Clarity About Questioning

Let's take a trip down memory lane... Think back to high school. Didn't it seem like your teachers asked one question after another, after another, after another, after another (you get my point!)? No, they weren't doing this to drive you nuts or to call you out on the readings that you did not do. They were asking so many questions to ensure that you were actually learning and understanding the content. Arguably, questioning is one of the most effective and quickest ways to assess lesson effectiveness and student understanding... and teachers used this to their advantage.

Questioning can be used to determine the effectiveness of objectives and teaching techniques. If a student is unable to answer a question, or provides an answer that is incorrect or off-topic, it will be obvious to the teacher that there may have been a flaw in their delivery. Furthermore, if a student is unable to perform to the standard set forth by academic standards or teacher-created objectives, the teacher can use questioning to find the lapse in understanding.

As a future educator, I see how the concepts of good objectives, concrete planning and varied teaching connect, and it is obvious that questioning plays an essential role in good instruction. Using a combination of both higher level and lower level questions allows for students to demonstrate their knowledge and for teachers to assess their teaching techniques and effectiveness.

As I relate my AEE412 lab to the idea of questioning, I realize that I should do a better job at asking question and asking if my students have questions while I am teaching. Some of the comments that I have received from my peers have indicated that I tend to stand up there and talk "at" my students, rather than allowing them to take the stage. If I would utilize questioning more frequently, I think that this bad habit of mine would fade. I hope to improve upon this, and learn to use questioning to my full advantage.

The reading by Dyer provided me with some excellent tips on how to create effective questions that I think I could utilize in my teaching. Some of my favorite hints included: calling on students using their names, avoid repeating all student's questions, not praising all answers, praising students who do not participate more than students who overly-participate. I think that these are all smart techniques, which can help me utilize questions in my future classroom.

In conclusion, I hope to be able to improve on my questioning techniques in order to become a more effective teacher. As a future educator, I certainly see the value in questioning, even though I might not have in high school!

Lab 3 Reflection: Interest Approaches

For AEE412 Lab this week, we were to present an Interest Approach. At first, my head was swarming with ideas and I was excited to create something fun and engaging to capture my students' attention. However, when I sat down to write my lesson plan for lab, my mind went blank. I could not, for the life of me, come up with an interest approach. Finally, after lots of writing (and re-writing) of ideas, I decided that I would do a modified "scavenger hunt", where I would act as if I lost my welding PPE and ask students to go find it for me. I wasn't feeling overly confident in my interest approach when I got in front of the room to present it, but, much to my surprise, it went smoother than expected.

When I began, I knew that I would have to 'act out' a scenario where I 'lost' my welding PPE. I was nervous for this, because I am, in no way, a good actress. However, that ended up being one of my favorite parts of my interest approach. My 'student's' faces were priceless when I said that I had lost my PPE. I don't think that they were expecting that, and it captured their interest. I think that it is important for me to keep in mind that I need to loosen up a bit, and have a little fun while I am teaching. I tend to get caught up in the logistics and the content and forget to joke around or laugh. Some of my favorite parts of my lesson were when I did this (including when I acted like I lost my PPE!). 

I also thought that I did a nice job asking for students to contribute to the discussion, instead of doing all the talking. However, when I did talk and explain each piece, I thought that went well, too. Overall, I am happy with my performance and extremely glad that my lesson went better than I was expecting.

Although there were many aspects that I was happy with, there were also weak points in my performance. Like last time, I said "umm" and "so" a lot. It was very distracting, and continues to be something that I need to work on. My problem is that I don't even realize that I say it until I am watching myself on ThereNow!

While my filler words were distracting, nothing was more distracting than the paper that I held THE WHOLE TIME! Watching myself back, the paper was all I could look at! I held it in front of me and moved it around as I was talking with my hands. I think that, for me, it is almost like a safety net... but I need to either get rid of it or learn to place it on the table and only refer to it when I need it. 

I hope that next time, I am able to use less filler words and do without the lesson plan in my hand. I think that making these changes would improve my performance. I do, however, hope that I am able to keep up my enthusiasm and continue to loosen up and have fun while I am teaching! 

The First (and Most Important!) Day of School

The first day of school is very important, especially for a new teacher. Not only does the first day give your students a glimpse into what your class is all about, but it is also sets the basis for the rest of the year; your expectations, your procedures and your consequences. Because of its importance to your classroom management, I totally understand why we had to complete a “First Day of School” scenario in AEE412 Lab this week and I am thankful that I now have a foundation to work from for my actual first day in the future.

To be honest, I think that my lab presentation went really well, given the amount of time I had to prepare for it, and given the ‘rambunctiousness’ of my students (for this lab, each of my ‘students’ were given a role to play… I had a complainer, one who loved his cell phone and a talker, along with others!). I am typically not one to put my foot down, because I absolutely hate confrontation. However, I surprised myself by shutting down student misbehavior quickly and in a manner that still exemplified kindness. I also liked how I asked Jenna to talk about personal issues outside of class, because I thought that this was a good way to handle that. These are a few of the things that made me most proud in this lab, and I hope that I am able to continue with them.

