The Unexpected Fits in Agriculture: Inquiry Based Instruction.

Who, What & Why:

Inquiry Cycle.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/WC/WC07600.pdf

Cultivating curiosity is part of my teaching philosophy, but the more labs we have and the deeper into this teacher preparation program, the more difficult I realize it is.  Because it is not always how I was taught. I did have one great chemistry professor in college that used inquiry-based instruction, but it was challenging for me to learn that way at first.  I agree that when using inquiry, especially at first if students are unsure of it, I need to be honest myself as a teacher and my students that it involves the unexpected (Alberta Learning).  Even though it involves the unexpected, there are methods to make it happen and it is something students do not something that is done to them (Alberta Learning).  Because inquiry involves experiencing or experimenting with something, comparing it to past and future concepts, and an element of reflection or evaluation I think it is very similar to Kolb’s experiential model.  In agricultural education, we talk about Kolb’s model in regards to SAEs but I think it is also applicable in the classroom.  Students have concrete experiences, reflect on their observations, find abstract concepts, and experiment again in the classroom as well.  This is inquiry.  In addition to this concept, there were a few other concepts I took away from the readings. 

Kolb's Experiential Model
http://www.nwlink.com/~%E2%80%89donClark/hrd/styles/learning_styles.jpg

Stop Collaborate and Listen

Good inquiry requires collaboration, between students and others in the school.  Various articles stated that it is important to work with the science department to plan and implement some of the inquiry.  Being that much of agricultural education now is aligned with science standards this makes sense.  I have seen the importance of this collaboration in various locations.  It’s these types of collaborations that deepen student knowledge of the content and scientific process and continue to prepare them for college and careers. 

Failing to Prepare is Preparing to Fail

This quote could be the title of every blog I have written lately.  Inquiry is more of a ‘guide on the side’ pedagogy, versus a ‘sage on the stage’ but it requires a great deal of planning.  I also think it requires confidence and competence in the content area, and in the research skills to also discover answers as you guide students to do the same.  I know that this will require more front loaded work for me, but will be more beneficial for students in the end. 

Action without Reflection is a Waste of Time

I am a product of quality reflection and now understand the importance of implementing quality of reflection.  I think observations and evaluation are in essence reflection practices for science based concepts. The Alberta Education article shares the importance of reflection on the learning process itself as well.  Not only is it important to do reflection, through observations and evaluations, but it is also important to explicitly give student reflection prompts and ways inquiry connects to industry and college standards and practices. 

Inquiry Expects More

There are numerous articles, teachers and parents that I am sure we would say are expecting too much of students, and yes maybe in some ways we are as an entire system.  But I would also argue there are ways and occasions where it is important to expect more.  In Dr. Thoron & Dr. Myers (2014) research on inquiry based instruction he interviewed teachers and this quote resonated with me, “if my overall goal is to make sure students memorize something then we memorize it, if I want them to learn deeper knowledge I use inquiry and I assess them accordingly.” I couldn’t agree more, it expects them to be realistic and think deeper, and that is something we should expect.  Along with that various teachers comment on the evaluation and assessment of inquiry, and related it back to student being able to justify answers.  This is an essential skill, to be able to justify answers and findings, in any field we are in.  And if the vision of agricultural education is to encourage students to make a lifetime of informed choices in the global agricultural and food industry, then I think inquiry might be a great place to teach this. 

References:

Warner, A.J. & Myers, B.E. (2011) What inquiry-based instruction? Retrieved from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/WC/WC07500.pdf  Warner, A.J. & Myers, B.E. (2014). Implementing inquiry-based teaching methods. Retrieved from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/WC/WC07600.pdf  Alberta Learning. (2004) Focus on inquiry: a teacher’s guide to implementing inquiry-based learning. Retrieved from https://education.alberta.ca/media/313361/focusoninquiry.pdf  Thoron, A.C., Myers, B.E., & Abrams, K. (2011). Inquiry-based instruction: How is it utilized accepted, and assessed in schools with national agriscience teacher ambassadors? Journal of Agriculture Education, 52(1), 96-106. DOI: 10.5032/jae.2011.01096  Note: Retrieve online from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ955679.pdf

