General Biology, But Not Your General Teacher :)

This week I had the wonderful privilege of observing one of Gettysburg's best science teachers! Mrs. Biggins is an experienced biology teacher and was the perfect teacher to observe during my first few weeks at Gettysburg! During my time in her classroom, there were so many new activities and strategies of effective teaching that I am excited to apply in my teaching! 

She was very clear with her daily objectives and walked the students through using the classroom Canvas page before diving into the content for the day. 

One of the most exciting activities that she used to engage her students in reviewing material before the microscope lab was called Blookit. Similar to Kahoot, this game allowed you to create specific questions for your class and create a friendly competition in the room. I loved how this game allowed students to work at their own pace and kept score based on accuracy, and not necessarily how quickly they answered the questions! The students responded well to this game and I am very excited to use this great new resource! 

After reviewing the content and before diving into the lab, she went through each direction step by step with the whole class. She was able to gain their attention through her voice and engaging personality. I loved how she told the students that during the lab, they should reread the directions before asking the teacher. This is a great strategy to give the students autonomy of their learning. 

All in all, this was a fantastic class to observe during my second week! I learned so much from her teaching and cannot wait to visit her class again!