School is in session!!!!

Wow, it's hard to believe that the second week of student-teaching is almost over. This week in particular though has been an incredible experience. My first week of teaching. Now, ill be honest, there were some challenging parts this first week (Classroom Management and time mostly) but as someone once told me "If your completely comfortable with what your teaching, your doing something wrong", so using that advice, I tried to stretch myself.

Our "Carnation Coloration" Lab

For instance, this week I decided to try my first Inquiry Based Laboratory. In our lab, the students took different plants (celery and carnations), added food coloring and water, put the plants in the mixture and tracked changes in coloration. We let the plants sit overnight, and today, we looked at the coloration changes, as you can see from the picture, some of the celery has really taken up alot of the coloration.

Then as a class, we related this transport of nutrients, to not only the Xylem and Phloem present in plants, but also to Xylem and Phloem composition inside a stem. To make the lab more inquiry based, I had the students design their own charts, and decide together as a class, what outcome we wanted and what factors we should track. Overall the lab turned out pretty successful. While we are still waiting on a few pieces of celery and the carnations to change color (we're going to take a look at it again on Monday), much of the celery did change colors, as you can see below.

                                   

                                              Here are two pieces that changed color, one showing the red
                                           and the other showing the blue food coloring.

My Official Name Badge. I think that means I'm legit!!!

And today, while were not doing a lab in class, we had an impromptu session of root pictionary, where I drew different plants on the board, and they had to say what the plant was, and what kind of root system it had. While the potato was pretty easy to identify, the turnip on the other hand took them a little longer (or maybe it was my drawing skills). Either way, it made for a fun lesson on something that many might not consider a fun topic, roots.

I really am excited to be teaching now, and as I continue down this path, I am going to continue to try and make my classes as engaging and educating as possible. 

That reminds me, I gotta get back to class!!!!

My first In-service day

Well, after a week of observations, I have now officially become one of the teachers at Cowanesque Valley high school, and the first thing on my agenda is.......In-service training.

For those of you that might not be familiar with the In-service system, its a day where students have off school, and teachers report in. While a teacher is at school on one of these days, they can work on a variety of different subjects that need attention, and, usually a few meetings will be held, to help with certain content areas or to develop a skill. While I did not have the chance to go to the google doc workshop, I did go with the rest of the teachers to our training on collins writing, and the five types that fall under this category.

Our trainer Todd going over the types of
collin's writing.

A little background on collins writing. When using the collin's system, their are five levels of writing. With each level, there is more of a push for deeper levels of thinking. For example on level 1, students are not graded on their writing assignments, and the questions that are asked of them, are basic (For instance, what are two distinct characteristics of a cow). These questions are designed to get the student's thinking and encourage a growth mindset. Many of use would look at these Type 1 questions, and would use them as bell ringer questions. While this is a good way to start, its also important to utilize these through out a lesson, as too continually push students to connect prior knowledge with the information being presented to them.

In higher levels, like Type 3 and 4, students answers are graded and instead of just looking for content, students and teachers are also setting goals in different areas that they want improved (grammar skills, capitalization, spelling, etc.) these are to be included on all papers and questions, as to keep students on track, and to work almost like a smart goal.

Type 5 is the highest level. At this point students should be excelling in the areas that needed improved, and the papers that they are turning in should be of "publishable" caliber (they should be error free). Todd told us that while lower levels can be incorporated in almost any class, it takes a lot of devotion and time to get to a level 5, and only teachers planning on utilizing the entire process should use this method.

Honestly, this was a good in-service to start with, alot of the teachers I talked to said they enjoyed working with Todd (our presenter) and that he always tried to make the in-service training's more enjoyable and rewarding. I also got a lot out of this seminar, and if anyone who reads this has any questions or would like any of the paperwork I received, I'd be happy to send it to you. Feel free to email me at hcp5016@psu.edu for more information. Again, this was great information to get even if you're not planning on using the entire 5 level system. Even Types 1-3 have great information to bring better questioning skills to your classroom.

Now if you will excuse me, I have classes to teach!!!!!

