First Lesson that I taught
The first lesson that I taught was Structure & Function and it was the Skeletal System. Wow, this was an eye-opener!! I remember in nursing school having to know all the bones of course, but we also had to identify landmarks on the bone and know the origin and insertion of them. I had a powerpoint and a skeleton to work with. As the lesson continued on, I felt it falling a little flat. There are 206 bones, I mean talk about droning on. I could feel the students zoning out. Obviously we tried to have a little fun with our skeleton and name him so we could liven up a little bit. I vowed from then on that I needed to think of more enterprising ways to teach, not just for the students, but me too!!
As the years have passed, I have incorporated different methods to teach the Skeleton System. We use songs, videos, I have the students come up and do hands on learning. I make games that they play online. I have also collaborated with Dr. Brightman who has helped me do an identification lab and also do some muscle testing to combine with the skeletal system to showcase the lever system. I have also had the students do cooperative exercises and use art to help them get their creativity and group bonding going. I have shared a few newer additions to my repertoire below.
Bone Poster Project Sheet
Objective: To learn the major bones of the human skeletal system.
How: In groups of 3 students and using any reference materials in the classroom, student groups are to draw an anterior (front) view on one side of the poster and the posterior (back) view on the other side of the poster. The student groups are to label the following bones:
Skull
Frontal Bone
Maxilla
Mandible
Temporal Bone
Occipital Bone
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Ulna
Carpals
Metacarpals
Phalanges
Ilium
Sacrum
Lumbar Vertebrae
Thoracic Vertebrae
Femur
Tibia
Fibula
Talus
Calcaneous
Tarsals
Metatarsals
Phalanges
Each group should put all their names on the poster before turning the poster in to the instructor for evaluation.
Suggestions: Use a pencil at first. Pose your skeleton. Plan out your poster before you begin to draw your skeleton
As the years have passed, I have incorporated different methods to teach the Skeleton System. We use songs, videos, I have the students come up and do hands on learning. I make games that they play online. I have also collaborated with Dr. Brightman who has helped me do an identification lab and also do some muscle testing to combine with the skeletal system to showcase the lever system. I have also had the students do cooperative exercises and use art to help them get their creativity and group bonding going. I have shared a few newer additions to my repertoire below.
Bone Poster Project Sheet
Objective: To learn the major bones of the human skeletal system.
How: In groups of 3 students and using any reference materials in the classroom, student groups are to draw an anterior (front) view on one side of the poster and the posterior (back) view on the other side of the poster. The student groups are to label the following bones:
Skull
Frontal Bone
Maxilla
Mandible
Temporal Bone
Occipital Bone
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Ulna
Carpals
Metacarpals
Phalanges
Ilium
Sacrum
Lumbar Vertebrae
Thoracic Vertebrae
Femur
Tibia
Fibula
Talus
Calcaneous
Tarsals
Metatarsals
Phalanges
Each group should put all their names on the poster before turning the poster in to the instructor for evaluation.
Suggestions: Use a pencil at first. Pose your skeleton. Plan out your poster before you begin to draw your skeleton
I have found that getting the students up and moving their bodies and working in groups just increases their interest and their investment in the lesson, down below I show how the students all were assigned a part of the circulatory system (The Blood Vessels and Heart Lesson) and they had to gather together and figure out the correct pathway of blood. This had them thinking and working and moving together.