Meat Science Lab - Microteaching at Juniata!

This past week, I had driven down to Mifflintown Pennsylvania, and I was introduced to a group of students in an animal science class. Over the four days, the first day was an observation day.  I sat in the back of the room and introduced myself to students. They all seemed kind and polite, but somewhat timid of me as well. This class was a lab on cheeses. They were tasting and deciding which cheese was which. It was sorta chaotic as students were talking and moving around, but there was quite a bit of control over the group. You could see the respect that some students had with this, while other students refused to eat the cheese. It was interesting to watch them communicate and work with each other, and it was just how I remembered it was when I was in high school. After my observation day, I hoped that my student would be as well behaved as they were for Mrs. Morgan.
The next day I came in and I had their bellringer up on the overhead. This confused them. I should have had it on the white board like Mrs. Morgan had the other day. The students were pretty quick to adjust, and I went through my lesson plan. The first day we talked about grading meat and marbling in meat. The first day was my worst day to put it plain and simple. I think I had good activities planned for my students and some went better than others, but my first day was definitely rough. I did have some trouble keeping attention and having students not talking in their small groups. I really like having the desks grouped together, but it can also encourage talking among the students. My biggest problem with my first day was that I planned my lesson plan just like the PSU ones are and how I have been taught recently. Changing the topics and switching gears every 12-15 minutes and moving on with the lesson. Let me tell you, THIS DID NOT WORK WITH MY STUDENTS. I'm sorry, but this was horrible!!!! My students would finally really get into something, and then I would change gears. I could tell that they were frustrated but they wanted to give me a chance. I was very honest and upfront with my students, as this was my very first time and I told them how this was my very first time teaching a classroom of high school students. So they were pretty nice to me and they did put their best foot forward, but I needed to step up my game for the next day.

The next day I did my own way of teaching. I didn't want my student's to be frustrated again. So i taught in the beginning, and then I had them begin their project. The second lesson went better, but my students were more misbehaved. It was a good lesson besides some of the bad things my students did. I should have been more strict, but it was extremely difficult for me to enter a classroom and just teach. These students don't know me, I don't know them, and we have no trust with each other. I just felt so disconnected to these students and I don't ever want to feel that way or leave feeling that way. The next day I knew was going to be difficult. Not only was our class extended from 40 minutes to an hour, due an assembly the students had, but I was also conducting a lab. The students would cook different cuts of meat, after they identified it, and compare the flavor, tenderness, dryness and color and smells. During this lab, I also had my students working on their projects from the day before. So my head was all over the place and it was a hot mess in the classroom, but the students enjoyed it and they learned some materials so I was very please with that.

Day four and my final day of teaching was the best. Students were moving around and completing different tasks at different times and it was a beautiful mass of learning chaos. At the end of the class, I had a very brief discussion about how my teaching was. They did enjoy me, but they told me to be more stern with my rules. By the fourth day, we were definitely gaining an understanding and connection with one another. I feel that this was a good sneak peak as a sub teacher, but I know it may be a little different with my students at McGuffey as we already know each other and have an understanding of one another. Overall, I had a great micro teaching experience. A lot was learned in 4 days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ2-TTcqqLs

IBI Lab - Growing Crystals

Today I taught an inquiry based instruction lab. Inquiry based instruction, or IBI is when a teacher sets up a problem or situation and gives students the tools to solve or make a hypothesis on that issue. IBI can be difficult because you are giving a lot of trust into your students and it really forces them to work to find a conclusion, without the instructor giving them materials or an answer to the problem that is presented. In my lab, I wanted students to make a hypothesis on adding sugar and water together to make sugar crystals. This would have involved mixing the sugar with hot, warm and cold water, different amounts and different kinds of sugar.

Students were asked to make their hypothesis, a methods and materials list. Once this was completed, they could begin their experiment. Some groups had the right idea, others did not. But either way, they were applying what they knew or didn't know, just to learn more. I felt confident. I felt super confident after my last lab because I was told my improvement was awesome. I am getting better, and I wish I could do it everyday, but soon enough I will be able to.

#TeachAgChat - Teaching Global Competency In Our Classroom

Each day there is something new out there for consumers to buy into through advertisements and publicity. One new way for agricultural educators to be one step ahead of the game is a social media platform called Twitter. Twitter is an app and website where users from around the world can communicate and share ideas with one another. Using a hashtag (#) and words directly behind it, can help categorize a topic or basically create a thread for users to follow. One hashtag that is used for agricultural educators is the #TeachAgChat. A #TeachAgChat is where a group of people gather together and talk about different topics in agriculture and education. 

For the first time, I helped host the chat and it was an interesting experience to me. I felt that it was extremely helpful, but as I learned that the three questions I created I was looking for more answers rather than to create discussion. This then became helpful as more people entered the discussion and added their thoughts. I enjoyed all of the discussion and it felt reassuring that all the people of the agricultural community would come together all over the country. 

One thing that I would consider changing about this assignment is timing. I believe the timing is not appropriate due to the fact that it is the week before and after National FFA Convention, and with that many teachers who may participate in a #TeachAgChat might have been too busy to be participate. I also personally wish there was another way to host a #TeachAgChat. I feel that Twitter can be too cluttered and it can be difficult to hold conversations within 140 characters. I feel that there should be a new social media platform that should be created where group discussion can be help while gaining valuable information with more than 140 characters. Maybe it could be accessible at all times, but have a 'hot hour' where all members strive to participate in a larger group discussion. 

Those are just some of my thoughts on the #TeachAgChat. I think there is a lot of room for improvement, but I think it is a great idea that can be greatly improved upon.