Despite my success in reprimanding my students, I did notice some things that I need to work on. Like last time, I used filler words, like um and uh, too often. I also got a little lost on some of my points, but failed to use my notes/lesson plan… which I was holding in my hand the whole time! Perhaps my biggest downfall in this lab was the lesson itself. Because of the short ten minutes that we were given, I didn’t get to create as detailed of a lesson as I would have liked. Naturally, everything felt a little incomplete and rushed, especially the introduction activities.

I also really did not like the method that I used to communicate my expectations, procedures and consequences. I wish that I had done something that was more engaging. Originally, I intended to ask students what each of the expectations meant to help engage them. I did this for the first expectation, but I had no volunteers. I am beginning to notice that when this happens, I simply answer my own question and move to the next thing. Instead, I need to work on calling on someone or presenting the material in such a way that will make students want to answer the questions.

I also need to work on transitions, which is something that Ms. Rice and some of my peers also noticed. I think though, that the more that I teach, the easier this will get. Overall, I think that my lesson went well. Although I do have some things to work on, I do see some improvement in my teaching from the first lab!

No Boring Lessons Allowed!

Perhaps nothing is more important to a lesson than the method in which the material is delivered. An interesting topic can be easily ruined by poor delivery, resulting in very little knowledge gain on the student’s part. On the other hand, a teacher can create an intriguing and exciting lesson on a dull topic, in which students will learn from on a much deeper level. As we discussed in AEE412 this week, there are many ways to make lessons more interesting and creative.

Generating effective objectives is the first step to creating an impactful lesson, as objectives help steer you in a direction and create focus in your lessons. The passage written by Susie Whittington brought up some outstanding points about objective writing. She stated that objectives should be based upon Bloom’s taxonomy. Using verbs that coincide with each level of the taxonomy will encourage students to learn on that level. She used a great example, when she said that an objective could read something along the lines of “list the parts of a ruminant digestive system”. This would result in memorization, a skill that lies within the knowledge level of Bloom’s taxonomy. Instead, an objective that states “describe the parts of a ruminant digestive system” will result in higher level thinking. It’s amazing the impact that changing one verb can make!

Another way to create an impactful lesson is to utilize interest approaches. An interest approach quickly captures student’s attention, and gets them excited for the unit or lesson. Because of the variety of interest approaches, they can easily be tailored to a lesson or unit. For example, an interest approach for a welding safety course could include the teacher or student dressing up in welding PPE. There are so many ways to create interest approaches… the possibilities are endless!

Finally, delivery of the course content is essential. Course content can be delivered in a variety of ways, as well. Lectures, discussions, demonstrations, field trips and role playing are some of the delivery methods that were mentioned in the reading by L.H. Newcomb. Although there are advantages and disadvantages to all of these methods, knowing when to use them and how to tailor them can help teachers successfully utilize them.

I have always wanted to avoid is being a boring teacher, like Ben Stein's character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Blank stares and sleeping students are my worst nightmare. Therefore, I am going to try my hardest to create engaging lessons. I know this might be tricky, but with these techniques, I know I can do it!

My Cooperating Center Video!

I just thought that it would be cool to share a little bit of information about my cooperating center, Mifflinburg Area High School. As you can see from the video, Mifflinburg Area High School's Agricultural Sciences Program is incredible and has so much to offer! I am super excited to student teach there in the Spring of 2015! Enjoy :)

The Science of Planning

To be honest, lesson and unit planning makes me extremely nervous. In fact, that was one of the things that I was fearing the most at the beginning of this semester. I couldn’t help but think, “I have no idea how to teach!” and “I don’t know how to go about creating a successful lesson!” These thoughts continuously raced through my head… until this week.

This week in AEE412, we focused on unit and lesson planning. We talked about the brain and how learning works. We also discussed the three domains of learning (cognitive, psychomotor & affective) and the three types of lesson plans that compliment these domains (informational- cognitive, operational- psychomotor, managerial- affective). By discussing models, such as Bloom’s Taxonomy, Depths of Knowledge, Teacher-Centered/Student-Centered Instruction, Significant Learning and Understanding by Design, we are now better equipped to grasp the concept of unit and lesson planning and get started on our unit and lesson plans for student teaching.

This week’s readings only reinforced what was discussed in class. The reading by Newcomb, et al. focused mainly on objectives, which are an essential element of writing successful unit and lesson plans. Objectives can help guide the rest of your lesson, by laying the foundation for what you want students to learn from your lesson. The reading on Anticipatory Sets focused on lesson hooks, which are important in order to captivate student’s attention and focus on the lesson.

As I begin my unit planning and lesson planning within the next few days, I feel as though I will certainly be able to use both what was learned in class this week, as well as this week’s readings. I think that the models that we discussed in class will be especially helpful in my lesson planning endeavor because many of them provide a basic, visual framework that can help guide me. I also think that by understanding the types of lesson plans and how they appeal to different learning domains, I will be better able to create more varied lessons.

