COMLDR 5330

Community Leadership 5330 hosts Food & Fiber Day

 

On October 22, 2014, The Ohio State University Sheep Facility was home to an interactive learning day for enthusiastic college students and wide-eyed first graders! Students in Community Leadership 5330: Teaching Methods in Non-formal Environments completed their Food & Fiber Day experience by working with students from the Columbus School for Girls. The non-formal classroom stage was set with straw bales in place of desks and dozens of lambs to accompany the students!IMG_1139

This teaching and learning opportunity allowed college students to develop and facilitate a lesson plan. In groups of two or three, students worked together to create a lesson that fit a first grade curriculum science standard. These science standards framed student learning around agricultural processes, seasons, animal care, and more.

Throughout the semester, students have been increasing their knowledge on teaching in non-formal settings. The unique opportunity to teach Columbus School for Girls first grade students at the sheep farm offered the perfect setting for applying their skills! First graders were welcomed to the farm and engaged in activities including a facility tour, rotating between educational stations, and concluding their day with making ice cream – all taught by COMLDR 5330 students!

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While the first graders left with many lessons learned, memories of petting a day-old lamb, and a sample of wool from a sheep shearing demonstration, OSU students left with a feeling of successful accomplishment – seeing their weeks of preparation come to action!

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COMLDR 5330 students include: Zach Bartenslager, Sarah Bookman, Caitlin Conrad, Alex Davidson, Aaron Deskins, Krysti Dubler, Samantha Johnson, Jillian Kalis, Michael Kieffer, Michelle King, Beth Mayers, Scott McDermott, Jacqueline Nolting, Sarah Rannebarger, Ashley Rose, Spencer Williams, Renea Yetter

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The class is instructed by Dr. Graham Cochran and Teaching Assistant, Kayla Oberstadt.

A special thank you goes out to Gregg Fogle, manager of the OSU Sheep Facility for hosting our group and giving sheep shearing demonstrations. Thank you to Emily Wickham and Michelle Hendrik for taking photos. Lastly, a generous thank you to Columbus School for Girls for their continued partnership through first grade teachers Leigh Kane and Devon Schlicher!

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ACEL students teach first graders about butter

In the Department of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership, one may encounter a variety of interesting projects and coursework through a vast offering of courses. Now, if you were to solely judge student learning progress on their ability to sing a song about making butter, you are missing what goes on behind this process. Students enrolled in Community Leadership 5330: Teaching Methods in Non-Formal Education have been engaged in their learning to plan lessons, develop a unit of instruction, and facilitate non-formal learning environments. Through a valued partnership with the Columbus School for Girls, COMLDR 5330 students are provided the opportunity to develop lessons for first grade students. The first of which was a butter making demonstration to display changing states of matter and share a preview of agriculture through dairy product facts.

In small groups, COMLDR 5330 students worked diligently to create an educational and enthusiastic 30-minute lesson to teach their first grade audience about butter. By working together, students successfully achieved their task of creating a lesson plan with all required components and prepared any additional learning aids-from costumes to bringing toy cows! Keeping the first grade audience in mind and being aware of learning styles, creativity was evident! With lesson plans and butter-making supplies in hand, students were ready for a field trip to the Columbus School for Girls to teach butter-making demonstrations!

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Krysti, Sarah, and Renea pour heavy whipping cream into a container to make butter.

A close ratio of college students to first graders provided a learning environment of close interactions of our student educators with their first grade learners. Equipped with their skills in a variety of teaching methods, students utilized songs, games, active learning, and demonstrations to teach their first grade learners the process of transforming heavy whipping cream to spreadable butter to be enjoyed on crackers!

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Zach, Michelle, and Caitlin teach first graders about butter making.

Through COMLDR 5330, students are constantly immersed in their learning and skill development through a variety of teaching experiences. These students are actively preparing another lesson for Food & Fiber Day, when the Columbus School for Girls first grade classes will join our students at Ohio State University’s very own Sheep Facility! With opportunities to teach in front of their peers and to first graders, these students are gaining beneficial experience to prepare them for their aspired careers in non-formal education!

 

Thank you to teaching assistant Kayla Oberstadt for writing this blog post and sharing the photos.