This week in our lab we were tasked with a creativity challenge. This was something we were in the dark about, but it sounded like it could be really interesting and fun. Everyone got to lab and we found out we were going to the dollar store to find some other materials that would spice up our lessons in the spring when we are teaching. I was intrigued, how much stuff could you actually find at the dollar store that could be used for teaching? Well, I got my answer very quickly.
We were finding items for our units to bring them to life and add a creative aspect to the lesson planning process. I really was not sure how my creative juices would be flowing, but I was going to try and stretch myself for this lab. Looking around the store, there was a large amount of items that people could choose. I started in the toy section, which any person would do. I walked down the aisle and I was like a young boy again. I looked up and saw this really big money. I instantly thought about doing a lesson with managing funds in the greenhouse. I kept looking around, finding really creative sticky notes to use for pasting ideas for CDEs or other ideas. I then found ice cube trays to help conduct plant experiments, a plastic container to show students soil profiles, and sprinkles to discuss pest management and its practices. I struggled towards the end to find items, but in the end I felt like I had gathered some really good items.
This experience really showed me that teachers have to be creative in many ways. They have to be thrifty with the items they buy and willing to think outside the box to keep students interested. I really liked this little trip, and feel I will be doing many more in the future. This was a fun lab, but had a very important role in how we develop our lessons while adding the "WOW" factor.
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