As We Transition Back Into the Classroom: Reflections from Indiana Agriscience Teacher Melissia Grant!

August 16, 2018August 13, 2018 Melissa A GrantPost-Trip Thoughts

Welcome Back!

As the first full week of classes complete for me and my students here in Russiaville, Indiana, I still am experiencing a whirlwind of emotions about my experience abroad. But my biggest question still remains- How will I use my knowledge from Malaysia to impact student learning in my classroom?

As I look back on my experience abroad I am pulled in a way that helps me to evaluate my teaching strategies on a new level. I enjoyed viewing and participating in several different dynamics of teaching strategies from several other current agricultural educators and pre-service teachers. Here are some items I learned and hope to implement in my classroom during the 2018-2019 school year.

1. Ice Breaker/ Get To Know You Activity

During my teaching in Malaysia, it was important to start with an introduction activity to get familiar with your audience. As this was the first time meeting these students it was essential to set the stage for the remainder of the lesson.

Students participating in the Beach Ball Bonding Ice Breaker Game. Questions were given in both Malay and English for both parties to feel comfortable enough to engage and answer the questions. Questions asked were basic including What they wanted to be when they grew up and why. Where do you hope someday to travel? And what is your favorite Malaysian food?

2. Hands-On Teaching Strategies

It was both exciting and rewarding to learn in Malaysia with a hands-on learning approach. I can attest that the most rewarding experiences were those that I could feel, grasp, and touch with my hands.

A ‘How To’ demonstration was given to construct a local lemongrass tea. Not only were we given a visual during the students’ demonstration but we then followed by making our own. It was awesome to prepare the ingredients and the tea on our own. It also helped the tea was delicious!

Teachers we able to observe and handle the quail students raise for their eggs to sell at the local market.

3. Implementing a Community Service Event

Finally, I thought it was very beneficial that we were able to help a Malaysian community by cleaning up the local water banks filled with trash. It was such an eye-opening experience to see the amount of trash accumulated in such a small area and how much we as a group impacted the community in just a short amount of time.

Wow, the trash was unreal! How can we impact our local community with just a simple day of service? Our duty was to fill the trash bags with anything and everything.

Melissia Grant (@MelissiaGrant8) is a secondary agriscience teacher at Western High School in Indiana.

It’s Not All About the Fish! Aquaponics Ag Day at SMK Seri LaLang – Day 14

July 24, 2018August 13, 2018 Melissa A GrantIn-Country Sharing

We finished off our FELDA Ayer Hitman visit by teaching Form 1 students (13 years old) at their Aquaponics Ag Day at SMK Seri LaLang before returning back to UTM in Johor Baru. We were initially greeted by our students playing instruments and each handed a very unique flower and egg on a stick combination as we departed from our bus. In a brief opening ceremony, we observed for the first time students, faculty, and visitors stood for the nationals anthem of Malaysia. 🇲🇾 As we finished logistical matters, the students were divided into four groups. Please keep in mind groups are comprised of separate genders, this time we had two groups of boys and two groups of females.

Accomplishing the WHY is always our mission as educators. But, why were we at FELDA Ayer Hitam SMK Seri Lalang today? We hoped to accomplish the following learning objectives as a team today by discussing AQUAPONICS:

1. Classify the components of an aquaponics system.

2. Differentiate between the three types of aquaponics systems; NFT (Nutrient Film Technique), Ebb and Flow, and Raft/DWC (Deep Water Culture).

3. Create the cycle through an aquaponics system.

4. Assess the pros and cons of an aquaponics system.

At the close our session, we had a few minutes for questions, where we learned that several students were curious about our favorite back home food, a student shared that he loved to beatbox and even heard him play, they were also curious about if we enjoyed wearing the traditional batik and hijab to teach in. I have to say it was very tight fitting around your face but I appreciated the culture adjustment and felt very welcome. Also relevant is that we were in a school and teaching on a Sunday. In the state of Johor Bahor they observe Friday and Saturday as the weekend and as such, we were at school today.