How My Small Animal Science Class Taught Me Not to Fear the Unknown

It was November 2022 on the weekend before Thanksgiving break, and my cohort members and I were sitting on the couch watching The Voice while working on our lesson plans. Admittedly, I was watching more TV than working, because every time I looked down at my laptop I saw a blank lesson plan template and a tiny blinking curser. 

"What do I know about skin? I only took one animal science course in college." I told one of my friends.

I felt defeated. I didn't know what to teach because I didn't know much about the integumentary system. As the days rolled by, I knew I had to write some kind of lessons for Small Animal Science, so one day I sat down and wrote them. I emailed other agriculture teachers for resources, looked up various activities, and relied a good bit on the Cornell Vet Science curriculum. I thought to myself, "Even if I don't use these lessons in January, I still learned something about the integumentary system while researching to write them." 

As the Fall semester drew to a close, I felt good about starting my student teaching internship and the classes I was going to teach, but I always had a funny feeling about Small Animal Science. I worried that the students would see right through me and figure out that I was still trying to grasp much of the material, or that I didn't have enough personal stories from experience that would make me sound somewhat creditable. 

My first day teaching Small Animal Science I remember the students setting up their interactive notebooks and that they weren't sure if they liked them or not. There were eyerolls and students putting their heads down. So much for starting out strong? And even though I was using the Cornell Vet Science curriculum, it seemed like I put more effort into learning the content than planning for my other classes. I felt defeated once again. How was I ever going to get them to enjoy the class?

Until one day, we did a lab where the students got to make a model of the layers of skin in a cup using various foods, and they liked it! It felt like each day after that, Small Animal Science started to have fun while learning and I was doing the same. Soon enough we had a list of classroom songs to play during passing period, funny stories as they related to the content, and I was enjoying the class just as much as they did.

Throughout my time with that class, I often thought they knew I was learning as I went, and they did. I thought they would think less of me as a teacher because of it, but they didn't. I thought I wasn't ever going to survive teaching an animal science class when I had never even worked with animals, but I did.

None of the things I worried so much about mattered to the students in Small Animal Science. They welcomed me with open arms, and through our passing period songs, funny squirrel impressions, trying to pronounce the medical terms correctly, they taught me not to fear the unknown, because they turned out to be one of my favorite classes I got to teach at Northwestern. When I think back at that night I was trying to write lesson plans, I wish I would have known what a special group of students I would have. Ones that support each other, know that no body's perfect, have positive attitudes, and how my authenticity with them would make all the difference.

There are people out there like my students, that know your intentions are good and see that you're trying. So do not be afraid of what you don't know, just keep showing up and be yourself. The rest will fall into place.

Thank you Small Animal Science.

Ms. Cusate