Wrap Up!

Having labs be a part of our AEE 412 curriculum was a really beneficial experience, not only were we able to work on our skills but we also received great feedback from our peers and Mrs. Rice. One of the hardest parts about lab for me was actually being recorded and teaching in front of my peers. I think that this was hard for me because I hate seeing myself on video because I always pick a part everything I do, and knowing that everyone will be able to see every mistake you made; that was terrifying for me. I also was nervous teaching in front of my peers, I think that besides yourself your friends are your toughest critics. Both components of this were not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be, but I think that it did make a difference in some of the things I did in lab.

I learned a lot throughout the entire lab process. Clarity and variability are things that I personally thought I needed to work on throughout. Another thing that I learned that I needed to work on is to not spoon feed my students every little thing. I think I spend too much time on making sure they know what they are supposed to do instead of letting them figure out somethings for themselves. Through lab I have also learned that I need to continue to work on my time management and organization skills. This is something that I have been working on my whole entire college career, I have gotten a little bit better each year but now I really need to get these skills together because it is going to help me out with my student teaching experience. I also need to pay better attention to detail and read things a few times over to make sure I comprehend things.

I had a lot of ups and downs during lab and learned the value of double checking the safety of certain labs before you try to conduct them. I also learned what to do in case of an injury in your lab. Although they were not my finer points I have learned from them significantly. Walt Disney once said “Keep Moving Forward,” I use this quote because I would rather fail during lab as practice than in front of my students when I am actually teaching them. Although I may have not succeeded to the best of my ability with a lab I used what I did and the comments I received and really tried to change it for the next time.

Each experience I have had in lab has made me a better educator and I have learned from each experience as well. I learned that being the great teacher is something that takes a lot of time, patience, and practice. No one is going to be able to be perfect at it right off the bat. I am really thankful for the opportunity to have had this lab experience, my favorite one was definitely the creativity lab. I did not know how easy it was to go and get some really interesting things for class, something as simple as stickers can enhance your lesson. I really enjoyed getting my creative juices flowing and got some really awesome things to use with my students. I think that each lab really helped supplement what we learned in class and helped us bring everything together. It was nice to be able to see the information in practice, learn about, and then prepare, and practice teaching it.