LifeKnowledge Lesson @ Tri Valley

The last teaching lab we had was our second time teaching real students, only this time it was with our own students at our cooperating centers. Since we only taught for one lesson, during one class period it was a little less intimidating than micro-teaching, but it was with our own students, so hopefully we made a good impression before the spring. For my lab, I taught my Ag Science I students a LifeKnowledge lesson on Understanding Beliefs, Character, Integrity, and Values.

My Ag Science I class is primarily 9th graders, during the last period of the day and I taught my lesson on the Thursday before Thanksgiving break, so to say that my students were rowdy would be an understatement. Utilizing the LifeKnowledge lesson plan took some of the pre-teaching stress away, as the majority of the lesson plan was already created, but teaching my first lesson to my students in front of my cooperating teacher was still stressful. Though the students were a little antsy, and the class seemed to fly by without enough time to finish everything, the lesson went well. Handing my students that day was my first real time dealing with classroom management, and lucky for me I was able to learn the names of all 18 of my students' names within the first few minutes of class, and being able to call on my students made a clear impression on them and my cooperating teacher, nipping any possible discipline problems in the bud right away and helping to keep their focus

Having this first opportunity to get a taste of teaching some of my students at my cooperating center before the spring, was really helpful, and while I know I still have some things to learn and improve upon with planning, implementing, and timing of my lessons, I think that I have at least one technique to help with enthusiasm in the classroom - simply learning my students' names quickly. Being able to call on my students individually started to create some familiarity between my students and myself, and while I know that I won't remember all their names by spring, I know that it's a simple step I can take to make myself better in the classroom.