Multicultural Moment: National Convention

Everyday things go on around us that we never even notice. During our trip to the 2014 National FFA Convention we had the task of observing the behaviors of people around us. We were asked to watching how people interacted with people around them and find behaviors that were interesting, uplifting and depressing.

I was amazed at both the positive and negative behaviors of people throughout the week. Some of the more depressing behaviors I observed were things such as a young girl shouting at the man working at the cash register in a store when the machine wouldn't read her credit card. The cashier remained
calm and tried to help the girl but she just wasn't having it. I also overheard a couple complaining about the lady in front of them who brought her small child to the convention in a stroller. They were saying things such as "what was she thinking? Who would ever bring a child here with all these other people? She is just causing traffic jams with all these people."

On the other hand, I saw a lot of great things that made me happy. I saw two young FFA members give up their seats so an elderly couple could sit without being asked. I also saw a lady pay extra so the next few people in line didn't have to pay for their coffee.

It was really interesting to sit back and really observe the behaviors around me. I felt bad for the people who were being treated badly by people they didn't even know and it made me happy to see those positive behaviors throughout my trip. This really made me think about my behaviors and what other people would think if they oversaw or overheard me.

"Make sure all of your actions and behaviors live up to and reflect the words, ideas and promises that come out of your mouth"

- Steve Farber 

Lab: Inquiry Based Instruction

Today was our last lab that we taught in front of this group of peers and it was definitely the most
stressful for me. I really had trouble coming up with a topic to teach for my Inquiry Based Unit of Instruction. Once I finally got my lesson figured out I was pumped!

I was going to use Easter Eggs and M&M's to teach about genetics, specifically dominant and recessive genes. Each student was given an egg and the shell was either a solid color or a combination of two colors. After brainstorming with a partner and then as a whole class. The students
had to determine what color the 4 M&M's in their egg were based on the color of their plastic egg shell. After figuring out what color was dominant and which was recessive, they were then given 4 M&M's and had to determine what color their shells should be.

It took a while to get my lesson plan laid out along with the lab worksheets for the students. I was pretty nervous to do this lab because it was the most complicated of the ones I have written so far. The lab started out well but then got pretty intense. Once we got to the point of opening the eggs to figure out what the different colors were, I could tell the students were getting a little stressed
because they couldn't figure it out.

The most frustrating part for me was that it made sense to me and I knew what the answer should be but I didn't know how to explain to my students without giving away the answer. We were able to get to the answer and get the lab finished but the students and I were both frustrated at one point or the other.

I think the lesson can be really awesome with some changes. It was a great hands on activity for the students and a great visual of what dominant and recessive genes mean. Even though this lab didn't go exactly the way I had planned or hoped, I am looking forward to making some changes and teaching this lesson again!

"It's not about how bad you want it,  it's about how hard you are willing to work."

Weekly Writing #9

Inquiry Based Instruction

Teaching in a way that reaches all of the students is important but can be really challenging. One method of teaching that can reach a lot of students in a fun and effective way. I have always heard about inquiry based instruction but honestly never totally understood what it was. This week's readings really helped me to understand what inquiry based instruction was and also gave me some great ideas on how I can implement it in my future classroom.

Inquiry based instruction is a teaching method that combines the interest and curiosity of the students with the scientific method. It also helps to enhance the development of critical thinking skills. Students are able to identify a problem and observe, formulate questions and apply new information to gain a better understanding. 

Inquiry based instruction involves five activities that students engage in using the scientific method. 

1. Learner engages in scientifically oriented questions

2. Learner gives priority to evidence in responding to questions

3. Learner formulates explanations from evidence

4. Learner connects explanations to scientific knowledge

5. Learner communicates and justifies explanations

This method of instruction is great for agriculture education because we play a vital role in the integration of science, math, reading and writing in our classrooms. When students are active in the inquiry based instruction they are able to utilize skills from these many other areas. Inquiry based learning also requires students to use their hands and minds which allows them to create their own understanding. This adds to the learning by doing method of agriculture education. 

