This week in lab we had to create a lesson plan that was worthy for a substitute to teach. In my plan I included a lot of detail, so that if there was any question whatsoever as to what anything was the answer would be right there. I also made sure to include an answer key to the packet that I had the substitute provide to the students and I had an activity that the students had to go up and draw on the board. I made sure to include a picture of what the picture should roughly look like (my lesson was on photosynthesis and they were to draw the cycle on the board).
This lab took a turn when it was announced that we were actually going to be teaching another teacher's plan. So I went from thinking I was going to be teaching a class on photosynthesis to teaching a class on artificial insemination (oh boy).
Overall, I enjoyed the lab because I felt less pressure because I was just suppose to do what I could with the information that I had and I didn't feel like I had to have a lot of knowledge in the content I was teaching, since it wasn't my lesson plan.
The way that I interpreted the sub plan that I got was very lecture based. The bell work and the interest approach were fun. However, when it came to presenting the PowerPoint I felt that it was very dry and I couldn't be authentically enthusiastic about it which was difficult for me. I put as my opp that it was difficult to make the content fun because I didn't really know what I was talking about.
However, I put as my gems that I went at a good pace for the students to be able to read the slides and get a grasp of what each AI tool was. I also put as my second gem that I answered questions pretty well. If I knew the answer I gave it to them, however if I did not know the answer I was able to admit that I wasn't an expert and to wait for the teacher of their class to come back and answer it. Even if I didn't answer their question, I gave them the route they needed to take to get the answer. It's ALWAYS better to say you don't know rather than try and give students false information.
Rachel, great reflection! Sharing what you did for your own lesson plan was a nice touch, as was how you compared and contrasted it to the one your received to teach. Sometimes our initial introduction to content we are not familiar with makes it hard to be enthusiastic, but with time and increasing comfort level, ag teachers can find ways to make even the most "dry" topics exciting and interesting for students!
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