The problem solving approach-
As a student in high school and college, I LOVED when a professor started out the day with "So I got this email and I thought you guys could answer it.....". I don't know how it gets me so excited. And I don't mean like "yay, we don't have class today"; I mean like a dog drooling and waiting patiently to get the treat that is sitting on his nose. Its just something about getting the opportunity to let your light shine and finally using the knowledge that you have been just stuffing away that makes me so excited.
So when I heard that we were going to get the chance to use this approach, I started drooling. I had ideas bouncing from ear to ear about all the things I could try to use. Seeing that I LOVE soils and crop sciences, I started aiming in that direction. After looking through my unit plans for the perfect example, I found one. I decided to do the problem solving approach had to be on my favorite subject, soil nutrient management. Oh goody, this was gonna be perfect!! I had the knowledge to back me up and everything (I was really drooling at this point).
While I was preparing for my problem solving approach, I couldn't really decide which technique I wanted to use. I was stuck between situation to be improved and effect/cause. I really enjoy effect cause because you just can't be wrong as a student. There was just one problem, the lesson that I wanted to incorporate this into was right before the exam, as a result the approach would have to go before the lesson and carry throughout. Not a huge deal at all for my high school students, they would have time to digest and practice before being thrown into the spot light. However, for my "peer" students, it was going to ask A LOT out of them. Some how they would have to dig back to the old ages of SOILS 101 to even come close to answering the question. Oh boy, what to do? I decided to make my plan so that it would work for the AP Horticulture class (with college credits). That way, if it was a "bummer" in lab, it would be in there and not in the actual classroom.
I feel that it sure was a bummer....
When I started fast forwarding through the slides to just cover the problem solving approach and not the material, I lost the class out in left field. Correct that, I lost them in the parking lot!! They had no idea where this "drooling dog" was headed with all his happiness and pictures.
The main point, if you are trying to do well in lab, DO NOT make the problem solving approach be the center of the lesson plan and teach around it. I started out with a picture of a nitrogen deficient corn field and asked the students what is happening with Farmer Joe's field. Right off the bat I got the answer I wanted (nutrient leaching). Whoop! Whoop!!
Next I asked the class what should we tell Farmer Joe to do? (Crickets came out and starting singing at this point). So I hinted for a soil test (which would have been the lesson the day before). While "Farmer Joe" was getting his soil tested, we went over fertilizer calculations (N-P-K) and awaited "Farmer Joe's" reply. Once we got his test results a couple slides later, the students were then asked to calculate how much ammonium nitrate Farmer Joe should order if he had a 50lb nitrogen recommendation per acre on a 5 acre field. Using the ammonium nitrate (34-0-0), how much fertilizer should he order?
I think this lab went okay overall, it was not my best or my worst, but I think that if it were in my classroom it would have gone better because the content knowledge would have been right there in their minds. And you KNOW I have the approximate date written down when this dog will be drooling again to use this lesson ( ~February 6th).
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Thursday, October 24, 2013
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Weekly Writing 10/20
What do we need to know about assessments?
Why?
Assessing students provides a road map for the teacher. Having a needs assessment can pTrovide the teacher with an idea of where the students are in their understanding before the class starts. The teacher is able to see where the students are and it gives an idea as to what path needs to be taken for student success. Furthermore, it can provide motivation for the students to study and learn. Students that gain motivation from assessments will study for the exam and possibly gain understanding of the objective being taught. Furthermore, assessments give instructors feedback on how the students are taking in the information. This is important for the teacher as it allows for them to know if they need to change the approach of their teaching.
When?
Assessments should be done on a continuous basis. Teachers should assess their students throughout every lesson every day. You might wonder, "well how can you teach anything if you are just assessing"? Well, you are not giving exams or quizzes every second, but you are asking questions to the class. These questions might only consist of checks for understanding after a concept is expressed. However, a teacher is still assessing the students understanding with the question. Therefore, an assessment is occurring.
