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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Todd, YOUR BLOG POST IS REALLY FREAKING FUNNY! On another note, I love how enthused you are about problem solving. It would be great is more people shared your enthusiasm then maybe more world problems would be solved. Keep it up, I am sure this will be easier to do in the classroom since you will know what background knowledge your students have.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jeanne, awesome blog! One of the challenges of this lab is that we are teaching snip-its of units and lessons, not providing our classmates the full experience that they will have in the lab. That being said, you will hopefully get better results when you use it in real life. However, it never hurts to be forced to practice our questioning techniques!
ReplyDeleteTodd, first off you are a hilarious blogger!!! I could not stop laughing while I was reading your post! I felt the same way about my problem solving lab, I really thought I lost my students and the crickets were chirping! The way you explained your idea for your lesson will be really awesome when you teach it in February, I think you will get the reaction you need from your students to help your lesson move forward and have it be engaging for them! It sounds like this is going to be a really cool lesson too! Good job! I cant wait to read more of your blog posts!
ReplyDeleteTodd great reflection very vivid!! I am so glad that you found an approach and a topic that truly interested you! I think that we have to be careful where we skim our labs and where we expand them. Our peers definitely do not have the wealth of knowledge that we sometimes desire.
ReplyDeleteTodd, I experienced this in sort of the same way. My lesson will be at the end of my unit, and therefore, my peers didn't know as much as my students (hopefully) will. I think your lesson was set out great, and I love how enthusiastic you are about it! I think with the content knowledge and your enthusiasm, the students really will enjoy this lesson on February 6! Good job!
ReplyDeleteTodd,
ReplyDeleteThis was a really great blog to read by the way! First off, it is great to see and hear your enthusiasm for this teaching technique. That's the right attitude! I also thought that your lesson started off really strong! I thought it was interesting and your question was very clear. One of the reasons the second part may have gotten a little shaky was because the 'jump' we made for timing reasons messed with the 'flow' if the lesson. That is one tricky thing about lab. However, I feel that when you teach this in the spring, having that 'flow' throughout the lesson will keep everything going nicely. Keep up the good work!
Todd,
ReplyDeleteGreat reflection! I'm glad that you found this approach to be the one that relay clicked with you. I too had the peer knowledge to consider for my lab but I talked to Laura before hand and she told me to give them notes before hand to help guide them along may be this is something you could consider in the future. Great Job and Keep It Up!!
Todd you sound like your really engaged with this problem solving technique. Maybe one day you can come back and teach the problem solving approach to the cohort who's getting ready to student teach just like we are! Wow that just blew your mind right? But I believe your experience of seeing students get "lost in the parking lot" was very beneficial. As teachers, we have to notice when students are comprehending or not. This is a great teaching tool to further your knowledge/skills. Sometimes I think we all get too caught up in teaching the specific 412 labs, and not the actual lesson. The classroom will be totally different, which you understand, but we both know it only takes time and experience to master anything.
ReplyDeleteI loved your blog Todd! It is so good because of your use of descriptive words to make the reader understand everything. I agree with you and think its a big problem to focus the problem solving approach and not the material because the material is what the students need to learn to be able to complete the objectives. I thought the problem solving approach is hard to teach starting out but we will get much better with it as we use it more to get some more experience and perfect it. If we work hard at it, with time we will get there!
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