Archive for April, 2011
As a teacher I have grown to become more comfortable in front of the students when I am teaching a lesson. I have also become more familiar with the curriculum and understand how it is incorporated into every lesson. Through my experience in the three week block I have come to understand how important it is to continually change and adapt my lessons to meet the needs of the students. During the three weeks there were lessons that I either cut or split into two in order to fully explain certain concepts. Throughout this time with the students I have become attached to each and every student. Due to this fact I want to ensure that my students are receiving the appropriate work environment so that they can learn and succeed. Many of my lessons included hands on activities which the students seemed to respond to well. I found that in other lessons, the students were only given handouts to work on so I felt that they needed more hands on experiences. I have come to understand that all students have different learning styles and a classroom is filled with a range of ability levels. Due to this fact, I have come to realize that adaptive dimension is one of the most important aspects of every lesson. One of the major areas that I struggle with the most within the classroom is classroom management. This is an area that will always need practice from year to year as the students change. I have to challenge myself to be firm with the students and ensure that they understand my expectations in order to have control within the classroom rather than allowing the students to take over the lesson. I believe that if I work on providing clear instructions, the level of confusion will be reduced. Being in the classroom for three weeks was a great experience and I have learned a lot. I look forward to one day having my own classroom so that I can create my own environment filled with routines and unique lessons to meet the needs of my students.
The three week block flew by so quickly and I can’t believe it is over already! I had such an amazing time with the grade one and two’s. Looking back I will miss all of the students even though sometimes certain students were a struggle and kept me very busy. All of the students were unique and will hold a special place in my heart. Two lessons within my three week block really stand out for me. The first being the vermicompost and the second being the recycle tree. For both of these activities I had an introductory lesson for each but after that I handed the responsibility over to the students. Throughout the three weeks I reminded the students a couple of times about bringing food for the worms or to ensure that they make a leaf when they recycle. By handing over the responsibility to the students this showed me that the students ARE capable individuals and that if they are passionate about something, they can complete it on their own. The worms were always well fed and the recycling tree continued to grow as the weeks went on. I was very proud of my students and hope that they continue to reduce, reuse and recycle as they grow up. On my last day the students made a documentation book for my teaching partner and I to have. Each student created at least one page by gluing on a picture and labeling it. This is a treasure I will be able to keep forever and I look forward to looking back on the many memories we created as a class. I will be taking a summer class this summer so I am hoping to stop by the school for a visit as I am sure I will miss each and every student!
For my two lessons today I decided to team teach with my teaching partner. The first lesson we taught together was physical education. I felt that this lesson was one of the best physical education classes thus far as most students stayed on task and followed directions. The students played a game called pollution where the students had to travel across the gym without getting “caught” in the polluted area. After the first round we had the students group back together to discuss what happened when lots of people got trapped in the pollution. I also reminded the students of how they should tag people lightly as well as boundary lines. While the students were playing I noticed that the people stuck in the pollution began to develop a strategy to catch people who were crossing. This was good to see as it provided me with confirmation that the students understood my instructions.
For the second lesson we had the students create yarn balls which represented how we are tied to the community and environment. The yarn shows how we need to take care of one another and the environment. If we do not work to take care of these things, it will fall apart. Prior to this lesson, my teaching partner and I completed half of the yarn balls so that the students could see what they were supposed to do and also to save time. We reminded the students that they need to take this project seriously because they will be working with glue which can be very messy. The students responded to this activity very well and were excited to work on their balloons. Most of the students got close to finishing their balloon and will be able to complete it tomorrow.
Each week a group of students have been in charge of taking care of the vermicompost. The students have been very excited to feed the worms and are taking the initiative to bring food for them. I have allowed the students to feed the worms themselves within my lessons which provides students with an added responsibility. While they are feeding the worms I ensure that they are handing them with care and that they are covering the food so that it does not smell. Since the beginning of the three week block the number of worms has multiplied which is always a good sign as it confirms that the students are taking good care of the worms. These special visitors will be leaving us on Wednesday so we will have to say a final goodbye and feed them for the last time tomorrow.
Today was the last day of teaching for our cooperating teacher as she was going on maternity leave. In the morning my teaching partner taught the opening lesson and later I taught a lesson on environment contraptions. The students were able to choose recycled materials such as old fabric, buttons, strings, feathers and cardboard boxes which would be used to make some sort of person, animal or contraption that would help the environment. The students were given the entire class time to work on their creations as well as ten minutes in the afternoon. On Monday they will be creating stories to go along with what they made and will be able to share with the class. Also in the afternoon our class had a goodbye party for our teacher where they had snack and played bingo. The students had a lot of fun but it was sad to see her go. She was a very good cooperating teacher to work with and provided us with a lot of feedback to help us on our journey. On Monday there will be a new teacher in the classroom so it will be interesting to get a new perspective on our teaching techniques but at the same time it will be a big change. One last week in the field, hope all goes well!
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