Week 3
Week 3 in the books! This was my first full week of teaching all three social studies blocks! I CANNOT believe how much I learn every single day.From behavior management to tiny details that I realize can enhance the engagement and performance of my students, I am learning in spades every day. This week, the most important lesson I learned is that I absolutely love teaching. I understand that may be a strange statement considering I've been preparing for this for the last 18 months or so. However, it is different learning theory and strategies than actually BEING in the classroom and experiencing teaching and learning with and from your students. A person might love the thought of being a teacher in theory, but realize the passion isn't there when presented with a classroom of wild and energetic 5th graders.
I love this. I'm all in. This is definitely where I am meant to be.
There are two lessons from this week that I think warrant discussion. First was Thursday. This lesson was observed by my college supervisor. It was a little nerve racking for a few minutes. After the first few, I honestly forgot he was in the room! I have been working with the students on their geography skills, as they are VERY important to understanding the social studies curriculum- especially our first unit on the early Americans. We talked about regions specifically earlier in the week. This lesson was designed for the students to brainstorm what migrating to North America thousands of years ago would be like. Where would they settle? What was the geography of the region like? What natural resources were available to use? I made a poster board for each table (4). Each poster board had a different heading ( forest, near an ocean, mountain, desert). Underneath the heading I made 4 boxes labeled food, shelter, clothing, and challenges. The students' task was to brainstorm what kind of natural resources were available near the geographical feature in their heading. The students were to use words and pictures to describe what natural resources could be used for food, used for or used as materials to make a shelter, materials to make or what was available to wear as clothing, and what kind of problems might a person face if they lived near that geographical feature. ALL THREE BLOCKS DID AMAZING! The students worked in groups and came up with such innovative ideas! I saw real learning, and it was a very proud moment for me. My kids who shined so brightly during this lesson were my struggling learners and kids who are labeled as "behavior cases". The kids were so focused and stayed on task. Furthermore, I had each group present their poster to explain what they wrote and drew. The other students in Block 2 and 3 started adding to the brainstorming AFTER a group presented. They were so into it, I gave activity 3 the ax in lieu of the students continued brainstorming. I'm going to hang the posters around the room sometime this coming week because the entire grade wanted to see what the other classes came up with. I saw the words from textbooks that discuss the importance and necessity of hands on learning demonstrated in a real classroom.
The second lesson I wanted to discuss was Friday. The students had their weekly map quiz on the Unites States. Afterwards, I had created three centers: latitude longitude workshop (for the students who were struggling with the concept), a HUGE foam floor map puzzle of the United States, and a Kahoot vocabulary game. I wanted to try centers again because I needed to work on management and monitoring of centers. I used them last week, and the kids loved it, but I needed to work on my own execution of them. It went MUCH better this time. My cooperating teacher ran the latitude/longitude workshop, while I worked on running the other two centers. The students love them so much, I was thinking about making the centers every Friday (or most Fridays) to review what was learned that week. I think it is a good idea for two reasons: review of the week's lessons is important for my students' retention, and also the students are always bursting with energy on Fridays- so centers is a good way to review material and keep them engaged!
Schmidt Chapter 3:
I have learned that behavior always has a cause behind it. I liked how the author described that students "misbehavior" is always because they are self-accommodating or are camouflaging. Breaking down what the habits and characteristics of what both types looks like in a classroom setting, it really gave me a better perspective of my students-especially the self-accommodaters. I HAVE students in my classroom that are pencil tappers, hummers, talk aloud when they do ANY task- especially take quizzes. The chapter gave me really beneficial insight into WHY they are doing that. I also was pleased to see that some of the recommendations for accommodations for these students are things that I already practice in my teaching.. For example, I have been working really hard to use a lot of modeling and breaking tasks down step-by-step. I have been writing directions in different colors so the students have a visual reminder of their task(s). I also have been ignoring some behaviors that I don't think are that big of a deal and giving LOADS of positive reinforcement. However, there were some other recommendations that I plan on implementing tomorrow. I think I will start using buff colored paper instead of white, and work with certain students to come up with individual cues for them. I think every student wants to learn and every kids has a different way of showing it. When the author used the analogy of adults at a board meeting and their typical responses to material they are not interested in or think is too challenging, it created a vivid picture for me of what it might be like for some students to sit through a class. I'm going to check out the websites the author recommended: Sevier County Schools website and the What You Need to Know About website. I also know a school psychologist and an OT I want to brainstorm with, now that the author gave me the idea!
