Student Teaching Week 12: Make Learning Fun

I am not going to lie. At the beginning of last week I was burnt out. Working late into the night and teaching the next day can takes a ton of energy out of you. Students also expect you to bring the same amount of energy to the classroom each and every day. Coffee is a great tool but it can only take you so far. Some of my lessons were starting to loose creativity and kinda stunk in my opinion. This lead me to doing a little soul searching.

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When reflecting on things and the experience has a whole, I thought back to what an older retired Ag teacher had told me. He said to "make things fun, make it enjoyable for the kids and teach them some life lessons along the way." This got me thinking and recalling my experiences in high school. The best memories took place back in the Brockway Ag Shop. Mr. Norman did a great job giving us real hands on opportunities. The fun/hands-on activities are what we remember and take with us.

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Going into the rest of the week it was my goal to create activities that were much more engaging and got students up out of their seats. I feel like I accomplished this as I capped it off with a butter making lab on friday. The students literally "ate it up" along with two loaves of bread. Not every lesson can be packed full of these activities. We must still take the time to establish the basic knowledge through small amounts of lecture. However, we must make a constant effort to create more engaging experiences for our students. We must continue to improve our balance of instruction. This week I am looking to keep improving in this aspect and develop as a teacher.