Teaching Problem Solving Approach: AEE 412 Lab #3

The Problem Solving Approach lab was the hardest lab to teach so far, as it's a technique that many of us are still learning how to implement. We've all seen it used before but with varying levels of success. While this lab was the hardest lesson to write and implement, for me it was also the first lab I felt really comfortable teaching even though it was for my hardest to formulate unit.

For my Problem Solving Approach lab, I tackled several topics I was most nervous about - the Problem Solving Approach, my Community-Based Unit of Instruction, and (hypothetically) my Ag Practicum class students. To give a brief explanation of the latter two topics - in the spring, my 6th period class is Ag Practicum, which is a class my students who are enrolled in Ag Science I-IV can take concurrently. This course provides them with additional time during the day to work in the two ag. shops and complete individual projects and is a great resource for students to complete tasks related to their SAE's or school events (for example, the ag. students last spring helped build the large anchor decorations for the nautical themed prom).

This class is where I am incorporating my Community-Based Unit of Instruction, where I am using the forested land on the school's campus and the school's forest stewardship plan to teach my students a little bit about forestry, native wildlife, incorporate their woodworking skills in creating "bat boxes" as habitats and create a form of educational material for the community. To address these areas and incorporate the  Problem Solving Approach, my lesson set up the transition of my unit from learning about native wildlife to creating a local solution to the problem of a declining bat population.

What I liked about my Problem Solving Approach lesson:

• I felt really comfortable delivering my lesson. I think this is because I wasn't actually delivering any content during this lesson, I was just setting up the questions so that my students thought about the right topics and directed the learning, it felt like some of the pressure was off of me. 
• For this lesson plan I created a 1 page handout for myself that pulled out all the parts of my lesson plan that I was actually going to be demonstrating during my lab. I utilized this handout to teach from instead of my full lesson plan because it broke all of my content and steps down into just a few key words or phrases that I would understand what they meant and so that I wouldn't get lost in all the words in my actual lesson plan, where I have everything written out in more detail so that someone else would understand what I am thinking.
• I liked that while my students were developing the answers to my various questions about the problem of a declining bat population, I was able to focus them back towards my end goal of the students suggesting we build "bat boxes" by directing them to agree on a solution we can implement at the local level.
• I also really liked how I handled behavior issues in this lesson. None of my students acted out but I did have side conversations that I was able to pull into the wider class discussion, and while we did have tensions rise at one point because of conflicting student views, I think I was able to sideline that tension before it developed into anything.
• I liked that I incorporated the "Go Get It" e-moment into this lesson so that the students were able to get up and move since a lot of the content of this lesson would require them to work at their desks either individually or in groups, and I like that this e-moment also provided me a way to teach the students some content about bats and get them thinking about facts and issues related to bats before I gave them the email scenario setting up our problem.

What I can improve about my Problem Solving Approach lesson:

• I need to increase my enthusiasm - while I felt more comfortable during this lesson, I am still struggling on showing my students that I am enthusiastic about being there with them. This is a trait I think I am constantly going to have to focus on. 
• I need to avoid giving students too much of the information right away and instead provide them the time and opportunity to tell me the information, including having them actually state what the problem is that we're addressing and not me telling them and having them agree with me.
• I need to be careful that I always have clarity in my instructions and expectations, both verbally and when writing them on the board for students to follow.

Overall, I'm really happy with how my lesson went and I hope that I can find multiple ways to incorporate the Problem Solving Approach into my classes because I think that my students will really like it and I think that if I set it up correctly it can relieve some of the pressure I feel in front of the classroom and allow me to be more comfortable and enthusiastic.