This week, the 2018 cohort was tasked to develop a lesson
using inquiry based instruction. I’ll be the first to admit that I was not
comfortable with this task. Mainly, I was uncomfortable with my knowledge of
what inquiry based instruction was and how to implement it into the classroom.
However, after presenting I do not feel like this lab went terrible. In fact, I
started to understand what inquiry based instruction was and how to implement it.
My lesson was about artificial insemination in cattle, and how it compares to natural breeding. During the lesson I had students participate in an experiment by forming a hypothesis, test and collect data, then form a conclusion. The experiment the students participated in was creating a reproductive tract with materials of balloons, rubber bands and life saver candies. Once the tract was created, students tried to pour water into the balloon inserted straw. We analyzed which balloon had more water in it, and connected how what level of conception each tract would allow.
Although things went well, there is always room for improvement
which is why I have highlighted gems and opps below:
Gems:
- Engaging/Hands on lab
- I had good enthusiasm for being extremely sick and having to do it twice
- I created higher order questions to keep students interest and realize the importance
Opps:
- I should have looked at the remote, and realized the video stopped recording, so I would not have had to do lab TWICE!
- I should have had clear balloons and straws so students could observe the conception
- I should have had student label repro tract instead of asking them what each represented
- I should stop using filler words such as (um, like, yeah)
Halee, your reflections, especially the opps, were very honest. What are some techniques you can use to replace filler words? Your lab was very hands on!
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