Unpacking the Jargon: Differentiation & Individualization

No...no...no...it is so much more!!
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/163044448982451076/

Both individual instruction methods and differentiation all put the learners needs and desires at the forefront of education.  This is where we become the guide on the side, versus the sage on the stage.  Even though we are more on the side when we use individual and differentiated techniques they arguably take more planning time.  The difference between individual techniques and differentiation is that differentiation always has the same rigor and expectations, (unless a student has an IEP) and differentiated selects from a variety of other techniques, and can be more on the spot.  For example, we can differentiate individualized instruction by using supervised study but giving the option for partner or individual option.  We can also do this with problem solving, providing the same problem but allowing for various solutions.  These three concepts of differentiation I think can be used with any form of instruction: readiness, choice and routines. 

Readiness.

The Edugains article we read defines differentiated instruction as: "effective instruction that is responsive to students’ readiness, interests and learning preferences."  Readiness is a concept that I have not explicitly thought of before.  Of course we think of readiness at the beginning of a new unit, but it can change from concept to concept.  We need to make sure students are ready for what is next content wise along with the format the learning will take place in.  

Choice.

Choice is essential for student ownership and interest in the classroom.  In order to give students choices,we have to help them with when and how to choose.  Teaching students about good choices and allowing them to reflect on those choices helps them to continue to make good choices.  Scaffolding smaller choices prepares students to make bigger and appropriate choices.  But it is extremely important that no matter what choice they make (in an assignment or project) they are held to the same expectations. 

Routines.

I used to hate routines, and sometimes I still do, but when it comes to learning a new task, or increasing productivity, routines are essential.  In the classroom these structures and routines take time.  In May I went to visit Pequea Valley and I was extremely impressed by the way all the students participated in lab, it was as if he didn't have to give instructions, students new the rules, format and what to do next.  Mr. Masser simply took notes on participation and behavior and gave students the supplies they needed.  When I asked him about it, he said it takes them time to get to that point, and students have to learn how to interact and participate in lab, these skills is taught heavily at the beginning of the semester.  Because this routine and system was set up, choices and differentiation in the lab procedures could be implemented- students could choose their own recipe and ingredients for a foods lab, but they still had to follow the same lab protocol and were evaluated the same.  



Sources:

Newcomb, L.H., McCracken, J.D., Warmbrod, J.R., & Whittington, M.S. (1993). Methods of teaching agriculture. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

EduGains. (2015). Reach every student through differentiated instruction. Retrieved from http://www.edugains.ca/resourcesDI/Brochures/DIBrochureOct08.pdf

Problem Solving Approach Attempt 1: Selective Breeding

I looked back at my reflection of my first day of school lab before writing this reflection and realized I felt the opposite.  After this lab, I didn't feel quite as good about it, but that is okay.  I realized a lot mid lesson and after the lesson from my peers, Dr. Rice and how I was processing during the lab.  I am starting to realize that if we are not conscious of what and how we are teaching, or in our planning, or even comfortable, we tend to revert to how we were taught or exactly what the plan says.  My lessons will be better if I continue to adapt, be open to curiosity and own up to new ideas and even mistakes. 

Gems: The things I and others felt I did well

Creativity & Review
I chose to start with a review for this lesson, which originally I had planned as an objective, but I think it could be easily used as an interest approach.  I chose to use our Ipads and phones to play the game heads up.  In this lab we only played (I pre-entered words) but I would ask students to write key terms, and then descriptions.  They would enter the words and keep the descriptions, then create competition to review.  This app does cost .99cents, and then .99cents for the 'Build Your Own Deck' but it's worth it! Students seemed to really like this.  The transition here was essential, and I felt I did an okay job at this, more directed questions could increase the connection, but I think it was a great review into the 'why' of selective breeding.  

