Progress, not Perfection: Week #11

If you're looking for Week #10's blog, it doesn't exist! Unfortunately, due to the State Legislative Leadership Conference (SLLC) on Monday, 3 days of no school because of really bad snow, and our PSU workshop seminar on Friday, I was not in school at all during week 10. However, I can reflect on SLLC a little to make up for that. 

SLLC

This is one of my favorite conferences to go to as a member. There is so much to learn and do and it really is a great time to network with legislators and other chapters. Unfortunately, the conference itself was cut short because of the weather warning. But it was great to see the students get to work and experience the same things I did when I was a member. I enjoyed passing on my knowledge and experiences.

The ag teachers got to help with evaluating proficiencies. Even though it was a really slow process, I was glad to go through it and see what judges look for. There are so many components to SAEs and the AET system that I know I need to learn but having a fundamental understanding of it really helps. And of course, it was neat to see the unique SAEs students have and to keep those in mind for when my students need my ideas in the future. 

On the way home from our short trip, we stopped by the famous Huckleberry plant that is native to Perry County. From what I gather, it isn't very common and I think the only remaining Huckleberry is in the Perry County area. So we got to see a little bit of tradition together!

Semester Motto

Student teaching is filled with its up and downs. I have such a great placement and amazing students and everything I could have asked for. But the only thing that presents challenges for me is.. well, me. I continually strive for perfection, but when I'm met with a challenge I can't figure out or something goes wrong, I get stressed out. I am my biggest critic. I know this is a time of learning and growth as I figure out this teaching gig, but I wish each lesson was amazing and I could stretch and excite students with each lesson. That doesn't always happen unfortunately, but I need to remember to roll with the punches and try my best.

So my motto that I am going to really try to stick to is Progress, not Perfection. I've heard it numerous times in different ways from many people. But my determined, sometimes rather stubborn, and perfectionist mindset doesn't allow me to think of myself as anything less. However, this whole teaching experience has taught me more about myself and what it means to really push myself but also accept that not everything is meant to be perfect. Some things are simply better off being learned from the struggles. The line from the creed: "in the promise of better days through better ways, even as the better things we now enjoy have come to us from the struggle of former years" comes to mind. I know E. M. Tiffany wasn't talking about teaching when he wrote this, but I think I'm in the "former years" part of my life. I need to keep pushing, keep learning, and keep trying to get to those "better things". I can do this! Here are somethings I'm learning from, not struggling from this eleventh week of student teaching.

 

Lab procedures

This week, I had my students do a cheese lab where they got to make cheese with an acid (vinegar or lemon juice). Not having done the lab before myself, I was a little unsure of how to walk my students through the lab. The other challenge was trying to set up for a lab when there is another class going on before that one.

Needless to say, the lab could have gone a little better and I could have prepared for it a little better. But the students were still able to make the cheese and I think they enjoyed making food!

Wrapping curds in the cheese cloth

A lot of the time, I get discouraged when I realize that I wasn't as prepared as I could have been or when I miss or forget something. But from each of these hurdles come learning experiences that now I will be able to adjust when I do the lab again in the future. 

On a happier note, in my plant science class, we've been doing quite a bit of hands-on stuff. I've had my students make compost, and had them add fish to their hydroponic systems. We are testing our systems to see if a hydroponic system with fertilizer works better than an aquaponic system. I'm excited to learn with them as we work through our little experiments!

Additionally, one of my areas for improvement is connecting and networking more with the community and teachers. Conveniently, I needed to go get the fish were to use for the system, so I got to meet the pet store owner that my cooperating teachers frequently go to. Now I know I have a helpful resource for any of my fish/aquaponic needs. 

Little moments

There were a few little things that happened throughout the week that I wanted to share that made me feel a little more like a teacher and a little less like a student. On Wednesday, I attended the Greenwood FFA Alumni meeting which was really neat to see because my home chapter doesn't have an alumni. It was neat to see what types of things an alumni can do and hear the support they give by means of scholarships, donations, or just giving of their time to make the chapter a success. It was also a great way to meet others in the community who are from or support the chapter.

Another super cool thing was that I got to say the advisor role while students were running through their opening ceremonies in preparation for the contest! The chapter has a student advisor so for any of the club meeting days, the student said the part. Some of my freshman students in my Agriscience class are participating in the Ceremonies LDE, so they needed to run through it for class. The student who normally says the advisor role wasn't there, so I got to step in. Not only was it a really cool way for me to give feedback to the speakers and then for me demonstrate what it should look like, but I got to say the part! Super cool. Oh and I didn't mess up! (but I did have to look over it once to make sure I had it right). 

