Life Knowledge Lesson

For the Life Knowledge Lesson for lab I went to my cooperating school and decided to do a lesson on trust. I was excited to finally do a lesson where I will be student teaching and get to get even more involved with the students. I was lucky enough to teach the third period class who were all upper classroom and could have given me a run for my money.

Teaching this class was fun and exciting and went better than expected. With focusing on trust we did a blind obstacle course, a counting game, and the telephone game. I was surprised to see them most engaged in the counting game. Which is where they need to see how high they can count with having their eyes closed and no two people speak at the same time.

Teaching a life knowledge lesson for one was hard to pick. Secondly it felt awkward cause I feel like I was scripted which made me feel I was reading from a paper which I hate. Even though I was familiar with the  lesson I just felt I had to keep checking to make sure I did not say something wrong.

One obstacle while being there was a student who had a physical disability being she was so small. She had a stool for her feet once in a chair. I did not expect this and did not plan for it so I had to adjust and make sure I also did what was best for her.

 

 

Final reflection

Wow! It is hard to believe this semester had come to an end already and we officially finished up our labs this morning. For me personally lab was up and down with skills and emotions.

This lab experience was positive and negative. On the positive side it helped with nerves and getting in front of people and being the main focal point. On the negative side it was "awkward" teaching in front of your peers was weird and sometimes what you had planned went fast due to them knowing the content already. A positive aspect to the teaching was the actual classroom with real students. That is when it felt right.

Personally and professionally I grew a lot. I grew in ways such as creativeness, enthusiasm, and better clarity. Not saying I am perfect because I am far from it. I feel as a professional I have learned and worked on classroom management skills that I did not know I needed or had.

I feel that I have become a more reflective teacher even though expressing my thoughts has not been the easiest. I feel I actually take the time to step back and think about what has happened and gone on compared to just chugging ahead and not looking back. Incorporating reflection into my preparation, teaching, and learning will make me a better educator because I will be able to look back and use my weaknesses or strength to help me better myself and know what to work on rather than have no idea.

Overall the expectations were pretty clear. There was just a lot to keep track of and when having to post  or comment on so many blogs it was hard keeping track of who you did and did not do because a lot were not uploaded to COP. Another thing that could have helped was a class by itself dedicated to lesson planning, unit plans, and related item. Starting the year I felt so behind on them and it was hard to learn the way as we needed them due.

It was a good experience though and I am glad I had the opportunity for these real life interactions instead of just being thrown into the classroom.

How to get creative!

As a broke college student or an ag teacher we learn to use our resources well. For lab today we went to the dollar tree to think creatively on a small budget of $5.00. How is this possible???

Walking through the dollar tree ideas just start popping in your head. Who knew you could do so much from a store like that. If it was not for the budget I could have probably bought the whole store to put into my lessons in one way or another.

As ag teachers, often times they buy items for lessons from their pockets filled with well not a lot. So being able to physically and visually see what you can do on such a small budget was useful. Knowing the feeling of being broke but wanting to make everything the best it can be is hard when you have obstacles in your way.

With that said I was able to put 5 items to go with a couple lessons and it will either help enhance the lesson or at least gain a few laughs to brighten the mood.

Sometimes you need to let loose and live a little!

Classroom Management

Have you ever wondered why when you walk by one classroom and it looks like the students have gone crazy and the next they are perfect little angels? I sometimes thought it was because the teacher was horrible or the students were just plain bad behaved. However, I have come to learn that it could be a little bit of both but more so it has to deal with the atmosphere of the classroom.

In order for this classroom atmosphere to read controlled and behaved the teacher must portray this to the students. This task must be done on the first day and must stick. Some general things to remember when developing your classroom management are:
~ Be firm; you can always get softer
~ Have a routine and let the students know the routine
~ Do not have favorite; no student wants to be in a class where they feel the student does not like them
~ Learn to forgive and forget
~ Set a good example
Following these simple guidelines can help you create the classroom atmosphere you desire. These are just a few examples with many more out there to use.

Having a good classroom management technique can help you be a better teacher or one that the students actually listen to because they respect you. Having that relationship with your students will go along ways when you have them for a few months or even a couple years.