Guest Blogger Series: Success with 1:1 in an agriscience classroom

Editor's Note: This blog is part of a series of guest contributors from the National school-based agricultural education family. Ms. Nicole Terry is one of the Agriculture teachers at Delta High School in Muncie, IN. Prior to her current position she started an Agriculture Program at South Vermillion High School in Clinton, IN. She has presented technology at conferences, and professional development workshops. She is also the current technology trainer at Delta High School.'

When I started teaching, I started an ag program. I was handed a Macbook, and an iPad, and was told I would never get a book. Holy cow! I didn’t have even get to ditch the textbook that so many people are doing now.

I know it sounds crazy, because when you think of Ag education what do you think of? Greenhouse work, welding, working on engines, handling animals, and all sorts of hands on things, how do you put an iPad or Chromebook into a the curriculum? 

The beauty of agriculture in the classroom is that we constantly get questions (I once was asked “Miss Terry, how do you milk a coconut?”) and being able to teach so many classes, we can’t possibly be experts in every field. That’s where 1 to 1 comes in, we can fuel that moving mindset students have. I love seeing kids look up more on a topic that I simply do not have enough to cover in class. It may look like the students are off track, but they are learning more than I am teaching. When I taught animal science, I gave my students outlines of information I wanted them to learn. Then I set them loose, they had to look up information to fill in my outlines (I do teach a unit on "How to Google", and what a reliable source is first). During this searching part, some of my higher leveled students will move on past the outline and research more on their own, just from their natural curiosity. After everyone is done I "bring it in" and go over the outline and see if students are getting the same answers.

I recently moved back home, and am now teaching at the school I graduated from. We are getting into 1 to 1, and I am one of the Technology Trainers (teaching the teachers about technology in the classroom). When I look at my teachers, this is what I see from them:

If you stop at 45 secs on this Singing in the Rain clip, you will see it. Some people are confused, some are excited, and some look downright scared. That is what I see when I tell my teachers about 1 to 1 technology. That's okay, teachers can baby step into technology, here is how I did.

SAMR Model.

When it comes to integrating technology into the classroom, teachers use the SAMR model. SAMR stands for substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition. If you want a good way to understand the SAMR model watch SMAR vs a Latte 

The S part of SAMR or substitution, I do almost everyday teaching. Substitution is the easiest to integrate into the classroom. Typing something on google docs, or having students read PDFs instead of books, are ways of substitution. I upload PDFs for my students to read, instead of printing them off everyday. (Saves tons of time at the printer.)

The A part of SAMR is augmentation. Augmentation is still substituted, but the functional aspect of the task is enhanced.Online gradebooks, where my students and parents get automatic feedback of a student's work, and whenever a student asks an "off the wall" question, we can all just google it, those are examples of augmentation I do in my classroom.

Modification is the M part of SAMR. In modification, students can make an assignment their own, and work at their own level. I do this on projects. Last year, my natural resource class had to create a wildlife plan. They were to get on google maps, screenshot an area, and create a plan for that area to protect and attract wildlife. Those were the parameters, and everything else was up to them. It was a chance to get students to do an assignment their own way.

The last sections of SAMR is R, for redefinition. In redefinition, the teacher is no longer that source of knowledge, only the facilitator. In my example above from my animal science class, I was not "teaching" the students, I was guiding them to answers.

After I understood and mastered the SAMR model, I "played" with all kinds of tech tools for my classroom. Here is a list of some of my favorites:

• Kahoot
• Padlet
• EdPuzzle
• Formative
• Showme
• Quizlet
• Canva
• Google Docs
• Google Forms
• Classcraft
• iMovie
• Symbaloo

You can see how I use some of these tools on my personal blog Apples in the Ag Room.

If you ever have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me on my blog, or tweet me @nicolelynn6