Assessments can also be taken at end unit objects to evaluate how well the students took in the information. This will show a cumulative result of teaching and understanding for the objectives taught in the classroom. From this point, the instructor can evaluate themselves on different methods of teaching to convey the information to the students.
How?
Instructors can use a variety of different assessment techniques. Some different techniques can include journal entries, concept maps (students relating ideas or facts to one another), lab workbooks, and literature reviews are just some "outside the box" assessment techniques. Assessments after instruction can vary in format in many ways. The format should be chosen on the level of thinking desired of the students. For example, multiple choice questions do not require the student to have a deep understanding of the content covered in class. However, essay tests require the students to students to have a very deep understanding of the content and calls for extra studying.
Summary
Assessments are critical tools in understanding the learning that is taking place in the classroom. Without assessments, teachers would be trying to find a needle in the hay stack when it comes to understanding what the students need to know. Assessments can be given at any to check for understanding and student learning and are key to student success.
Why?
Assessing students provides a road map for the teacher. Having a needs assessment can pTrovide the teacher with an idea of where the students are in their understanding before the class starts. The teacher is able to see where the students are and it gives an idea as to what path needs to be taken for student success. Furthermore, it can provide motivation for the students to study and learn. Students that gain motivation from assessments will study for the exam and possibly gain understanding of the objective being taught. Furthermore, assessments give instructors feedback on how the students are taking in the information. This is important for the teacher as it allows for them to know if they need to change the approach of their teaching.
When?
Assessments should be done on a continuous basis. Teachers should assess their students throughout every lesson every day. You might wonder, "well how can you teach anything if you are just assessing"? Well, you are not giving exams or quizzes every second, but you are asking questions to the class. These questions might only consist of checks for understanding after a concept is expressed. However, a teacher is still assessing the students understanding with the question. Therefore, an assessment is occurring.
Assessments can also be taken at end unit objects to evaluate how well the students took in the information. This will show a cumulative result of teaching and understanding for the objectives taught in the classroom. From this point, the instructor can evaluate themselves on different methods of teaching to convey the information to the students.
How?
Instructors can use a variety of different assessment techniques. Some different techniques can include journal entries, concept maps (students relating ideas or facts to one another), lab workbooks, and literature reviews are just some "outside the box" assessment techniques. Assessments after instruction can vary in format in many ways. The format should be chosen on the level of thinking desired of the students. For example, multiple choice questions do not require the student to have a deep understanding of the content covered in class. However, essay tests require the students to students to have a very deep understanding of the content and calls for extra studying.
Summary
Assessments are critical tools in understanding the learning that is taking place in the classroom. Without assessments, teachers would be trying to find a needle in the hay stack when it comes to understanding what the students need to know. Assessments can be given at any to check for understanding and student learning and are key to student success.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Problem Solving Weekly Writing
One of my favorite things to do in agriculture class is problem solving. Its as close as it comes to real life experience. As a result, students feel as if they are doing something productive and something that has meaning. In other words, there is a felt need to know. Furthermore, it allows students to use their background and past knowledge to make a decision on a situation.
My favorite example is when a teacher provides little background information at first on the problem. Something like a picture with some role play to go with it. For example, the teacher would have a picture of some corn that is heavy infected with gray leaf spot. Starting class out, the teacher could pull a phone out and role model the conversation between a farmer and an agronomist. The students would be able to see the problem and hear a description about the problem as their background information. As the students progress through the problem they will be given more information about the problem to help lead them to an answer.
I am excited to use this tool in my lab and also this spring when I student teach. It will be a really fun piece to use and see how my students take advantage of it.
My favorite example is when a teacher provides little background information at first on the problem. Something like a picture with some role play to go with it. For example, the teacher would have a picture of some corn that is heavy infected with gray leaf spot. Starting class out, the teacher could pull a phone out and role model the conversation between a farmer and an agronomist. The students would be able to see the problem and hear a description about the problem as their background information. As the students progress through the problem they will be given more information about the problem to help lead them to an answer.I am excited to use this tool in my lab and also this spring when I student teach. It will be a really fun piece to use and see how my students take advantage of it.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Breakin' Down the Milker Demo
For this assignment, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The assignment was to demonstrate a skill/ or technique in Ag Mechanics for approximately 30 minutes. This was the hardest part for me, "Ag Mechanics", not that I don't know anything in ag mechanics, but because I only have one class in the spring for ag mechanics.
