Category Archives: Practicum logs

03/14/16

Engaging nature

In my practicum classroom, we are encouraging students to engage with the natural surroundings. They seem to be enjoying the activities that we have been doing. The other day the class created Aboriginal talking sticks using found materials. We went outside and the students gathered rocks and sticks. Then we returned to the classroom where the students put their talking sticks together by using corn husks and rope. Afterwards they painted them and we had a discussion about the significance and symbolic meanings behind a variety of colours.

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The students planted pumpkin seeds into the class’ germination station last week and since then, they have already grown 8 inches! Later this week, they will be moving them into the school garden so that they can grow further. The students are all anticipating to see how much growth will occur during the next two weeks while they are away on Spring Break.

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03/14/16

100 day!

Hurray for 100 day! Each primary classroom had a different station and the students were able to rotate through them during the day. The students appeared to enjoy all the activities and were reluctant to move from one station to the next because they were very immersed in their activities.

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Here are a few ideas that you can bring into the classroom for 100 day.

100 day collages

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100 day bingo

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Fruit Loop necklakes using 100 fruit loops

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What can you build with 100 geoblocks?

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01/31/16

Weekly school visits (Jan 28, 15)

It is good to be back in the classroom after not being here last week. The classroom layout has changed significantly changed since the last time I was visiting the class.

Instead of the round tables being at the front of the room, the rectangle table was placed in front instead. Throughout the months I have been in this classroom, there has been numerous changes in the format. This is because there is an emphasis on the importance of the prepared environment in the Montessori philosophy.

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01/21/16

Weekly school visits: week 3

Today we ran our animal kingdom inquiry first thing. I showed the class how to use a mind-map to organize what they already know about their animal kingdom into categories. They answered my questions and looked interested in creating their own. After my demonstration, we put them into the revised groups we made at the end of the day last week and I drew their assigned animal kingdoms out of a basket because then it would be randomized.

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01/21/16

Weekly school visits: week 2

Today is my first full day of my classroom visit. We started the day with language arts where the students were able to work on independent Montessori materials after they finished their journals. Some students used the entire time to work on their journals while others finished quickly and started on their independent Montessori work.

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01/21/16

Weekly school visits: week 1

Today was my first day in the Grade 1-3 classroom. I arrived to the school early but my SA was running late so I had to wait by myself in her classroom for a while. I wasn’t exactly nervous coming into the classroom but the anticipation of meeting her started to build up my anxiety a little bit. When she got to the classroom, she put me to work right away! She told me to take the children’s artwork off the bulletin board outside and replace it with a new art project they made.

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