My Reflections on a Brief Demonstration

    I arrived at class on-time and ready to go, but felt slightly underdressed.  I cut the twine I used for the

demonstration just before class started and came prepared with copies of the peer review sheets ready to go.  I was quite nervous when it came time for me to present, but I steeled my nerves and began presenting.  Before and during the presentation, I regretted not having a poster or power point made to support and provide more visual aid to the demonstration.  Before starting, I explained the objective of learning how to tie a bowline knot and the real-life uses of the knot.  However, having the objective and practical uses displayed on a PPT would have been beneficial for the students and made them clearer.  For the demonstration, I passed around a paper that displayed the proper tying of the knot and also physically demonstrated how to tie a bowline knot.  For assessment, I went around the room to each student and asked for any questions and guided them along in the knot-tying process if they were having any trouble.  At the end of the course, every student could tie the knot successfully and correctly.

    From my reflection above, I can decipher that the lesson included some visual, vocal, and hands-on  instruction.  Visual instruction was shown through the demonstration, vocal through lecture, and hands-on through the application of tying the knot.  Additionally, I know that lesson planning and preparation for class is very important for proper instruction, and in this particular instance, I felt I was lacking in that area of teaching.  

   The biggest thing I learned from this microteaching experience was that preparation is key for any kind of teaching presentation.  A lesson plan would have been very helpful.  Prior intentional thought as to how to make the lesson as engaging and interesting as possible to allow for the highest level of learning for the students is vital.  This also allows for extra materials to be collected and utilized during the lesson.  For example, more in-depth prior thought could have allowed me to decide to bring in my hammock and demonstrate how to tie the bowline knot in order to hang up a hammock.  Additionally, having previously made a PPT presentation could have provided visual learners an extra outlet for learning and also more structure to the lesson.  After reflecting, I also learned that being very intentional about wording of instruction and assessment can make or break whether the students can retain the information learned.  Wording a sentence clearly and enunciating well can help students understand the content better.  Additionally, being intentional about whether students have resources or not to measure their level of learning is very important. 

    As an Agriscience teacher, there will be plenty of opportunities for demonstrations.  Because of this, ensuring adequate preparation for each demonstration and daily content lesson will be very important.  For example, contacting a local butcher for scraps of meat to utilize during a class on meat judging could be done well in advance of the day of the lesson.  Another piece of information I can apply to being an Agriscience teacher is the knot itself.   Whenever I have the need to tie a loop at the end of a rope, I now know how to.  Additionally, everything that I learned about intentionality in teaching and assessment can be applied.

    In conclusion, this was a very interesting and eye-opening experience in which I learned a lot about my teaching style and what I can improve upon for the future.