AEE 412 Lab

This semester I participated in  a teaching lab through AEE 412. This lab was created to given all of us the change to gain some teaching skills.
     I believe this lab was very beneficial to me. I really hadn't found my inner teacher yet. I think this gave me a safe way to gain to some new skills without it being at the expense of some high school kids. I really enjoyed being able to teach and get instant feedback. When you are teaching you can feel how it is going. At the end suggestions for how to make you teaching better and smoother are extremely welcome. I also believe that getting teacher feedback instantly for your lesson and lesson plan are invaluable. I learned so much from  this type of lab. I think it has prepared me to be a better student teacher.
   I think to improve upon this lab I would somehow figure out a way to a lot more time between learning a teaching strategy and using it. Sometimes it was difficult to grasp a concept before  it had to be used. I also think that having it in a room where utilization of the board is a bit easier would make this lab go smoother.
    I believe that I have gained so much from this lab. This is basically how we learned to teach. It was not feasible to be in front of a real class so many times. The chance to try out a new lesson and technique with other people in your situation created a very conducive learning environment for teaching. I learned how be a better speaker, how to adapt on my feet, and how to handle some unruly students. I believe it has helped me lay the foundation for my teaching skills.
    I think through this lab that I have definitely become a more reflective teacher. it was set up as part of the lab to do reflective blogs and read peer feedback. I think that after you do that a few times you realize how valuable it is to really sit down and think bout how that day or lesson went. We cannot improve what we don't internalize. it has caused me to evaluated every aspect of my lesson.
    I believe that daily reflection will help me build that teacher skill scaffolding while I am student teaching.. Reflection can you evaluate what you are doing and how to make it better. I believe it will help me make more engaging, well rounded lessons. I will likely reflect on every lesson, everyday in order to become the teacher I want to be.  From agriculture student to agriculture teacher had really brought me full circle.
    I think realizing how real this lab could be would be beneficial to the next cohort. It was hard to assimilate a real class to the lab. For example the time, materials, and activities. It was difficult to make it as real as I think it could have been.

   

Life knowledge

Life Knowledge
Where will you be in six years?
For my life knowledge lesson we talked goals as they pertain to future plans. it was my first day actually "teaching" in my cooperating center.
First, off it was crazy hectic because of snow delays, fundraisers and holiday projects.  I arrived just in time for organized chaos. I was also tossed right into the classroom because of the time schedule there wasn't a dull moment or a moment to even breathe. I walked right in and started helping with the fundraiser, then it was off to talk to the IEP coordinator then right into classroom. I started off my lesson by asking the students what a goal was or how they would describe it. I then asked them to al close their eyes and imagine where they thought they would be in six years. I had each of them share what they imagined then I wrote 4 things on the board for them to get up in front of each other and share. this was how I was exposing them to some speaking skills.
1. Name
2. hobbies
3. Higher education?
4. Favorite class and why?
The teachers even got up and did this with the students.  Following this I asked them how they thought they would get to these points. do they have short term goals to meet first before these dream goals. Would they have any difficulties or hurdles to pass. For very question I posed I said the question, gave them a moment to think and then asked each person in the class to share their answer. Some of their hurdles or questions pertained to college life. I was able to give them some information and discuss their questions with . I hope this helps them get to their goals, and make better choices. this part really helped to create this connection between us. They seemed really receptive toward me. it was a really nice feeling.

Creativity Lab

You Found What? Where?

 

This week we took the time as lab groups with our instructor to do a creativity lab. What is that you may ask? It's like new teacher 101. many of us struggle with creative to keep our lessons interesting and have that desired variability.

So we did what any group of young teachers would do....We went to the Dollar Store!

Never underestimate any store for its teaching qualities. many unexpected things can be used for lesson enhancement. Especially, when you are on a budget and your school supplies are low. necessity, is indeed the mother of invention. For this lab I chose to focus on a landscaping unit. I wanted to find something that would allow students to conceptualize some of the things we would be talking about, and boost their creativity. I wandered around for what felt like eternity, until at last bam it hit like a ton of bricks! Or a foam brick that is lol. I found floral/ craft foam at the dollar store. This would be my ground or "landscape". The I found some colored push pins, and sharpies in the business supplies. I decided that the students would label their pins with the markers for the different components of a landscape then create a model using the foam. maybe not the most glorious thing in the world but it really gives you an activity that students wont forget. I chose to use the white type of foam so that it wouldn't be as messy as the softer greet kind. we are going for creation not messy destruction. Some variations to this would be using different shapes of foam for different landscapes. also shaping softer green foam to create the actual land formation. Different shaped pins could also be utilized. A great little extra will be that the students will have to make a key for their pins! Id say this lab was fun, but really took some serious thought for something that seems so simple.