Exciting, breathtaking, action packed! Those are all words that can be used to describe the smash-'em-up events that occur all over the country on any given Summer night. They also happen to be the words to describe the demonstrations that were done in my methods class!
The demonstrations that we did in class were phenomenal! As someone who was not entirely pleased with how mine went, there were a number of others that totally blew me away, whether it was the demo itself or the delivery of it. This was an eye opening experience as it allowed me to see some examples of unique experiments that aren’t necessarily in my realm of study. It also gave me a chance to see others hone their craft and to hear others provide feedback on my own work.
My favorite demos were those that I had no previous knowledge of or used a technique that provided the major “aha!” moment. Jackie’s apple and almond candle surely took me by surprise, along with Jovan’s “boat.” I never would have thought that an apple and almond could even burn like that, let alone look the part too from only fifteen feet away.
I feel that these demos I mentioned above provide a clear cut example of how a simple demonstration can get the brain to focus on something with, essentially, the flip of a switch. Or in this case, the eating of an “candle.” In order to get this captivating moment, it is essential to prepare ahead of time and make sure that it will run as close to perfect as one can imagine. Even though I did run through my demo a handful of times prior to performing it in class, I still didn’t have it perfected and it showed, in both the actual act that was supposed to be shown and how well I dealt with it going slightly awry. If I had expected those types of things to happen during the demo, I could have prepared for them even better and been able to not make the mistake look so blatant or interfere with how I was going to present the rest of the experiment.
This provides a lesson for the future that can be applied in various aspects of not only teaching but, life in general. Preparation makes the dumb man appear smart and the lack thereof makes the smart man appear dumb. If I am not prepared in front of my students then they may begin to question my authority or efficacy and things could go downhill very quickly from there. I must work harder to become accustomed and acclimated to my environment so that I can provide the best environment for my future students and myself.
The demonstrations that we did in class were phenomenal! As someone who was not entirely pleased with how mine went, there were a number of others that totally blew me away, whether it was the demo itself or the delivery of it. This was an eye opening experience as it allowed me to see some examples of unique experiments that aren’t necessarily in my realm of study. It also gave me a chance to see others hone their craft and to hear others provide feedback on my own work.
My favorite demos were those that I had no previous knowledge of or used a technique that provided the major “aha!” moment. Jackie’s apple and almond candle surely took me by surprise, along with Jovan’s “boat.” I never would have thought that an apple and almond could even burn like that, let alone look the part too from only fifteen feet away.
I feel that these demos I mentioned above provide a clear cut example of how a simple demonstration can get the brain to focus on something with, essentially, the flip of a switch. Or in this case, the eating of an “candle.” In order to get this captivating moment, it is essential to prepare ahead of time and make sure that it will run as close to perfect as one can imagine. Even though I did run through my demo a handful of times prior to performing it in class, I still didn’t have it perfected and it showed, in both the actual act that was supposed to be shown and how well I dealt with it going slightly awry. If I had expected those types of things to happen during the demo, I could have prepared for them even better and been able to not make the mistake look so blatant or interfere with how I was going to present the rest of the experiment.
This provides a lesson for the future that can be applied in various aspects of not only teaching but, life in general. Preparation makes the dumb man appear smart and the lack thereof makes the smart man appear dumb. If I am not prepared in front of my students then they may begin to question my authority or efficacy and things could go downhill very quickly from there. I must work harder to become accustomed and acclimated to my environment so that I can provide the best environment for my future students and myself.