First Day of School Fun

This week in AEE 412 Lab, students presented 10 minutes of a first day of school lesson. For my lesson, I decided to use my Introduction to Agriculture 8th grade class. I asked the students different ways agriculture affected their day so far, introduced the teacher's expectations for student success, and collaborated with students to determine the student's expectations of the teacher.

In reflection, I think there are quite a few items I can improve on:

I did not check for understanding throughout my lesson

I should have asked "What questions can I answer" throughout the lesson to ensure student understanding. When I move forward, I want to be sure to pause and check for questions when I transition from task to task.

Find a different way to follow along with the student answers

After having students think, pair, and share their ideas for the expectations of the teacher, I filled in a blank powerpoint slide. I found the keyboard was too far away from standing to type effectively. If I were to do this task again, I could write the information on the board by hand, or ask a student to act as the "scribe" or "typewriter" on a google doc.

Respond to student's answers more clearly

When I asked students for their suggestions of teacher expectations, I just let them go around the room, without responding to their responses. I feel like the teacher should make an effort to elaborate on their expectations.

Allow for more time on discussing the teacher expectations

I think I should allow for more time in determining their final choices of teacher expectations. Since this is a decision that will affect the student-teacher relationship throughout the remainder of the year, it is important we are clear with our decisions.

From this lab experience, I learned that the time you allot for an activity will not always be accurate. As I go through the remainder of this semester and prepare for student teaching, I will work on the timing of my lesson, as well as checking for student understanding more frequently.