Engagement vs. Management: Classroom Management Weekly Investment

Recently I was tasked with a project that required me to write content around classroom culture and management.  As I wrote it I started to research tips for classroom management, and I found a handful, and really good one that I know must work, if someone took the time to develop the practices and write about them, but I think sometimes we have it backwards.  Shouldn't engagement come first?  If we are truly engaging students- our management comes secondary, it is still important, but ideally the techniques will be used less.  This conversation branched into creating a classroom culture vs. classroom rules, as rules will inherently come from culture.  However these concepts tend to be higher level, and sometimes management techniques are necessary, and I KNOW I will need them next semester and in future years.  Here are some tips I found through our readings.

1. Be Ready... (funny this is one of my expectations for students!)  

Planning and preparing the classroom is essential.  This looks like lesson planning, material collection and having end goals for the course and the students.  If I have my materials, classroom and plan ready I can be more comfortable to adapt if there are classroom management challenges. This also means other spaces and places should be ready:

• Walls
• Supplies/Technology
• Greenhouse/Shop 
• Other Work Areas
• Teacher Area 

2. Be Welcoming/Engaging 

We have all been signed up for classes based on a teachers reputation,  if I create a bad reputation, students will know this before they meet me, from past students.  We are held to higher standards and in some ways I think that is okay. Creating a welcoming culture and atmosphere helps create a better management and engagement plan.  Some tips include:

• Send Letters home
• Greet students at the door
• Plan an introduction 

3. Other Tips & Tricks:
There are various ways I have seen classroom management work, and I hear it is teacher and student dependent.  Proximity and setting expectations are two examples that seem to be fairly common.  If I stand closer in proximity to students who are maybe off task this simple gesture help students get back on task.  Setting procedures, expectations and consequences also gives me as a teacher grounds to bring students back to pre-set expectations.  



Through facilitation and small classroom opportunities I have learned tips and tricks here and there, but next semester will be the test and trial to what real classroom management looks like.  

Engines, Strokes & Parts: Micro Teaching at Juniata Valley

This week I completed my micro-teaching unit at Juniata Valley High School.  We completed three days of consecutive teaching of one class, on a specific content or subject area.  My class was first hour, and they were in their engines unit.  I am teaching an entire course called Power Technology at Pequea Valley, so this was a great introduction and practice to go into a full semester with small gas engines.  This class at Juniata Valley is putting together a 1948 Farmall Cub Tractor, that is in quite a few pieces, but the main engine block is together, which we referenced a lot.   Teaching this small group of students (6 high school gentlemen) for three days allowed me to reflect on a few things...

Plan so you can deviate from the plan. 

The second day I taught the basics of each stroke of the 4-stroke engine. In the class there was one gentleman that knew every stroke and has taken apart a number of 2 and 4 strokes, then there was one that this was his first time around it.  This dynamic is real and happens often.  When one of the students was struggling with the concept of the piston moving up and down the cylinder we stopped class went out to the shop and looked at the tractor engine and talked about the strokes, then we use a piston and plastic cylinder to demonstrate it it again int the classroom.  My original plan was that we were going to create a makeshift cylinder/piston/connecting rod to demonstrate the strokes, instead I adapted- we did something that worked better, and the repetition and practice helped.  

Structure, tradition and classroom practices take time.  

These three days were just a glimpse at what an entire semester might look like, but also the amount of work it will require.  Begining of class procedure such as bellwork, end of class traditions and other classroom management and practices are strucutres I want to create. These take time, and are dependent on the teacher and truly conditioning students to think and behave in these ways. 

Content knowledge is sometimes the biggest hurdle.  

The first time I touched a small gas engine was a year ago and then again in a course this year, but I am still pretty rusty, I just don't know all the ins and outs of parts and functions.  This is frustrating and sometimes creates lack of clarity and makes answering and asking questions more difficult.  This is an area I know I need to continue to grow in and develop, but I am starting to feel a little more confident.  

Technical vocabulary and content is challenging for many students.

