Internship week 14:

For this week I was in charge of the class while Sarah was out of the state. Luckily however, I did not have to worry about lecturing for the entire 4 hours, because Sarah had arranged several speakers to come in and present, this encompassed probably around 90% of class time. I was still responsible for taking attendance, handing out quizzes and the like...but really most of the work was spent in the preparation leading up to the class: by printing out worksheets, reviewing material, writing email, having meeting and lugging around boxes of field journals.
This internship has taught me many things, but I think topping the list is a new found  respect for the amount of preparation and planning required to make teaching a large class run smoothly. 

Campus Trail Mapping

Now that the most recent aerial photographs of the campus grounds were made available. Sarah and I were finally able to print a large campus map, in order to make my job of accurately mapping the campus nature trails somewhat easier.

Internship week 13 part 2:

Later in the week I had a long meeting with Sarah to discuss plans and activities for the following week, when I would be in charge of the class (with the help of several speaker) while Sarah was out of town.

I also met with Susan Cooper, to get feedback from my lecture she observed earlyer in the week. Susan thought that my overall presentation was good; she noted that I used a variety of methods to engage the class and that I tried hard to encourage critical thinking, instead simple bulk memorization. She said that I could have improved my presentation by slowing down my pace and leave more time for students to answer questions. But that I am overall off to a good start :)

Internship week 13 Alternative Energy Lecture:

Since my internship centers around becoming more proficient with teaching; one of the main activities that Sarah wanted me to gain experience with was designing and presenting lessons. I needed to come up with a topic that I was knowledgeable about and would relate back to the current chapter material. I settled on Alternative Energy, because I personally find it fascinating and I think that it is an issue my generations is dangerously ignorant about.
      Earlier in the semester I spoke with Susan Cooper concerning statigies for trying to engage students with the curriculum. I wanted my activity to make the class think about the issue, before giving them all the answers in my presentation. To do this I created a worksheet where each student would pretend to be the town mayor, trying to list alternative energy sources, on which to run the town after an oil embargo with the middle east.

Overall the presentation and group discussion went quite well. The class particularly enjoyed the examples I brought in of different alternative technologies. Susan Cooper and Mike Savarese were also kind enough to observe the lesson so that I could receive some extra feedback.

Internship week 12: The Amazing Race

While the class finished their exams, I ran around campus distributing clue envelopes-- (Each clue contained several facts about sustainability initiatives being done at different cites around campus). After the exam was finished, I explained the event and passed out worksheets.---The sheets gave a rough description of the clues location and several questions that needed to be answered. Sarah was nice enough to provided aluminum water bottles as prizes for the winning team. I was very pleased and surprised by level of enthusiasm shown by the majority of the class. A few students tried to BS the worksheet off of Google, but most legitimately put effort into it. Overall almost everyone seemed to have enjoyed it and learned something in the process:
very cool!!! :)

Internship week 11: part 3

At the end of the week I led an exam review session, while Sarah was away at a meeting. Although not very many students showed up for the review; I still think the overall experience was very useful for both the students (because they needed allot of help) and for me, because teaching a small group is extremely different from lecturing to a large class.
It was also very satisfying because at the end of the session the students seemed much clearer on the concepts and less fearful about the test on Monday.

Internship week 11: part 2

My next big assignment for my internship was to design a class project on my own. Sarah liked the idea of doing some sort of scavenger hunt around campus and relate it back to environmental initiatives. So I spent a good part of the week walking around campus and jotting down ideas for sites that were engaging in some form of sustainable initiative. I also met with Sarah several times to go over my progress and see if she wanted me to make any changes. 
Stay tuned next week for: The Amazing Race/ FGCU style.

Internship week 11:

For this class we looked at biodiversity and aquatic ecosystems. So at the start of class I went out the edge of the whitaker pond and set about 5 fish plexiglass fish traps. What happened next makes me the official king of fish trap setting; because within 15 minutes of finishing setting the traps, I had already caught 2 large-mouth bass, in traps designed to catch 1 inch minnows! :) Anyways, the rest of the class went great. The students used dip nets to screen the grasses and catch mostly minnows, but we did catch several freshwater shrimp and a dragonfly nymph.

Internship week 10: part 3

Helping with the campus trail cleanup is something I have done for the past four years anyways, so I definitely was going to help now that I was Sarah's TA. Other than the work I gave on the official clean up day, I also helped by making invasive species fliers to with pictures and descriptions; to help students who don't know how to accurately identify the main exotic species on campus. As I searched for exotics I continued to make notes about the campus trails for the trail mapping project.

Internship week 10: part 2

To get additional experience with environmental education, Sarah set up a time for me to volunteer with the 6th grade swamp walk, down in Big Cypress National Preserve. I was to assist as sort of a ranger in training. Basically by helping to keep things under control, and assisting with lectures when it was a subject that I knew more about.
 One teaching issue that I had yet to deal with, was teaching a class with a student who had a disability. Before heading out we were told that a boy in our group had asperger syndrome. But that he was very bright and just needed some extra patience, because he would want to answer all the questions. This was very true, but for the most part he was a pleasure to work with. He just needed to be gently reminded periodically that he needed to wait, so that others could get a chance to answer questions. I think this is a great program and I am definitely considering interning/working with the national parks program so that I can get paid to work with programs like this.

