The Importance of your local Fair

Having been a 4H, FFA, Alternate Fair Queen, and active volunteer, my local Fair is something that is near and dear to my heart. I owe a lot of my fond memories of the Fair to my 4H leaders and FFA Advisor/Ag Teachers.

I had the privilege to attend the York Fair with Mrs. Barzydlo to complete two SAE visits and see what Dover Area High School Agriculture Students were up to at the Fair. 

The FFA chapter was well represented by their first place educational display, FFA members showing animals, and participants in the Dairy-Skill-a-thon that I got to assist with. 

Additionally, I met with the York Extension Agent Linda Spahr, who was incredibly knowledgeable and her 4H members loved her. Also, we visited the Agriculture Education Building where the Chapter Displayed their Officers with the #IamFFA movement to encourage people to join FFA. 

I was able to ask Mrs. Barzydlo about all the things an Ag Teacher does to prepare for the fair and assist with while the fair is going on. I also asked her what she does to enjoy the fair for herself, which she replied that first you must rotate responsibilities if you have a multi-teacher program, and second you must set aside one day which you come with your family and stick to a no-business policy.

It's safe to safe my experience at the York Fair was AWESOME, and I can't wait to help at my future program's local fair as well.

SAE Visits

As many of my readers know, an ideal Agriculture Education Program embraces the three-circle model. Often times the most difficult circle to include in a program is SAE. Utilizing SAE in the classroom allows students to apply their agricultural knowledge outside the classroom and develop skills that we many not be able to teach inside our classroom.

SAE visits are critical in keeping students on the proper course of growth and development in their SAE projects. Bonuses of SAE visits include bonding with the student and developing a professional relationship and well as gaining a better understanding of their home life and developing relationships with their parents. 

During the York Fair, Mrs. Barzydlo and I visited with two students to complete their SAE visit. One was a dairy beef project and one was a swine project. 

While we visited with the students we asked critical questions about their goals, challenges they faced, and their accomplishments with the project animals. 

The student with the dairy beef project was a graduate that will be receiving his American FFA Degree in October. While we visited he shared some of his beef and cheese bologna with us to taste. He mentioned that there had been a communication error with the local butcher he uses and they had made the bologna roll larger than the previous times, which he was not please about for sale purposes.

Both students were showing several animals at the York Fair and were excited. They felt confident in the animals they raised

Exploring Dover Area School District's Agriscience Program

If you want the Insider's Scoop on what goes on at Dover Area High School's Agriculture Program, check out this video of my cooperating center!



PS: Mrs. Barzydlo and Ms. Boltz were planning to have a guided video tour of the department during their August check in, but a sudden, strong thunderstorm knocked the school out of power!

Weekly Investment #3

What is a plan and who are our learners?

The week's weekly investment explored the planning process for courses and how we connect material we aspire to teach to our learners.

We explored backward design in course planning, scaffolding, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Understanding by Design and other methods for instructional planning.

1) How do we plan for instruction?

Instruction is best planned for with the end result in mind. First, we must identify the desired results. With the result in mind to format an essential question.

Then, we must plan for assessment of learning. According to ASCD.org's Understanding by design there are six facets for understanding for assessments:

When someone truly understands, they:

• Can explain concepts, principles, and processes by putting it their own words, teaching it to others, justifying their answers, and showing their reasoning. 
• Can interpret by making sense of data, text, and experience through images, analogies, stories, and models. 
• Can apply by effectively using and adapting what they know in new and complex contexts. 
• Demonstrate perspective by seeing the big picture and recognizing different points of view. 
• Display empathy by perceiving sensitively and walking in someone else’s shoes. 
• Have self-knowledge by showing meta-cognitive awareness, using productive habits of mind, and reflecting on the meaning of the learning and experience.

The third and final part of the lesson planning process is planning the learning experiences and instruction. This seems odd to be the final step, but it makes sense. Many people see a really cool activity and want to incorporate it into the classroom in some fashion, and by doing this they create a lesson for that activity, not a meaningful activity for the lesson.

