Tag: learning

Sharing our learning

Teaching sometimes feels like an all-consuming task because I am planning and preparing alone. Though there are many opportunities to collaborate, most of the time I make most decisions for my class because I know them best. It is very exciting, then, when it is time to share our learning with other people in our community.

This week my class finally completed compiling their last edition of our classroom newspaper, their “Guide to Creating a Classroom Newspaper”, their Science Journals of “Plants and Growth”, and their books “Classroom Portraits”. With this package the students led their parents in a conference of all the things they learned this term. It was very exciting to set up a framework for the students to achieve success! They felt knowledgeable, and were great hosts to the wonderful family members who came in to support the kids. Last Friday I also finished putting up our art collage board, and added the last question leaves to our ‘Question Board’. These displays complemented the ‘Knowledge Tree’, our ‘Global News– Uganda pen pals’, our ‘Fruit Seeds Gallery’, our ‘Inquiry’ board of research, and our ‘Earth Day Promises’ boards. All the samples of student work on the displays represented the students’ learning process and growth! It is so exciting for the students to feel like their classroom is really ‘theirs’, with visuals showing their thinking and projects.

The students had a chance to receive feedback from their family member (or a peer if families could not make it), as well as from their Big Buddies in grade 5/6 during a second conference. It is interesting to read the comments from these other ‘teachers’ in my students’ lives. It gives me perspective on what my students have really learned, by seeing what they have shared with others.

Tags discovery, education, growth, learning, primary, reflection

Uncategorized

Steep learning curve

Ideally, I envision a school that has bulletins that display work that students have selected to display. I hear students asking questions, and I feel that there is transparency in the classroom so students feel that they are in charge of their own learning rather than the teacher dictating the content.

I feel that there are so many things to learn on practicum that it is a little overwhelming. Though I want students to have some control over what they would like to learn, I have been mostly planning the lessons myself. Though I know that it is important for students to participate and collaborate, I find myself calling for order and panicking when the classroom volume escalates. I am learning to discern what appropriate noise level is and when to stop it from escalating into silliness and dis- order. There are a lot of basic teaching skills that I am trying to master while also learning to be a tactful, effective, best practice teacher.

Ideally I would like to be partners in learning with my students. Right now I feel that I have that working relationship with some students who are eager to learn and inquire with me. The other students are either used to being given a worksheet or project to do that they become distracted if we have a ‘looser’ lesson structure that has intentions to be student- driven. There are also a few students who are still testing to see if I will be more lenient with our classroom rules, and I find myself having to constantly remind them that “now is not the time” or “please stay on task, you only have so and so minutes left to do your work” or “what should you be doing right now?” or “what are the classroom rules about that?”. I don’t want students to feel that I am targeting them when I remind them of classroom rules. Nor do I want students to get off- task during work time. It is difficult to find a balance between these things and more often than not I find myself having to play “bad cop” because we have curriculum to teach and there are established rules in the classroom that I do not want to disregard.

(Some days I feel that I am not the best teacher that I can be. It is true, as I am just starting my career. But I really let it get to me, without realizing that I have so much to learn and that it is okay to make mistakes. I am too much a perfectionist, and I care a lot about my students. On some days I feel so apologetic towards my students, because I wish I could be the best for them all the time. Sometimes I feel guilty that I have my learning moments at their expense, because in hindsight I know how I could have done better. )

Past the midpoint of our practicum– teaching full days now.

Tags discovery, education, great teachers, growth, learning, mistakes, student teaching, students, teacher education, teachers

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Authentic learning

Last week I focused on my lesson delivery. This week I focused on my voice modulations for classroom management. I am also working on developing well- guided lessons that have built- in peer discussion time. I would like to have an effective closure on as many lessons as possible. It is getting easier as the students and I get into our routine. There are several systems in place that allow me to teach more effectively. Now I can focus on how to assess better, to ask questions more thoughtfully, and how to model and guide my students in their learning.

This morning I introduced the students to the process of reporting an event. They will take turns being classroom reporters, and it will be interesting to see the articles that they produce. I created a trail of glitter this morning so that the students would follow the glitter lead. They found a big bag of mysterious stuffed animals. I used the hook to teach the students about effective leads, covering the5W’s.

My students are still young enough to believe the little tricks that make magic and fairy tales. I am happy that they were willing to play along. After they found the trail of glitter I grabbed a “fake incident report” which coincidentally had the 5W’s which I asked the students to provide information.

Tags authentic, enactivism, language arts, learning, primary, reflection