Lab Interest Approach

After watching myself teach my interest approach lesson, I see improvements that could be made. My interest approach was giving my "students" two ice cubes and a candle and having them figure out how to stick them together. The trick is to light the candle and use wax to hold the candles together. I was very excited when I tried this at my house and thought it would be a great approach to the different types of welding.

As I watched my video I noticed there some awkward pauses. Particularly when I asked questions. While teaching I wasn't sure how to dig myself out of theses awkward moments. One way I thought of was having more open discussion. My bell work was for students to write down as many things as they could think of that were welded and the types of materials. After they had a few minutes to reflect and write I was going to write them on the board. I feel I could improve this by asking the question in a different way such as "What have you seen recently that has been welded?" Additionally, instead of having students write down what they think I may have students tell me directly so I can write them on the board. While teaching I also forgot to ask for the types of materials that are welded. This is essential because the rest of my lesson focused on MIG, TIG and stick welding and the types of materials you would weld with each.

Some minor improvements I would make would be to use longer/larger candles that way the risk of burn is much less. I would have students perhaps wear goggles and ensure that their hair is tied back. Also, when going over the consequences I would further warn students that if they cannot be trusted with a candle they will NOT be getting on a welder. I should be able to trust my students with candles and ice cubes.

Lastly, I have a tendency to get a little too worked up and then I trip over my words or forget simple words such a paper towel and it creates long awkward pauses. Learning to teach seems like quite a feat but I look forward to improving myself in these areas.



Thanks for reading!!