Problem Solving Lab - What to give and what not to give.

This past week I was able to complete a lesson plan for and teach my first problem solving lab. As I work through my "Basic Principles of Soil and It's Land Uses" Unit for spring, I chose to do my problem solving lesson on finding soil horizons. My essential question was "How do I use soil texture, soil color, and soil formations to find soil horizons?" At this point in the unit, students will have been taught and have practiced soil texturing and soil coloring. They will have also learned about soil horizons. Therefore, I thought it would be best to have them do an activity where they used all of those skills to help them find soil horizons based on characteristics.

In the beginning of the lesson I set up the problem and gave them some information they would need. In the future teaching this lesson, I would start out by asking them questions and letting them give me the information that they needed to complete the assignment. I feel like this would further the problem solving and push them more into the application and analysis sections of Bloom's taxonomy.

I also think I will forgo the power point so that it is more of a discussion. I or a student can write their answers on the board and leave them there to help them during their lab. I think this would be good to give them a break from the power point and also increase the classroom discussion. Furthermore, instead of having the directions on a power point, I may have a printout of the directions to give them, as well as verbally stating them. Also, I think that I need to at least put the soils in order that they were taken out of the pit. Since it will be January/February when I will be teaching this they will more than likely not be able to go to a soil pit. It would not be fair to not put them in order, because if they were able to be in the pit they would be able to see what order the samples were in and just need to distinguish the soil horizons. There would be too many variations of "right" answers if I do not. I think that I will need many stations set up so that students can work through them easily and more efficiently.

I found this lab challenging because I have not taught my peers information that I will be teaching my students, so it was a little confusing for them. I also do not think I could have set my lab up the same way I plan on changing my lesson plan for my classroom - because my peers needed that information. Whereas hopefully if I do my job, my students will be able to give me the information when prompted. Otherwise, this lab gave me insight that I need to not give so much information and let the students give me the information.

1st Unit Plan - So much editing

So I just got done with my thousandth draft of my 1st unit plan. I have wrote, re-wrote, re-organized, re-re-organized, and contemplated. And repeated that process. I feel like I am still trying to squeeze a whole bunch of stuff into a little bit of time, but I am not sure how to shorten it anymore.

I feel very overwhelmed when starting a unit plan - and maybe it is because I started this one mostly from scratch with help from a textbook. I did not really use a "borrowed" unit plan or lesson plan, because I really like soils and thought this would be a good unit to really dive into (plus I did not like ones that I found). It was really hard to wrap my head around and figure out at first. I think I have a better grasp on it now that we have learned more of the information in class - like writing objectives properly. I think the next 20 unit plans should get easier! (At least I hope!)

I would really appreciate any tips or suggestions! I would be happy to email the document to anyone that would like to provide feedback for me 😊

Bloom-ing into Writing Objectives (Weekly Investment #4)

When I started my first unit plan, I really struggled with writing objectives. After completing the reading, it really interested me and I wanted to dive into the use of Bloom's Taxonomy when writing objectives.

First of all, "Bloom's taxonomy is the classification of different objectives and skills that educators set for their students." Even though these six levels of learning were originally proposed in 1956, the terminology has been updated recently, as needed. Here are the six levels ("Teaching Innovation"):

1. Knowledge
2. Comprehension
3. Application
4. Analysis
5. Synthesis
6. Evaluation ("Writing Objectives")

Blooms taxonomy really helps us understand how learning takes place. For example, you cannot understand a concept before you have knowledge of it. Likewise, you cannon apply said concept before you have comprehended it. And so on, and forth until we reach the top of the pyramid. In every class we do not always have to start at the bottom of the pyramid. Lower level classes very well may, but when I am crafting objectives for higher level or advanced classes, students generally have the knowledge and possibly even comprehend, and need to work on applying and analyzing the skills. It is important to note that students may need refreshers in this information, but the majority of your lessons for a unit will probably not be "information dumping" for more advanced classes. ("Teaching Innovation")

When looking at objectives you can take some key things into mind when considering what level of Bloom's Taxonomy my objective is on. Phrases like "what is",  "how is" , or "where is" typically relate to Knowledge; while phrases like "how would you compare…" typically refer to Comprehension. Moving up Bloom's taxonomy to Application, questions about how to build, construct, develop and organize will help to test the student. Analysis you need to have students  categorize, classify, and discover; if students have reached Synthesis they can solve, design, and develop. Finally, you Evaluate. Can students defend or criticize their findings? ("Writing Objectives") Looking at this and how this questions are proposed have really helped me to understand objectives and goals in the classroom. 

These readings have really helped me to submerge myself into Bloom's and understand it a little better moving forward and while designing my lessons. While all students reach each of these levels at different times or points of instruction, I really need to take into consideration the students in class who may be way ahead. This means, having some extra things for them to work on so that they are bored and they are continuing to grow and push themselves. Even though, at some point in the not-so far away past, I thought that learning "how kids learn" was not all that important. Since I have started this journey, my thinking has thankfully changed and I have come realize how important it is to understand these theories at a deeper level instead of just on the surface. 

References

Teaching Innovation & Pedagogical Support. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2017, from https://tips.uark.edu/using-blooms-taxonomy/

Whittington, M.S. (2005). Writing objectives in secondary agriculture courses that challenge students to think. Agriculture Education Magazine. Retrieved from  http://www.naae.org/profdevelopment/magazine/archive_issues/Volume77/v77i5.pdf

Writing Objectives Using Bloom's Taxonomy. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2017, from http://teaching.uncc.edu/best-practice/goals-objectives/writing-objectives