Classroom Management Letter

Dear New and Beginning Teachers,

You and I are in the same boat!  To be honest, it is nice to have someone to relate to.  There is comfort level knowing that you are not alone.  Yes, I am sure that you are learning that teaching is very rewarding, however, it is also demanding.  So allow me to share some tips that I read along away in relation to classroom management.

In the book Methods for Teaching and Learning by Newcomb, there is an excellent guideline to follow.  1) Start out firm, 2) Be prepared to teach well, 3) Have a definite routine by which each class is started, 4) Make generous use of praise, 5) Do not have favorites, 6) Be consistent, yet not predictable, 7) Take action whenever a problem arises, 8) Learn to separate the action of a student from the person of the student, 9) Never make threats, only make promises, 10) Set a good example, 11) Be sure the penalty fits the offense, 12) Be attentive to all behavior in the classroom and  laboratory, and 13) Learn to forgive and forget.

I believe that all of the examples are certainly helpful in the guideline and that it is absolutely necessary to provide students with a routine and sense of direction.  As a teacher we are not only responsible to teach but we have to be the directors of our students learning as well and make our daily expectations clear so they want to engage.

In addition to reading Newcomb's book I recommend that you watch this video.

I hope this helps!  I wish you the best teaching!

Sincerely,

Jenna Moser

~A teacher in the same boat!

Micro-Teaching.... When being FUNKY is good!!!

For the Micro-Teaching experience I was placed at Greenwood High School and my mentor was Mr. Michael Clark a formal National AgriScience Ambassador.  I learned the content I would be teaching at Greenwood less than a week before I was expected to teach.  That was a little nerve racking for me especially when I found out that I was teaching something that I have little background knowledge in – Veterinary Science.  That is right I was under pressure – and this time it was really stressful because I, Jenna Moser, was responsible for real student’s education. 

With all of the pressure and anxiety building up I began to wonder if I should ask for an extension to buy a little more time.  I opted out of that quickly because I realized that in the “real world” when I am expected to teach a class and have a lesson prepared, I will have to deliver.  Additionally, as a future agriculture educator I have to learn quickly how to teach information that is not necessarily my “strong suit.”  So I rose to the occasion for micro-teaching and used my resources and as a result I loved my micro-teaching experience and confirmed the fact that I truly want to be a teacher. 

I used Communities of Practice and found great lesson plans and PowerPoints pertaining to the skeletal system of animals and focusing closely on vertebrae cataloging.  The main project of my three day lesson was having students create the skeletal system of animals using different shapes and kinds of pasta.  Students were responsible to label the bones of the animals and to have the pasta in the correct scale to represent the vertebrae column.  This activity forced me to teach content, facilitate time, learn group dynamics, and keep every student engaged.  Some of the things that I had to adapt to were students who missed one day of my teaching, students who were “too cool” to do anything, students who were off task, and even ones who just wanted to give me, the new person, a hard time.  I enjoyed the challenge and am very thankful that the class was a bit rowdy because this experience truly helped me to grow. 

Overall this micro-teaching experience has to be one of my academic highlights of this semester!  A clever thing that I was able to do was to bring real life application into the classroom, I broke my hand several weeks ago and was able to bring in a copy of my x-rays from when it first was broken to half way through the healing process to help students realize how important every bone is!

In conclusion one of the most reassuring moments of this was at the end when a student wrote feedback that said “Ms. Moser has a funky teaching style.  She should teach at a good school.”   

Inquiry Based Instruction - The beginning of an adventure!

So Monday was my first day teaching inquiry, or at least I thought I was teaching inquiry.  I was really proud of myself – I did my best to try to simulate what Mr. Clark did as an example in class last Friday but to give it my own sort of twist!  The class I was teaching was a Veterinary Science class and my lesson was geared towards the concept of reading labels. 

To begin students had to make Irish Potatoes (a Philadelphia sweet).  Students were responsible to use measuring cups and any ingredient combination that they wanted – the only direction they had was that they were merely named “Irish Potatoes.”  After a few minutes of students gathering things like the assumed necessary potato I asked students to return to their seats and write down something they were certain about and then a question that they had.  Almost every student said that they were certain that potatoes were an essential ingredient and almost every student said they wanted more direction such as a recipe.  Next students read and took notes in an article that provided more direction and then after discussion they were given a recipe.  This time students were able to use the recipe to make the correct mixture of sugar, cream, coconut, and cinnamon.  Students were able to learn that sometimes labels and titles are misleading.  They connected this to the vet science class in relation to measuring the proper dosage of a vaccine or determining a correct feed ration. 

