The Reflection of all Reflections: AEE 412 Lab

As we wind down this final mind-blowing and fast-as-lightning semester of my college career on a campus, I am asked to reflect on one of the many beneficial experiences I've had in preparing for life as an educator. 

The 2 hours a week of AEE 412 (Methods of Teaching Agriculture) lab was one of the most memorable and beneficial aspects of this entire semester. After all, agricultural education is about "experiential learning" and what better way to "experience" the methods of teaching agriculture than to TEACH with them??

Some questions to reflect on: 

Was the teaching lab a positive experience? 
Absolutely! While I remember hearing intimidating stories about AEE 412 from previous cohort years, I never really heard much (negative) about the lab component... probably because it was the most exciting part of the class (not to say that lecture wasn't exciting ;) ). Working with my peers and consistently seeing applied teaching methods was very positive and helpful, especially with the reflective components and the feedback. I think I just recently said to a few of my lab classmates that I will miss lab time the most, as it is a bit more relaxed and fun (especially when you are not teaching). The role playing for classroom management was definitely an added bonus for entertainment, even if our group may have taken it a bit too seriously at times... but overall, the teaching lab was definitely a positive experience!

How would you improve it?
One of the major aspects of 412 lab that I would improve would probably be to increase the teaching opportunities (if it was made possible by scheduling). I think that it could also be improved by removing some of the online reflection aspects (that many people do not take seriously enough) and increase in-class, discussion-based reflection. I think a 10-15 minute time period in a Friday 412 lecture after each lab section is completed (so only 6-10 minute sessions) would allow all students to engage in discussion, be present and obligated to reflect, and save much time on behalf of the students with regards to blog/video reflections. Or, there could be, selected from the pool of recorded teaching experiences for the week, 1-2 highlight videos that everyone must watch (i.e. best examples) before attending lecture on Friday of that week, so that people can pull from the example and discuss personal improvements.

How have I grown personally and professional from it?
On a personal note, there is definitely a greater level of friendship between some of my cohort-members who were in my lab group (especially my favorite, "shares-a-lot" student, Annette) from this experience. And it is from these levels of interaction from the role playing that I feel much more comfortable with handling classroom problems. I definitely won't forget some of the conversations and situations of our role playing as I enter into a real life classroom with real students. Other than this aspect, the professional growth from actually teaching content I created/compiled is very encouraging and promotes a higher level of meta-cognition as I go forth and plan/execute future lessons/units.

How have I become a more reflective teacher and learner? How will incorporating reflection into a future career make me a better educator?
I am a very bad reflector. I don't know why, but I have always struggled to pull examples or stories or personal reflection from my life in making future decisions. I usually base future choices on the outcomes of past experiences, rather than all aspects of the experiences. This is, as I will admit, a very "fixed mindset" view and something I have been trying to change during this time in lab. I agree that reflection is important, especially if it occurs right after the experience, so I will probably be more proactive about developing immediate personal reflection and seeking immediate peer feedback/criticism from future teaching experiences.

What could have been more detailed/in depth in the AEE 412 lab expectations?
I think the expectations for lab were sufficient. The lab packet was a very helpful guide throughout the semester, but could use a few edits. I am sure that we covered a lot of expectations and information on the first lab day, but I am unable to recall that first week of transitioning back to the craziest semester ever :)

Overall, lab was a wonderful experience that served as the keystone to our fall agricultural education preparation courses.

Enthusiasm was the Rosenshine and Furst quality of effective teaching that I felt I reflected often in the teaching lab... check out my video that highlights these!

Here are some memorable photo moments from teaching lab (when I had my camera to capture them)!!!

Practicing with the D-SLR camera during my demo lab!

Emily and Todd, acting as great models

That time Emily found tape worms in the goat intestines from my IBI lab!

Get Creative. I know its in you.

Students in our education system are not often enough challenged to be creative. Some people may say "oh, no, I'm just not a creative person..." but this is a falsity. We are all creative, given the opportunity and flexibility of a learning or exploring experience.
So, when we were surprised with a trip to the Dollar Tree and $5 (WOHOO MONEY!) for our final lab session, I was excited to test my creativity juices... even if it took a lot of juicing to get them going.
While I can successfully plan activities, I do struggle to add a creative edge, something that will really engage or interest the students. This was evident at the Dollar Tree, as I roamed around the entire store, looking at thousands of diverse items that could apply to many learning situations... yet I struggled.
I literally felt my head come under a higher pressure due to the amount of varied muscle movement (I think it has something to do with the side of the brain used in creative moments).
Either way, it took seeing someone else's creative idea to start connecting some items I was seeing to my wildlife ecology and management unit. I was surprised how quickly the juices came after that... I got some interesting items that can illustrate concepts of habitat and carrying capacity. I also picked up some practical items to use for an already-planned activity.
Anyways, it was a great experience, and even more exciting when I remembered I had a lot of cash in my pocket. I then may have gone overboard with my purchasing. But in the end, I learned about how our teacher minds can be stretched and challenged to develop instruction to best engage and spark interest in students... all by going to the Dollar Tree! : )