Teacher Bucket List: Write First Unit Plan

Writing Unit Plans and Lesson Plans seems to come easy to me. I enjoy figuring out how to best inform my student's, and to make things as fun, interesting, and as interactive as possible! I look forward to being physically in my classroom and interacting with my students!

Let me give you a brief overview of my unit. This unit is my first unit for my Agriscience Applications class. This class serves as a introduction class to the agriculture curriculum. This unit covers Interviewing and Ag Sales. It is only 4 days. The first day I cover how to write a resume and cover letter. The second day I will cover interviewing skills and mannerisms. The third day I will review some basic economic principles. The last day I am most excited for! The last day will truly put the students to the test as they will compete in a Shark Tank to sell their products. 

I did some minor revisions to the wording of my objectives to make better use of some actions words. I also added some minor details as far as number of students in the class and age group of learners. Overall, the review of my unit plan went very well and I was quite pleased with it. 

Destroying Creativity: Taking the Prescribed Path

This week we had a wide variety of readings. One article really stuck out to me. This article discussed how some companies are providing a 20% time for "non-commissioned work." Allowing for workers' to pursue something from their own creative minds. This freedom allowed Google employees' to inspire more than 50% of their products. That means that in a one week-span, that one day was more productive then the other 4 or 5 days with prescribed work. 

This is also applicable to children in school. Student's take less interest in there prescribed classes, than in those that they choose as electives. A lot of times, those electives utilize concepts from our prescribed classes. But student's enjoy them because they pertain towards there interests. 

But even in a more extreme sense, what if in our classes, we gave 1 day for students to choose there own learning. Student's could seek out there own knowledge on whatever topic they choose. Student's could design there own project around there research. This freedom would help students in so many ways. It would help them discover there future endeavors and career choices.  It could help the student's become more productive during that prescribed work time. 

Student's and even adults today are used to having to jump through prescribed hoops and follow exact directions or regulations. What happened to all our creative and self-directed minds. Even those that claim to be self-directed truly are not. We follow a sense of: "what can I do better" instead of: "what happens if I do this".

Check out the original article.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-von-jan/unstructured-classroom_b_1024404.html

Interest Approach Lab

This past week's lab I was quite excited for! It was working on our interest approach. Interest approaches are so important, because that's how we get our kids into the class! For this lab, I used the second lesson from my Agriscience Applications class that I will be teaching in Spring. This class is similar to an Intro class, so it covers a little bit of everything. The first unit I will be teaching is an Employment Skills and Ag Sales Unit. The second lesson covers elevator speeches and interview skills. 

I chose to use a section of video for my interest approach. The video showcases a series of people in the first 30 seconds of there interview. The people exhibit different interviewing qualities of both appropriate and inappropriate things. I had the students write the qualities they saw and whether they were good or bad. I then had the students choose from the series of people of who they thought would be the best hire. 

The overall review of my interest approach was quite successful. The students really seemed to grasp the task well and understand it's purpose! I also was greatly complimented on my compassion and care of my students. I appreciated this compliment very much, as part of my philosophy as a teacher is to be a great mentor and guide to my student's. Student's have enough bosses in there lives and certainly have plenty of friends. I strive to be an example and role model to my student's. 

Say No to Lecturing, Unless When Necessary

This week, two of our readings discussed why working in groups is important. I feel that working in groups is important. I believe in inquiry based learning, but let's be honest, sometimes we just gotta lecture.

I think lecturing is important and key when you just have to get a basic foundation across to your students. In this manner, you know all your students are prepared for the more inquiry based, hands on activities that are to follow. One of the worst things I feel you can do to a student is make them feel lost and have them feel like quitting. It is crucial to inspire desire, momentum, and success in your students. If the one way you can assure you will have that basic foundation is to lecture, then by all means, do. It'll save yourself and your students a headache later.

One of the things I love most about agriculture education is the fact that I have so many hands-on real life opportunities at my fingertips, so beyond that basic foundation, I don't need to lecture. I can teach students with live animals, getting there hands in the dirt with plants, or maybe even getting some dirty oil on there hands. You can't exactly feed, plant, or change the oil of a math equation. I love being able to bring some true life skills into my classroom. If by chance it can't come in, they you bet were gonna go out and find it.

