Reading Reflection #2: Principles of Teaching, Including Group Teaching Techniques

This week's readings were both from Newcomb et. al, Methods of Teaching Agriculture. Chapter 2 outlined the principles of teaching and learning, which many of them I have heard of previously. Others were new to me. The 6th chapter focused on using some of these principles through group teaching techniques. I found this unit especially helpful, as it has given me more specific ideas to include in my lesson planning.

With 16 principles presented in Chapter 2, there was a lot of information given. We had mentioned the importance of organization and sequencing of learning content, but the chapter mentioned the importance of the students' readiness to learn the material. I never gave much thought to the responsibility of teachers to provide the prerequisite material. While we as teachers expect certain concepts to be covered in other classes or previous grade levels, it is important that we gauge these levels and teach accordingly.

The next couple of principles were related to student motivation. What motives students to learn the content matter? The chapter pointed out that students should be involved in making learning goals and planning. I hope that I will learn more about how to administer this principle. It also mentioned that success is a major motivating force. This comes through frequent student progress feedback and timely student rewards. I can certainly related to this from a student's point of view. If I feel like I am making progress in a subject, I am more motivated to put more energy into it. The final principles were related to directed learning where problem-oriented learning is best.

 

Field Trip! 

Chapter 6 was very helpful for me, as it outlined different group teaching techniques. Due to the time limitations and often larger class size, large group techniques have to be utilized. However, this chapter mentioned many more techniques outside of the traditional lectures and discussions, including demonstrations, field trips, role-playing, resource people, and cooperative learning. It outlined the importance of utilizing demonstrations effectively by presenting them step-by-step, focusing on 'how,' 'why,' 'what it accomplishes,' and 'important safety tips.' I have only heard of cooperative learning briefly before reading this, so that was also an interesting section. While the liked the idea of the 'traveling folder,' I think there are many other ideas related to this group teaching technique that I'm looking forward to learning about. Overall,  theses were informative readings that taught me that I have A LOT MORE to learn!