Keep in mind that while we lesson plan, we must first identify the destination before we attempt to select the route we will drive to get there.

2) What are the similarities between Significant Learning; Understanding by Design and the Universal Design for Learning?

The Universal Design for Learning is geared toward developing significant learning for unique learners to address the what, how, and why of the content they are learning. 

Understanding by Design is a three-step, backward design process which teachers utilize to develop significant learning. 

The two are different but not mutually exclusive. In fact, they overlap quite a bit and must both be used to design courses, units, and lessons for significant learning.

3) How you will incorporate the three pillars of Universal Design for Learning: multiple means of representation, multiple means of action and expression, and multiple means of engagement?

Multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement must be incorporated in your planning process. By incorporating these three pillars we break down barriers.

Incorporating multiple means of representation can happen in several ways. A specific example can include first, learning about a ruminant digestive system by discussing the function of each stomach, then looking at imagines of each stomach and inspecting their surface structures to correlate with their functions. In addition to pictures and discussion a teacher can incorporate a video, visit a farm with a cannulated cow, or ask a butcher for the digestive organs from ruminant animals. Through out the learning process students should be asked to recall vocabulary and functions for the various ruminant digestive parts. 

Multiple means of action and expression can be incorporated into lessons and plans in several ways, also. We aspire to allow students to choose from multiple options to express what they know and their levels of proficiency. This can look like allowing them to design a project to display their knowledge in a summative assessment, or simply asking a student open ended questions.

Multiple means of engagement is the most challenging pillar for me to comprehend how to incorporate. I understand that each student is unique and won't be intrinsically motivated to explore each topic or activity. Incorporating multiple means of engagement would mean allowing them more freedom to explore specific parts of a topic, once the basic knowledge and vocabulary have been captured. A specific example could look like a student learning the basic content of greenhouse management, but investigating the economic impacts of aphids in a greenhouse because economics and business models fire up that specific student. 

4) What is Scaffolding?

In education scaffolding means giving the students the support they need, in a positive interaction between the teacher and the student, to learn and utilize information you have given them. Scaffolding is how teachers get students to stretch, and reach the zone of proximal development.

We achieve scaffolding in a few steps. First, the teacher begins by teaching at a level the students can understand. Then, the teacher poses a problem out-loud of the students to process. Following the problem the teacher proposes a solution using action, images, and language.

This process is repeated and students are given positive reinforcement, regardless of their answer, to encourage participation. Through this repetition the students will grasp the new concepts, via scaffolding.

DRiVE Part 3

THE TYPE i TOOLKIT

DRiVE, by Daniel Pink concludes with ample amounts off methods to improve intrinsic motivation in businesses, classrooms, and throughout your life.

Things to ponder:

What is your Sentence? 

A congresswoman once told President JFK, “a great man is a sentence. Lincoln’s was: ‘he preserved the union and freed the slaves.’ FDR’s was: ‘he lifted us out of the Great Depression and helped us win a world war.’ What is your sentence?”

By reorganizing, and focusing on a singular leading task we are able to gain traction on what matters most to us, and what will motivate us intrinsically.

Mine as a future educator would be "Lisa inspired students to achieve their greatest potential and develop a life long passion for agriculture."

COMMENT what your sentence would be!

 What did you accomplish today?

As you work to achieve your sentence from the last question remember how you eat an elephant; one bite at a time.

Ask yourself at the end of the day: “are you better today than you were yesterday?”

Write down your small incremental steps and remind yourself you won’t be a master in a few days; mastery is a journey of a thousand steps.

As a student teacher in the spring, I have purchased a small white board for my room. ON this white board I plan to do two things. 

1. Write down a small attainable goal each morning, such as sticking to my "set-up" routine before each class, resolving a conflict with a student, or grading a class's assignment prior to leaving the school.

