Aspects of my lesson were implemented differently than I had planned was the book I wanted to read to the class I looked everywhere for a more interactive book about zigzag movement but none where available for the time I needed so I went to the school library and got ZigZag Movement by Lola Schaefer. I were to do this lesson over again in with this class I would read another book or come up with an activity that would be helpful for the students and to get them actively involved. Because they seemed to lose interest in the lesson. I would keep the activity of them making the chart because it helped them remember the different movements. One instance that is perplexing to me is that even after repeating myself a couple time of what is expected of them many of the students still drew arrows or lines of the movement instead of an object moving in that certain way. My teaching methods were effective because many of the students learned about zigzag movement and what it looks like, I know this because many of the students used examples from the book or things we talked about in discussion to help them draw their pictures. The activity was effective because students were able to show representation of the information they just learned or learned in previous lessons. Students to use their science journals so they can look back into their journals for way objects move. A student that had a tough time during this lesson was CK because even though he knew information he did not want to follow the instruction for the activity. I account for this behavior because he is questions his ideas but doesn’t questions to clarify if he is doing an assignment the correct way. I believe JJ did an excellence job during this lesson because she was an active learner in this lesson and followed the instructions given to her. The next step I would take with this group is having the group do experiments with different objects to see the ways they move. This teaches the students about predictions and they will be able to objects in motion.
Claims that I can make about my learner are that she seems with she is lacking something. From my time in the classroom and working with her is she is lacking basic skills in most of the subjects but even though she isn't the lowest student in the class she is not where she should be since this is her second year in first grade. Also she either loses focus or isn't motivated to do the task at hand. She is very eager to learn but when call on her to participate she copies what others have said and doesn't develop her own thoughts. I am working on how to increase her motivation which that might increase the development of her own thoughts.
For my first lesson in the classroom I taught the concept of adding using a ten frame with a small group that were having a difficult time grasping this concept. Some aspects of my lesson that did not go exactly as planned are the focus students had while working and the instructions I needed to give the students at the beginning of my lesson. I expected the students to be more focused on the work we were doing because we were in a small group and had less distractions than when working in a whole group but one student in the group gets distracted really easily which caused the other students to get distracted as well. When I started the lesson I thought I wouldn’t have to give instructions in great detail because the students worked on this concept the whole week. So seeing where the students were I started with them just filling their ten frames first then moving on to addition problems that are more than ten and then using two ten frames to solve the addition problems. If I was going to teach this group again I would have problems developed already because when making up the problems as we went I felt like I was giving them problems that were too complicated but I had one student that get them by his self with little assistance. I would work with this students at the similar pace because when they have more time and explanation one on one with the teacher the students understand and giving them the opportunity to learn the material better. The most surprising thing that happened during this lesson is that one student could get so distracted about random things that we weren’t talking about at all. An instance this took place was when “JR” (pseudonym) started talking about fish while we were trying to solve our math problem it was perplexing because we in a small group working on math so there was no reason to bring up fish and that her mind wandered off so far even for that short period of time. Students later that week and the following week worked on this skill doing subtraction and teaches the students how to build ten and then add the leftovers. My teaching methods we effective because modeling what the students should do, then working together to solve the problems, and then finally releasing them to do problems on their own which is the “I do, We do, You do” method that keeps the children engaged and have many opportunities to see what they should be doing. I know they were effective because the students understood the purpose of what is being taught. The activity were effective because the activity went hand and hand with the lesson and didn’t have and anything they were not already exposed to. The instructions I gave the student were effective because they know exactly what I wanted them to do and if they needed more clarification it was provided for the whole group. Working at a slower pace affected what was being taught and how deep in the content we went which we did not. “JR” had the most difficulties during this lesson because her distractions by working in a smaller group having the limited distractions and giving her that one on one attention she needs to keep her focused. “UM” (pseudonym) got the material very well he picked up the material quickly, I could have given him more difficult problems that he probably could have solve with little or no help from and instructor. The next steps that should be taken with these students are to allow them to take what they have learned and try to work amongst the whole class. And the students should use the techniques. Using the same techniques but with the whole class students were taught how to subtract/ take away using the ten frames. Using the information I know what type of activities work well with the students.
As I walked into class this morning my brain is moving a mile a minute with ideas and thing I need to do for all my classes. I feel like there is so much I have to do in so little time. But all my worries are calmed for a moment when my CT tells me that we are going to an assembly for the school. We leave the classroom with the few students that were in the classroom and walk to the courtyard where music is playing and children are sitting and dancing and talking with their peers. During this assembly awards are given out, songs are sung, and pushes for academic greatness is pushed for both students and teachers to achieve the best possible results. As the meeting comes to a close and walk back to the classroom students still excited, My CT reminds the student that they can win awards like the classes and students at the assembly if they work hard and try their best all the time. After that we move into our Daily 5 activities. I work with small reading groups listening to the students read individually and then in the group I ask questions about the books. Some groups are easier to work with then others. In one group I have a student CK, he is repeating the first grade again so when I ask questions that the other children seem fine answering he finds them amusing and seem to worried about other things.besides what our group is doing reading. If I could find activities and questions that could challenge him he wouldn't have time to lose focus. In my higher reading group I have a student that have difficult sounding out words. When I listen to her read individual she has a difficult time with words she doesn't know, she either skips them or looks to me to help her and when I tell her to sound out the word her response is I can't or I don't know. So we sound the word out together.
