Today in class, I taught my first lesson on social and emotional learning. I must say I was extremely nervous and excited at the same time. I taught my students about bullying and racism. I was surprised to see how many were keen listeners and actively engaged in my lesson. We talked about the different kinds of bullying behaviour and how it hurts other people’s feelings. Thus, we expanded our brainstorming by reading a book called, Mr. Lincoln’s Way by Patricia Polacco. This book is the perfect example of unfair treatment to all people and the kids really enjoyed it as well. After reading, it was time for a brain break, which prepared them to reflect on the readings and how it might make a connection to their life. Overall, my lesson was not bad at all, and there were areas that I would like to improve such as:

• Allowing time for students to think and respond.
• Allowing students to work with their neighbours about the questions.
• Explaining my activity clear, so students’ would have a better understanding of the criteria.
• Being firm with students that are not participating in the class activity.

I am going to work on these and hope to be better on my next lesson! Today was a good day 🙂