Grouping & Expectations
In my last few lessons I was not clear about how I expected students to work in groups, I felt it was better in this lesson.  Because students were in two rows, this worked out a little easier.  Beyond the groups, the expectations were more clearly defined for this.  I posed a question to students about what partner work should look like.  We clarified that we can work together, but have to hand in our own paper, and work together.  When I noticed two students had split up the worksheet, I clarified that we are responsible for the material even if we split it up, so sharing it is necessary.    



Gems the students and my peers shared: 

• Walking around and talking to students
• Head's Up!
• Topic was interesting
• Worksheet was helpful 
• Connecting with student experiences 

Opportunities: If you're not green, you're not growing. 

Clarity- Directions & Questioning 

I would love to say this soon be off the 'opportunities list' but it's going to take some time.  I think more directed, shorter, chunked directions are necessary.  Writing these out will help.  Also sharing the directions on the screen or on the worksheet again is necessary.  I wrote down some questions, but for my next lessons I need to think even more about questions, write down 10 even if I only ask 5, because quesitons are essential to transition, and more effective questions would have improved this lab even more.


Feeding Off Students

One of the students in lab brought up several good points, challenged the question and problem and continued to press into this.  In the moment, I chose to keep directing him to find 'positive and negative traits' those were the directions...but he brought up GREAT points! After this small struggle he mentioned it was 'stupid' which tied back to a conversation about expectations.  ALL of this could have been avoided and improved if I would have taken advantage of his curiosity and questions which would have made the problem and case study better and more realistic!  In hindsight I could have posed his questions to the class, asked him to provide a list of suggestions that were more realistic and economical to the rancher we were looking at.  It worries me that I say that my philosophy involves curiosity yet in the moment, I was not willing to deviate from my plan because of curiosity that was completely in line with what we were doing, he was problem solving!


Opportunities the Students and my peers shared:

• Student behavior
• Flaw in the scenario 
• Question crafting
• DIRECTIONS 

I learned so much from this lab, even though I didn't like that in the moment, I have lots of ideas of how to revise this and other problem solving lessons.  

No Need for Anxiety: the Who, What , When and Why of Evaluation and Assessment

It is the thing that we tend to despise the most, but one of the things that is most necessary in education:  assessment and evaluation. This week’s readings focused on the who, what, when and why of assessment. 

Who: 

This is a perfect representation of how we can ensure
our assessments and evaluations are reliable and relevant.
http://www.ulm.edu/assessment/

We usually think of assessment and evaluation just being about students and grades, and it is, but it also is for teachers, schools and communities.  Evaluations help keep teachers and students accountable to their schools and communities. Grades are a specific way this is reported, but none the less, it is an important accountability piece.  These assessments also help us as teachers when we plan curriculum for a unit or a course, this backward planning will ensure that objectives are linked to assessment questions.  The various types of evaluations give students an opportunity to assess themselves on a project, lab or even correct written tests to anchor and re-evaluate learning. 

What:

“Assessment is used to evaluate the strengths and needs of learners, guide instruction, and measure progress and achievement” it is also “assessing what students have learned.”  Although these are the definitions of assessment, there are various methods to assess and evaluate student learning and performance. 

• Pre-test/Needs Assessment- I am starting to realize this is essential.  If I don’t know where students are at before the next topic or unit, then I could be missing many of them.
• Written Evaluations- These should be based off of course objectives. They can be multiple-choice, short answer, true-false and/or essay
• Rubrics- Rubrics can be used in combination with many other assessment tools.  I will be using a rubric for my floriculture unit, as a project will be evaluated along with other portions of the assessment.  This is an area I look forward to exploring and trying as I student teach, but also finding ways to make it simple for grading is essential. 
•  Task-Lists & Check Lists- I can see these being a large part of all of my labs.  In agricultural mechanics classes this is one of the best ways to evaluate students.  If this is combined with an end of unit or mid/end of course rubric or project evaluation, it would make it even more reliable of an assessment tool. 
•  Self Assessments & Direct Observation- I combined these two because I like the idea of doing both.  I have seen Mr. Masser keep notes of how students are performing in lab as they go about their procedures, this is part of their grade.  Doing this, but also allowing for a short personal reflection and checklist.  This could help students see where behavior expectations