I had one foreign exchange student in my class, where english was his second language.  Being a student that has learned a foreign language and have learned the theory on it all, but in practice it is more challenging, and I struggle with that.  It frustrates me that I didn't create more ways to assist him.  I felt like I did what I could for the amount of time I was here, but it is a part of my teaching that I will continue to grow in and it will be completely dependent on every student.  It wasn't only him, there were other students that strokes were new for, and adaptability was key here. 

General Gems: 

• Adaptability
• Hands-on Examples 
• Energy Conversion Demonstration
• Formative Assessment Reviews 
• Enthusiasm

General Opportunities:

• Content confidence 
• Asking and answering quesitons
• Clarity in explanations 
• Structure in the lab

Learner Satisfaction: 

The forms below provide a little more insight on learner satisfaction.  I am a little concerned seeing the confidence in material one.  They were split, which is how they were in the class too.  I wish more of them were there day three to really go through things in more depth.  Differentiation is hard, and an area I want to continue to grow in.  Continuing to grow in formative assessment, unique repetition and engaging in material in different ways is key to this. 

LifeKnowledge: Teaching at Pequea Valley

Leadership Style Brainstorm

This past week I had the opportunity to teach my first lesson at my cooperating center, Pequea Valley High School.  Our task was to use LifeKnowledge lessons from National FFA, adapt them how we see fit, and teach in our cooperating center.  I chose to adapt a leadership and career lesson to focus on how career and leadership success are important in the agricultural industry.  Overall this was a great experience!  I enjoyed being at Pequea Valley, receiving feedback from students and Mr. Masser and starting the transition to student teaching.  There are a few realizations I had after this lesson, as well as some gems and opportunities to grow.  

Sharing leadership styles

Gems:

Engagement:
My lesson, attitude and energy was appropriate to engage both groups of students I taught.  I felt the mix of individual to group teaching techniques created a variety of ways for students to be engaged.  Students are all engaged differently and different levels.  Creating learning experiences that allow visual, auditory and kinesthetic modalities to be used increased this engagement.  I was able to use playdough to sculpt concepts, a powerpoint to engage them visually and a discussion/interview to engage auditory learners.  I was also engaged- with a positive attitude and interest in the topic at hand- this is essential, because if I am not excited about what I am teaching it, why am I teaching it? 


Growth:
I was lucky enough to teach this lesson twice with some time to think and debrief and observe Mr. Masser teach.   As I reflected in that time I thought of things to change, but I also was able to see how Mr. Masser facilitated some of his learning experiences.  Grouping students and asking them to obtain supplies was a struggle of mine but from the first to the second this was an improvement.  In the second class I could adapt with the size of the class and was more comfortable.  The comfort and confidence helped me to welcome questions. 

Opportunities: 

Directions:

Defining Leadership & Success

This has been on my opportunities list so many times.  I KNOW how to give good directions, but it is so difficult.  It is definitely improving, but it is something I need to grow in. Chunking them and visually posting them is helpful.  I think now I need to move students and then give them more directions.   I think this will become easier when I am more comfortable where I am as well.  

Voice & Management:
Classroom management is going to be a challenge for me,  it wasn't bad by any means- but it is an area I noticed I will have to work at. I can be stern and 'lay down the law' but my size and higher voice simply makes it more difficult.  One of my professors mentioned that my voice and hand motions sometimes can add to this challenge,  which is an area I can improve upon. Through this I also realized the importance of learning students names and building rapport with them.  Which leads me to....


I'm ready.

Interviews! (speed dating style)

I may not be 100% ready, qualified, or have all the experiences, knowledge and assignments I need yet...but I am ready for that classroom.  As I taught the lesson and managed the class, I wanted to know names, stories and quirks of the class, but I am still a visitor.  My half day at Pequea Valley built up my excitement for the spring! I couldn't be more excited to learn from and alongside Mr. Masser and Mrs. VanSant and all of our students.   

