Cumulative Reflection

Wow! This semester went really fast! I enjoy my time in lab and learned a lot. My lab group was very interesting and had a lot if neat ideas and approaches to the different types of labs. Each lab was challenging in its own way.

The early labs such as first day of school and interest approach were nice to learn how to do fundamentals of teaching. These first few lessons really made you think about what you wanted your students to take away from in the lessons. The interest approach lab was unique because I think it is a struggle to find good ones to use. Because of this lab I was able to take away from others ideas as well as find good resources for them.

The demonstration lab was fun because it was practical but challenging in such a limited setting. This was where for the first time my classroom management was clearly tested. My lab included fire and handling distractions in serious situations. I think I handled the situation decent but definitely seen evidenced why it is important to have smaller groups and select the groups to prevent issues. I learned a from this lab that j have used elsewhere.

In general I found the labs to be practical and relevant to good teaching strategies. The interactive labs is the type of teacher j strive to be. The problem solving labs were a good way to implement this into our teaching.

I an thankful for my lab experiences in addition to the real classroom experience as it has better prepared me for spring!

AEE 412: Lab 7 reflection

For our creativity lab we went to dollar tree with $5 of spending money in order to buy items to enhance our lessons. This was quite a challenge to me because I don't think of creative things to add to lessons on the spot.. this typically happens when I drive or through the night. I think browsing the store and being aware of what they have will help in the future to come up with ideas. I did get a few things to use for team building in my leadership course as well as creative items to use in floriculture. I am excited about the ideas of my cohort and look forward to adding more creative ideas into my lessons.

AEE 412: Life Knowledge Lesson

I recently presented my Life Knowledge lesson at Cumberland Valley High School to the first period Advanced Leadership class. The freshman leadership class also joined us making a total of twenty students. My Life Knowledge lesson was called Defining Teams which compared the difference between group work and team work. It was a very interesting topic and the students reflected on successes and things that didn't go so well in their chapter. It encouraged students to think about how they approach tasks with other students.

To add to the lesson I had the students do two team building activities both very similar to each other. The first was the students were in groups of four. I provided them with a piece of paper and a sponge and asked them to all maintain both hands on the paper and then flip the paper over without dropping the sponge. After a few quick trial and error attempts every group was successful. The next team building activity was I divided the class into two groups. I laid two blankets on the ground and instructed each group to flip the towel over just like previously but without anyone stepping off. Their methods of attacks were interesting. After having to have one group restart they determined a new plan. The students were challenged to be outside of their comfort zone to complete this task. After both activities were completed I asked them if they felt they were working as a team or a group. Both groups felt they needed to support each other to accomplish the task and that it was team work.

I really enjoyed my lesson at Cumberland Valley. I was nervous going in because I was concerned the material would be hard to keep the students engaged which for parts of it, it was. Many students said later they really liked the team building activities despite how challenging it was. I defiantly pulled some great ideas from their reactions to incorporate into my Spring leadership class. It gave me a better handle on how the senior class needed to be taught because they are harder to keep engaged. They really enjoy independent work that they work in small groups on.

When comparing this experience to mine at Tyrone I felt both were enjoyable experiences that were good ways to develop my teaching. I think I maintained the same style in my teaching not changing too much. I really like doing something hands on that keeps the students physically engaged because it results in having to do less classroom management in terms of talking or behavior. Both experiences gave me insight on how to be prepared with students on both ends of the spectrum of understanding the content which was good. I think it will help be focus my teaching to meet the needs of all students. One big difference between the students are that at Cumberland Valley it was a greater struggle to halt some of the talking between the older students. Overall it was a good experience and  I am looking forward to working with them in the Spring.