“this is my favrite activertyie”
“I love it”
As it comes time to begin blogging about my education journey once again, I find myself being more excited than I ever have before. I have to give all the credit to the amazing experience I am having thus far during my pre-internship. I have been placed in a grade two classroom which I was initially anxious and unsure about as this was not my target grade level – or so I thought! The students were so excited to have my teaching partner and I in their classroom and have stated after this week that they which we could be there everyday and they can’t wait for next Wednesday!
For my first individual lesson this week I taught science with a focus on the Solids and Liquids outcome. Science is one of the subjects alongside math where I had some hesitations in teaching because of my lack of confidence in understanding and reciprocating knowledge that I myself may not have. I decided I should challenge myself as pre-internship is the time to try new things and make mistakes! I must say – I am so proud of myself! The lesson was an absolute BLAST because we got to make a huge mess and learn new concepts which my grade twos totally absorbed with the utmost excitement! We made a substance called oobleck which can be both a solid and a liquid. So much fun, such a big mess, and lots of quality learning! Having a successful first science lesson has given confidence in my own abilities and has me excited to continue taking on new challenges (although I am still prepared to have lesson that is not so great) no matter my fears or reservations.
My lesson had a lot of strengths, but it wasn’t perfect. Some things would need to be changed for when I teach this lesson again to help it flow a bit more smoothly. I am very appreciative of my co-op teacher and my teaching partner because they helped me to contain the mess and to assist with classroom management as I was elbow deep in oobleck! Having the corn starch measured out and ready to go in a bowl BEFORE the lesson starts would help with lessening the mess as well as decreasing wasted time in the lesson. I would also maybe have a large bowl of oobleck already made before the lesson. Then I could make one small batch in front of the class and not waste time during the lesson to make a portion of oobleck for each student. Very easy fixes, but they would definitely increase the quality of learning time for the students to experience the lesson!
One thing I am impressed with is my ability to continuously teach in a loud, confident, and excited manner. I believe my enthusiasm and excitement for the lesson encouraged my student’s to engage actively with the activity and to really give their all into enjoying the experience. I hope that my enthusiasm continues and that my student’s will continue to look forward to my lessons – even with such high expectations now!
Below is a student sample from my lesson. I provided a worksheet for the students to document their observations from playing with the oobleck mixture. This student’s answers are Spot. On. and their illustrations are perfect!
Student work:
For this week’s PDP click here!
Till the next blog,
Miss Hansen