Unit Plan Reflection... One down, 18 more to go!

Hey readers,

I successfully completed my first unit plan, at least I think I did! The Unit is called "Exploring Careers in Agriculture" for my Introduction to Agriculture class. Here are the goals for my unit:

Introduction to Agriculture Unit Plan   Unit:  Exploring Careers in Agriculture Class Sessions: 15 (3 weeks) Length of Sessions: 40 minutes Date: Instructor: Sarabeth Royer

Unit Goals: At the completion of this unit, students will be able to: …
1) Explore different careers in agriculture, natural resources, and other related  industries.
2) Identify possible individual career opportunities and requirements for the jobs/careers  related.
3) Discuss desirable skills for employees, and pertinent information for job interviews and resumes.
4) Identify a community member and interview them about their job/ career.
5) Discover ways that jobs can be integrated into the four SAE types.
6) Analyze the PA FFA Job Interview CDE.

 

I was very excited to start on this unit about Exploring Careers in Agriculture (and other related fields) because I am passionate about letting students discover other opportunities in agriculture. The saying, "agriculture is more that just cows, sows, and plows," definitely applies here.

 

Coming from a production background myself, I used to hate this saying, because FARMING IS AN IMPORTANT aspect of agriculture. However, there are so many different careers in agriculture, natural resources, food science, etc. that aren't just farming. Thus, I was pretty excited for this unit in my Intro To Agriculture Class. As underclassmen, these students will still be learning about how big agriculture really is!

Original Goals

- So my original goals were to create a unit about exploring careers in agriculture. My cooperating teacher gave me full liberty to choose what and when to teach! This is exciting and hard at the same time. What is vital for these students to learn, and what is just extra?

Feedback Received

- Peer editing was super helpful. This process not only allowed me to look at my peers outstanding work(!!!!) but it also provided me with constructive feedback. While most comments were regarding objectives and lesson titles, I also received important feedback for assessments. How am I really assessing my students? Is this the most appropriate or helpful way to encourage student growth? Originally, I had a set of individual assignments. However, one of my peers suggested a "portfolio" of sorts... after all the students are learning about careers!!! This was very helpful.

Changes Made

In addition to edits that my peers helped me with, I also combined two lessons and provided my students with a work day to finish up their portfolios. I am also toying with another day for students to present their "career interviews." At the beginning of the unit, students are tasked with interviewing someone in a career they are interested in. This could provide students the chance to present material to the class, and also would help to spread more career awareness. I am still toying with this idea... any suggestions!?

For Future Reference

For future unit plans, I need to remember:
1) My classes are only 40 minutes, plan accordingly
2) Signing out the library computer lab is not always the solution. How can I integrate technology while NOT being in a 1:1 school
3) RE-READ the unit plan for spelling, punctuation, etc.
4) Ensure that lesson titles are in the form of a question
5) Really be considering assessment/evaluation. How am I letting students SHOW me their understanding/learning?

Well that's all for now folks, Thanks

-Sb

Having Ideas Heard Means People Must Listen

In order for ideas to be heard, people must listen. This seems so simple, but in reality, for many people this connection between listening, hearing, and speaking is quite complicated. We might hear people talk, but are we really listening? Speak, Listen, and Hear are all verbs or actions. So what is the difference between hearing and listening.

Speak

spēk VERB

 

1. say something in order to convey information, an opinion, or a feeling

Hear

hir VERB

 

1. perceive with the ear the sound made by (someone or something).

Listen

ˈlis(ə)n/ VERB

 

1.

give one's attention to a sound.

 

 

Hearing is simply perceiving a sound, but to truly listen means paying attention to these sounds. Kate Simmonds "I'm Seventeen" and Angela Maiers "You Matter" TED Talks both relate to this idea of effective communication. Simmonds conveyed that even though she is "just 17" she still has ideas that are worthy of attention. Maiers discussed the importance of not only noticing others, but telling them that you noticed it and that they MATTER. We might hear our students, but do we truly listen to them. Are we seriously contemplating their statements, and discerning their opinions and thoughts. Simmonds ended her video by stating "Students, you need to believe in your voices, and adults, you need to listen." I was floored by this statement. Speak out, and truly listen too. How true!!!