When:

One thing that stood out to me when reviewing when to assess and evaluate students was length of assessments.  The longer the test, specifically written test, the more comprehensive it is and it is typically more reliable.  Time between material and evaluation should also be taken into account.  If various forms of short quizzes are given throughout a unit, then a longer unit assessment is not necessary.  Lab and practicum evaluations should also be written so they are conscious of time that it will take to perform evaluations for each of the students.  One of the readings gave a suggestion to

Why:

Part of this is because it is required, but it is required for good reason, as long as it does what is supposed to do.  The why can be summed up in a few questions, which will help me self-check my assessment and evaluation methods.

1. Is summative or formative assessment necessary at this point?
2. Am I assessing what I want to assess? And how am I communicating that?
3. Do my assessment or evaluation techniques provide answers to essential questions and objectives previously written and taught? 
4. Can students demonstrate what they have learned?
5. Is this appropriate for students abilities and academic and educational goals- and is it transparent? 
6. Is this assessment realistic to what a student would do in a career setting? 
7. Do specific students need accommodations or modifications?

Unit Plan Reflection

https://quotefancy.com/quote/756957/Elon-Musk-I-think-it-s-very-important-to-have-a-feedback-loop-where-you-re-constantly

I still haven't figured out how to balance my desire for specific, positive and critical feedback and my apprehension and defensiveness when I get it.  This is not specifically about receiving feedback on my unit plan but in general.  But this one I needed the critical feedback, I have room to grow.  Although I feel like I put a lot of time in, I should have taken my time a little more.    Here are a five take aways from my first attempt at a unit plan.


1. They are necessary.
I like to have things packaged in a way that makes sense, so writing unit plans makes sense to me.  Granted I tend to expand a little more than I need to in some areas of a unit, but they help narrow down a large topic into parts that make sense.  I definitely need to think about what is realistic to include in a certain amount of time- I can't fit 8 weeks of material in 3 weeks, even if I think it is really interesting.

2. "I am not detail oriented." Isn't an excuse anymore. 
I really don't like details, but I KNOW they are necessary.  In my unit plan I knew I was leaving out some of the details, but I didn't realize how many or how crucial they are.  These are not just for me, but they will help my students, my cooperating teacher while I am student teaching and possibly the administration.  I need to continue to provide more detail as far as supplies, learning objectives, adaptations and FFA/SAE integration.

3. Learning Objectives shouldn't be loaded.
In my unit plan I had a lot of double-barreled learning objectives.  I can easily split these and then decided how long each one would take and break things down by days.  I need to be more specific in these in general.

4. When in doubt, be specific. 
Because I don't know the students or what exactly they will know before this is a challenge, but in general I should always be more specific.  This applies to learning objectives and assessments, and throughout the entire plan.  The biggest area I should continue to be more specific in is in timing and which objectives will be taught on specific days.

5. Breathe easy, they get easier. 
Writing the first of anything is difficult and time consuming.  I wanted to be done so many times but the more I went back the more I realized I needed to fix it.  I know that this one I did needs a lot of work and revisions, and I honestly could have spent another hour or so on it.  I know it gets easier and now that I have a template, I can continue to make all the other ones.

First Day of School Lab

I was a little shaky.  It might have been from the caffeine or from the nerves...or we can call it excitement!  This week I taught my First Day of School Lab.  Instead of teaching my cohort members, I actually taught in Dr. Rice's AEE 100 class.  I was absent from lab, so we used my 'First Day of School' Lab as Dr. Rice's interest approach to lesson plans and the elements that should be included.  This week I received some immediate feedback from the students!  What was unique about that was these students aren't my cohort members, so they do not see me teach weekly, so they had a different take.  My big take away: It felt good!  This is the first teaching lab that I walked out feeling more confident than I did frustrated.  I am hard on myself and tend to be a little bit of a perfectionist. The context I chose was my power technology class, and the fact that I enjoyed it and walked out feeling a little more confident was encouraging because teaching power technology scares me!