Later in the day my CT and I go to a meeting where they were discussing what interventions need to be taken for the lower reading level students in her class. Sitting on during this meeting was informative, I can admit that is really didn't know what was going on but seeing my CT stand up for what she believes is necessary for her students was great. Seeing a teacher rally for what she believes is best for the student instead of letting other dictate what interventions her students need she gives her input and argues for the right interventions I arrived to my classroom at 7:30 as I normally do. Mrs. Wells had just gotten to the room herself as I knocked on the door. We chatted about how our day had started off and then moved the conversation into what was going to be done today. She asked if I had ever lead a guided reading group/ how to lead a guided reading group. And I had not. So she asked if I would like to observe her as she lead her reading groups. They just started doing their "Daily 5" routine, it was still new to them. They got lost and did not know which section they were suppose to be at. As "Daily 5" began I sat by the computer near the reading table. I watched the frenzy begin as the students moved to their stations. As the first group came to the reading group with their book baggies in hand the sat down and began "whisper" reading to themselves as she had one student read out loud to her. She listened to them intensely and if the had trouble would help them sound out the words and if they still had trouble with it she wrote it on an index card for them to practice. She did this for all the groups. After "Daily 5" was over moved into writing where students had to create a "paragraph" using a variety of sentences which meant uses periods, question marks, and exclamation points. The students picked a topic they wanted to talk about earlier in the week. As I walked around the classroom I asked what topic they picked and what they wrote. It is very difficult to read their hand writing so they read me their stories. So of the students did not have any trouble with this and others had a really tough time and when I tried to help I became more confused than I have ever been that day. After writing the day flew by. But during math Mrs.Wells wanted me to help a student "DK" (pseudonym). As I was helping him he seemed to understand the concepts and directions that were being asked, Then the day was done.
This week has been really informative. As I observed the reading groups I noticed it could get a little loud with the other students in the class working around the classroom, the whisper reading at the table, and the student reading out loud to the teacher. I believe that it could be beneficial if the group reads together as a whole group so that students can get comfortable reading in groups and that students that have trouble with a word hears that word from multiple classmates. Also with the index cards she made for them she can have them play a flashcard game with members of their reading group. That activity is fun and educational for the students to participate in. On September 3rd, I walked to Mrs.Wells' (pseudonym) classroom at 7:30 in the morning to begin the first day of my internship; I was nervous. Not knowing what to expect from my collaborating teacher or the students even. I have been in the classroom before but simply as an observer for my prerequisite courses. I walked into an empty first grade classroom where I was greeted by a lovely smile from Mrs. Wells. She seemed to just as excited and nervous as I was. As I looked around the classroom I observed the daily calendar, reading rug surrounded by books in the library. As finished making my way around the classroom she told me that for just the first day I could just observe and get use to everything and all the students. She said I could walk around the class to watch the students work and to get a feel for the classroom. She then began to tell me about the students in her class, three of the students were retained last year and were repeating the first grade again and three of the students had a twin. Which I thought was really amazing. Also i was informed that one of the students has cerebral palsy her name is Abby (pseudonym) which impacts her movement around school and in the classroom. Which require her to have special accommodations and specialists coming into the classroom to work with her. As students began to arrive I sat at the table in the back of the room and watched as the children followed their morning routine. The students realized who I was and why I was there because Mrs. Wells told them I was coming earlier in the week. As the final morning bell rang the students sat at their seats silently reading. Mrs. Wells introduced me to the class and the class in unison said " Good Morning Ms. Minor!" My heart fluttered with joy. As the morning rolled on the class gathered on the rug as Mrs. Wells read a story to the class they had already read earlier in the week, But this time they had to compare and contrast 2 characters from the book. The class worked together for the first comparison and the first difference. Then the students on their own had to come up with two more examples for each column. When they were finished with this assignment Mrs. Wells administered reading level test to some of the students, as she did this the other students read silently around the classroom by themselves. The students participated in this activity for about 10 minutes before they became restless and bored with the activity. As I walked around to try to refocus some of the students I saw that many of the students were just most flipping through the pages of the book looking at pictures and then moving on to the next book and not actually reading. As I saw this it made me question if they could actually read the books they picked out or just like what the thought the book was about?! Maybe for this time to move smoother the time allotted for this activity should be shorter and the children should be give books that the can read the words, so they are just not moving from book to book, And not learning anything from the books they have "read." As it is still the being of the year and testing the students is important. As a teacher, I will try to have quiet and engaging activities prepared for the students during this time.
The next thing I noticed on this day was that Mrs. Wells had somewhat of a passive aggressive attitude toward the children that were misbehaving in minor ways or not doing what was expected of them. Such as, when the student was sitting on the carpet and were sitting inappropriately the teacher would compliment the students sitting around the one that was not sitting correctly to encourage them to do the right thing. I thought this was effective for some of the students but not all because some did not understand the concept of this method. But as the day went on she became more direct with the students and so there was no confusion for the student. Which I believe was best because there was not anymore confusion between what she wanted them to do you or what was expected of them. |