Now that the semester is over and I reflect back on what I have learned in this class, I realize that most of what I learned was discussed at the final. Comprehension; using jig saw reading, KWL charts, and reading that will interest the students. Vocabulary; vocal walls, limited number of words per week so you really have to focus on the essentials, and having constant exposure to the vocabulary. Oral Language; small group discussions, and opportunity for all students to have their voice heard. Writing; short assignments with no pressure, peer review, short stories with the vocabulary words to enhance student learning. Affective dimension; empowerment of the student affecting their confidence, student ownership, and bringing things from their world into our world. Critical Literacy; unlearning what we thought we learned and relearning it all over again, and again, and again, never stop learning. Differentiated learning; three tiered teaching, scaffolding, inquiry model shared collaboration independent IMSCI, I do we do you do.

It's amazing to think that in just a few weeks I will be teaching in a classroom. I will be expected to use all of these things to enhance student learning and literacy. I'm a little scared but mostly I feel empowered. I know that I have a lot of things to cover in a semester with these kids but having literacy as a part of my subject will just make teaching more fun. It gives me new ways to look at a subject, make it fresh, new and more vibrant.

Thanks to all my fellow students I learned a lot from you. I'm not sure if Melanie was trying to get us to take ownership of learning this subject or if it was a fortunate byproduct of her defending her dissertation. Either way it has worked out. Thank you for your brilliant minds brushing up against mine.

Motivation

Dear Students, We are about to embark on an epic journey together. As Will Ferrel has said in a commencement speech at Harvard University 'After months of secret negotiations, several hundred secret ballots, and a weekend retreat with Vice President Dick Cheney in his secret mountain bunker, a Class Day speaker was chosen, and it was me. You obviously have made a grave error. But it's too late now. So let's just go with it.' 'I am going to be your teacher for the next few months, you have obviously made a grave error but lets just go with it. The study of agriculture is the best thing that you could possibly do with your lives right now. I know that friends, sports, scouts, and possibly every other organization that you participate in tells you the same thing. However with agriculture it really is true.

After viewing this fun short clip I hope that you will realize that agriculture is everywhere and it has something to do with everything in your life. JK Rowling in a commencement speech said 'The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more than any qualification I ever earned.' The knowledge that you will emerge with from this class will be painfully won but when we emerge on the other side you will realize that it truly is a gift to be literate in Agriculture.

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I look forward to being your teacher and hope that together we can learn, laugh, and have a good time together.

Mr. Tim Moser

Affective Dimensions of Reading

I think of myself as a good reader. As Long as I can remember I have been glued to books as though the glue from the binding somehow stuck to my hand. I carry books with me everywhere I go. I even take them with me when I go backpacking. I scrutinize every ounce that goes into my backpack, course you would to if you were going on marathon trips through the wind rivers 34 miles in 3 days vertical gain of over half a mile. Every muscle fiber in your shoulders and legs on fire, you don’t want extra weight in your pack. Yet somehow I end up with Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl in my pack. I lay in my bag after a long day, reading about making a ship out of logs and reeds to sail to the Tongan islands it is worth the suffering that it caused me.

My father is to blame for my obsession with books. My dad worked a lot when I was young. I almost never saw him but when I did see him he had a book in lunch box. When I would ask about them he would tell me fantastical stories about what was in them. My interest was peaked. When I got into middle school I was reading everything that my dad would give me. He usually would read the books first to make sure that my young mind was only getting good wholesome reading. He would hand me a book like Sahara by Clive Cussler, which is now a major motion picture, and say something like there are only a couple parts where you need to skip over. You will know which parts they are. I think I might have skipped over parts once or twice but then you don’t get the whole story so guiltily I would read those parts that I knew I wasn’t supposed to read. When I was in 7th grade I made a goal to read all of Louis Lamours books, still haven’t reached that goal but I’m well on my way. Westerns and Science fiction are my passions. But lately I’ve been reading more Mysteries and I’m really enjoying them. I have to force myself to branch out to different authors and genres. I’ll get a mystery by Tony Hillerman and something else from an author that I have never heard of before. That way if the other author sucks I still have something that I like.

