An Interesting Interest Approach: Week 5

What Did We Do?

        For lab this past week, we learned about how to create an interest approach that appeals to Lancelot's twelve basic tenets of interest: 5 of which are primary, and the other 7 are secondary. After being able to identify these principles, we then had to apply them into a lesson plan with a creative interest approach. 

How Does it Relate to What I Know About Teaching and Learning?

        I know that in order for high school students to pay attention to the content they were about to learn, they first have to become interested. That's up to us, as teachers, to capture their interest and maintain it throughout the lesson. Students have short attention spans (I know I did... and still do...) so gaining their interest dramatically helps them stay engaged in the content and want to learn. 

 

My interest approach for small animal digestion and absorption:
the legendary video How Animals Eat Their Food from 2013.
 
What Did I Learn?

        After being able to complete this experience, I learned that a good interest approach depends on what you make it. Yes, the video I shared was absolutely hilarious. But I could have engaged the students better to relate the video to the content. I could do that better by asking deeper questions other than "what did you learn". Instead, a better question to ask is "how do you think this is this related to what we are learning today?" I can also improve by providing more feedback to my students' answers. It doesn't always have to be positive, but constructive, too. 

How Can I Apply This as an Agriscience Teacher?

        As a teacher of agriculture, I will be using interest approaches daily. Although I think almost all aspects of agriculture are interesting, my students may need a quick boost to encourage their interest in certain topics- this means a good interest approach is essential. I will be applying this practice multiple times a day, every day, so the things that I have learned and observed will be beneficial for the rest of my teaching career. 


Thanks for reading!

Krista 

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