This past week I had the privilege of traveling to Juniata Valley High School with two of my cohort members. We observed for one day and taught one class period the next three days. I was asked to begin a unit on swine with a class of juniors and seniors. I have had many experiences with pigs throughout my years of 4-H and currently work at the Penn State Swine Center. Although I have a lot of knowledge in the content area, planning can still be difficult. With class periods being only 43 minutes long at Juniata Valley, I had to really sort out the most relevant information. I wanted to teach them everything I know about pigs. When there is just simply not enough time.
The experience itself was awesome! The class I had was very relaxed and easy to work with. There were sometimes when certain students seemed unmotivated, but I was able to get them going again by talking with them and asking questions. My cohort members said that they could hear excitement in my voice, so I believe that contributed to student motivation as well. Showing a genuine interest in your students and the subject matter can greatly help the classroom rapport. In my short time at Juniata Valley, I believe we established a great classroom environment. I owe it to the students. They really are a great group of kids.
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| http://www.slideshare.net/ChadLowndes/building-rapport-and-classroom-management-2 |
I was able to facilitate a small research project on swine breeds near the end of my experience. I'm not going to lie. I was concerned when planning that lesson. What am I going to do if this falls flat on its face? After doing some thinking, I had a breeds PowerPoint on deck just in case. There were some initial groans and moans but after the students began the project, they ran with it. This was such a relief! It was really cool seeing what they accomplished while they were giving presentations.
My takeaways from this experience:
1. Don't be afraid to nerd out.
2. Be stern.
3. Have a backup plan.
4. Be personable.
5. Show students you care.
Matt,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing...what evidence do you have to share that they learned content? What evidence can you share that the learners were satisfied? Is learning swine breeds reflective of content needed to be successful in solving 21st century interdisciplinary STEM problems?
An example of assessment would be that, they completed a worksheet on ear notching independently after it was introduced. The learner satisfaction forms indicated that all students were pleased. I agree that swine breeds may not me the most reflective of 21st century learning. However, the avenue I took to teach it was. Students used google slides to collaborate with their partner, research, and create info graphics.
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