Gems: The things I and others felt I did well

Variability
I used an e-moment to effectively give students voice about the expectations I had for them which created interest and provided a different way of giving expectations.  In addition to the E-moment, I asked for students to work in groups, write on the board, and do a written bell work.  

Rapport & Relationships
During the lesson I continued to walk around and check in with students.  This allowed me the chance to see how groups were doing, adapt as I went and get to know students.  Because I had some challenges with grouping clearly, this allowed me time to clarify one by one, and check in with the speed students were going.  

Gems the students and my peers shared: 

• Walking around and talking to students
• They enjoyed that I wrapped engine parts (I tied this to what they expect to learn)
• I said I would take a picture of what they expected to learn, and bring it back near the end of the semester.  I came up with this right there and a student really appreciated it, which I think I will try to do in the classroom too! 

Opportunities: If you're not green, you're not growing. 

Clarity
 I tend to struggle with providing clear instructions.  This time it was with grouping.  Being explicit about who is in which group and how groups are expected to work together is essential for it to work well.  I ended up having to go around and change some groups during work time. 


Timing
I know I only have a certain amount of time to teach a slice of a lesson, but I struggle with that.  We cut parts of mine and moved objectives around so I could show giving objectives and the students in 100 could see the many of the lesson plan parts, but I think this made me rush a little.  Being aware of where students are at and providing more or less time will be essential in the future

Opportunities the Students and my peers shared:

• Groups were a little awkward
• Volume, I need to vary this, sometimes I am loud enough other times I am not
• Timing and rushing
• Brining in content too early with the engine parts (I personally like this because it tied to expectations of learning and behavior, but is something to think about)  

Overall this lesson went well, and because I didn't know the majority of the students, it was a great representation of how the first day might go...nerves and all!  

Problems & Projects: 10 Questions.

This weeks readings bring together what I really hope to bring to all of my classes.  We solve problems every day, some are just bigger or more complex or scientific than others.  Problem based learning is great, but as many of the readings alluded to, it is not the easiest to implement, stick with and keep realistic and relevant.   It requires an atmosphere that is encouraging and stretching, because it can be challenging for students that have simply been taught 'receive, remember, restate'. Project based and problem based learning cultivates curiosity. As I went through I started to make a mental checklist of the questions I need to ask myself to see if I am using problems based learning.  Here are 10 questions I want to ask myself as I plan units and lessons that involve problem based learning. 

1. Is this an authentic problem or project and is the context I am teaching it in or around realistic? 

With project based learning this could look like a project or an issue in the community and the it can be presented to a realistic audience. 

2. Have I scaffolded learning up to this point? 

Scaffolding is extremely important, depending on the types of problems students are being asked to solve, and the content they are being asked to apply.  I think problem solving needs to have a lot of scaffolding at first, and then supports can slowly be removed so students can make decisions of how they want to approach solving newer problems.  

3. Am I helping students define the goals and make mental models? 

4. Am I teaching for transfer? 

The problems I pose or projects I involve students on should tie to previous content and help them apply it.  They should be able to transfer these problem solving skills to other problems in the future. 

5. Are students actively learning, thinking and searching- and is this learning, thinking and searching stretching? 

In both problems and projects, students should be applying content not simply knowing it.  This requires 21st century skills in project based learning. 

6. Am I providing a way for students to reflect and evaluate the process? 

Action without reflection is simply a waste of time, this continues to ring true and takes us back to Kolb's model of experience and reflection once again. 

7. Am I assessing students and how?  

In project based learning, do I have another stakeholder assessing or giving feedback and if so why and how are they connected.

8. Are students asking and developing questions?

With problem based learning students may have more limited solutions, but in project based they should have an open ended driving question. 

9. Do students have a voice and choice?  

This involves responsibility, both in project based and problem solving.  This responsibility and clarity should be provided to students at the beginning. 

10. Is it interesting? 

Project and problem based learning should be interesting to students, yes it should have meaning and dive into significant content, but it should also be interesting.