Plans for next week

Next week in plant science, I am wrapping up my hydroponics and alternative plant uses unit (we'll still be checking our plants though) to begin the agronomic crops unit. 

In small engines, I will be finishing with the fuel systems and moving onto compression.

In agriscience, we will finish up with the public speaking unit, and eventually move onto parliamentary procedure.

In welding, I am having my students start to work on their final welding project.

In animal bioscience, this is my last week with them. I am finishing up our discussion on dairy products and hopefully ending the unit with making ice cream!

In food science, we will be finishing up our lessons on food additives and have student work on their research project.

In leadership, we just began talking about the Milk Quality and Products CDE, so we will carry that through until the end of the week. 

Leaving Thought

"Progress, not perfection"

Lab Trial #4: Inquiry Based Instruction

Question or Problem

How can Inquiry Based Instruction be used as a tool in the classroom?

toggletime.net

...engaging in IBI activities... researching IBI... hypothesizing that students will be independent learners as IBI is implemented...

Testing the experiment

The lesson I prepared was about determining pH levels in soil and how it affects plant appearance and growth. Using a Lab Aid kit, I had the students use the chemicals (called "Plant Nutrients", "Plant Mass", "Soil Aluminum", and "Agricultural Lime") and develop a hypothesis on what would happen to the chemicals when combined. They weren't given anything to test specifically for pH, rather, they were to determine what chemical provided would have an effect on the plant. It was supposed to change the color of the liquids depending on how much of each was added. I had them work in groups and design their own experiment.

sebamedusa.com

Analysis and results of data

Inquiry Based Instruction (IBI) is something that does not come easily to me. I am so conditioned to having specific procedures and knowing exactly how I'm going to be graded. I am not used to creating my own learning (if you can think of IBI like that) much less teach it. I was itching to help and teach rather than sit back and let the students take control.

saintermediate.blogspot.com

As much as I prepared and tried to plan for any confusion or gaps, I couldn't foresee the issues that would happen when I turned students loose after explaining what they were to do. I think part of the struggle with my lesson was trying to turn very explicit instructions with the Lab Aids kit into something that had zero directions. I practiced with the chemicals beforehand and tried several combinations based on what I thought my students would do. These combinations still produced pretty accurate results so I wasn't worried about them not getting it 100% in line with the procedures that came with the kit.

When I first introduced the lab, the students were expecting to use pH testing strips. It was then that I realized that my objective didn't match my goal for that lesson... not exactly. Yes, it was a pH lab, but this particular lab wasn't testing pH levels, it was comparing how agricultural lime raises the pH. The change in color was to show that the lime was bringing up the pH; making it more basic. This only created confusion, understandably, and they were struggling to create a hypothesis if they didn't know what exactly it was they were going to see when they tested it. 

quotesgram

Based on the feedback I got, I think I did a pretty good job of staying cool, reworking their task, and getting them to test something. Once they started working with the chemicals they did start to notice how the chemicals changed the color. However both groups only tested one or two things instead of having multiple test trials. I think they might have been able to figure out the goal if they had tested more than one combination of the chemicals.  

Conclusion

I think I have the idea of Inquiry Based Instruction down and I have a picture of all that can be done with Inquiry. I think the biggest fear (not just mine alone) is trying to plan as much as possible beforehand and play out every possible scenario ahead of time, and then arrive at the lesson only to find out that students don't understand or you didn't consider that they would try testing x instead of y. 

I really liked the idea of the lab I did. I don't know if it was really meant to be an Inquiry lab, but I think there might be aspects of it that could be. I also think I needed to reform my objectives and goals of the lab. I will say that the rest of the lesson was going to go more specifically into pH where they would look at what they've found and compare the colors to charts which would reflect what pH results look like. So this lab was only a snippet of the whole lesson. I hope to get more practice and to observe teachers who use IBI, but for now I think I'm still trying to feel it out. I do hope I can one day get my students to start truly thinking critically and not being so dependent on myself as the teacher. I think that is something so valuable for them to learn.

Lab Trial #3: Problem Based Learning

Question or Problem

How can I use a problem based learning approach in my classroom so that the students can think critically and solve real problems?

blog.engineeringstudents.org

...reading about problem solving approaches... hypothesizing that students will be engaged and thinking critically...

