Making Student FBI's with IBI (Inquiry Based Instruction)

This week, we are taking the plunge into Inquiry Based Instruction. IBI is unique in the fact that it takes the spotlight off the teacher. Student's are truly in charge of there learning. In this method, student's are taught to think critically to solve there problems instead of depending on the teacher to spoon feed them the information. This is accomplished when using these 5 steps.

The first step is questioning. Inquisition in stating a “what if ” or “I wonder” question to be investigated. An example from our reading states, "Students in an introductory agricultural education course notice that one of the two plants the class planted on the same day and placed in different parts of the classroom is bigger than the other. This observation may cause the students to ask, “What is making Plant A grow faster than Plant B?”"

The next step is to design your plan of action. This means to be brainstorming possible procedures and identifying an “I think” statement to test. An example would be: "Students know plants need water to grow. They know the plants receive the same amount of water because they are responsible for watering the plants and give the same amount of water to each plant. Since the students know the water is the same for each plant, they decide there must be another explanation for the difference in plant growth. The students research plant growth and find light and temperature are also important factors. The students decide to monitor the light in each location to see if a light difference exists."

The third step is to experiment. This is the hands-on portion of the method. For example: " Every hour, the students check each plant and mark if the plant is in the sun or not."

Summation is the next step. This involves collecting evidence and drawing conclusions. For example: "At the conclusion of the experiment, the students find Plant A receives four hours more sunlight than Plant B. They can conclude light affected the different growth rates of the two plants."

Finally the last step is exhibition. Sharing your findings with others around you helps others learn. For example: "Since the students did such a good job finding the answer to their question, the teacher asks them to share their work with the plant science class. The students explain each aspect of their experiment process and discuss the findings and conclusions."

Overall, I personally see the benefit of teaching SOME lessons in this manner. I however do not believe in the teaching purely IBI. It is important to teach critical thinking and for students to understand that life isn't spoon fed to you. However, some things just have to be taught by the teacher. We are teachers for a reason.



Sources:

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/WC/WC07500.pdf

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/WC/WC07600.pdf

Surprise! The 24 hour lesson plan!

Surprise! Write a lesson plan using this random set of standards and you've got 24 hours... GO! 

This lab was aimed to make us think that sometimes you don't have lot's of time to plan a lesson. As teachers, we have to be aware that sometimes it's pertinent to write a new lesson plan for the next day. We have the responsibility to act on teachable moments due to current events or other outside sources. 

I was lucky enough to get a set of animal science standards, so it aligned with my strengths. Unfortunately though, it was a set of animal nutrition standards...eww. So what does a pre-service teacher do in a crunch? I wrote a lecture lesson plan defining the different factors in animal nutrition. 

PSYCH!

I wrote up a pretty cool lab lesson. I designed a lesson on how to make TMR (Total Mixed Ration). I bought snack like foods and made up 3 ration problems for the students. The first ration problem I talked through and showed students how to complete the problem. The second ration problem the students and I worked through together. The last problem was theirs to complete and then physically make the TMR from the snack food. The students were each provided with there own scales and the appropriate means to collect and store there ration parts. 

Over all, I think the lab was a success. My student's (aka peers) really seemed to enjoy the lab. As always though, there is something to learn. If I would of had more time, I could of more properly prepared. I had to estimate the weights of an individual snack item and then estimate the total amounts to make sure there would be enough for all the students. Food items either weighed more or less then what I estimated. This either resulted in excess or running out. This can easily be fixed, but was a key learning point for this lab. 

Differentiation Station: Meeting Needs of Many

We will encounter many different types of students in our classrooms. Each student will come in with their preferred learning style. We as teachers, will probably teach in our most comfortable teaching method, which probably caters to how we used to learn to learn best. It is key to remember that not all students are like us and we need to teach to ALL our students. We do this in many fashions. One way we handle this is through Differentiated Instruction.

Differentiated Instruction focuses on students' readiness, interests, and learning preferences to be the most effective. These 3 key factors allows teachers and students to build on prior knowledge and find what works best for all. It is important to find out the base knowledge of your students right away to best meet their needs, and then continue to follow up to provide the most secure scaffolding for them. We as teacher's use this information to vary our classroom environment, instruction, and assessments to provide a well-rounded "knowledge tower." It's also important to realize that learning preferences are influenced by gender, culture, the classroom environment, learning styles, and multiple intelligence's. By being attentive teacher's, we can be aware of these differences and cater to them the best we can. 

