A final reflection on lab

I wasn't to sure what to expect from lab, I had seen videos from past years labs in the final presentations but I didn't have a good grasp on what lab really was nor the impact it was going to make on me.

Lab was hands down one of the best parts of this semester, although at times I regretted choosing the 8am section I realized how lucky I was to be the first group. With out having any bias from other labs, I felt our 8am lab got to try things out, test the water, and be the inside voice of what to expect. I also feel the peers that were in my lab made it very unique. We had both Philly kids, a passionate wild life enthusiast who never experience school based ag, the local kid, the resident goat and swine expert and the most energetic, creative, passionate gal out there. Although we came from all parts of the agricultural industry, and came from different backgrounds we brought together some kick butt lesson ideas, classroom management techniques, and helpful tips and tricks to keep the energy and focus on the educator. 

Although we always started a little late, and never got out on time I think its safe to say we had one of the best lab groups. Our diversity gave us each the opportunity to teach a group of "students" who came from all different backgrounds and gave us the "teacher" a great experience! It was a great semester, and Wednesday mornings never seemed as gloomy as other mornings, lab was a great mid week pick me up, and a great experience to try out lesson plans and classroom management skills. 

 

I may not be a pro at teaching, however I feel more confident to enter the classroom ready to handle what ever the students throw at me (hopefully not literally). 

The last week of lab was a great way to end the semester, and to show us all that we were made to be agricultural educators. 

Because we are here by choice not chance!

I'm not really sure what photos would fit well into this blog, I could screen shot some photos from lab, or I could do what I did and search the web for some comic relief  (:

                        Till next time, be sure to follow me on twitter and instagram!
 

 

A van, 5$, and a lesson plan...

Can you guess where this is going? Don't worry I couldn't either. Since we are lab #1 there wasn't anyone to spoil the surprise.

So we hopped in the van with our lesson plans and headed over to the dollar tree, Penn State was kind enough to give us each 5$ to find supplies we can use in a lesson(s) of our choice to help make them more creative. At first I was a little stumped about where I could add creativity...than it hit me. In my pesticide education unit! My first lab I was going to have students identify characteristics of pest but wouldn't it be cool if students designed their own pest!?!

So I bought cotton balls, googly eyes, string, mini cup cake holders, and q-tips. Now can you build a pest out of these things? I think you could, using the cup cake holders or cotton balls to make the body and segments, the q-tips as support and the eyes well...that speaks for its self and finally the string could be used for wings, legs, or other body parts.



I know we all say we struggle with creativity but in this day and age we have access to so many resources that can help add that creative spark to our classroom, lesson, unit or day. I know I struggle with creativity but I know where to reach out and find the support I need to get that spark!

One great resource is Pinterest! I have my own account and use it in so many ways! So if you are in a rut check out my page or the awesome Teach AG! page!

Do you have a problem???

Problems based learning...or PBL as we like to call it (at least I do) can often be confused with project based learning and inquiry based learning. So I'm here to try and clear the space but in case I don't do a good enough job check out this awesome site that breaks down problems based learning and inquiry learning.






Now back to problems based learning, in lab I presented a problem to my students with a solution in mind. This is the key to problems based learning, only one end result. Our problem was presented through a video where a community member had some sort of pest eating her tomato plants. It was up to our class to help here. Since lab is a little different than the classroom I had to make some modifications, in the classroom I would have students as bell work create 5 questions they would need to ask and than we would skype in our community member who would present the information she could ( I would script it for her) and than the students could ask any additional questions they felt they needed to solve the problem of the mystery bug.

In lab students were presented a hand out with some background and than they were asked to research what pest they believed was affecting the tomato plant. (This is what day two of my class would be). After students picked their pest they created a mind map of how the pest got to the tomato plant, lack of nutrients, poor pH, to much water ect. I found the mind map to be really fun and helpful for the lab students to show why and how the pest got to only the tomato plants!

Lab went a little smoother than some of my past labs I did state my objectives, I moved around the room and tried to give each group equal attention, I thought I had a strong presence. However, I still lack the confidence, time management, and the lesson plan writing skills. I know however I am going to improve in these areas and with that I will become a strong confident agricultural educator who is set out to change the world!

What does Inquiry mean to you?

I can tell how labs are only improving my teaching skills, this week we had to write a lesson that was inquiry. Now what does inquiry mean to you? I can tell you what it means to me...inquiry is where you give students the skill set and knowledge to take what you give them, identify the problem and than create a solution. For lab I created a lesson titled How much is to much? This lesson focus on economic threshold and field scouting, I have a 6 week long unit on Pesticide Education and I chose to try inquiry in one of them. Now inquiry doesn't have to be full blown inquiry. And that is something I struggle with and I know many of my peers do as well. However we have gained a lot of experience and tools to help us inquiry and to help us teach our own students to inquire.

To set up my students I gave them a lab packet, scales, and cups of raisins... can you guess what they were about to do? We started of reviewing from the previous class where we talked about beneficials and pests which led nicely into how a large population of a benefical such as a lady bug is a bad thing making them a pest. Next students worked in groups to weight the cups of raisins and to record their data, using this data we analyzed an article on economic threshold to determine if we had reached our threshold in our plot of soybeans. It didn't go as smoothly as I had planed however, I believe the students got the idea and I gained a better understanding of inquiry based learning.
Now lets look at what I should have improved on...

• I need to work on stating my objectives at the beginning and ending of class
• I need to be more enthusiastic and gain a strong presence through confidence
• I need to improve on my clarity of instructions
• I need to make sure all parts of my lab handout print on all lab books (oops)
• I also need to improve on my mobility around the classroom

Now not everything I did was bad, I have noticed in myself how I am writing better lesson plans that help me gain confidence, I am also improving on how I create my presence and confidence in front of the class. I have noticed how I don't seem so shakey and nervous all the time (this is something I need to get a hold on because like animals freshman read fear...)

As the semester is winding down we are only gaining more experience and opportunities to jump in front of the classroom. I look forward to getting rid of my bad habits and gaining confidence to get out there and teach!

To find out more about inquiry check out this page it helped me figure out the differences as well as ways to improve my lesson plans!
Also check out this rubric ( great huh!?) it shows that your lesson doesn't have to be 100% inquiry but can start from more teacher centered than move to student centered