Testing the experiment

The lesson was on integrated pest management. Students haven't learned about IPM yet, but they have learned about pests and pesticide use. This lesson was to give them a feel of IPM and then have them reflect on what they did and how that aligns with the main steps of IPM. 

Soybean pest example

I told my students about a friend of mine that had a pest problem with her soybeans (not a real story). I showed them pictures of the situation and gave them a few resources. Ideally, there would be books and Agronomy guides, and computers at their finger tips that they could look at. I at least wanted to give them a list of potential answers so that they weren't overwhelmed with the possibilities. The students were to narrow down their search and figure out the potential pest. 

Analysis and results of data

I was super nervous for this lab. I don't think many teachers had given me liberty to solve problems in my lifetime, so it was not only new to me, but now I had to teach using it! Once the lab was done, however, I felt much better. My peers mentioned some tweaks, but for the most part their feedback was positive. 

One suggestion was to have some sort of a worksheet to guide their thoughts and notes. It would also have the question or situation they are trying to solve. I think that is a great idea for those visual learners. It probably would have clarified things a lot more.

incolors.club

Another suggestion was just making sure the situation I was presenting was logical. I tried to do my research as I was preparing for this lab, but I am by no means an expert on pests or soybeans so it was challenging. I tried to think of as many questions as possible and find those answers beforehand, but it was hard to know what they were going to ask. That was part of my fear in going into this lesson. However, I think I handled those moments of uncertainty very well. 

Another thing that was interesting was as I was trying to play along with the story (pretending that I didn't know the answer when I knew full well what the answer was for the sake of the mystery), one of the students made the comment about how if I don't know the answer, how could they trust me? How could they figure it out? I tried to turn it back to them and say that with my knowledge and their help, we can figure it out together. I wonder if there is a better way to respond to this. How do I maintain my credibility, but go along with the story. Should I tell them that I know, but I want to see if they could figure it out? I feel if I did that, they would give up when it got hard, and just wait for me to tell them the answer. 

Conclusion

I think with much more practice, I could become good at PBL. I certainly see the benefit, and I think that's how more classrooms should be. I just need to get myself into that mindset and turn the reigns over to my students every once in a while. 

deeringbanjos.com

Leaving Thought

"Vulnerability is strength"--Cheryl Strayed

Lab Trial #1: First Day of School

Question or Problem

How do I create an engaging first day of school lesson plan identifying student interests, instructing classroom management procedures, and engaging students in their first taste of the content for the first unit of instruction? (Added Challenge: How do I create the inviting and comfortable learning atmosphere I desire based on my teaching philosophy?).

getchemistryhelp.com

...doing research on activities and classroom procedure practices... hypothesizing that students will enjoy planned activities and walk away with understanding of the course...

Testing the experiment

wallsheaven.de

In lab on Wednesday I had my students do a bellwork activity by writing some information down about themselves. Following this, I went over the objectives, and led them in an icebreaker. There was much more to my lesson, however this was what could fit in the 10 minute time period for the lab.

Analysis and results of data

I really enjoyed planning and facilitating this lesson plan! My students (classmates) had some strong characters as they acted out different types of students. One had a cell phone addiction, and others shared inappropriate comments or put-downs that I had to correct. After watching the video of the lab, I think I did a good job of paying attention to the behavior of my students. There were only a few behaviors that I didn't notice that I should have taken care of. (Still growing those eyes in the back of my head, I guess). Despite those few unnoticed behaviors, I think walking around the room, engaging with students, and approaching them as soon as I noticed the misbehavior helped.

On the other side of this, I know I need to work on managing those students once I've caught them. After hearing some very helpful and supportive feedback from my peers, the biggest thing I got was to be more stern, and serious from the second an issue happens so students immediately know that I'm not playing around when it comes to misbehavior. 

stephaniemulac.com

It always seems to be the case that I think of good responses after the fact but in the moment, I'm never quite sure what to say. I think this is difficult because each student reacts to a response in different ways. While one student may be receptive to a "teacher stare", another might need to be pulled out into the hall way 2 or 3 (or more) times before they get their act together. Knowing that there are many options and that they differ from student to student make discipline difficult for me. Especially when I have to do it in the moment.

Conclusion

I truly welcomed the suggestions of my classmates because I think their perspective and honesty helps me more clearly see where I need improvement as well as see what my strengths are. Discipline is the key area I need to improve! 

Otherwise, I felt very good about being in front of the room, leading the activities, and transitioning. 

Leaving Thought

"If it's both terrifying and amazing, then you should definitely pursue it"-Erada