Internship week 10:

Helped guide the class to the Vester Marine Lab. Once there I did my best to explain the research projects available to see in progress. Then we unloaded the canoes and hit the water, for a tour around the mangrove inlets. I helped Sarah give a lecture about mangrove ecology and tried to link concepts back to previous examples discussed for freshwater wetlands. That day I definitely experienced both the pros and cons of trying to teach in the field. On the negative side, my mangrove lecture was horribly upstaged by a passing dolphin. But was brought back when I was able to let the students experience the way that black mangroves deal with excess salt, by excreting it through their leaves. I passed around handfuls of leaves to the class and told them to lick the backs...they all thought this was great :)

Internship week 9:

Spring Break -So nothing really to do but start work on the writing section of my poster.

Internship week 8: Part 2

Later in the week we met up with Mike Savarise to discuss the progress of the internship and to try to fix some clearer deadlines for some of the goals I was trying to meet through my internship.

Internship week 8:

This week we took the class to 6-mile cypress. I again met with students before class to make sure that no one got lost (somehow this still always manages to happen:)... and try to promote carpooling.
Once at 6-mile, I gave a talk to the class about green building and discussed some of the examples shown in the pavilions and visitors center at the site. This year the squeamish students are getting off easy, as only the boardwalks were open to the public, until a yellow jacket nest can get cleared away from the main trail; when my class went to 6-mile we were wading in water up to our chests!
    I was able to help Sarah out significantly with this trip, because unfortunately the board walk constricted the class into a long line, making teaching difficult. So while Sarah talked in the front, I was able to move in and out of the line and re-explain concepts as I went.
We also got really lucky with such a big class and still managed to see a mother gator, several wild boars and some giant alligator gar.

After 6-mile we then went to Estero Buffer Preserve and walked the trails. We again had great success with wildlife by spotting dozens of gopher tortoises and a bald eagle.

Internship week 7:

While the class finished their final exam, I worked on finalizing my lesson plan for the day later in the semester when I would teach the class while Sarah is out of town. I am definitely finding that I am a much better public speaker, if I first take the time to come up with a list of the points I want to make and the most logical order in which to present them.
I also met up with Sarah at 6-mile cypress later that week. In order to scout out the route we would take for next week's class and plan out my role in the discussion.

Internship week 6:

This week we took the entire class on a Wet Walk through the campus nature trails and into the heart of several cypress domes. This trip is always an "experience" because it is the first time the class is forced to truly get their feet wet...and they definitely let you know. It was my job to coax them along and make sure that nobody twisted an ankle or ran home at the first sign of mud. I swear that I would have been able to hear the girls shrieking bloody murder on the other side of campus. Of coarse once everyone got fully into the dome and discovered they weren't going to melt, they quieted down and started having fun.:)
    Throughout the walk I assisted Sarah with teaching about the adaptations of the various species we passed along the way; as well as giving longer lectures about the specific plants that I had researched  the previous week. Overall I think most of the class had a great time and no one got hurt.

Internship week 5:

Gained more experience with presenting in front of the class. Also met up with Sarah later in the week to check the trails and water levels for the next weeks Swamp Walk and to discuss more details concerning the campus trail map. My homework was to research evolutionary plant adaptations for wetlands plants, in order to discuss my findings with the class on Monday. 

Internship week 4:

     This week I received a crash coarse in guiding a class to an off-campus field site (CREW trails) and attempting not to loose anyone in the process....Once at CREW, I assisted with the field labs and plant identification. I am finding that getting the students to physically handle or interact with the plants, significantly improves name recognition. This is particularly true of edible plants, such as wild grape or sour orange:)
       I also received some experience with teaching students on a one on one basis. I had to lead a girl through the previous weeks Soil Analysis Lab (due to an excused absence). It was definitely much easier to explain the concepts and make certain she understood what I was saying, before moving on to the next issue.
     Outside of the classroom I have started helping Sarah with mapping the campus nature trails and ultimately creating a flier for the entire trail system.

Hours: 11   

Week 3: Bio of SW FL internship

Learned just how whiny college students can be if you make them get their feet wet :)....
    Guided the class through a "Soils Analysis Lab" identifying sediment in three different ecosystems. I am starting to get better at writing up preliminary notes about things to quiz students about during class. I am also becoming more confident with speaking in front of the group from a teaching position. Later in the week I met with Sarah outside of class and discussed ways of completing a map detailing all of the campus nature trails, including the various habitats they go through.
Time: 8 hours

Internship week 2:

Met with Susan J Cooper and learned about several different types of teaching strategies; with particular emphasis placed on making a class think about the issue being discussed, before telling them the hard facts. My job for this week, was to scout out areas on campus for field work for the next weeks Soils Lab. In one day I explored and learned more about the ecosystems on the front of campus, than I had in all my time at FGCU. It was excellent, I found tracks from a baby bobcat, spotted a bald eagle and explored a beautiful old cypress dome.

Week 1: Bio of SW FL internship

Internship working as a TA for Sarah Davis with her Bio of SW FL class: (Jan, 16, 2011)

Not too much to report for the first week of my internship. On Monday I introduced myself to the class, and assisted Sarah with coordinating a class project. The project was an excellent demonstration of the motivating power, free food has on sleep deprived college students.

The goal of the activity was to simulate sustainable and unsustainable fishing practices; though the capture of goldfish crackers. I found it surprising how well this simple demonstration modeled real world fishing policy. Some groups carefully calculating their max sustainable yield, while others simply grabbed as much as they could in the first go.

The main thing I took away from this first week, was that I definitely need to brush up on my public speaking skills, as I tend to be soft spoken and must remind myself to project.

Other internship activities: involved writing lots of emails, and meeting with mike Savarese to discuss my thoughts for the internship, as well as his hopes regarding setting up similar undergraduate TA internships.

Total time spent: 7 hours