 

Maiers conveyed the importance of noticing students, and then telling them YOU MATTER. This seems so simple, but a genuine "You matter" can make all the different. Maiers, who is an educator herself, said "You can change a culture just by noticing people," and she tells her students "You are a genius and the world needs your contributions." WOW... what would you do if someone said that to you! This personalization is exactly what the education system needs according to Dr. Tae who states one of the biggest problems in education is "Depersonalization 101 in large universities." Simmonds echoed something similar by saying (paraphrase) "students are expected to raise their hands to use the restroom in 12th grade, and then choose a career as a freshman in college." Is this logical? Is this helping the student.

 

So questions I garnered from the readings and videos for this week are:

1) How do we demonstrate to students that they matter?

2) How can we foster an environment where students feel respected and like they have a voice?

3) What are ways that we (as one teacher) can help improve the education system?

 

These are big questions... big questions indeed.

 

Another big question I have is regarding agriculture education and how we are preparing students for careers. For an upcoming national twitter chat (date TBD) my group and I are considering talking about career preparation for students. This might look like asking industry professionals: Are our students ready? What skills do they need? Asking teachers, what tools do you use, or what additional resources do you need? What percentage of your students go into careers relating to agriculture etc. Asking FFA advisors about Career Development Events, etc.

 

So... Any advice for the twitter chat? I promise to read your responses, and truly LISTEN to what you are saying (well writing) instead of just "hearing" it!

 

Thanks all,

-Sb

EGGcellent Interest Approaches = Engaged Class

 

I was so excited to teach the "Interest Approach Lab" in 412 this week because I LOVE that moment. I love building up anticipation and excitement in people so that they want to learn things. The best teachers are those who make learning a process that the student internalizes and makes their own. By creating a felt need in the student to want to learn more, half the battle of a lesson is won! Engaged students don't create problems by being distracted or bored, and they ask good questions that can help elevate the conversation with students.

 

So, with my passion for my feathery friends, I decided to make an EGGcellent interest approach on ... well you guessed it eggs! EGGS FOR DAYS! In a hypothetical earlier lesson, we examined how to grade eggs into the categories of AA, A or B after candling them. So this prior knowledge would help the students with the task I gave them in lab, which was to grade the eggs without a candler! Tricky right! This relates to Lancelot's Principles of Interest

- Interest increases with the acquisition of any given ability

- The novel unexpected are interesting

 

 

 

 

 

We examined the broken out eggs and reviewed the albumen and yolk height to determine a grade. After comparing this to candling, we talked about how efficient (or inefficient) these practices are, and what is commonly used in the industry.

 

Reflection:

 

My goals from the last lab were:

1) Speed

2) Filler Words

3) Clarity of Instruction

 

 I think that I was still talking pretty fast, but it's certainly a work in progress. This lab didn't have nearly as many filler words, but I am very familiar with eggs and poultry. Because this was a topic that I am more comfortable with, I was definitely less nervous than the first day of class lab! Finally clarity of instruction... well... I think it was decent. I think I could have been a lot more clear about the initial task, however, after I gave directions I knew that it was a bit jumbled, so I asked one of my students to recap our goals. I think that this helped!

 

I definitely could have let them explore a little more on their own. I want to be engaged, but not a helicopter teacher!





 

For next lab:

 

1) Always be watching my speed, and make sure that I pronounce words clearly, etc.

2) Be watching the filler words, ummmmmmmm not cool if like there are a ton of fillers

3) Work on clarity of verbal instructions

4) Watch body language, what is my stance saying? What are my facial expressions portraying

5) LESSON PLAN! Make sure that the lesson plan is solid and that transitions are good etc.

 

Thanks for reading,

Best

-Sarabeth

 

 



 



Lectures NOT Always Bad... Uninterrupted Monologues ARE Bad!

