AEE 412 Lab: Reflective Teaching Lesson (RTLs) Reflection

Well the first AEE 412 lab is in the book for #psuaged17! Our cohort may be small but we sure are strong! It makes me sad and happy (at the same time) to only have six other class members. I wish we had twice as many in order to fill the teacher shortage. However, the instruction and collaboration we receive with such a small class is second to none.

Today we took turns teaching reflective teaching lessons (RTLs) and assessing what we did well and what improvements we can make. Our teaching lessons were every short (10-15 min). This made time management difficult even with the somewhat simple lesson objectives. The lesson I taught today was on how to tie a bowline knot. Overall I believe the lesson was a success with 86% of the class passing the assessment. My peers pointed out several areas for improvement such as clarifying directions and helping to encourage students as they complete each task. I can also improve my introduction and interest approach. As a student educator I know my weakness is communication. This effects the quality of the directions given to the students. Students may not know enough about a topic to pick up a discussion where I would like to. I need to remember to gauge where my students are and propel them forward from that point.

The whole class seemed prepared and brought an excellent positive tone/enthusiasm to their lesson. This made for a fun and interesting session. As a class I believe we need to continue to learn the context of our lessons, keep preparing effectively, remain respective of our peers’ comments, and keep bringing enthusiasm to our lessons. Our continued hard work and dedication will assure us a bright future in education.