After all, we are:

Newcomb, L.H., McCracken, J.D., Warmbrod, J.R., & Whittington, M.S. (1993). Methods of teaching agriculture. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Groseta, K.J. & Myers, B.E. (2006). Using cooperative learning in formal and nonformal education. Retrieved from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/WC/WC06200.pdf (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Lab 1: First Day of School

It's the first day of school! Brings both excitement and dread! Excited to be back with our students, but also gotta renorm with all our students. How do we as teachers, expedite this process. I think it is most important to establish yourself as a teacher, but also don't come off like a dictator. But as always, it's important to remember to not be a friend. Students crave mentors and leadership. They can find friends other places. There's a difference between having authority and respect, and demanding authority with no respect. One picture that I always loved was this one. It shows the many hats a teacher can wear.

Along with that, I believe in the power of humor and fun. We just learned W.H. Lancelot's principles and one of them states about the power of humor. I think it is important to play some sort of game or fun activity with your students every chance possible! Especially on the first day! On the first day you want to get the students engaged with you, so I think it's important to do something fun before you jump right into rules and expectations. That's what they've heard all day, they won't truly listen to you if you just follow the pattern.

Your fist day establishes you for the rest of the year. It is one of the most important days to get right!

The Why of Lesson Planning

This week's reading stressed even more the reason why. Why we do the things we do. Why do we write lesson plans. Why are we teaching what we are teaching. I never really thought about how does this relate specifically to your community. I thought about it in the broad sense, sure. Agriculture is important and effects every part of our lives. But why specifically does Johnny care to learn about agriculture. Why is learning about milk production important to Johnny. Understanding community need is important.

It is important to be relevant. The biggest comebacks of students is: "When will I use this in the future." (Which I may be one of the guilty parties.) It's important to explain to them why they are learning a particular topic. Milk production is relevant because the student needs to understand where milk comes from. Something that would be irrelevant to a student here in the US would be something like koala reproduction, as koala's don't live here in the US. You wouldn't teach in-depth forestry if you didn't really live in a forested area. Relevance and community based need are important when designing our lesson plans.

Lesson Plan Design... Backwards?

Something that really stuck out to me this week was the way one of our articles in particular says is the best way to design a lesson. In my mind, and how I've written the few lesson plans in my past, was to start from the beginning and write it from start to finish. In a sort of chronological order kind of way.This idea is flawed. It describes writing a plan in a backwards kind of manner. It suggests identifying your ideal results first. Makes sense, that is the point of teaching. Next it suggests how you will assess your students in achieving those results. It's important to figure out how you want to "test" them. Lastly, it suggests actually writing out the activities and instructions. In this manner, you can be certain your lecture and activities will lead to your desired goal.

Tractors, Furs, and.... go carts? And that's just the start!

The 3 circle model is the basis of every Ag program. It was time to tackle the SAE portion! I took a trip up to Erie to visit 3 delightful students. Each with their own unique interests!

Elliot with one of his calves.

First, we drove out to the home of a student by the name of Elliott. Elliott is in the 10th grade. He has quite a variety of SAE's of his own, but I'll just cover a few. One of his favorite SAE's is working on his derby or show tractors. He blew out a piston on his latest derby tractor and is currently in the process of fixing it. He also has several SAE's based on a nearby farm. He helps work the dairy herd. In turn, he gets to keep calves and young heifers there for his SAE's. He also helps with the hay harvest during the harvest season.

Elliott showing us his thrown piston.

Next we visited another 10th grader named Keaton. Keaton has two main SAE's. He works for a local dairy farmer known well as Beef. He helps milk, feed, and maintain equipment around the farm. Keaton also has a unique SAE: he is an avid trapper! He keeps a well kept Furbearer record book. He traps a wide variety of small game, allowing him to trap during many times of the year. He traps raccoons, skunks, possums, coyotes, foxes, beavers, minks, and weasels.

Keaton explaining his trapping to us.

The last student we visited was another 10th grade student by the name of Kelsey. She has two main SAE's. She works for another local dairy farm. She helps milk and help with various farm chores. Her other SAE really makes her stand out from the crowd. She races go-carts! I unfortunately couldn't get any pictures as the carts are kept at her grandparents' a distance from Albion.

Kelsey showing us her cow pals!

Cooperating Center Video!!

Check out my cooperating center!!!