Hay Bales and Teacher Tales

Problem solving is a thinking strategy. This strategy is taught through specifically the scientific method but also through out the years in many different ways. There are 6 steps to this process when problem solving. This approach to learning helps students to learn and remember information much more efficiently and effectively compared to lecture. This learning method can be used in and out of the classroom. This is actually a very important life skill for people to have. This idea ties into problem based learning. This includes, problem solving, inquiry based learning, projects and case studies. By implementing this idea into our classrooms, it is helping students to prepare themselves for future situations they could experience in their work places. Luckily, in ag education there are many ways to implement this teaching strategy. An example would be such as one in my unit where we learned about different field crops and pest malmanagement practices. After the initial teaching, the ...

After submitting my unit plan for feedback, I was very thankful for all the help and reviews on this. My unit was based towards an introduction to plant science course. Thankfully, I had help on the unit idea and its many activities. Overall, I believe this lesson would be very fun to teach to my future students and I believe they would enjoy learning it as well.    A major point of feedback I received was that multi day lessons can be difficult. After reviewing my lessons, I decided not to change this as you could not fit all the content into one class period. Many of the activities would have to be cut and I did not want to do that. I believe if you do a brief reflection at the beginning of the next class on what happened the day before this would not be difficult. It is just essential to make sure the students understand in advance what will be happening.  More feedback I received was on my objectives. I did agree a few of these did need to have the wording ch...

This week's readings revolved around classroom questioning and questions. In the reading, it discussed the different levels of asking questions, why questions are asked and how to ask questions and handle responses. This article was super helpful for better understanding the process. The most helpful part of this article for me was handling responses. I personally am worried about this within my future classroom. You can never make students answer but you need to encourage them to participate and be engaged. I also never want a student to feel nervous or embarrassed about answering questions even if the answer is not exactly the one we were looking for. the rephrase strategy and helping the student may be very effective for my concerns. Along with asking questions on different levels it is very important to ask different kinds of questions such as direct or open ended. I feel as if I ask a lot more open ended questions but first to ask directed ones as well. The reading about Goo...

This week our lab was on our interest approach. I thought this lab was so fun to plan! My activity was a lead into a dairy science introductory unit. They students were directed to come up with their own dairy breed. This involved naming the breed. They also were instructed to name the breed, decide the size, personality traits, and dairy characteristics. Lastly, they were also asked to color and design their cow using their own creativity. I thought this cow activity was a fun way to start this unit and get their thoughts flowing. During lab, this activity seemed to go over well with my peers. I also thought this activity was easily flexible as I could vary it depending on how much time we had. I also had the idea that at the end of the activity a few students could voluntarily share. This could build the students confidence and build a short public speaking chance into the activity. I think it is very important to wander around the room and personally talk to each stude...

For my first virtual mentor exploration, I chatted with Mrs. Weaver. Our phone conversation for this project was so enjoyable and truly helpful. Not only did we discuss teaching but life in general. It was so refreshing to hear that ag teachers truly stick together and are there for each other! When asked what her teaching philosophy is she is all about helping students be the best they can be and seeing that they have potential. I have this in common with her! No matter if the students is interested in ag our just placed in our rooms, we need to motivate them to go for whatever it is they are passionate about! A motto she likes to go by is "nothing worthwhile is ever easy." I laughed at this as it is also something I tell myself almost every day. We need to make sure our students understand this and know it is okay and actually a good thing when something does not come easy. When asked about classroom diversity, she stated that she likes her students to look at agriculture f...

In the week's readings, one quote really stood out to me being a future agriculture teacher. The article stated, "As urban sprawl permeates the countryside, and as fewer individuals work in the production facets of the agricultural industry we must organize content that is conceptually relevant to a diverse group of students in a complex and ever-changing society." This is such an important aspect of our jobs! We need to be able to teach our concepts in a way our students understand. Agriculture classrooms now a days have a very diverse group of students, including kids that want to be there and ones who are forced. We want to be able to reach all kids and spark an interest within them for the agriculture industry. When it comes to group instruction, I think it is so important especially in agriculture classes. I think having group conversations is also an effective way to teaching. Hearing peer opinions and sharing knowledge between people of the same age can somet...

This week I practiced my first day teaching lab! Writing a lesson plan for this was actually more difficult than I thought it would be. I struggled with trying to find the balance in making the "boring" part fun. I wanted to try to tie in something interacted while we also went over the necessities. I think a lot of this came from boring experiences in high school as I remember how repetitive the first day seemed to be every year. I think I could definitely have better lesson plans when it comes to expectations. I wanted my class expectations to be age appropriate and effective. This goes for me consequences as well. I hope that these rarely have to be used but I want them to be effective when needed. When it came to actually teaching, I really enjoyed the lab but I definitely believe I could make a lot of improvements. First, I forgot to state the days objectives so that is a big problem. I hope to have them written on the board for every class in the future. Also, class...

The first Ted talk we listened to this week really hit me. For one, the speaker was a 17 year old girl who was extremely brave. This stood out to me because the topic of her speech was about getting heard even at a young age. This is a talk that we need to remember in our classrooms. She talks about how students have very little say in schools, such as what they learn or how but yet they are still forced to know all the material. This is the main reason we should make learning fun in our classrooms! In ag classrooms, we have the ability to base our learning towards our students wants and needs. If we have a students who have an interest in alpacas, we have the ability to incorporate a lesson on them and allow and encourage them to pursue their curiosity in this area! Even in the lessons that students may not be as interested in, we need to find fun ways to teach these lessons so the students do not resist learning. The second ted talk also meant a lot ...

This week's readings focused greatly on that students learn better when they can connect to the material that is being taught. This is why it is so essential to know your students and have a plan in place on how you will be teaching that week. In the first reading, there was one phase that stuck out to me more then any other in the whole reading. It was, "Not only do teachers need to decide on specific content to be taught as a part of each unit of instruction but they also must plan for ways to teach so that students master the subject matter." We as future educators have a lot of decisions to make every day! We have such a widespread area to cover and teach to our students and we need to narrow down the most important parts of each to cover. We only have so many days in a school year and we need to ensure our students get the most out of them! The second part of that sentence I also find extremely important. With taking classes and having a heart for special education, ...