Wow, that was a tricky lesson to plan! I really appreciate the benefits of utilizing the problem-solving approach, but yet I really struggled initially to develop a lesson using this teaching technique. With a little extra help, I was able to plan it out and felt confident on my lab session day.
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| To Breed or Not to Breed? |
Success?
Yes! I thought it was my best lesson so far, because I was able to stay on track, stay organize, and become a little more clear. Yes, I still have a TON to work on, but I'm starting to feel a bit more confident.
Improvements to be made:
1.) My Sense of Time: I really have no sense of time when I teach. I felt like my lesson was taking so much time and was afraid that I was going over time actually! In fact, I was very much under time! My plan for this is to set the timer on my phone, so I can better gauge my timing.
2.) Keep Probing Questions for Deeper Thinking: I was very quick to take the students' answers and recreate them on the board to match what I had in mind. For example, they said, "We need to learn about how phenotype and pedigree affect breeding decisions." I then took that and said, "Alright, so we need to look into genetics content, right...?" It would have been better to keep posing questions that would lead them to the over arching theme of genetics.
I am glad that the lesson went well for you. It was probably easier to keep your thoughts focused since it was about horses and you are really confident in that subject. It is good to have those really good lessons to build up confidence and to feel how a good lesson feel like.
ReplyDeleteAwesome!!! So great to see that you had a successful lab. I tried to watch your video but it would not play and said private. I like how you slid this lesson in after equine science and before reproduction. It is a vital question, with so many people wanting to see the cute foal they forget about the true purpose of breeding. I was at a "production" sale yesterday for a quarter horse breeding farm. Amazing facility, fantastic genetics and no feed... I mean none, horses were thin, dirty and poor health. They sold 4 year old smaller than my 2 year olds. Great reflection, I may use this idea for leading into my reproduction unit as well. Questioning is hard and I know that I need to keep working on it.
ReplyDeleteHi Emily,
ReplyDeleteI think your lab was wonderful! And you have a really great level of enthusiasm about the topic that makes your students want to have the same level! I think you did a really good job stating the question. I think that in reciting the answers we gave was a way to stay on track it kept the class structured because when we gave answers out of the realm of what you wanted you roped us back in. But I do see the benefits of having the students get to that point. And until your able to ask just the questions changing our answers will be a helpful tool for you to use. Great Job Emily. As far as watching time, I'm really not sure what to tell you because i'm awful at keeping myself on time. I think you have a really good idea! I hope it works for you =D
Emily,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like your lesson was great. I like you had a hard time thinking of something to use the approach on. I really like how you pick a topic that you were familiar on as your first lesson using the problem solving approach. I also think that setting your cell phone as a timer is a good idea as long as you are able to have your cell phone in your class. Keep up the good work
That's good that you felt it went well and was your best yet! Just keep improving and in no time you will be a pro! I too, thought this was a hard lesson approach to figure out in the beginning. Probing for questions and a timer are two great things that will help you out and that I should do as well to make me more effective as a teacher also!
ReplyDeleteYou were definitely in your comfort zone this week Emily. From the blogs I read there were very few, if any, forked road problems. This was a great idea that students could wrap their head around and digest what was going on. I had the same issue of making student's answers conform to my own thoughts, but that can simply be solved with "Tell me more." I have said that to numerous people in their blogs, but it keeps coming up I have so stress it. I actually used it a few times in my lab and it worked pretty well. For your time problem, simply get a watch. I use my watch effectively because right before I start the lesson I look down to see the time, and that is my base to gauge where I'm at. Even easier is to get a watch that does lap times/stopwatch stuff so you can start it and then just simply look down to see the time. Little tricks like this are what make teachers so flexible, and thinking outside the box is a important lifelong process (Something I learned from Mr. Heasley).
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