Here's to New Beginnings......

Well the time has finally come.

Three and a half years of work leading up to this point. It's crazy to think that less than a year ago, I wasn't sure where I was student teaching, or what subjects I would cover. And now, here I am, all the way across Pennsylvania, and I could not be more excited.

Mr. Boyer, Myself, and Mr. Heyler 

I tell ya, this week I have felt like a racehorse in the chutes at the Kentucky derby. While I spent this week observing Mr. Boyer and Mr. Heyler (my cooperating teachers), I also began learning about my new school system, getting to know my students, and prepare for next week when I officially begin teaching.

While I am extremely excited to teach, I also know that it is important that I learn the in's and out's of the school system before I jump right in. That being said, I cannot wait for next week to start. Next week I will be teaching two Ag Science Classes, and an Introductory Horticulture Class. I'll also begin helping Mr. Heyler in the Ag Mechanics 2 class, which I will also be teaching the next week. In the meantime, I have been getting to know the administration and staff here, and have been memorizing students names (well, at least trying too). Now, of course along with this excitement, I also am feeling a little nervous. But, I know that Heyler and Boyer are here to help, and I know that while not every lesson plan will go as expected, I have been given the tools necessary to complete, conquer, and excel in this task.

One thing I love about being up here, is the community. Not only are the people up here fantastic to work with, but, this is a small rural community with many strong ties, and while it hurts to be so far from home on my own, this community is just like the one I came from, and it reminds me a lot of Fulton County. I think it will help me relate more to my students, us coming from similar backgrounds.

It's just hard to believe that one week is already done, and I still have so much to teach!!!! But no matter what I'm teaching, my job is to make it as educational and exciting as possible, and that's my goal looking to next week.                                        

FFA sign in Mr. Boyer's Classroom

The Full Farm Show experience

The first thing you see when pulling up in the bus, is a giant Holstein statue, right in front of the entrance. You walk in, and their is a beautiful mural of agriculture in Pennsylvania. And to both sides of you lay fun, adventure, and what else but.... Agriculture. This is the Pennsylvania Farm Show.   

The Famous Farm Show Butter Sculpture

I know.... For some folks, this might not be an especially exciting time of year, but, for those of us in agriculture, this is one time of year where we can come together and demonstrate to the public why were involved in agriculture, and how others can become more involved too (I'd be lying if I didn't say that we also came together for the food. One word. Milkshakes). This really is a great opportunity though for us to connect a non-agriculturally minded public, with the food and fiber that they consume everyday.

Now, I wish I could say that I was one of the devoted that came every year, all week long. But, alas, I actually haven't been to the farm show in three years. I know, I know, I preach of it's greatness and then I don't even bother to show up. 

But this year was different. 

Not only was it a reunion for me and the farm show, but, being the student teacher at Cowanesque Valley High School also gave me the opportunity to go down on Monday, January 12th to the Mid-Winter FFA Convention. Here, senior FFA members are awarded not only their State FFA Degrees (Keystone Degree), but freshman FFA members are awarded FFA Jackets. I was excited that I got to go with Cowanesque FFA as we had 3 FFA members receiving jackets, but we also had 2 members receiving their Keystone Degree.                         

One of the Cowanesque Members getting his Keystone Degree

It reminded me of when I got my Keystone Degree, and how honored I was to receive it. I can honestly say though, from experiencing it from a member standpoint, a State FFA Officer standpoint, and now from this angle, this was my favorite. I got to see my new students light up with pride as they heard the name of their chapter called as Ben walked across the stage. It reminded me of why I joined FFA, and decided to pursue agricultural education in the first place. And by the end of the day, it reminded me of why, as Ag teachers and FFA advisors, we encourage and push students the way we do. I hope that when I have my own classroom, I can inspire my students so that they too, can walk across the stage.

With all this excitement, it's hard to tell what next year's Farm Show might have in store.

