Week 8 of 15: What Seems to be the Problem?

-


Full steam ahead as we move through week 8! For the past two weeks in #AEE412 lab, we have been tasked with leading our students through the Problem Solving Approach. 




For my lab, I chose to teach a wood construction lesson that included a scenario, or situation to be improved. My scenario was about how the local FFA chapter needed to create a new stand to sell and market the products they make in-house, but since it was made out of wood and left outside, it started to warp and split. I took the think-pair-share approach and flipped it so that first students would share out as a class, pair with their seat partner, and then finally think of solutions on their own. I asked my students what considerations they should think of when building a new stand, and what a possible solution could be to stop the warping and splitting.


But where did I fall short?


A big part of being able to use the problem-solving approach effectively is being able to ask the right questions to guide your students to the right solution. At times in my lab, I could tell that my students were not sure what I was getting at with some of my questions. I could have added some clarity to help guide my students to the right answers.


Overall, I think my biggest shortcoming with this lab was that the scenario I proposed to my students was supposed to just get them thinking about the wood construction unit ahead. The solution would be found along the way as we worked through the unit, but I did not communicate that in the most effective way. My students were working hard to find an answer, but they did not have to have a perfect one yet.


However, my lab this week did not discourage me from using the problem-solving approach but rather excited me to find ways to implement and practice using it during my student teaching internship. I know that when used effectively, the problem-solving approach can really excite students for learning and activate their critical thinking skills, so the more I practice using it, the better I will be at providing those opportunities to my students!



Thank you for your endless support,



Ms. Cusate






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome!

-
Image
  I'm So Happy You Are Here! Hello! My name is Nicolette Cusate and I am currently a junior majoring in Agricultural and Extension Education at The Pennsylvania State University ! Over the next year and a half and beyond, I will be sharing my goals, challenges , learning curves, and victories with all of you as I navigate my journey to become the best agricultural educator I can be for my students !      A Little Bit About Me   I grew up outside of Berwick, Pennsylvania with my mother, father, and sister. Growing up, I l ov ed to play outside . I had a deep love for nature and was always collect ing leaves, rocks, and bugs. My parents bought me educational books to learn about all the things I would find outside. I didn't grow up on a farm, but I knew from a young age that I loved learning about the natural world. I attended Nescopeck Elementary and Berwick Middle School before moving to Danville, Pennsylvania in 2012.    Now, my favorite ho...
Read more

A Pig-ture Perfect SAE Visit

-
Image
For my second SAE visit, I had the chance to visit Andy's SAE. Andy is a sophomore at Northwestern Senior High School who is currently serving as the Albion FFA Junior Treasurer. He is active within the agriculture education program and the FFA chapter, and always has a "can do" attitude towards all his assignments and officer tasks. Before visiting Andy, Mr. Honeycutt and I talked to him about a date and time that would work for him and his family so that we could come visit. Andy talks about his pigs in class often, so I knew he would be happy we took the time to come see his project. Andy's pigs are an entrepreneurship/ownership SAE where he is raising two pigs. He got the pigs when they were three months old. He has plans to butcher one of the pigs and use the money from the first pig to pay to have the second pig butchered as well. During our visit, we met with Andy's family members and they discussed the progress Andy has been making with his pigs and the tr...
Read more

Two Science Classrooms - Twice the Fun!

-
Image
What was your favorite subject in high school? Mine was agriculture (obviously), but if I had to pick a core class, it would be science. It's no surprise though, because agriculture education and science go hand-in-hand. In fact, agriculture education is basically applied STEM education. Pretty cool, right? I loved Chemistry when I was in high school, so much so that I had a short stint in college as a Chemistry minor. However, I quickly realized that it would be significantly harder than I thought - but I still love that branch of science and learning about it! At Northwestern, we have a bunch of awesome science teachers, so imagine my excitement when I had the opportunity to observe not one, but TWO science teachers in our building!  First up was Dr. Cinda Murray, the Chemistry teacher at Northwestern. Dr. Murray is also engaged in the Global Learning in Agriculture (GLAG) Community with me, so we shared a common thread from the beginning. The GLAG Community was developed by the ...
Read more