To say the least, after this week, I feel much better about lesson and unit planning. I believe that with the models and material that we discussed in class, I am better equipped to write and plan a successful unit and lesson. 

Rules, Laws & RTL's?

When I first heard that we would have to prepare and teach a lesson on a completely random topic within only a few days, I was nervous. When I received my slip of paper, and read “Rules vs. Laws”, I became even more nervous. I had no idea what I would do or how I would teach this odd lesson. 

I knew one thing; that I did not want to stand in the front of the room the entire time and lecture. I did, however, know that I would have to do this to a point to get the information across to my ‘students’. I decided that the best way to approach this unconventional topic was to create a guided notes sheet that would (hopefully) keep my audience engaged while I lectured. I then came up with the idea to create an activity where students would be broken into groups and asked to determine if certain things were rules or laws.

During my RTL, my ‘students’ were engaged, although I think that I could have presented the information in a more interesting way than a lecture. I think that my guided notes helped to keep them on track, but I can't help but wonder how this would have looked if my 'students' were in high school. I also believe that the activity part of my lesson went smoothly. The ‘students’ seemed to enjoy it, and it helped gauge whether or not they understood the content.

While watching the recording of my RTL, I was surprised at how confident I came across. I sounded like I actually knew what I was talking about, despite stumbling upon a few minor details. I did rely on my notes sheet, but not as often as I was expecting to.

               
My RTL video really revealed to me some of the flaws that I have in presenting. I never recognized how many times I say “um” or “so” while speaking in front of others. This makes me sound unsure. I also never noticed how much I use my hands. I believe that this is a good thing, because it helps make my presentation more interesting.

Next time I teach a lesson, I would like to utilize more varied activities, which rely less on me lecturing. I would also like to try to be more aware of the filler words that I use. I think that eliminating these fillers would improve my performance.

Plans, Plans and More Plans!

Perhaps no other job in the world requires as much planning and preparation as that of a teacher. Curriculum plans, course plans, unit plans, lesson plans and daily plans are all elements that a teacher must consider before getting up in front of a classroom to teach.

While all of this planning seems overwhelming and intimidating, approaching this with a “backwards design” can help. The Understanding by Design Framework and the Significant Learning readings both referenced backwards design.

When we first began discussing planning in class, I immediately thought of a pyramid, with curriculum plans at the bottom and daily plans at the top. Curriculum plans are broad, and set the foundation for the rest of planning. Daily plans, on the other hand, are extremely specific to a certain day, and are based off of all other plans. “Backwards design” suggests that teachers should work from the bottom of this pyramid towards the top. Doing so will help create more concrete plans that will encourage student learning.

To further my understanding of a backwards design, I researched what this type of lesson plan would look like, and came up with a template created by the University of Hawaii (FYI- it is a Word document!). I really like it, because it clearly shows the steps of this type of planning, and shows you what to include in every section.

While planning is important, as we learned in AEE412 this week, effective teaching strategies also aid in providing high quality instruction. The two go hand-in-hand; without effective teaching, a great plan can take a turn for the worst and without a plan, even the most effective teacher will not be able to maximize student learning. Rosenshine & Furst’s five elements of effective teaching that we discussed in class (clarity, variability, enthusiasm, business-like behavior and opportunity to learn) can help ensure that lesson plans are up to par and that students will benefit from them.

Although lesson plans still seem intimidating to me, I am feeling more and more confident each class in my ability to create them. I think that utilizing this “backwards design” will be beneficial to me, and I am looking forward to the teaching end of things, where Rosenshine and Furst’s elements of effective teaching come into play!

Weekly Writing #1: Effective Teaching

What is effective teaching? This question has been the basis for not only AEE412, but for our assigned readings as well. Effective teaching is not only teaching the content, but it is also creating a positive learning environment that fosters student learning and success. Effective teaching plays a large role in inspiring students and affecting their lives, which is the biggest factor that has inspired me to pursue this degree.

As all of the readings hinted on, effective teaching does not mean only teaching content effectively. In fact, I believe that a teacher’s focus should be two-fold; student’s understanding of content and student success. While writing the letters in AEE412 this week, I found myself thinking about some of the teachers who have impacted my life. I realized that I would consider all of these teachers ‘effective’ and noticed that they all shared some common characteristics. The most effective teachers that I have ever had have wanted to see their students succeed in class (with content and assignments) as well as outside of class.

This week’s readings can attest to this, as well, particularly the article written by Wong, et al.. This article hinted at the importance of an effective teacher’s desire to affect student’s lives, while teaching content. I found this particular reading extremely insightful, and it really hit home for me as an aspiring teacher.

As I was searching for more resources on effective teaching, I found the following article from About.com. This article provides ten qualities of effective teachers. As I read the article, I began making connections between our readings, our discussions in class and my own personal experience with teachers who I have had.

http://teaching.about.com/od/pd/a/Qualities-Of-An-Effective-Teacher.htm

In conclusion, I am hopeful that I will be able to combine my desire to make a difference in the lives of students with my eagerness to spread knowledge in order to develop into a more effective teacher.