This was certainly a fun and engaging activity and the message stuck with students.  Some of my feedback said that it was inquiry whereas others said they did not know what part of my lesson was inquiry.  Regardless this is certainly a teaching technique that I would like to work on and continue to develop.  I think it is an important and effective skill to use as an educator.  Additionally I could tell that I felt more comfortable with teaching in lab than I have all semester – so I am improving (slowly but surely)!

In closing, I would like to quote one of my peer’s comments “I think you did a great job!  I first thought how is this inquiry?  But then I was like Woop! There it is!  I think you did a great job keeping everyone engaged!”

 

Multi-Cultural Moment - National FA Convention

Excitement filled me this year as I attended the 2014 National FFA Convention.  This was my seventh year in a row to attend and this year I viewed the convention from the eyes of a teacher.  I attended with Penn State’s Pesticide Education program and helped to facilitate a workshop related to pesticides and chemical safety as well as Integrated Pest Management techniques.  When I was not presenting I was observing and here are some of the things I noticed:

Monday: Prior to attending National Convention I was walking on Penn State’s campus I became upset as I overheard people complaining about their food.  Comments like this make me think that people are simple minded and fail to realize that others are hungry.  I found myself to be really bothered. 

Tuesday:  As I was driving out to Kentucky I joined in on stereotypes about WV because at 7:00 at night the neighborhood had no open restaurants in a college town.

Wednesday: In my hotel an agriculture teacher from a different state shared with me that the hotel overbooked rooms and as a result five agriculture teachers were sharing one room!  Yikes!  I understand the logic behind what the hotel did claiming that there were “maintenance issues” however, I do not agree with the ethics.

Thursday:  There was a high school student from an urban school who stole a cell phone charger from another student and then proceeded to lie to her advisors about it.  This students feeds into bad stereotypes of urban populations but her actions also defy the whole purpose of leadership that is taught through the FFA.

Friday:  This was my last day of National Convention and on my way home I reflected on what a student said to me throughout the week.  They said “Ms. Moser, there should not be two nights of country concerts.  There should be a night that has R&B or something different because FFA is not all farm.” 

The most interesting observation was from Friday when students pointed out that FFA stereotypes itself and does not even realize it.  This is a stereotype the organization should strive to overcome.

The most uplifting was from Wednesday because even though the five teachers had to share a hotel room they were able to adapt to that environment and make the best of the situation because they had to.

The most depressing thing was when the student stole the cell phone charger because she could have simply asked to borrow it instead.  I do not understand why she thought that was okay and I wonder what her home life is like.  Are there deeper issues than what was presented?

 

Overall, my experience at National Convention was a positive.  I was able to develop more as a person and look at some situations from a teaching perspective! 

Inquiry Based Instruction

Inquiry – a seeking or request for truth, information, or knowledge.

 

 

Throughout this week’s readings I have strengthened my understanding of what “Inquiry-Based Instruction” actually is.  It is a process that enables the teacher to guide the student to a solution.  As an aspiring teacher I hope to utilize this method in some of my classes to help the students be able to think deeper as they approach new findings.

My role as the teacher would be the following six steps:

1. Starting the inquiry process;

2. Promoting student dialog;

3. Transitioning between small groups and classroom discussions;

4. Intervening to clear misconceptions or develop students' understanding of content material;

5. Modeling scientific procedures and attitudes;

6. Utilizing student experiences to create new content knowledge.

 

These are things that will help to direct students to the six stages of the inquiry cycle:

1. Inquisition – stating a "what if" or "I wonder" question to be investigated

2. Acquisition – brainstorming possible procedures

3. Supposition – identifying an "I think" statement to test

4. Implementation – designing and carrying out a plan

5. Summation – collecting evidence and drawing conclusions

6. Exhibition – sharing and communication results

 

As I learned about simplifying inquiry I was re-connected to the concept of scaffolding.  There is the wise suggestion to scaffold inquiry and begin the design process with the end in mind.  This will help to really ensure that the desired message is achieved.

Another thing that I discovered is that there are multiple approaches to using inquiry-based learning:

o   Structured Inquiry

o   Guided Inquiry

o   Open Inquiry

o   Learning Cycle