In order to effectively implement inquiry based instruction in the classroom, teachers should use a six step cycle shown below. 

"The art & science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge."

-Thomas Berger

My First National Convention

Every year, my dad would gather my whole family around the TV so we could all watch the National FFA Convention. This happened every year for as long as I can remember and I never imagined I would actually go. This year I got to attend my first National FFA Convention with the advisors and students of Conneaut Area FFA which is where I will be student teaching this spring! 

I had such an incredible experience and it proved to me that a career in Agriculture Education is exactly what I want to do! Check out this video of some highlights from our trip!! 

Thank you Ms. Aurand, Mr. Bizjak and the students of Conneaut Area FFA for making first National Convention a great one! 

Lab: The Problem Solving Approach

This lab on the problem solving approach was by far the most difficult for me! Everything from coming up with an idea and writing the lesson plan seemed to be challenging. I finally decided to do my lesson on food supply and population growth. 

I began with a interest approach that involved cutting up an apple to display the different parts of the world where we are able to produce food. It ended with just a small piece of the skin that represented the total amount of land for food production. I was pretty excited about this part of the lesson and it went well. 

We then worked through a series of questions in small groups then as an entire class. I knew that questions were super important to the problem solving approach so I was really focused on making sure my questions were good while writing my lesson plan. However, when actually presenting in lab I felt my question could have been better. 

Another thing I struggled with was making the subject matter really relevant to the students and making sure they knew exactly what question we were trying to solve. The lab didn't go as well as I hoped but overall I really enjoyed it. 

I feel that the problem solving approach can be very beneficial and effective in the classroom! It may take some extra planning and thought but in the end can be really cool! I'm looking forward to use the problem solving approach during student teaching!

"Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven't planted"

~David Bly

Weekly Writing #8

Evaluation 

How can we assess our students learning without boring them to death or stressing them out about an exam? I can remember hating tests for end of unit assessments in high school. I either stressed out trying to study or felt like the exam really didn't measure what I had learned. 

So as I have been working on lesson plans and unit plans, I have been trying to figure out what type of evaluation would be the most effective. Throughout this week's reading assignment I was able to learn and different ways to evaluate learning and the advantages and disadvantages of each method!

The most interesting part of this week's readings was the section about how to effectively evaluate supervised agricultural experiences. This is such a integral part of an agriculture education program and it is important to measure the student's achievement. I found it interesting to read that teacher's should take into account the size or scope of the project, the student effort, and the condition or quality. 

"Empower everyone to be the best version of themselves"

Weekly Writing #7

Problem Solving 

Problem solving is a skill that today's learners need to know. These skills are ones that can be transferred across all subject matters. Math, Science, Technology, Engineering and even English all require an aspect of problem solving. We know these skills are important but how can we teach them in our classroom? Or how can we help students to use the problem solving skills they already have?

Due to a lot of research done in the last 20 years, we know that problem solving involves a complex set of cognitive, behavioral, and attitudinal components. Based on this information, Mayer found three characteristics of problem solving

1. Problem solving is cognitive but is inferred from behavior
2. Problem solving results in behavior that leads to a solution
3. Problem solving is a process that involves manipulation of or operation on previous knowledge. 

These three characteristics can be applied to this model of the problem solving process. 

One thing that I found really interesting was the Problem-based learning strategy. This strategy includes problem solving, inquiry based learning, project-based teaching and case studies.

To effectively use problem-based learning there must be a focus on problems that:

1. provide new learning experiences

2. lead to new knowledge

3. reinforce existing knowledge 

This all applies to Agriculture Education in many ways. John Dewey contended that learning from experience helps people solve future problems. Agriculture educators have drawn heavily on the work of Dewey in shaping a problem-solving approach to teaching. I am interesting in learning more about problem solving skills and the problem-based learning strategy. 

"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."

-Albert Einstein