Getting Creative on a Budget

            Today was the last lab for AEE 412. While I was somewhat sad that lab was over and the semester is winding down, today’s Creativity Lab definitely cheered me up! The lab was supposed to be a surprise but I already knew what it was from students in last year’s cohort. This didn’t make it any less interesting though. For this particular lab, we were instructed to bring a unit plan to class and a creative mind set.

            At the beginning of lab, Ms. Rice described what would be happening for lab. She explained that we would be going to the local Dollar Tree where we would each have a budget of $5. Our task was to buy items to enhance and use in one or several of our lessons for the particular unit plan that we bought to class. I brought the earth’s water resources unit plan for my aquatic resources class. I originally intended to buy items to use with the lesson about the water cycle I would be teaching in the first week. Once I arrived at the store and began shopping, that idea changed.

            I ended up buying items for the Pennsylvania aquatic life unit that I will be teaching later in my aquatic resources class. I ended up buying items to use in two different lessons as well. For a lesson I will be teaching about classifying PA aquatic life, I bought a set of plastic insects. Students can identify the insects and classify them accordingly. For the lesson I will be teaching on wetlands, I bought a plastic boat, a sponge, raffia, and straws. These items will be useful for the lesson because it is based off of the wetland metaphors lesson from Project Wild: Aquatic. Students will select an item and talk about how the item describes or relates to one of the functions of a wetland.
 

            Overall, this was a great lab and really got the creative gears turning! I was able to find my items without the assistance of peers but was glad to help some of peers who were struggling. This was also a fun way to get away from all of the stress of the end of the semester for an hour. I definitely plan on using these items, along with numerous others, when student teaching. I think that these enhanced, creative lessons are more fun for both the teacher and the students. This type of lesson allows students to think in depth while expressing their ideas in a more creative manner!