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Last Updated: 15 March 2013 15 March 2013

Many Agricultural Education graduates may remember teaching to their peers in the basement of Strand Hall in the AED 554 - Micro-teaching class. Thanks to a great partnership with Woodburn and Dallas High Schools, the micro-teaching experience becomes much more real when our student teachers have the opportunity to teach in front of real students instead of their peers.

The two-day adventure began when half of the class traveled to Woodburn and the other half to Dallas for day one of teaching in the agriculture classrooms. On day two, the student teachers traded schools. Each student teacher developed and taught two lessons - one for Dallas High School and the other for Woodburn High School. Student teachers taught lessons in small engines, careers, woods, pesticides, osmosis and diffusion, cell functions, dairy cattle lactation, horticulture, the FFA Creed, and were evaluated by their peers.

Woodburn High School is truly a school within a school concept, as our student teachers taught lessons that integrated science into agriculture in the Woodburn Academy of Art, Science and Technology. The Woodburn experience provided student teachers with a positive view of teaching in a multicultural setting. Andrew Hartenstein commented that "teaching at Woodburn High School provided me with not only a multicultural experience, but also the opportunity to see how science is integrated into agriculture in more of a non-traditional class." Seth Stoddard was not going to let us leave Woodburn without the opportunity to enjoy authentic Mexican cuisine at world famous Luise's Taqueria.

At Dallas High School, student teachers had the opportunity to teach in both Tim Ray and Lauren Farmen's classes. Dallas High School provided a wide array of teaching experiences, from careers to woodshop. Karie Hoffman commented that "peer evaluating my classmates provided a different perspective and allowed me to not only watch them teach, but to also really see the class and students from a different perspective."

The Woodburn and Dallas experience provided real-world teaching experiences in settings that helped prepare student teachers for careers in teaching. Peer evaluations, OSU faculty, and host teachers provided valuable feedback in a realistic setting that will help student teachers hone in on technical, pedagogical as well as classroom management skills.