Welcome Back!
As the first full week of classes complete for me and my students here in Russiaville, Indiana, I still am experiencing a whirlwind of emotions about my experience abroad. But my biggest question still remains- How will I use my knowledge from Malaysia to impact student learning in my classroom?
As I look back on my experience abroad I am pulled in a way that helps me to evaluate my teaching strategies on a new level. I enjoyed viewing and participating in several different dynamics of teaching strategies from several other current agricultural educators and pre-service teachers. Here are some items I learned and hope to implement in my classroom during the 2018-2019 school year.
1. Ice Breaker/ Get To Know You Activity
During my teaching in Malaysia, it was important to start with an introduction activity to get familiar with your audience. As this was the first time meeting these students it was essential to set the stage for the remainder of the lesson.
2. Hands-On Teaching Strategies
It was both exciting and rewarding to learn in Malaysia with a hands-on learning approach. I can attest that the most rewarding experiences were those that I could feel, grasp, and touch with my hands.
3. Implementing a Community Service Event
Finally, I thought it was very beneficial that we were able to help a Malaysian community by cleaning up the local water banks filled with trash. It was such an eye-opening experience to see the amount of trash accumulated in such a small area and how much we as a group impacted the community in just a short amount of time.
Melissia Grant (@MelissiaGrant8) is a secondary agriscience teacher at Western High School in Indiana.