AEE 412 - first reading post!

Sometimes reading isn't that exciting, but as we are diving into the one semester that MATTERS THE MOST (not that the previous ones didn't matter) before student teaching and real-life teaching, some of these readings can be quite intriguing and beneficial!

Although I do not have the exciting book of "Methods of Teaching Agriculture" yet, I was able to read through the first section of "Strategies for Great Teaching" by Reardon and Derner, as well as paper on "Understanding by Design," a (semi-ancient) Ag Ed article (Garton, Torres) about Teacher Behavior, and the Wong article on being an effective teacher.

So what did I learn from these readings and how do they apply to the content in 412? Well, to be good ag teachers, we have to first be GOOD TEACHERS, right? Well not just GOOD, but EFFECTIVE. Wong hits on effective teaching as including:
1) positive expectations of students
2) good classroom management
3) knowing how to make student mastery lesson plans
4) works cooperatively and individually with students

Additionally, Wong points out the concept of an "Induction program" for student teaching - something that I would find very interesting when applied to the Ag Ed profession. What could we do to prepare ANY given teacher for that first day/week/year? An apprenticeship program would definitely work, and collaboration with other teachers before being in the classroom, but in Ag, we kind of have a different situation, especailly considering there are usually only one or two ag teachers at a school. Something to think about... Ag Ed Instructor Apprenticeship - has a nice ring to it.

So being an effective teacher also includes the concept of making sure there is actually LEARNING and UNDERSTANDING going on in your classroom, right? I like how White points this out consistently with the Understanding by Design model, something that Wong pointed out with the statement "the purpose of school is learning" - therefore we cannot just teach, we need to invoke learning.

This brought me back to the basics, with Bloom's taxonomy of learning - knowledge, comprehension, application, knowledge, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. We need to understand understanding before teaching something... makes sense right?

The White model of Understanding by Design closes this concept out with a good model for Learning GOALS and Teacher ROLES (roles in parenthesis)
1. Acquire (direct instruction)
2. Construct meaning (facilitative teaching)
3. Transfer (coaching)

Ag teachers have a big and already identified role in "coaching" and even more opportunity to do so with the 3-circle model of ag ed. Shouldn't that give us a foot up in the game?

Well then we get into E-moments. The in-class, bring-it-all-together activities that invoke understanding and create a positive learning environment. I am excited to learn more about these "engaging moments" and how we can specifically apply them in the ag classroom!!

Good readings, let's keep at it - reading develops competency and growth... not to mention UNDERSTANDING of how to help our students UNDERSTAND!!