There are so many times that I have enjoyed reading... most of my life I think. When I read The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien as a young boy I remember really enjoying that read. I felt like I was with Bilbo when he wandered the inky paths of Mirkwood fighting spiders and other dark creatures. Escaping reality is one of the things that I like the best about books. I can have grand adventures without putting myself in danger. One of the times that I remember really really enjoying reading is when I read the book When the Legends Die by Hal Borland. I was in Eighth grade in my history class my teacher saw me reading it and came up to me to talk about it. He told me that he had read that book in one of his classes at the University. I thought wow I’m reading a college book. It re enforced the idea that I was a good reader.

After reflecting on my feeling about reading I have to think about how I can help my students have the same feelings about reading that I have. I think that building up our students confidence in reading will be a great way to interest students in reading. Having them read books or excerpts from books that are interesting and tell a story is important. I can’t ever remember really enjoying reading text books, especially when they were only kind of related to topics we were discussing. I wish that I could have gotten credit for reading books outside of class. I think that giving a little extra credit for books that are related to what we are teaching is appropriate. It gives credence to the validity of reading done outside of class. Why not get credit for showing interest in the subject that I teach. I think that this would have given me motivation to read books that had a scholarly feel to them.

Affective Dimensions of Writing

In reflecting about myself as a writer, I realize that I don't really think of myself as a writer. I usually express myself through a drawing. I have done a lot of landscaping in my day, and when people come up to me and ask me where is this place, or how do I get to this house? I can honestly say that I have never written down directions... Go so many blocks down this road and when you see the big tree on the left, you've gone to far... No!!! I draw a picture. I'm not a great artist but my renderings usually leave the right impressions on people. You know they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well my pictures are worth probably half of that but they still work.

Several times in my life I have had ambitions of being a great novelist. I have even tried writing a few short stories. Eventually, usually within about ten minutes of writing, I give it up because I don't really have anything to tell. My life if pretty boring... go to work... go to school... sleep about 5 hours and do it all over again. BORING!!! So ya I didn't write much as a child. Mostly reports that I only did mediocre on... It's hard to write about something that you just don't care that much about. I know those youth in Asia are cool but come on write a report on it... Give me a break...

Writing assignments that I disliked were many and short in-between. As I said, I never felt like I was a writer so writing was a huge chore for me. Looking back at my long and circuitous career as a student, I think the only paper that I liked writing was a report in my Geology class. It was a history of earth through time. I got to illustrate it. I had pictures of Dinosaurs and Trilobites. It was fun and I learned a lot from it. I just remembered another writing assignment I had in an English class. This one was way fun. We read Huck Finn and had to do a book report on it. But instead of writing it the teacher let us choose how to present Huck Finn to the class. A buddy and I filmed different scenes with us as the actors. It was awesome. And we had a ton of fun doing it. And I think we got a pretty good grade on it too.

This is the part where I tell you how writing is really important for your students. The way to make it fun and interesting for you students is to let them choose what they will write about. But really what I think is that some students will excel in writing and others will not. I wish that I could have had more opportunities to act out the story or draw the history. This will be a great lesson for me when I teach. I'm going to try and give my students that opportunity.

My name is Timothy Lowry Moser, but for as long as I can remember everyone has called me Tim. I am interested in a lot of different things. Some of the things that I like the most are, backpacking, fishing, growing a garden (complete with chicken tractors and compost pile) and spending time with my family. The subject that I am going to be teachings is Agriculture. Agriculture is the basis for our thriving society without Agriculture we would still be running around with clubs trying to find our next meal. Most Ag students got into ag in high school. I however did not. I went through high school and even my first degree at the University be for I discovered Ag. I want to find all those lost souls like me and get them into Ag before it is too late for them.