Being a Connected Educator: Twitter & Beyond

Our Twitter Chat:

This semester my peers and I were tasked with creating a Twitter Chat to engage teachers, pre-service teachers, industry professionals and supporters of agricultural education.  Twitter chats are fast, informative and spark new ideas and if you scroll through your Twitter feed, chances are there is at least one you can find daily.  Our group chose to do our chat on Supervised Agricultural  Experiences or SAEs.  We chose it because we have a vested interested in it.  Our students will have SAEs and we wanted to hear from the experts about "SAE: Thinking Inside and Outside the Box."  The ideas and resources flowed in.   The chat brought many answers, and even more questions (which as a developing educator, I appreciate)! 

SAE Chat Highlights:

- Resources from current teachers in the field

- New thoughts and ideas of how to evaluate and take time for SAE

- Cool Success Stories from Ag Teachers

Being a Connected Educator: 

As I said Twitter chats are fast, and not always easy to catch up with, but they provide a unique opportunity to engage with agricultural educators from across the country.  As a pre-service teacher I value the contacts, ideas and questions that other educators provide, especially ones with more experience than I have.  Wherever I choose to teach, I know that I can still connect with these teachers- and if I am lucky run into them at National Convention!

Twitter and the Teach Ag Chat are important ways to be connected especially in our field, but they are only two ways.  I think blogging, other social media outlets and even community outlets show us how to be a connected educators as well.  Recently for class we read an article from Time Magazine, titled, Teen Depression and Anxiety: Why the Kids Are Not Alright.  The article dove into challenging topics of  overconsumption of social media, anxiety and even self harm- pressures on students that are sometimes created by social media.  Social media is an area of my job, life, and students life that I will NOT ignore, and I will CHOOSE to use in and outside of class, I have to relate to students where they are at.   So yes, I will continue to engage on social media, but I will also encourage students to use it wisely and be aware of the joys and challenges in can bring.  Being a connected educator is being that 'check up' and connected to what students might see, face or experience, but it is also connecting with the professionals in my career and networking to bring new ideas to students!

Can I Inquire About Something?: Inquiry Based Instruction Trial 1

My freshman year of college I had a professor that used a variety of inquiry based and problems based learning and teaching methods- at first I struggled.  Then I realized he was a genious, the way he brought us from point A to point B amazed me.  Trying this approach on for the first time, I really enjoyed it.  Not only did I get excited about the method and approach- but also the content.  This brought out my personal curiosity, and I hope it will do that for students as well.  Below are some gems and opportunities from my lab!

Gems:

Creativity 

For this lab we were asked to use part of a kit or a piece of scientific equipment.  I looked through a Food Nutrient Kit to start brainstorming....and testing in my kitchen!  This took a little time and adapting, but slowly I started to pull the peices of this homemade-scratch paper lesson into a successful inquiry based instruction lab.   The cool thing about this process was my natural curiosity (the same mentality I want to bring out in my students) kicked in.  I wanted to see which foods or beverages had reducing sugars and why.

Context & Questions

Inquiry based instruction requires facilitation- setting a little context (words or simply materials) and guiding students to research and ask.  I felt I set a context that framed the lab but also would also allow for student self direction and discovery.  The quesitons I led with, asked to students and the correlations I tied I felt were done very well, and I think my classmates would agree.  This teaching segment more than the others I felt more comfortable and confident as well.

Opportunities to Grow: 

Front-loading 

This is a struggle.  The inquiry based instruction spectrum moves from teacher led to student led.  The goal is really to create an inquisitive and student directed learning atmosphere. At the beginning of this lab I did front-load some things.  I do not think it was a bad thing, but I did have to stop myself and even when I was a participant in labs I found myself wanting more information at the beginning.  For my first lab, this front-loading was okay, but challenging myself to take away some of that framework is what I need to do next.  It also makes me think about what I am saying and doing more- the quiet observation is uncomfortable (for me), but needed for students.  This requires a little more confidence (in myself and the students).  I am looking forward to redrafting this and trying it again.

Differentiation

Every student will respond to this method differently, which makes sense all students are different. Two of the groups jumped right in, whereas another group needed more time, and I need to be okay with that.  The prompting and pointed questions I believe helped them to get to this spot, but this is an area I want to continue to reflect on.  It worked in this group of 7, but I need to make it work for 20 now.