This week in AEE 412 Lab we were challenged to find engaging ways to get our students thinking about the topics for the day, as we focused in on our interest approaches. While working on this lab I realized that there are many ways that you can grab a students attention, however finding an activity that engages your students and contributes to the overall learning for the day can be quite challenging.
For my interest approach I choose to write a lesson for the electrical wiring unit in my Ag Mechanics 1 class. Since we would be covering the tools needed to wire a single duplex circuit during this lesson I decided to start my lesson by having each student examine a single tool and answer a few questions about it. Below are the questions I posed to the students during this interest approach.
- Have you seen this tool before?
Have you ever used this tool? If so, what for?
Do you know the name of this tool?
What is its function in relation to electrical wiring?
After the students took a minute to answer these individually, I had them pair up and discuss their answers with a peer. Finally, we came back together as a class and each student took a turn introducing their tools to the class. Some students were able to correctly identify their tools and knew how it could be used for electrical wiring, while others weren't quite sure. We took a minute to discuss the correct names and functions of each of the tools.
I felt my interest approach went well, and I got students thinking about the days content and moving around and engaging with one another. I also liked that the students got the opportunity to touch and feel the tools before getting into the lab portion of the class, which hopefully got them excited for the days activities. Additionally, I feel that I set myself up to move right into the content part of my lesson without needing much transition time, as my plan following the interest approach would be to easily transition into my PowerPoint slides identifying describing the tools needed for electrical wiring.
I learned a lot about interest approaches from this lab, and after watching my classmates present I feel like I can be a lot more creative with my future activities. My main concern about my interest approach was making it directly relate to my lesson, which I feel limited me in my activity choices, however now I believe that sometimes as long as it gets the students minds going in the right direction and excited about learning that day it has done its job. For example, Michaela made a "guess who" game for her vet science lesson, where students were given pictures of some veterinary procedures and different animals to use in the game. While participating in her lab I found myself thinking about the different procedures and tools in the pictures, but I was also having a lot of fun and getting engaged in class. Her lesson wasn't about games or all the different procedure shown, but her interest approach got me thinking about the subject area and ready to participate in class. I will definitely be thinking about being more creative in the future.
Question: What are your favorite interest approach activities?
Elise, I loved your interest approach and how you challenge yourself to find a unique and fun way to introduce the electrical unit! Being able to touch the tools was great and I feel that your future students will be grateful for the experience. If you are unable to find 20 different tools for all your students, maybe you can pass out 5 different tools or even up to 10 and have the students find the person with the same tool to try and figure out what it is and what it does. Overall, I was so excited to see someone use an interest approach for ag mech because I thought this would be a very challenging class to use!
ReplyDeleteThank you Michaela,
DeleteWith ag mech classes being so hands on I thought the best way to start off a unit was to let students get right into handling some of the tools, however after watching everyone present in class I think I could make this lesson even more fun for students in the future.
Elise, Great Job! I loved that you had them active and handling the tools before they got into the shop. Good use of Inquiry Learning (very learner based). One thought - what if all their answers to your questions were "No" or "I don't know" - what then? There is a good chance at the beginning of the unit that they will have no idea what the tools are or how they are used (which is normal) and I like that this allows them to start thinking on their own, but expanding, differentiate, or giving them a next step might be if necessary. Maybe a second set of questions or have some scrap pieces of electrical wire there for them to see or try their tools with. Overall, a great idea! Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteThank you Holly!
DeleteI will be sure to be prepared for those questions in the future. I'm thinking that by having some additional ppt slides with pictures of the tool being used, and like you said allowing time for students to try there tools on a piece of wire could be very helpful.
Elise,
ReplyDeleteNice reflection. I do like the thought above about... What if these students have never seen these items before? How would you still keep them engaged/provide you some type of answer? As and example, for the cable ripper could you have one ready with cable, and when the student describes the item to you, then you can say "yes" and here is how we use the tool? This way the students still have a chance to describe what the tool is/maybe how it is used and then you can show them the specific application? Just a thought and it did go really well, overall!
I think we all got some great ideas for interest approaches from this lab!
-Dr. Ewing
Thank you Dr. Ewing!
DeleteI will be sure to incorporate these suggestions in the spring. I think it will really benefit the students to take the lesson to the next step and show them how we use the tools in the shop.
Elise, you're interest approach was great! I love how you gave each student the opportunity to share and engage with the activity. I also loved how you went about addressing each student's response and even if they weren't quite on track with their answer you really emphasized the importance in their response all while correcting them. I think that positive reinforcement really shows your students it's ok to share your ideas even if you might be wrong! Overall, great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Elise,
ReplyDeleteI think that your interest approach was very well thought out and effective! I loved the think-pair-share aspect of it. I'm definitely someone that thinks best when I'm reflecting on a question by myself, so it's always nice to be able to do that before getting someone else's take on it. This was a fantastic way to get the students warmed-up for the lesson and thinking about how these tools tied into it.