all I was very on edge going into teaching this lesson.  But, my preparedness and confidence helped make this lesson successful.  #sighofreliefafterteaching.  Doing the lab on Monday and watching the video it wasn’t that bad and I am on my way to successfully incorporating inquiry based instruction into my classroom.  I look forward to teaching this lesson again in the spring. 

So There is a Problem? Lets Solve It!

Today in our AEE 412 lab we did the problem solving approach with our peers.  I have to say thus far this was the most fun and exciting lab for me as a facilitator to do.  One of my classes in the spring is vet science 1.  A unit within that course is reproduction.  I thought what better way to introduce the reproduction unit than with a problem facing a fictional local farmer in the area to the students!  I enjoyed creating the fictional document and using my creative juices and passion for the dairy industry to create my problem solving approach.

At the beginning of lab I was a bit nervous though.  I knew what I had created was a problem, but would it work with my peers who had different levels of insight about reproduction in cattle.  Or would it be a complete flop!  Needless to say it wasn’t a fail, but there was good and bad take aways from my lab presentation.

The GOOD

1.      My article was a hit!  My students dove right into the article and picked it apart

2.      I think I did a good job assigning stations to my students allowing them to get there and then giving them directions on what was expected of them while at that station.

3.      During their time at their post it note station I think I did a good job circulating around the room interacting with my students and making sure they stayed on track during the duration of the activity.

4.      During our time going over the post it note “what I want to learn” I think I did a decent job giving student ownership to the terms they were unfamiliar with. First giving them time, context clues, and the ability to stem off of what their peers thought before I assisted with the word or moved on and stated we would cover it more during the unit.

5.      Teacher Voice.  Say it loud.  Say it proud!

Areas of Improvement

1.      Clarity.  I struggled at the beginning of my lesson stating what I expected my students to be doing. 

2.      When I gave them the article about Farmer Fred I should have left it at that.  After they read it fully I should have then asked “so what do you think?

3.      Let my freak flag fly!  Leading up to this lab I was super stoked to present this lesson.  After watching my video I didn’t really show my deep underlying passion for the dairy industry. 

In conclusion I have definitely seen improvement in myself in just the few short weeks so far.  Wednesdays are a bit nerve wracking but also fun!  The problem solving approach is a bit challenging to implement into a lesson, but doing it correctly I can certainly see the engagement and purposefulness of it.

Why be boring? Lets get creative! How interesting can you be?

The moment your students walk in the door it is all upon you how the time in class together is going to go.  This has certainly been proven these last two weeks in our AEE 412 lab.  This week in lab it was all about the interest approach and how we as facilitators are going to get our students hooked from the beginning to be engaged throughout the entirety of our lesson.  Planning and preparation is crucial to a successful hook!  I have to admit I spent much of the afternoon trying to figure out what in the heck I was going to do for my interest approach.  My lesson was on what does a safe vs. unsafe agricultural shop look like?  After much thinking I decided to go with using multiple props to turn my classroom into an “unsafe agricultural shop.” 

I felt that my preparation and planning was exceptional and I came ready with multiple props to deliberately drive home my message of what an unsafe shop looks like.  After watching my video I actually felt that it went better than I thought it did!  In the beginning I stuttered a little bit and used umm excessively, but after I got the students up and moving around taking notes I felt like I found my groove.  I also think that from last week to this week I spoke much slower.  This is something I have to keep working on to make sure my clarity of directions is fully understood by my students.  I struggled a little bit as well with keeping one of my students on task who sometimes was goofing off and not allowing others to learn.  Although by the end I think I did a better job and had this student engaged reading objectives for me and allowing for that person to feel like they had a role in my class.  I want for all my students in my classroom to feel like they have a place because they do and that everyone is just as important as the next. 

Overall I am proud of my performance.  I struggled with creating an interest approach, but I think that I did a good job describing what a safe vs. unsafe agricultural shop looks like.  Anytime when students are up an moving I believe they are more observant and on task.  Starting my lesson out with this approach hooks them for the rest of my lesson and gets them wanting to learn more. 

First Day of School Lab

The second week of our AEE 412 lab was today and the topic presented to us that we had to teach to our peers was the first day of school.  This lesson included classroom expectations, procedures, and consequences.  It was exciting and a bit nerve wracking to get up and conduct a lesson about the first day of school.  After watching my video I noticed some places I excelled at and others where there is still work for improvement. 

I felt that I engaged with my students’ quite well.  I tried to include and communicate with each of them today.  I purposely set my lesson up so they all would have the ability to speak in front of the class giving them a feeling of meaning and place in my class.  I view this to be very important.  If I am the only one talking I give the persona off that I am the only one who is important.  I think the most important people are my students and allowing them to talk anytime I can get them to, gives them a feeling of meaning.  I think my enthusiasm was up to snuff throughout the entirety of the lesson.  Enthusiasm is crucial for student engagement.  I also, strived to make it a point to verbally go over my objectives.  While having them posted on the board is one thing.  I think that stating them aloud to my students sends the message home exponentially letting them know this is what I plan to get through today during classroom instruction. 

With strengths there always comes weaknesses and we can never settle for what we have.  I noticed today some things I must take forward with me to work on and grow from to become the best educator that I can be.  I think the first that was most noticeable was my bell work.  That did not go as planned.  My clarity for my bell work was very poor.  What I thought was clear and understandable was not to my students.  This just goes to show never assume anything!  At the same time I also thought I adapted well when I realized my students had done something different than I had planned.  While my students were doing their interest approach I noticed I did not interact with them much at all.  I need to interact more with my students and talk with them to see what they are thinking.  This also will keep my students on task.  Finally, the use of filler words was a little excessive today.  Removing these words will just make what I have to say go with much better flow. 

In conclusion it was a blast to get up in front my peers and present my first day of school lesson.  I learned just as much from myself watching my video ass I did from observing my peers and viewing their videos.