Last month we were working on developing a classroom mission. My co-teacher and I wanted to make sure it was a collaborative mission that we made with our class. We gave each student three post its that they could describe what a class room should look like, feel like, and sound like. While we were brainstorming some ideas of what an ideal classroom should be like the students started to write down their thoughts. When they were done they went up and stuck them on the board. We went through each one and tried to find common language. From there is were able to come up with a mission that represented what our students wanted our classroom to be like. Here are some photos they first is in the midst of planning and the last is our complete mission statement. We had three students paint it onto a canvas that we can display in our classroom.
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While I was perusing the internet I came across this article that was written by a preschool teacher. There was a parent that posted a note asking what her 4 year old should know. Many parents responded with where they think he/she should be or what their child can already do. For example count to 100 or print their first and last name. The response this teacher had was their child should know they are loved, know how to laugh, should know how to use their imagination. They should know they are brilliant, and creative. I found this article really intriguing. I feel that parents and society get so caught up on marks and aptitude and forget that children will learn at different rates. Children are amazing in their ability to learn and engage if they are given enough opportunity.
I will attach the link because I feel like it really puts into perspective the pressures that we put on kids and parents put on themselves and each other. For my last week in PSII the drama students had taken over the gym space in order to set up for their yearly show. This is a hard aspect of being a full time phys ed teacher. The gym is a communal space for the school so at short notice you can be kicked out and need to find something to do with your class. My last week was a good example of this. We had no access to the gym so we needed to find something to do with our classes. One class we were able to take to the rec plex to go shuffleboarding, where the other class was scheduled to play outdoor soccer. Hypothetically this is a good idea aside from the fact the weather is so unpredictable at the end of April. The first two days it was raining, snowing, and windy. This posed a problem for participation and engagement. For the second day I had prepared a soccer worksheet incase the weather was too unfavourable. This a variable that teachers need to consider when planning lessons, or being removed from certain areas.
Last week I began to teach the life learning health unit to a class of grade nine students. I started the week trying to get the students to work in small groups to come up with ideas related to time management and careers. Through university my professors have encouraged us to get students to work together and allow them to self discover, so that is what I tried to do with this class. For the first two days I felt that most students would get off task when I asked them to brainstorm ideas for a discussion or it would be challenging to get them quiet when we returned to talk as a larger group. On the third day I had a bit of material I needed to get through so I chose to do direct instruction so I could get through everything I needed to. To my surprise the class was very attentive and on task. So now I have begun to revamp my unit plan for the remaining week to include less group work and more direct instruction or lecture style and video clips because it is more effective for this group of students. I found it very interesting that getting the students to work together was not working, but I am glad I have found something that is better suited to my students. I am going to try to incorporate quick turn to a partner discussions to help teach them how to effectively and efficiently work together.
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Miss. HamptonLinking learning and instruction to KSA's Archives
May 2017
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