2. Write down any progress I had made that day, such as I helped a student and saw the "light-bulb" turn on.

Conduct deliberate practice

The best way to improve is to apply effort toward improving performance; to do this follow these few tips: 

1. Set a stretch goal. Remember that the goal of practice is to improve performance, not to go through the motions. 

In the spring this would look like making goals which I would rely on my virtual mentors and Mrs. Barzydlo for assistance to meet, such as connecting with a student or diversifying my lessons to meet my learner's needs more adequately.

2. Understand your weaknesses, and direct your effort there.

Throughout the fall in 412, 413, and 295 I will adequately identify my weaknesses. Knowing this information going into spring semester will allow me to create a game plan to reach those stretch-goals.

3. Apply full concentration and effort. It’s going to be mentally and physically exhausting.

I take this advice with a grain of salt. Yes I must prepare and have GRIT, but I cannot forget to take time out of each day, even 5 minutes, to re-charge my batteries.

4. Receive immediate and informative feedback. This will point out how to improve.

I am fortunate to have a wonderful mentor team, cohort members, Penn State supervisors and cooperating teachers to guide me through feedback to become a better educator.

5. Repeat, with discipline. Mastery is the sum of thousands of small events, done day in and day out.

Similar to the question, "what did you accomplish today?" I can create a daily motivations to power through. Overtime this will help you develop grit.

Improving Intrinsic Motivation In My Classroom

Give 20% Time for Self-Chosen Projects

Companies like google and 3M have had success in implementing 20% time to generate free thinking. This would be a good practice to allow students to have a free-friday to work on various Ag related tasks such as working in AET, completing projects due, or exploring other areas of content they were curious about. 

Turn an Off-Site into a Fedex Day

Teachers can set aside the day for when students can choose what to work on, with the only rule being that they must deliver. They can deliver a new idea, a prototype, a better process, or more.

In an Agriculture Classroom they have ENDLESS opportunities to deliver on their learning. 

Conduct Anonymous Surveys of Autonomy and Purpose

Ask questions like “how much autonomy do you have over your learning in my class?” and “what is our organization’s purpose?”

How can I know how my students really feel if I don't ask them?

Give Yourself Performance Reviews

It’d be crazy to imagine an athlete like Lebron James getting feedback or coaching just once a year, in a 1-hour session. Try to seek more management feedback for yourself.

In addition, give yourself performance reviews. Set performance and learning goals at the beginning of the month, and then evaluate your performance at the end of the month.

Involve students in Goal Setting

Bring students into the goal-setting process. This will give students ownership over our goals and make them feel more driven toward accomplishing them.

Transitioning into the changes

A theory is perfect, until we make it practice

As a student, you might feel helpless if the teacher suddenly changes your entire routine.

• Start small. Don’t worry about changing the whole classroom overnight, change one routine piece at a time and allow the students to adjust accordingly.
• Experiment in a committed fashion. Try with all your might, but don't be afraid to scrap an idea and start new if it isn't working.
• Emphasize results. To get students to see their improvements, show them improved learning, point out curious behavior, or tell them you are proud of their accomplishments.

RTL Reflection

The Task: 

At the end of our very first day in AEE 412, Ms. Morey asked us to randomly select a packet of papers which would assign the topic which we would be teaching on two days later, during Lab AEE 412. 

My task was to teach as many of my peers to juggle three balls, for one rotation in a 15 minute lesson. I was TERRIFIED! Mostly because I CAN'T JUGGLE!

How it went:

I wrote my lesson plan, practiced juggling for three hours, and hoped for the best. I walked into class like a boss, knowing this was just a temperature taking assignment, and knowing if anything my peers and I were going to try our best but have a good time doing so. 

First, I had a technical issue. The room's audio was malfunctioning, so therefore my video for the final step of three-ball-juggling demonstration (which I was only able to successfully juggle two) was incomplete. Fortunately, as a back up, I narrated what the gentlemen were saying and used the video as a visual aid.