Reading Reflection 2: Exploring Learning Objectives & Teaching in Groups

So... lectures aren't always bad, but uninterrupted monologues are certainly not effective. How can we make classes interactive, challenging, and variable?

The Anatomy of Objectives:

In class we have learned that there are three important and distinct parts to an objective: condition, performance, and criteria! Whittington (2005) encourages teachers to think of objectives as road maps for students. In order to ensure a productive road trip occurs in my future classroom, I need to be thinking about the objectives, how they are written, and if it provides students with a pre-directional mindset. The example Whittington provides is having "list" versus "understand". The word understand is vague and might cause students to stress... how do I know that I understand this?

The article also provided a list of "Vocabulary Useful in Developing Objectives at Various Cognitive Levels (which I ABSOLUTELY will be using in the future!) These action verbs separated by cognitive levels are categorized as 1) Remembering 2) Processing 3) Creating, and 4) Evaluation, and get progressively more challenging. This is important for the students to be challenged in class, and additionally the teacher to teach students at different or higher cognitive levels. Whittington states that planning and writing objectives for different cognitive levels can challenge students and help them grow.


Cooperative Learning and Group Teaching: Lets Do This Together Class!

Groseta & Myers (2006) explain that there are many cognitive and social benefits to having students work in groups. From listening, taking turns, and explaining oneself clearly to encouraging others there are many social and teamwork skills to working in groups. Academically, students who will have to (or might have the chance) to explain a topic to a peer will learn that item better than just studying for an exam!

Pretty neat right!

However, often not used because it's difficult to assign groups, hard to manage behavior, and often confusing to evaluate. I can certainly see why these roadblocks are common. It is extremely difficult to come up with a "fair" system to grad or evaluate students. Also, we have all been in group projects where we did all the work and other student's didn't help.

The Key... is PLANNING (Newcomb et al. agree!!!!!)


Planning who works with whom is vital. "Heterogenous groups usually work best: the differences in group members are what make cooperative learning effective” (Groseta & Myers, pg 2). Also it's vital to monitor the students (observe, intervene if necessary, and have the students help evaluate themselves and their peers).

Finally an important topic this article brought up is the physical environment. Is the classroom/lab conducive to working in groups? Do we need to move desks?

For any type of group learning activity ( discussion, demonstration, field trips, role play, cooperative learning, etc.) it's  important to plan. Discussions require well thought out questions that students can not only comprehend, but grasp and discuss. Additionally, its important to not say the students' name(s) before the question... this requires the entire class to be paying attention (I never really thought about that before!) GENIOUS! Ensure students are engaged and paying attention.

I also have never really thought about the potential of role play and what that can do to add novelty and variability to a class. Other suggestions for the Methods of Teaching Class were to have guests come in sometimes to share content knowledge. By having the students come up with questions the prior to the meeting, students are already intrigued and the session goes much smoother.

Group work and cooperative learning, when properly implemented, can add a lot to a class session.



 

First Day of Class! Sooooooo Many Emotions!

That's right, it's the first day of class, and there are so many different emotions and thoughts running through peoples minds!

Excitement to see friends again, nervous for the school year, wondering what the cafeteria is serving for lunch, confused about the new bell system, and so much more. As I was preparing for this lab to simulate the first day of class, I was thinking two things:

1) The teacher is just as nervous and excited for the first day as the students!!!
2) WOW, there is a lot going on the first day, how can we effectively start the school year, set procedures, and start to cultivate the classroom culture that we want?

Pretty big stuff right!?


RECAP:

For my lab, I had the students start out right away with a bellwork activity, because that is one of my expectations for my students for the year. This activity allowed them to draw pictures that represent themselves on their name tent. Additionally, the students were told to write 1-2 goals for the year on the inside of their name tent. I wanted to show the students that we have fun in Intro to Agriculture (i.e. drawing!) but that this is also a serious course where the students will be challenged and will learn a lot ( i.e. goal setting!)

Then, the students played a little activity to get to know each other and get up and moving. The activity involves four possible answers, and the student chooses the answer they most agree with and goes to the corner of the room associated with that question. After introducing themselves to each other, they try to convince other students in the class why their corner is better. For example, I asked what their preferred pet was (Dog, Cat, Bird, or No Pet at all!) This fun and casual game gets the students moving and helps them learn each others name etc.