Signing off until next week!
Lisa P.
I love this. I'm all in. This is definitely where I am meant to be.
There are two lessons from this week that I think warrant discussion. First was Thursday. This lesson was observed by my college supervisor. It was a little nerve racking for a few minutes. After the first few, I honestly forgot he was in the room! I have been working with the students on their geography skills, as they are VERY important to understanding the social studies curriculum- especially our first unit on the early Americans. We talked about regions specifically earlier in the week. This lesson was designed for the students to brainstorm what migrating to North America thousands of years ago would be like. Where would they settle? What was the geography of the region like? What natural resources were available to use? I made a poster board for each table (4). Each poster board had a different heading ( forest, near an ocean, mountain, desert). Underneath the heading I made 4 boxes labeled food, shelter, clothing, and challenges. The students' task was to brainstorm what kind of natural resources were available near the geographical feature in their heading. The students were to use words and pictures to describe what natural resources could be used for food, used for or used as materials to make a shelter, materials to make or what was available to wear as clothing, and what kind of problems might a person face if they lived near that geographical feature. ALL THREE BLOCKS DID AMAZING! The students worked in groups and came up with such innovative ideas! I saw real learning, and it was a very proud moment for me. My kids who shined so brightly during this lesson were my struggling learners and kids who are labeled as "behavior cases". The kids were so focused and stayed on task. Furthermore, I had each group present their poster to explain what they wrote and drew. The other students in Block 2 and 3 started adding to the brainstorming AFTER a group presented. They were so into it, I gave activity 3 the ax in lieu of the students continued brainstorming. I'm going to hang the posters around the room sometime this coming week because the entire grade wanted to see what the other classes came up with. I saw the words from textbooks that discuss the importance and necessity of hands on learning demonstrated in a real classroom.
The second lesson I wanted to discuss was Friday. The students had their weekly map quiz on the Unites States. Afterwards, I had created three centers: latitude longitude workshop (for the students who were struggling with the concept), a HUGE foam floor map puzzle of the United States, and a Kahoot vocabulary game. I wanted to try centers again because I needed to work on management and monitoring of centers. I used them last week, and the kids loved it, but I needed to work on my own execution of them. It went MUCH better this time. My cooperating teacher ran the latitude/longitude workshop, while I worked on running the other two centers. The students love them so much, I was thinking about making the centers every Friday (or most Fridays) to review what was learned that week. I think it is a good idea for two reasons: review of the week's lessons is important for my students' retention, and also the students are always bursting with energy on Fridays- so centers is a good way to review material and keep them engaged!
Schmidt Chapter 3:
I have learned that behavior always has a cause behind it. I liked how the author described that students "misbehavior" is always because they are self-accommodating or are camouflaging. Breaking down what the habits and characteristics of what both types looks like in a classroom setting, it really gave me a better perspective of my students-especially the self-accommodaters. I HAVE students in my classroom that are pencil tappers, hummers, talk aloud when they do ANY task- especially take quizzes. The chapter gave me really beneficial insight into WHY they are doing that. I also was pleased to see that some of the recommendations for accommodations for these students are things that I already practice in my teaching.. For example, I have been working really hard to use a lot of modeling and breaking tasks down step-by-step. I have been writing directions in different colors so the students have a visual reminder of their task(s). I also have been ignoring some behaviors that I don't think are that big of a deal and giving LOADS of positive reinforcement. However, there were some other recommendations that I plan on implementing tomorrow. I think I will start using buff colored paper instead of white, and work with certain students to come up with individual cues for them. I think every student wants to learn and every kids has a different way of showing it. When the author used the analogy of adults at a board meeting and their typical responses to material they are not interested in or think is too challenging, it created a vivid picture for me of what it might be like for some students to sit through a class. I'm going to check out the websites the author recommended: Sevier County Schools website and the What You Need to Know About website. I also know a school psychologist and an OT I want to brainstorm with, now that the author gave me the idea!
Signing off until next week!
Lisa P.
Hope you had parents sign a permission form to post pictures!
ReplyDeleteI had the parents sign a video and picture release at the beginning of the year!
DeleteLisa, I love your attitude and how being in the classroom with actual students is such an affirmation of your calling to teach. The fact that you forgot your college supervisor was in the room is a testament to your focus on the students. That is exactly what should happen when you teach - it's all about the students and their learning, not your performance.
ReplyDelete