Interdisciplinary Learning
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION
My passion for learning and teaching process solidified with my second degree in BS Agriculture education. I believe that education plays an important role to bring changes required for solving Grand Challenges . As a part of the program I have got chance to teach as a full time teacher at American Falls and get involved in local classrooms.
STUDENT TEACHER
American Falls High School, American Falls, ID
Created lesson plan for 5 different courses including 4 STEAM courses
Developed assessments to assess formative and summative learning
Adapted lesson plans to accommodate online students and ESL students
Coordinated community service with 10 students’ participation
Developed appropriate scaffolding activities
Evaluated student performance using formative and summative assessment
Adapted teaching method based on student performance
Facilitated leadership building hands on activity
Supervised 80 students per day
Supervised fabrication shop project and Green House Project
Tower building leadership activity
Student working on class project
Summative assessment for Honors Biology
Community Clean-Up
GUEST LECTURER
Genesee High School, Genesee, ID
Created lesson plan for Conduct of chapter Meeting
Developed assessments to assess formative and summative learning
Taught 50 minutes class
Assisted students with Science and Math problems
CLASSROOM SHADOW
Paradise Creek Regional High School, Moscow, ID
I spent 25 hours to observe and understand class dynamics.
Assisted students with Science and Math problems
HIGHSCHOOL CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE-2017
As my second major, I am studying Agriculture education. I think it very important to understand educational process both as a student and as a teacher. As a part of the program I have got chance to explore class room setting. During Fall of 2017, I got chance to spend whole day at Troy High School. There I interacted with students from different grades.
PUBLICATION:
Scheef, A. R., Thapa, B., Lerum, E., & Poppen, M. I. (2020). The Impact of an Inclusive Post-Secondary Course on Pre-Service Teachers. Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship, 9(1), n1.
Smith, K.L. & Thapa B. (2020) Examining Differences in Noncognitive Skills for State-Level Career Development and Leadership Development Event Participants. Journal of Agricultural Education
PHOTO GALLERY:
REFLECTION:
My second degree in Agricultural Education helped me grow to be an effective educator. Being a non-native English-speaking educator was intimidating and I had to overcome self-doubts about my ability to be an effective teacher. My experience as a Student Teacher at American Falls High School (AFHS) had a profound impact on who I want to be as an educator. I decided to teach at AFHS because the majority of students were economically disadvantaged and English as Second Language (ESL) students. I taught STEM classes to students, Yuritzi S., whose dedication in class impacted my teaching style. Being an international student myself, I empathized with the language barrier so I made sure that my classroom will be accessible to all my students irrespective of their demographics. I adopted the Universal Design for Learning framework which provided all students equal opportunity to succeed. I implemented Google Translate and live transcript in my class which assured learning opportunities in both English and native languages. As a first-year teacher, I was in a vulnerable state but I allowed my students to provide in-depth monthly feedback. I modified my teaching style to best fit my students’ needs based on their feedback. The experience reassured me that I wanted to be an educator because I have the ability to educate future researchers who will join the alliance to mitigate Climate Change that requires multigenerational collaboration.