After this, we did a Go Get It E-moment to get color coded note cards from around the room that had the classroom expectations, procedures, and consequences written on them. We then discussed the importance of these, and what they mean, etc.

Finally, the students were given a sheet with the procedures, expectations, and consequences outlined that they and their parent/guardians would sign.

REFLECTION

My biggest goal for this class was to create a positive learning environment. I think that this was achieved through the fun activities. However, I also was appropriately serious while talking about the classroom expectations, procedures, and consequences. I really enjoyed talking through the expectations in order to "Cultivate our Classroom Culture." I also think that my transitions were good (not necessarily as smooooooth as I wanted, but they worked!)

Some opportunities to improve:
- Time management, I went over the 15 minute mark! We were just SO EXCITED for the first day of class!
- Clarifying instructions! I can practice giving instructions with friends not in my class etc, and see if they understand what I am trying to convey
-Watch my speed!!! It's not a race SB!
- Watch the filler words, like, hmmm, what's an example, ummmmmmmm can't think of one, but ahhhhhhhh maybe I'll get back to you guys on that!?
-Stop fiddling with the watch! Huh, you would think I would have better time management with how much I played with said watch ;)

Goals for next lab, and how I can achieve this!

1) Watch speed! Practice speaking, and maybe give lesson to some friends
2) Watch filler words. This probably happens partly because I UMMMMM am not sure what to say next, so Practice & Prepare
3) Clarity of instruction. I can achieve this by planning, and practicing!

Well thanks for reading folks!

-Sb

Weekly Writing 2: Engaging Instruction

Engaging instruction first starts with planning. One might start with clear course, unit, and lesson objectives. I like how Newcomb et al. described it: when teachers write objectives, “they force themselves to establish parameters that in turn help define and limit the scope and content of the problem areas” (p. 91). The book continues to say, (as Dr. Foster also often says,) there is a difference between “need to know” and “nice to know”. Objectives have three important parts, the behavior (what the student is doing/learning), “the conditions under which the behavior is to occur,” and the criteria for judging the performance/behavior/learning (Newcomb et al. p. 93)

When writing these objectives, it’s important to keep the learning goals in mind, as well as the domain they belong to (cognitive, psychomotor, and affective).

Cognitive: facts, information

Psychomotor: skill, performance

Affective: attitude, values, emotion

It is through these domains (and CLEAR learning objectives) that educators can facilitate lessons that apply to different learning modalities, and also engage students with multiple and different intelligences. Another way to engage in multiple intelligences is via INTEREST APPROACHES!

This warm-up type activity relates to the content of the lesson, and is engaging so that the students are interested in learning. I believe that a well executed interest approach can prime students to be excited and ready to learn more content! Teach Like A Pirate by Dave Burgess provides many avenues for integrating fun and interesting moments into lessons.

These “Hooks” that Burgess writes about are all designed to catch and peak students interest, in the hopes of keeping them engaged for learning! He demonstrates a myriad of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic devices to intrigue students. I enjoyed the section on Kinesthetic Hooks when Burgess says “It’s ok to have fun!” (p. 89).  A lot of times we might be concerned, well is it really valuable to the lesson, is this too much fun and not enough learning etc. However, if the students are excited about an activity, and it helps introduce, stretch to a higher level of comprehension, or reflect on a topic, then it is absolutely “ok to have fun!”

Hooks that I am looking forward to trying in my future classroom is the “Safari Hook” (p. 92), an example would be leaving items outside around and in the greenhouse relating to our next unit. The students must retrieve the items and figure out how they relate to the next unit. Another hook I will try to use is “The Mystery Bag Hook” (p. 114). One example might be having a non-sharp tool in a box with a hole in it that students can reach inside and feel. Then students are tasked to brainstorm what our next shop project is. I think that by creating an adventure or mystery, we can make students WANT to learn the answers. How exciting is that!?