Week 12 Student Teaching

Using My DIY Project

One of my project for the Penn State Agricultural and Extension Education 495 course is to complete a DIY project of professional development. I was fortunate enough to be notified of an awesome source of professional development within my placement school. Mrs. Sheffer is a member of the Paideia National Board Council, and she was willing to train me in a Paideia practice called Socratic Seminars.

Socratic Seminar

1. Provide the students with a challenging text for them to analyze and form opinions on, prior to the seminar.
2. Read the pre-seminar script, which includes:
• Setting a class goal, developing goal, and one achieving goal from the goals provided.

1. Students participate in the seminar through active listening and contributing discussion's rooted from the text provided. 


• During the seminar students are working towards achieving their goals, such as talking twice, actively listening, not talking while others are, using quotations from the text, etc.
• The teacher's role is to facilitate the discussion by posing open ended questions, which can be opinion, analytical, or other types.
• Additionally, the teacher notes the flow of discussion and what is contributed by which students on their "map."
  
2. Read the post-seminar script, which includes:
• Completing the Paideia's Reflection Paper
• Giving themselves a letter grade for their progress toward achieving their goals.
• Ranking the class on a 1-10 scale for how well the seminar went.
3. The next day, students are asked to write a response to the Socratic Seminar and what was discussed.

My Experience

The socratic seminar was used in my small animal science class during the "animal rights versus animal welfare" unit. The text we provided was The Ethics of Animal Research, which was challenging to my students. 

To aid my students who had difficulty reading the text, I read out-loud, and paused at the end of each paragraph to allow time for them to highlight if they agreed or disagreed with the statements. Additionally, students were asked to research terms they weren't comfortable with or examples of animal testing.

During the seminar, 5 students dominated the discussion. Our class goal was to speak voluntarily at least twice. I began the seminar with a round robin question, which all were required to answer, "What percentage of the statements in this research article do you agree with?" Which transitioned into my opening question, "Our class is evenly split, 8 of 16 people say that they agree with 50% or more of the statements in the article, what quote made you agree or disagree with the idea of animal testing?"

Other Questions asked included:

• What is your interpretation of the statistics in paragraph G from GP Net.com.
• What do you think of the UK's Home Office Publishing anonymous animal research projects in paragraph I?
• Closing: How do scientists implement the 3R's (Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement) of the use of animals in research?

Question for you: How can I encourage students to speak more openly? My training suggested calling on specific students in a way that gives them a second to think. Such as: "Luke, I see you agreed with 70% of the statements in the paper, what do you feel about the quote from paragraph H that states..."

Week 7 Student Teaching

National FFA Week as an Advisor

This year I celebrated National FFA Week in my new capacity as an FFA Advisor and Student Teacher. Although the week was limited due to yet another snow storm I learned many things.

FFA Spirit Week

Having a spirit week is a great way to identify supporters and members of the FFA in your school. Dover had Blue Tuesday, Flannel Wednesday, Gold Thursday, and Official Dress Friday. On social media I noticed other chapters have an FFA Tee Shirt Day, Camo Day, or Agriculture Businesses and Supporters Day which participants wore logos of their favorites. 

Supporters Luncheon

Dover FFA hosted a faculty luncheon on Friday, where they enlisted the help of an OAC member to roast a pig, as well as frying catfish in the ag shop. FFA Members volunteered to bring in the other foods, and volunteered to cook, greet, and serve faculty during their lunch periods. 

This is a perfect way to reward people who support you year round as well as gain supporters by inviting them into your program. 

Recruitment Activities

Although the snow foiled our plans, we had the intent to visit all 6th graders in their science class and the officers would teach an agriculture lab in honor of FFA Week. By displaying agriculture as a science, the opportunities available in Ag and the FFA, and networking underclassmen to upperclassmen making joining agriculture classes and the FFA a lot less scary. 

Visiting West Perry

Different Program, Same Positive Impact

On January 18th I visited Ms. Winkloski at West Perry High School. During my time at the high school I observed Mrs. Miller teach a class, Mr. Hines teach a class, and Ms. Winklosky teach two classes.

When I visited I noticed quite a few differences between Dover Area High School and West Perry High School. First, the student body had a different feel. They were mostly quite and attentive and they enjoyed the project based learning I observed in Mrs. Miller's Class.

Additionally, it was a Friday, on a two-hour delay for snow. This could have affected their energy level. But, this quietness was quickly put to rest in Mr. Hines' intro course were they were learning Parliamentary Procedure! THE STUDENTS LOVED IT! They were awarded a certain number of points for serving as the chair, the secretary, debates, motions, seconds, and so forth. Once they got to 80 points they were no longer able to earn points, except for point of order.

Finally, although Ms. Winklosky was just starting out I noticed her ability to quickly interact with her students and motivate them! The students wanted to work with her and learn what she had to say about SMAW.

Although My time was brief, I was grateful for the opportunity to compare the schools, student body, programs, and teachers to my own experience. It is wonderful to be able to identify the benefits and drawbacks of the schools and programs. I feel this experience has made me better prepared to select a school i would desire to work at. 

Week 5 Student Teaching

"I already know how to do that"

A common theme I noticed this week was fielding the phrase "I don't have to do, that because I already know how to" or some variation of that. This phrase sparks frustration and even anger inside me. 

I respond with phrases like, "I'm glad you know how to do it, but it doesn't hurt to practice." or "Excellent, now you can help your peers figure out how to do that also." To which I have been ignored or I receive another excuse. 

What more can I do?

• I've explained the "Why" behind what we are doing (important to tests/grades, important in real life, important for the rest of the course.)
• I've asked them to be experts
• I've told them its not optional
• I've ignored them and hoped they'd come around when they didn't get attention

Nothing is more frustrating than wanting to help students that don't want to help themselves. 

I now realize I cannot get hung up on students that are negative and refuse to do anything, because I can't MAKE them do something. But, I surely can follow up with what they earned in grades and I'll have opportunities in the future to discuss why they should have put in the effort prior. 

ADVICE IS APPRECIATED! THANK YOU!

Week 1 Student Teaching

The First Day & Field Trips 

On January 7th #PSUAgEd19 was FINALLY able to get in the classrooms, and for most of us we were hitting the road to Mid-Winter Convention. Dover FFA Had participated in the landscape contest, tractor restoration project, had one keystone degree recipient, and three jacket scholarship recipients. 

Being flexible was key because the day started with Keystone Testing and two of our members who were traveling with us had to finish the tests prior to our departure. Fortunately enough we were able to hit the road at a decent time and get to Farm Show in time to get lunch and a milkshake before Mid-Winter.

The rest of the week was a whirl wind of keystone testing, half-hour classes, mis-matched schedules, and meeting my great students. Friday was our only "normal day" and Mrs. Barzydlo began the Small Animal Science Final which will continue into next week. 

Looking Forward to next week, I unfortunately will not be teaching.... yet... Monday and Tuesday will have an adapted schedule for final testing, Wednesday is the career and college advising day, and then our students will be out of school until 1/22 while we complete professional development. 

Because of this modified schedule I look forward to visiting Ms. Winklosky at West Perry on Friday to check out what she is up to!