Evaluating Learners: Where do they stand

One of the toughest jobs of a teacher is deciding what grade to give a student. Let's say that a student tries extremely hard on a project, but doesn't identify all major points that need covered, should he/she get a failing grade just because not all information was covered. Or lets say you have a student that meets all requirements for a project, but doesn't work well with their team, and only puts in the bare minimum. Just because this student met the requirements, does it mean they deserve an A.

As teachers, we should try to make our lives easier by utilizing the resources given to us. Rubrics especially. Rubrics can be designed around the idea of pushing what you think is truly important, and it gives students a good basis for what to base their assignment around. If you believe teamwork is most important in your parliamentary procedure project, then students can always look back to that Rubric to make sure that they are working as a team, instead of on their own.

While it may seem oversimplified, Rubrics don't have to be complicated, and can be an easy inclusion on any assignment. Simply list out what are the top 4-6 things that are most important about that assignment, and then decide which you believe has more emphasis and deserves to be weighted heavier. If you believe all aspects have equal importance, then break everything down evenly, but you will often find that the item you list first in your mind is usually the one that you would weigh the heaviest.

If your still having trouble with this rubric idea, their are plenty of resources to help you, like online rubric builders. You can do customized ones, or depending on what your teaching, can upload ones created by other teachers. Edudemic has a list of 6 sites that they find helpful in making Online Rubrics.

Rubrics; just one simple tool to help you expand as a teacher.

Problem based learning vs project based learning

It can be hard too tell the difference between problem based learning and project based learning, heck they even have the same acronym (PBL). The main difference comes down to inquiry.

Inquiry can be a powerful tool in a classroom. It can be used to get students interested in the days lesson, or to teach the students the main concepts and terms of the day's lesson. The difference, in this case, is that while project based learning inquiry is wanted, inquiry is not wanted when it comes to problem based learning.

Problem based learning is using an exact step by step instruction set to solve a problem that students find. For instance, a problem that can arise is wiring a single switch lightbulb. While the order of the steps can be changed slightly, the steps required are always the same. In this way then, inquiry is not recommended because the learning would be focused more on the steps and less on what the actual problem is.

Project based learning is identifying any number of problems that deal with a certain topic, for instance water pollution, and finding a solution. Obviously, their can be no set directions for multiple problems, so inquiry is almost a requirement for a project, so students can figure out their own solutions. Here is a fun video I found on Project Based Learning.

No matter which method you use, students are going to be engaged and motivated to learn.

Making a difference with differential instruction

This week I had the pleasure of reading about differential instruction. I believe that as a teacher this should be one of our biggest pet peeves. We often hear other teachers (and ourselves) saying that one of our goals is to connect with students and make what we teach "real" to them, yet we all to often find ourselves making/utilizing a one size fits all lesson plan for our students.

As teachers, it might seem daunting to create lesson plans based solely around the idea of building on individual students interests and learning level. But it doesn't mean that students don't learn the same topic, it just means that the students can put their own spin on the lesson.

Interest approach:
This is the easiest place to incorporate differentiated instruction. Students can draw on their own experiences to answer beginning questions and use their prior knowledge to know what needs covered before getting into the lesson.

Content:
This is where things might get challenging. Sometimes to incorporate differential instruction in a lesson plan is hard when your trying to cover a broad topic and try to incorporate individualized instruction as well. But through the use of groups and cooperative learning or a pre-class exercise to see where students interests lie, teachers can incorporate students into the day's topics. Another idea, that the article doesn't discuss is student led conversation/debate/discussion. This gives students the opportunity to speak their mind and draw on their background for class.

Assessment:
This could be as simple as having open-ended questions or could get deeper depending on the situation. I think by giving students required questions and optional questions, you can challenge them as well as build on their expertise. When I call them optional questions I don't mean that their optional for students to answer, but instead they are a list of question options, and students must choose at least one question to answer. While many people say that this isn't the best option because students will choose whichever question is easiest, I would say that i agree. And why are these questions easiest, because that's what they understand best, and it builds upon the students prior knowledge. This helps make the information learned real, but keeps information learned in the lesson fun.

So, remember, if a student has issues with using the information provided, change things up, and give them some differential instruction time, it might just clear things up.