Final Lesson for Field 3/31

Today I taught my last lesson. It was a science lesson, and specifically to do with erosion. I don't know if I am just feeling drained and faded lately for energy, but today's lesson was probably the least exciting and new for the kids. I started with a 4 corners activity, where the kids got up and walked to whatever picture they deemed most fitting to the word erosion (pics were a smokestack, man representing humanity, bulldozer, and tornado). That was a good activity to do first, cuz after they chose their pics to stand near, I had them discuss with a neighbor why they chose that pic, and then discuss with the rest of the class those reasons. It was good because it gave me some good clues into how in depth I had to be for the rest of the lesson, which consisted of 2 handout readings on soil erosion, one for the term itself, and one for humanity's impact on erosion, and follow-up questions for each. In all my intro was a bit weak; I did not really connect it too well to what they have been doing in science. When I asked if anyone learned something today though, I wish I had my camera on me, because just about every hand shot up, and I called on many students and they all said something different, but each being equally valid. I am generally happy with how it went, again a stronger intro would have sealed the deal to make it a pretty stellar lesson. I am done now with the lessons for field, but I still have to more short lessons to teach for Language and Literacy.

Blog for March 17

Was out of class today, but will make up for time at some later point. Hope all your days went well!

3rd Lesson

Today's lesson was the best one for me yet. I could actually see the learning taking place, which is a cool thing to see indeed. It concerned slavery in the Civil war. i read them a story about escaping via the underground railroad, and I created a story that they would finish off themselves. At first, they had some trouble getting started, but soon enough most of them were writing furiously. I expected that several students would come up to me towards the end of class to submit their conclusions, but they just kept writing. I decided with consultation of the teacher, not collect them just yet, and they could place them in their writing folders, to come back and work on them again later. Also, I again laid out the expectation right from the get-go that they should behave in the same way as they would if Ms. Bradford were teaching them. I did it with a bit more force this time, and I can say with confidence that there were no behavior issues whatsoever. It may have been because they were sitting at the desks writing for about half the class, as opposed to last time when they got up and acted stuff out, or maybe I am finally earning some respect in their eyes. Who knows? I just know that this was the best one yet, on several levels.