Welding is very difficult to demonstrate in a classroom without any equipment or surfaces made for welding. As a result, I began to brain storm ideas of how to weld but not actually weld anything. I was given an idea by my advisor to use toothpaste and mimic the welding motion with the tooth paste. I thought it was a really good starting point that I could build off of.
Next came the glue gun idea. This idea came about because i wanted something hot that you could mold and let it set up, very similar to welding. I would have 2 pieces of cardboard that the students could essentially "weld" together at different angles. The idea seemed perfect for where I was trying to demonstrate it. However, after having a student do this demonstration would they be able to walk out into the shop and know how to weld? I know that I would not have felt safe letting a student do that. As a result, this conceptual based demonstration would not work for what I was trying to accomplish. Onto Plan B.
Plan B.
I have a food science class in the spring and we will be going over dairy products. Since I am from a dairy farm, I have resources to pull from for this demonstration. I decided to disassemble a milking unit to show students what a milking inspector would do to inspect a dairy farm. As the class would do this, we would look for areas that are most likely to have buildup.
The Demo.
The demonstration went better than I anticipated. The students were interactive and found it interesting. However, I should have called on students to participate instead of asking. I found that as I asked, more students turned down the participation. For future teaching experiences, I will have to start calling on students and have them participate with me to get the class involved more.
Furthermore, I received great feedback that I should progress through the dis-assembly of the milker in a more logical order. Milkers do not have a certain pattern that a person needs to follow to disassemble them. You can almost start anywhere to disassemble the milker. H owever, to teach the concepts and techniques of the milker, it would have been better to follow the path the milk takes or vice versa. This would give the students a clear path and road map that we were going to follow.
I feel that this was possibly my best lab yet, I felt very confident in what I was doing and my organization of materials was at its best. However, I am far from being content. I have much improvement to be made and I need to use the great feedback that I received to build on and become better.
Welding is very difficult to demonstrate in a classroom without any equipment or surfaces made for welding. As a result, I began to brain storm ideas of how to weld but not actually weld anything. I was given an idea by my advisor to use toothpaste and mimic the welding motion with the tooth paste. I thought it was a really good starting point that I could build off of.
Next came the glue gun idea. This idea came about because i wanted something hot that you could mold and let it set up, very similar to welding. I would have 2 pieces of cardboard that the students could essentially "weld" together at different angles. The idea seemed perfect for where I was trying to demonstrate it. However, after having a student do this demonstration would they be able to walk out into the shop and know how to weld? I know that I would not have felt safe letting a student do that. As a result, this conceptual based demonstration would not work for what I was trying to accomplish. Onto Plan B.
Plan B.
I have a food science class in the spring and we will be going over dairy products. Since I am from a dairy farm, I have resources to pull from for this demonstration. I decided to disassemble a milking unit to show students what a milking inspector would do to inspect a dairy farm. As the class would do this, we would look for areas that are most likely to have buildup.
The Demo.
The demonstration went better than I anticipated. The students were interactive and found it interesting. However, I should have called on students to participate instead of asking. I found that as I asked, more students turned down the participation. For future teaching experiences, I will have to start calling on students and have them participate with me to get the class involved more.
Furthermore, I received great feedback that I should progress through the dis-assembly of the milker in a more logical order. Milkers do not have a certain pattern that a person needs to follow to disassemble them. You can almost start anywhere to disassemble the milker. H owever, to teach the concepts and techniques of the milker, it would have been better to follow the path the milk takes or vice versa. This would give the students a clear path and road map that we were going to follow.
I feel that this was possibly my best lab yet, I felt very confident in what I was doing and my organization of materials was at its best. However, I am far from being content. I have much improvement to be made and I need to use the great feedback that I received to build on and become better.
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