Life Knowledge Reflection

Discovering the FFA

On December 6th, I was able to visit Ms. Marsh's introductory class to teach a Life Knowledge FFA lesson to practice teaching students in a higher-stakes-environment. 

Throughout the lesson I grew frustrated at my perfectionism, still trying to get over that part. Walking into a class for one day, with students that don't quite get why you are there, without time to go over rules and expectations or even introductions, is difficult to understand the flow of the class.

Somethings I learned:

• Students don't readily know what the FFA has to offer
• Students can think that the FFA is just for agriculture kids, not for them, and its hard to change this
• When they has this thought, a lesson on FFA involvement is automatically dis-interesting to them.
• When you use a student's name, even if they are the disruptive student or off task, they try their best to listen or day as you ask (at least for their first class with you)
• Receiving summary letters from my students helped me learn who they are, how well they learned the lesson, and where their interests are for FFA in the Spring. 

Ag Demo Lab

How to use a Wire Nut

For AEE 412 we are required to develop a multi-step psycho-motor demonstration of agriculture mechanics to a group of our peers utilizing the method:

1. Teacher Says, Teacher Does
2. Teacher Says, Student Does
3. Student Says, Student Does

My topic I selected was fastening a wire nut for electrical wiring. The steps I used were:

1. With two pieces of wire, strip ½” of the plastic coating off one end of each wire.
2. Determine the size of the stripped wire end with the gauge holes on the wire ripper.
3. Select the appropriate wire nut for the number of wires and gauge.
4. Arrange wires together, ensuring all the ends are lined up and place them in the wire nut.
5. Rotate the wire nut clockwise until you feel the wires turn and lock together.
6. Test the connection by gentle tugging on the top of the wire nut.

What I learned:

1. Detail and Clarity are key for student expectations.
2. The method is sound in ensuring the demonstration is thoroughly absorbed.
3. Providing distinct steps aid in student learning for specific tasks.

Micro-teaching

Micro-Teaching at Bald Eagle High School

On November 12th-15th Brooke Ostrander, Beth Winklosky, and I were scheduled for one day of observation and three days of teaching at Bald Eagle High School with Mr. Biddle. I would be teaching three days of public speaking with their Agriculture Leadership class. Completing a leadership development event is a requirement of the course for all students to participate in. 

I had the opportunity to work with the students on learning what ethos, logos, and pathos (rhetoric devices) were and how to use them in speeches. Unfortunately on the last day, our lessons were canceled with the first snow day of the year.

Somethings I learned:

• Balancing the pace of student work is difficult, but not impossible, students that process information faster can aid in helping other students learn. 
• Bell-to-Bell class learning is highly enforced, if you don't have anymore planned work move on to the next day's activities.
• Student's misbehavior may not be deliberate or malicious, it may be them genuinely having fun while learning (I still am not quit sure how to handle this)
• Classroom flexibility is critical, weather and other issues will arise and push your classwork backward.

Weekly Investment #14

How does a Professional Learning Network impact our teaching practice?

Reflecting on our week in Texas

#PSUAgEd19 departed for San Antonio, Texas for our FAST Symposium at the NAAE Convention on November  26th, at early hour of 6:15 am. We proudly navigated to Texas on our own and met with Dr. Foster to reflect on our past experiences since we had last seen him, prior to micro-teaching.

Once we were on the same page, we had the week ahead of us to attend FAST, Participate in Regional Meetings, be recognized as Pre-service teachers during one of the General Sessions we attended, Be recognized as Region VI Outstanding Postsecondary Agriculture Program, listen to the opening session of ACTE, and learn from the Professional Development Workshops that many of us loved. 

We left the conference with many ideas and inspirations. But most of all we left with 80 new pre-service teaching peers to lean on, and countless connections to our professional network that had asked us to be utilized if needed. 

Influence of NAAE on my Classroom:

1. Interactive notebooks: For a "paperless" school, printed copies of paper may be restricted, but students can still use notebooks to engage in addition to their notable apps.
2. You may not be able to change a student's home life, but notify your supervisors and give them the best experience during the time you CAN change (aka while you have them in class.)
3. Global learning is critical in today's economy, and you can utilize your local community to accomplish this at AgCultures.com and Core101.org

Also, I had the ill fortune of making a trip to the ER. Although this was unexpected and unfortunate for me to miss some workshops and sessions, it brought a good learning experience forward for the team to learn from. 

ALWAYS :

1. Have medical information for all students readily available
2. Develop a clear action plan, Assign your students to group in with another chapter/use a second chaperone, as you accompany the student.
3. Communicate to the parents, other chaperones, and students appropriately.
4. Record the actions taken to ensure the student's safety and medical attention.

It was different because I was not a minor, although I am thankful for the discussion of planning that happened as a result of this misfortune.