The Light at the End of the Tunnel!

Well, here it is... one of my final blog posts from the Fall 2014 semester. There is a light at the end of the tunnel!!! I cannot believe that this time has come. The semester has flew by, but has been beneficial in preparing me for my student teaching experience in the Spring.

Perhaps one of the most significant activities that I have participated in this semester has been AEE412 lab. Despite my hesitation at the beginning of the semester, I ended up really enjoying lab, and it has certainly been a positive experience for me!

I believe that lab has helped to contribute to my personal and professional growth. I gained experience at the front of a classroom full of peers, as well as a few classrooms full of actual students. I learned how to implement lesson plans, and gathered some valuable techniques that I can use while student teaching.

Lab gave us a wonderful opportunity to implement the lesson plans that we wrote. It gave us the perfect chance to try things out, and the ability to go back to tweak them before we teach them in a real classroom. I liked having free feedback from my peers and Ms. Rice, as well, because it helped me alter lessons to improve them.

I also believe that lab was a great way to become a more comfortable and confident teacher. My peers really helped to build my self-confidence, in a safe and uplifting atmosphere. I appreciated their feedback, as well as Ms. Rice's. Quite honestly, at the beginning of the semester, I was unsure if I had 'what it takes' to teach, but after experiencing lab, I am more confident than ever in my ability.

Additionally, reflection has played a huge part in my growth as an educator. Having the opportunity to watch myself back on video was an excellent way to build my self-confidence. I impressed myself in my ability quite a few times! In addition to the videos, I enjoyed writing a reflective blog post on my lab, as it helped me compile my thoughts. I also though that it was nice having peer feedback on blogs and on videos, as it helped to further build my self confidence and helped improve my lessons. Overall, reflection has helped me recognize my strengths and weaknesses, from which I have been able to grow.

While lab offered many positive aspects, it did have some room for improvement. Ideally, I would love to have more opportunities to teach in an actual classroom. It would be great if, for instance, every-other-week, we taught in a real classroom. I know that this may be hard, or nearly impossible, but I believe that it would be most beneficial.

I also wish that the labs would have lined up with instruction better. Oftentimes, we were expected to create a lab lesson plan, without any prior knowledge on the type of lesson (i.e. Inquiry). Ensuring that we had instruction prior to the lab would have helped ease a lot of my anxiousness for the labs.

Overall, lab was probably one of my favorite activities that we participated in this semester. I believe that it provided us with a unique opportunity to put what we learned in class into action, and practice our teaching techniques. I enjoyed teaching to my peers, and loved the positive, supportive environment that lab provided. Because of lab, I feel more prepared than ever to student teach!

Please see below for my final lab highlight video!