Second, none of my peers successfully learned to juggle three balls in 15 minutes. Bummer... BUT, I look for silver linings:

1. All of my peers were motivated to try
2. All of my peers tried their best
3. All of my peers showed significant improvement from where we started.

My learning:

First: I had a reality check. Ag teachers are jacks of all trades and masters of none. I will be teaching material I don't fully understand, or maybe skills I can't fully do. But, similar to my juggling lesson, a successful teacher will invest the time to get better or understand more, and have a back-up plan to better teach the students.

Second: When checking for understanding, you will have to go back sometimes and divert from the lesson plan to make sure information is fully understood. It wasn't in my lesson plan to spend 10 minutes on practicing with two-ball-juggling, which slowed us down from getting to the three-ball-juggling task. But I knew my students/peers needed that information to move forward.

Third: YET... it is such a powerful word. A peer of mine said "I can't do this." Fortunately for me we had just covered growth mindset, and my response was quick and meaningful. I simply said "yet," smiled, paused for it to sink in, and started to help the student more.

My feedback from Peers:

Unanimously, my feedback included that the task given to me REQUIRED more time. Given 15 minutes in class was an assigned time, I had to work with what I could. Outside of the practice room I will use this feedback in the future -- you can only go so fast. Cramming tons of learning into short periods of time doesn't promote meaningful learning, it promotes checking off arbitrary boxes of completion. 

An additional comment that stuck out was they appreciated the differentiated methods of giving feedback and instruction regarding their performance. Throughout the lesson I had first demonstrated, then I showed the video, then I went to each students individually and worked with them, then I had them work with each other to coach each other, and finally I coached them as a whole group again before moving on.

Weekly Investment #2

How can we facilitate and design excellent teaching & learning?

First, you don't just "happen" to be a great teacher. Excellent teaching and learning is a thoughtfully mapped out event that happens as a results of excellent unit, lesson, and objective planning. 

Home-run quotes from The first days of school: How to be an effective teacher

When the subject matter to be learned possesses meaning, organization, and structure that is clear to students, learning proceeds more rapidly and is retained longer.

Food for thought for the spring: Students don't need to know the historical facts of a content area before they learn the present applications, peak their interest first, then dive into how we got here or why. 

Example: Students don't need to study the first greenhouses in order to learn about starting seeds in a greenhouse. After working in the greenhouse you can ask students, "How do you think the first greenhouses looked? From what you have seen, how have we made them better?"

Students must be motivated to learn. Learning activities should be provided that reflect the wants, needs, interests, and aspirations of students

Food for thought for the spring: I will continue to explore student motivations? How can I motivate students in content areas that they may not be inherently interested in?

Students are motivated when they attempt tasks that fall in a range of challenge such that success is perceived to be possible but not certain.

Food for thought for the spring: Internally I'm screaming as I remember zone of proximal development and scaffolding your students. By consistently "temperature taking" my students I can successfully gauge were their zones lie.

To maximize learning, students should inquire into rather than be instructed in the subject matter. Problem-oriented approaches to teaching improve learning.

Food for thought for the spring: Spoon feeding information is never fun. Challenging the students with a question they can't answer right away peaks curiosity. Although, people don't know what they don't know. Asking meaningful questions with purpose and direction is key.

Supervised practice that is most effective occurs in a functional educational experience.

Food for thought for the spring: Considering this mentioned "Supervised" and "Experience" peaked my interest regarding SAEs. Being mindful of supervising students in their SAE is huge, these projects can be big and daunting, being present and guiding makes the elephant task more consumable.

Importance of Planning:

1. Units must be taught in a purposeful sequence to peak student interest and ability to connect information
2. Lessons must be structured in a way that promotes inquiry and successful student learning
3. Good questions don't just happen, planning what you are going to say aids in funneling students down efficient pathways of learning.