Tis the Season of.... Creativity?

After talking to one of my awesome cohort members, Jill Gordon, we decided that these blogs sound more like steps of a Pinterest craft. However, we promise that if you keep reading it is surely no Pinterest craft.




Today we had our very last AEE 412 lab ever (sad!). The instructions for this lab was to bring one of your favorite unit plans and your creative juices. We really had no idea what to expect for lab. I thought for sure we were working in groups to create better unit plans or some creative activity; however, I was wrong! Instead we were all herded out to a big old white van and shipped away to the land of $1 (aka dollar tree). This also happens to be one of my favorite stores. Not because I am cheap (well maybe a little) but rather because there are tons of inexpensive craft ideas and teaching materials there! In fact, this was exactly why were headed there.


The creativity aspect of this lab was taking a field trip to dollar tree and finding 5 items that would enhance a unit or lesson plan. Our advisors were kind enough to buy our creative finds. I was truly amazed at all the awesome ideas my peers came up with. They are some very thoughtful and creative individuals! I am truly blessed to be apart of this cohort.


I chose my 5 items based on a swine unit that I will be teaching during student teaching. I found pink paper plates, stretchy socks, brown paper bags, shaving cream, a dog toy and a military play set. I may have been that one person that chose 6 items instead of 5. Oops! Anyway, I was pretty excited about my finds. I will utilize my pink paper plates during an ear notching lab. Students will decorate their plates according to a breed of pig we learned about in class. They will attach ears on to their pig and then practice their ear notching skills.


The stretchy socks will be used to learn about the digestive system. Students will construct the parts of a pig's digestive system. I did this as my inquiry lab earlier this year and loved it! Of course, there are other materials that I will need for this lab; however, when I tried it out in lab I didn't have the right kind of socks. So I am excited to see how this lab turns out by utilizing other materials.


What is so special about a brown paper bag? Lots of things! There are a variety of activities that you can do with a brown paper bag. Specifically in my swine unit I will use these bags to "build a pig" and during review sessions. The students will use the bag as the pig's body. Which can then be attached to the pink plates which represents the pig's head.


The shaving cream will be used for students to draw the different parts of the pig out with. They will each have their own stations and they will use the shaving cream to demonstrate the different parts of the pig. That was my initial thought, however, there are many other activities that shaving cream can be used for.


The dog toy and the military set were two random ideas. The dog toy is actually a pig with two ropes as its ears. It will serve as a hall pass for when students need to use the restroom. It's cute and it fit my unit well. How could I resist? The military play set on the other hand was not so cute, but I had this idea of using it in a problem solving learning lesson. I am hoping to use the different objects in this play set up a game of Clue. The problem will be presented and they will have to solve the mystery in order to find a solution to the problem.


This was hands down my favorite lab. I love thinking outside of the box and trying to bring those creative features into my lessons. Dollar Tree is the place to go for cheap little teaching aids. I think this goes to show that adding these creative features to our lessons are not only necessary for student achievement but they can also be inexpensive.

AEE 412 Lab Reflection

It's it that time of year again! That time when just 4 months ago we were sitting in our first lab thinking, "oh boy that last day of lab is soooo far away!" and now it's here. With all the work we have due in these last few weeks I kind of wish I had that time back! However, this semester has been one great ride and I can honestly say that I appreciated our 412 lab. It pushed and challenged me in ways that I didn't think I would be challenged. I enjoyed testing out new strategies and methods that we learned about in our other AEE courses in lab and receiving immediate feedback from peers and our professor. It was also a huge benefit to watch my other peers present and teach. There are so many great ideas I gathered from them and different strategies I saw them use that I thought I would enjoying using in my own classroom.

Although, I enjoyed my lab and lab peers there are a few aspects that were frustrating as well. I did enjoy being able to test out new teaching techniques or strategies; however, I felt that I was crammed in trying to process a new technique and then trying to implement it into my lab. For example, we would learn about the problem solving approach the Friday before we have to teach it on that following Wednesday. I didn't feel confident for lab because I didn't feel like I had a lot of information about it prior. I think it would have helped to see an example of these techniques. I enjoyed seeing and being involved in a demonstration before I had to teach it. That was very helpful for me.

I had previously stated how motivated I was to teach after our microteaching lab. I absolutely loved being with all of those 8th graders in a real classroom. After teaching at Tyrone, it made me realize that lab is nothing like a real classroom. Although I knew this previously, I realized how truly beneficial microteaching was for me and I wish that I could have had this experience sooner. I wonder if there is any possible way for student teachers to work with local Ag programs and test these new strategies that we learn at these locations throughout the semester? I think student teachers need to get into the classroom sooner. I know that there might be potential barriers to this; however, microteaching was extremely beneficial for me. It was helpful to have real students to teach and real situations to deal with rather than my peers.

Overall, I like the idea of lab and the opportunities there are to grow and develop skills. I think it has a great purpose and should continue in the future; however, I think there are some revisions that could be made to make it even more beneficial for current student teachers. I have appreciated how I have grown this semester both personally and professionally. I want to thank my professors who have invested much of their time and effort in designing this course and of course dealing with all of us! :)