Ag 11 Dairy Lactation Lesson

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Description: Dairy lactation unit, small farms compared to mass milk production.

Alignment Reflection:
Wisconsin Teacher Standard Alignment:
Standard 6: Communication Teachers communicate well. The teacher uses effective
verbal and nonverbal communication techniques as well as instructional media and
technology to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the
classroom.

This artifact reflects Standard 6: Communication because the lesson differentiation created
communication venues that allowed many students to interact within the class. I began the
class by showing two different short videos of milking cows on the smart board, but
preceded the videos by asking what came to mind when I said milking cows. Many
answers came back as machines or parlors, which is what I was looking for and the students
enjoyed the interest approach of short YouTube videos. Following the videos, I showed a
video clip about the carousel milking parlor which is a set up most Wisconsin students have
never seen. The clip showed everything from moving the cows from the freestall barn to the
milking parlor and followed them around as they were prepped, stripped, milked, dipped,
and exiting the carousel. This served as a virtual tour for the students, giving them a
different view on mass milk production.

Our next activity was to actively reflect on the videos as a group. I slowly circled around the
room to interact with each group of students and provided them some guidance if they had
gotten off track. Once I had passed the groups I was thoroughly impressed to hear the
students talking amongst their collaborative groups about what each person noticed in the
videos and hearing them relate that to their own real life experiences!

In the following days we studied the science behind milk production. To wrap up the unit
we tackled an udder dissection. This hands-on application allowed the students to visually
see the inner structures behind milk production. Building upon the students own skills by
posing questions to the class, having them work together to form their own hypotheses, and
reporting back to the class as a group gets the students to ask more questions especially
between themselves and it gave me the opportunity to act more as a support structure.

UW-Platteville School of Education Knowledge, Skill, Disposition Statement
KS3.a. Communicates clearly and accurately: The candidates spoken and written
language are correct, expressive and clear, with well-chosen vocabulary that enriches
teaching and communicates thoughtfully, responsively, and effectively for a wide range of
student understanding and encourages appropriate student language development.

While watching the interest approach videos, I paused them periodically to point out certain
things the students might otherwise not readily notice. Other pauses were made while
watching to connect terminology back to the video clips. Those words such as
herringbone, oxytocin, and pituitary gland, were all used multiple times within
sentences that continually related back to words or processes referenced earlier in the
lesson.



Ag 11 Dairy Lactation Lesson
Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Personal Reflection:
What I learned about teaching/learning?
Relating topics back to real life examples and using terms that match up with other
previous vocabulary, makes it easier to add new terms and definitions. Reaching out
to students who need to see processes done or holding conversation that intrigues
those students who prefer to learn by listening takes a balancing act. There are
struggles that occur through putting together a lesson that encompasses the
different learning venues but it can also be fun. Bringing many methods of
instruction into the lesson allows for creativity of instruction and the changes
between activities tends to keep students engaged on the topic.

What I learned about myself?
I learned that I appreciate the freedom to change instruction strategies to fit specific
student groups. Not only that, but it gets monotonous using the same strategies and
approaches day after day. I believe in the importance of switching up the pace every
ten or fifteen minutes to keep the students actively engaged. It is enjoyable to have
multiple activities related to the same objective because the similar ideas and
processes can be approached from many ways, which surprises me sometimes. This
lesson took trails I never thought of while preparing it but the students made it
change to fit them and I just went along with it because it worked. I can rely on my
students more than I previously thought.