My standards were related to the food science industry trends, so I decided to do a lesson plan on GMO labeling. I based this lesson plan on being in a junior/senior food science class. I chose to split the class in to two groups and have them debate with one team being the affirmative and one team being the negative in respect in to food being labled with containing or not containing GMOs.
There were definitely some things I would change if I were to do this in an actual classroom. First, for the lab, I gave my peers a shortened amount of time than what I wrote my lesson plan for. I was trying to get the most out of the lab and the 43 minute lesson plan. In the future, I would assign groups and their side the night before. Not only would this allow for more time the next when the student were actually going to present, but it would also allow the students to prepare a little more.
I also notice that I REALLY need to work on giving directions clearly! I feel like I explain the assignment better after a student asks a question. Which is NOT what I want. I need to get better at more explicitly writing out the directions for myself, copying them onto the board, and then finally verbally expressing the directions of the assignment.
I think this overall assignment, although frustrating at first, was beneficial. It allowed me to see some more of my weaknesses. Also, even though I may not be teaching this exact lesson plan next semester, I could use the practices from it for another topic that I am teaching.
Karlie, I appreciate your honest and thoughtful reflection! I too, need to work on the whole directions thing. I watched your video and I liked that your activity was a debate! But I agree, you don't have to cram everything into your 15 min lab! :) Also, (I can't remember if I mentioned this on Edthena or not) if you are having the students debate, make sure you cover how to debate in an earlier lesson!
ReplyDeleteI would like to thank you for your honest reflection. I would have to agree with your giving directions statement. I think in order to show your lesson in a lab your shortening of time worked! I also believed it worked because you understand that it would be different in a classroom. Keep up the good job!
ReplyDeleteKarlie, time management is a critical skill to master. To help students with understanding the format of the debate beforehand and to have their thoughts organized, a guided note sheet and graphic organizer might have been beneficial. What are some tools or technology that you can use to help with giving and writing directions?
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