Getting our Hands Dirty (Week 13)

Wow, has it really only been a week? This week seems like there were a few months between

Monday and Friday! But it was a great week. Last week, Mr. Hughes challenged me to take my last few weeks of teaching and try new things. He told me that I was not allowed to use any technology (PowerPoints, videos, etc) for the rest of my student teaching and that I should try and do more hands-on activities with the students. Challenge accepted.

We are right in the middle of our Poultry Science unit in Animal and Vet Science so we spent the week exploring eggs! We discussed how they are formed, their parts, what their function is, and how they are graded. I took the opportunity to try some new experiments and activities that I have never done and the students really seemed to get a lot out of them. Some favorites included using vinegar to dissolve the shell off of eggs, trying to break eggs in our hands (and getting them all over Miss Herr), and judging different classes of eggs.

It was easy for me to see how and why students often do better when they are taught with hands-on activities and I was also really excited to see that some of my less engaged students really engaged in class this week. I am really starting to see how building rapport and gaining confidence in the classroom takes time but pays off in the long run. I am excited

to squeeze in a few more lessons over the next few weeks and see what we (my students and me!) can learn!