Virtual Mentor Exploration #3

What are the best tips/resources you would provide to a new teacher regarding special needs accommodations?

1. Ask for help: Utilize the help of Special Education Teachers, Administration, the student's case worker, their parents and even the student to make sure their needs are being fully accommodated.
2. Record evidence of your accommodation. Yes, students will lie about your actions to save themselves, recording evidence ensures you were clear and accommodating to their needs. A good tool would be a check off sheet that you initial and date to turn in/file.
3. Address lab area accommodations that may not be specified in the IEP, a walk through with the student, parent, and caseworker may be beneficial to quickly identify their needs in the shop.

"Last piece of advice... have patience not only with the student but with yourself. I think this is always uncharted territory for both you and sometimes the student. You are not always going to make the right decisions and that is okay."

Weekly Investment #13

How does this work in “RealTime” 

Between the Buck Institute Books and other professional sources of Project-Based Learning have given me a strong background of knowledge for implementing Project-Based Learning during student teaching.

I aspire to create a few units during the spring semester to exercise this knowledge in Project-based learning. This seems easiest to implement with the Small Gas Engines course that I will be teaching with Mr. Bowen on.

Engine disassembly, trouble shooting, and re-assembly is a two unit long project that students will complete with engines that they obtain from the community. Mr. Bowen, in the past, and I plan to continue, have students find an engine in the community from various places. Once they bring in their engine we complete a pre-test on the engines to determine their overall condition, then we work together on disassembly, measuring, troubleshooting. We order parts and getting the engines up and running to be returned to the community.

This method of project based learning will facilitate student learning through the project rather than teaching them first and asking them to apply the knowledge later.

Inquiry Based Instruction Lab Reflection

Inquiry based instruction ended up being a whole lot less scary than I though! With the help of AgI2 instruction materials and the advice of Miss Krista Pontius I entered the lab with a pretty good handle on things.

My Lab

I practiced a lab that I hope to use in student teaching. Through dissecting an egg students can learn the basics of using scientific equipment, the metric system, completing a lab report, and understanding their expectations in an inquiry based environment. 

I had received positive feedback on my clear instructions and scaffolding for understanding student expectations, also my peers liked the step-by-step example of calculating mass and percentages prior to having to calculate their own.

I received constructive feedback on explaining the importance of the lab from the student perspective and allowing for more hands off learning that inquiry truly is. 

From this feedback I wanted to ask a few questions for my mentors:

1. In your first inquiry lab, is it better to error on the side of caution and structure or would you recommend jumping in the deep end and seeing what happens?
2. How do you gauge when students need more scaffolding and structure to achieve their goals?

How can we demonstrate Inquiry-Based Instruction?

"This national survey of 216 agriscience teachers investigated the current attitudes and practices related to reading in agriscience. Agriscience teachers generally appreciated reading for personal development and learning, but were in less agreement about allocation of time for reading. Further, teachers agreed that reading was important in agriscience, but were in less agreement about their role in teaching content area reading strategies (CARS). Reading is a fundamental part of instruction in agriscience, with nearly 20% of class time being devoted to reading" (Park & Osborne, 2006.)

1) Why does literacy strategies matter in ag class?

 Incorporating reading literacy strategies in class not only reinforces a critical skill for students, but it allows them to read, process, and format the information that learn in a way that make sense to them. Rather than being spoon-fed information, students can develop real skills to think and research independently.

2) How do we connect literacy skills to IBI.

We can utilize literacy strategies in our classroom to encourage students to rely upon their literacy skills in IBI. These strategies can include the following:

• Reading Anticipation guide
• Inside-Outside Circles
• Think-Write-PairShare 
• Numbered heads together
• RAP (Read-Ask-Put)
• Prediction Pairs (Usually for in-class reading)
• chapter tours
• double-entry diaries
• vocab strategies 

My favorite strategy that I will apply in the spring while student teaching: RAP (read-ask-put)

This literacy strategies can be applied to literally ANY topic I can think of, which is why I love it! Researching, specifically when reading scientific research papers, is daunting even for me, much less students. Teaching students to be effective paraphrasers will help them comprehend readings while they are learning through IBI!

What is inquiry-based instruction?

1) Why use Inquiry-Based Instruction? 

Inquiry based instruction engages students in real world problem solving that trains students to become self-motivated. Students can practice critical thinking, developing hypotheses, determining credibility of sources, and much more. Mrs. Ranck mentioned also, as teachers, varying your method of instruction is equally as important for the teacher to refresh yourself between classes.

2) How is Inquiry-Based Instruction different from Problems-Based? 

IBI is similar to Problems-based in many ways, although the defining difference is the solution your students resolve to. For problems-based learning there is one best answer your students will come to. In IBI, the students work through a question they propose, in a way they feel best, to come to a conclusion they think is best.

3) What are the key elements of IBI? 

With IBI it is essential to understand that it is not a cookie cutter with a checklist of items you reach. It is a spectrum of independence that the students are given to have control over their own learning. This chart that Krista Pontius from Greenwood High School gave PSUAgEd19 helped shape our thinking in developing lesson plans.

She stated, any lesson plan she makes, she looks at this chart and thinks to herself "How can I get this lesson further to the right of the Chart?"

During My student teaching I plan to replicate her philosophy during the lesson planning process, simply asking "What can I do to shift this lesson farther to the right?"