I was worried coming into this year about how long it had been since I was in a true biology class.  My first year of college was spent as a biology major, but after that year, I switched to a Physical Education Major.  In my first year, I took two biology classes, however, since I was a biology major, these classes did not cover as much content but went more in depth on each topic.  Also, I was at a Christian college, and that affected the content that was taught, for example, we did not go over evolution and a lot of topics that relate to evolution.  These facts have left me with some gaps in my knowledge of biology.  Luckily, I have worked closely with my host teacher, Mrs. Ivester to help fill these gaps and expound on my current knowledge.  I have been able to lead teach on topics that I felt I knew well.  What we did with topics that I had not dealt with since I was in 10th grade, which there have been quite a few, I would observe her teaching our first block and then we would discuss any problems I had, and some ways to make real-world connections.  Then for the rest of the classes, we would feed off each other or I would lead teach for one of our other classes, and if one of our classes were a day behind for some reason I would lead teach that topic the next day in class.  

     I have also spent a lot of time studying for the GACE.  I have used study material released the state, as well as some resourced acquired from a GACE study session.  These resources have helped a lot not only to help me understand biology better but to help interpret the state's standards better.  The state released new standards this year, they expounded in some areas, as well as took away from others.  After studying these resources, I feel that I can better teach the standards because I know a little better what the state feels are the important aspects of Biology and their standards.  We also had a science consultant who came to the school and helped us understand how to better understand what the standards are looking for us to teach, and how we can teach them.  This was a great way for me to gain a better understanding of what the state expects out of our students, as well as what skills they expect them to be able to show in their work.  

     Biology is literally the study of life, and since we are all living that makes Biology an important subject.  However, there are many times that Biology can be boring for students.  The heightened rigor of a Biology class over other typical classes makes it hard for students to find the subject engaging at times.  Another thing I have learned about my content is how to connect it to real life when we are going over things that are not as evident in everyday life.  There is a lot of biology that is microscopic, and that makes it hard to get students excited about those particular things.  My host teacher has been great with helping me make new connections between the content and every day life.

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