Show Halters to Chalk Boards: Dylan's Ag Ed Journey

I think that problem solving skills are extremely important to teach students, especially in Agricultural Education. Group learning can be a very effective way to develop those skills and allow students to work through problems with each other. Bouncing new ideas off of each other and being able to go about your learning in your own way, allows students to have a deeper understanding of the material they are working with.  One question from the reading that I would ask my future students would be: What would you like to learn more about and what do you think is the best way for you to learn it? Using group learning can be done in a number of different ways. I think that one of the best ways for students to learn something that I may not be able to teach them as effectively in a classroom is taking them to the source. Field trips can grab the attention of students and get them interested in something that they may have never even thought about before. There are so many opportunities...

I am starting out this week's teaching reflection with the positives. So, it went awesome! I think that using TikTok is a great strategy to spark student interest because of its popularity in our culture right now. I feel like this is a great way to connect on the same level with the students. Being able to find content on popular platforms that connects to your lessons is a great way to build interest around your subject. On to the negatives, I feel like this interest approach could be overused and then start to come off as corny or like I am trying to fit in with the cool kids. I realize that this can be a great way to build interest but maybe only using this approach once or twice a semester. I will plan to use this TikTok interest approach probably one time in each of my classes during my semester of student teaching. This will allow my students to have the opportunity to experience this approach and I will use it for lessons to create a fun environment for the lesson.

 The articles for this week really got me thinking about the type of instruction that I am going to deliver. I think the biggest thing that stood out to me was using action-measurable verbs when writing objectives. Using these higher level thinking verbs not only allow the students more room for growth when you are working towards that goal, but also keeps the expectations clear to the students. Another thing that I picked up on this week was the the idea of doing a demonstration with your students when trying to present a new skill instead of just telling them what to do. This way you are covering at least two learning styles and students will have a greater understanding of what needs to be accomplished and how to do the skill on their own the correct way. One idea that I pulled that I see a lot of use for in my classroom is a buzz group. A buzz group is a small group that is focused on coming up with a solution to a problem. I like this because they are using all of their ideas ...

 I think that my lesson snap shot of my, yet to be had, first day of school went very well. I believe that the activity that I did gave the students an opportunity to share how they feel about the class going into it and allowed me to learn some information about them. I know that in order to gain respect from my future students, I have to show interest in their lives and be genuine to myself and them. I think that being on a journey about learning with them, will be a humbling experience because I am not an expert in everything that I am going to teach.  I learned from this experience that the more preparation that I put into a lesson, the more confident I feel when presenting it. I also learned that I need to feel more comfortable with myself while I am teaching. I need to find a way to let my personality shine through the lessons that I am teaching, while still keeping a professional image. I believe that if I can accomplish this, it will allow me to appear more genuine. I ...

This week in class has gotten me very excited for planning instruction for my student teaching experience. I believe that all of the work that I am putting in now, will be well worth it for the knowledge and skills that I will gain from my 15 weeks in a classroom. A question that I have for my future students would be; what can I do, as your instructor, to show you that you matter to me? After watching the TEDx Talk called "You Matter" it seems that the simplest things can be done to show someone that they matter to you. I want to know what is the best way for me to build this concept into my instructional planning to be better able to serve my students. I would hope that I would always come across as an teacher that is there for the students education and there for them when they need some guidance as well.  After watching the TEDx Talk entitled "I'm 17" I came up with a question for my cooperating teacher or really any teaching working in Ag Education. How did...

 A connection that I made from this weeks readings that will be very important for me to use during student teacher is how much more efficient your instruction can be when you have a solid lesson plan made. Having a lesson plan that is well planned out and practiced through can be the difference in a lesson going very well and not so well. Another connection that I made this week was teaching using problem solving as a way to prompt questions from students. Allowing students to work through a problem, in their own way, allows them to acquire a deeper understanding of the lesson. Probably the biggest connection however, is the application of learning. I think that as a future Ag Educator, using hands on methods to allow students to interact with their learning, is one of the most powerful things that we can do. I know that for myself, I am able to connect different concepts together when I have time to work on something with my hands. Having real life application to of your lesson i...