Lots of research as been done on this subject. A wide variety of research studies point to Differentiated Instruction as a manageable, creative, practical and proactive response to the quest for enhanced student engagement and achievement in the face of significant student diversity. I was so intrigued by this chart that provides support for this teaching strategy. 

So how can I apply this in a classroom you ask. My first example: Students can participate in a class brainstorm of the possible factors that affect soil composition and fertility. Students individually select the factor that most interests them and then design and conduct an investigation to examine their chosen factor. Another example: Class brainstorms of what characteristic you look for in a sound breeding bull. Students individually compare two bulls from a catalog and prepare a presentation of which bull would better suite a herd.

Sources:
http://www.edugains.ca/resourcesDI/Brochures/DIBrochureOct08.pdf

Problem Solving Lab

In this week's lab, we took on the problem solving approach. This could be accomplished in 4 different manners. The forked road method requires students to make a choice between two options. The second method is providing multiple choices for students. The next method is situation improvement, which basically you provide a scenario and say: "How do we make this better?" The last method is called effect-cause. In this method, something has been effected and you want the students to figure out what happened and why. 

In my lab, I attempted to take on 3 of the 4 methods. I initially proposed a situation improvement problem involving PPE. "My friend Pete works in a greenhouse, and was told to spread a chemical in the greenhouse. My friend doesn't know what to wear, can you guys help him?" I then provided a dichotomous type worksheet that had guided questions. The questions were either forked road or multiple choice. I also required the students to write "Why" paragraphs for each choice they made. I wanted students to tell why they chose a certain answer over another. Some questions had multiple correct answers. So I wanted them to defend their choices. An additional element was that when students picked a choice that was incorrect, it asked them to please raise their hand so we could have a short chat. During the chat, I ask them why they chose that choice. Then I play devil's advocate and try to show them why the answer might be wrong. Once they recognize it is incorrect, they make another choice and move on through the dichotomous. 

Overall, I think the lab went well. I did learn some things that were flawed with my dichotomous. I had this set up as an individual student assignment, but I think it might work better as a whole class. This is easily something I could set up with Kahoot or Socrative. I would still have them write a individualized "Why" paragraph for each choice.  But as a class, we would discuss each question. Using Kahoot or Socrative also makes it fun and interactive for the students. It also removes the "worksheet" portion, which sometimes doesn't go over well. This was a good learning experience for this lesson, and I will certainly adapt it in the future.  

Here is a portion of the dichotomous so you can see exactly how it was laid out.

Fall Leadership Conference... Peeling Some Corn

It's that time of year where officer teams start to really grind there gears and put there skills to work! But not before they get a little boost from the PA State Officer Team and the PSU Ag Ed 18 cohort, who got some assistance from the PSU Ag Ed 17 cohort!

For an hour and 45 minutes, Karlie and I, along with our 2017 Shadow Teacher Amanda, ran the Secretaries workshop! We"husked" our way through our objectives, covering many of the responsibilities of the secretary. We covered opening ceremonies, writing minutes, and thank you cards just to name a few. 

After equipping our secretaries with the power of Scribes, we reconvened with different members to allow them to work with there fellow chapter members. The 3 of us ran a short workshop where we discussed how to handle team dynamics such as "Forming", "Storming", "Norming", and "Performing". Our teams are now prepared to "weather" there storms!

Overall, the day was a success. The officer teams are ready and abled to conquer any future tasks they are presented. I felt I personally flourished among the student's. I didn't feel nervous among the student's as I feel among my fellow peers in our mock labs.It helped affirm my belief in myself that I can be an Ag Teacher! And how excited I am to be!

Inquiry Based Learning in Agricultural Education

In Ag Education, we constantly claim to teach to the "real-world" problems. So wouldn't it make sense to teach with inquiry based learning. We should be teaching with hands on and problem based as much as possible! I guarantee you that student's in 90% of there other classes get just lectured too. Student's are on lecture overload! And let's be real, student's expect it of us to teach them outside the classroom. IT IS AGRICULTURE ANYWAY RIGHT!?!

Besides the basis of the name, wouldn't it make sense to practice what you teach. If you teach about soil texture, shouldn't you let students touch some soil. If you teach about how to do plant propagation, shouldn't you let student's try!

Once student's know how something works, doesn't it make sense to make student's apply it. In real life, you are presented with problems, not solutions. Life is a problem! Teach kids to solve it!