Problem-Solving Approach Lab Reflection

Let's Talk About Chickens!

I really enjoyed this lab a lot because you can incorporate the problem-solving approach in almost every one of your classes that you teach and helps the student get "involved" in the class. However with this being the first time that we get to experience this type of teaching/learning there are definitely some areas that need improvement.
This is an teaching strategy where  teachers can really get our creative side out and explore new areas of learning for their students.  So for this lab, I did my lesson on the introduction to poultry. In my animal science class in the spring I will be teaching a unit on poultry and during this unit we will be able to hatch baby chicks. So before we get into the meat and hatching of the class we must cover the basics. This included knowing the anatomy of a chicken. So to lead my students in this direction I presented them with a problem. This problem included me telling them that I went to this little festival and while I was walking I stumbled upon the United Egg Production Booth (which is a highly known company that produces most of the United States eggs) and started to talk to a gentleman running the booth. While getting to know this man he found out I was an Ag teacher and presented me with a problem to give to my class about his laying chickens are losing weight, bones breaking, and they are laying eggs  but breaking them open. I had the students do a Think, Pair, Share, so I gave the students the scenario and had them fill out a worksheet which they had to write what they already knew and what they need to know by themselves then they would get into groups and discuss what they need to know. I would direct them towards chicken anatomy by using effective questioning. Also with this technique I would be able to get a feel for what they are looking at learning about.
Overall by doing this portion of my lesson plan I figured out what I need to improve on to make my teaching more effective. One of these areas of improvement is that I need to be more confident in the content of lesson and way that I teach it. I need to make sure that I am comfortable with the content and knowing how I am going to get this information across to the students so that they understand what is expected from them and what they need to know in order to proceed through the unit. One way to improve this would to establish good questioning skills so I can better direct the student's thinking to where I would like them to dig deeper. This is another area of improvement  to work on because effective questioning is important especially when you want your students to have higher levels of thinking.  Execution of lesson entails these two areas that need improved and once these areas are better presented whatever lesson I teach will be better understood by the students.
I will definitely be using this approach when I teach in the spring and for when I begin my career because it does present your students with a problem and makes them use their cognitive skills to figure out how to solve the problem.