Long Practicum: Week 4

As I spend more time in the classroom I feel like I am getting more comfortable. There are days that can be overwhelming but when I see the excitement on my students eyes when I introduce a fun lesson to them, it makes it all worth it! This week was a very busy week as well especially with Mother’s Day coming up and Earth day plus the other 100 things needed to be completed. We started our pinch pots this week which is about a 2 week process so we had to start them now. This was a learning experience for me. I haven’t done pinch pots since I was a child myself so it did bring me back to my childhood although I had to refresh my memory on how to make them. I watched videos on it but thankfully my SA is very experienced with making these pots so we took more of a team teaching approach with this particular art lesson. It’s also beneficial just to have that extra set of hands especially when doing art! Teachers are so knowledgeable and it’s because they have taught these subjects for many years. I think that this knowledge comes with time and practice. Overall, the pinch pots turned out very beautifully and the students really enjoyed the process of molding the clay.

This week I also did a poetry lesson on similes and metaphors (terms that are hard to grasp). I thought these concepts might be difficult especially for their age range and I was correct. It’s funny because I ask my friends what a simile and metaphor is and some need a good refreshment on what they are so it definitely isn’t easy! At the same time I think it is good to challenge the class and allow them to challenge their minds and learn concepts that are more difficult. I did the first lesson on similes and metaphors and incorporated a fun, interactive game where students had to sort similes and metaphors into hula-hoops. I want to incorporate more interactive activities because I think it’s a great way to get students learning. I reflected on the lesson and realized that my students did not truly understand the concepts. The next day I did another lesson on similes and metaphors. I think it’s important to teach a concept until students get it and sometimes that means doing a lesson a few times and that is okay. For my next lesson I had students think-pair-share about what a simile and metaphor is and then we had a group discussion about it. I created a chart for students to reference later on. We wrote down what a simile and metaphor is which students could explain very well. However, when I had students think about examples of a simile and metaphor with a partner the room went silent. I am not exaggerating either! It was the funniest yet most informative thing for me. They clearly were still confused. I then showed students examples of similes on the chart paper and I further explained the concept. We even practiced making similes into metaphors by taking away words such as ‘like’ and ‘as’. They were starting to get it! Students put up their hands to provide me with some examples and some were a little off but we discussed this as a class and I corrected their misconceptions. I had my hair in a braid that day so I even created a simile about how my hair is like a horses mane. This created laughter amongst the students but this is when it really clicked for me. I was being my whole self and I was comfortable. It was a great feeling. Through continuous repetition I think the students started to understand. Of course some students still had difficulty but at least I challenged their minds and made them reach for the sky. Their paint chip poems turned out great!

One of my goals as an educator is to help my students become contributors to their community. Something that I am really excited about is that they are not only becoming contributors to their local community but rather they are contributing globally. I introduced a story called ‘One Hen’ this week which is a story about how one small loan made a huge difference and allowed one young boy and his family the opportunity to buy a chicken which then lead to a better life. As a class we are going to be raising money next week within the school to donate to Free the Children where we will donate the money to families in Africa to buy chickens. I am teaching my students about how our actions locally can have a global, long-lasting effect and how to take social responsibility. A concept that to me is so important for students to learn!

Overall there are a lot of great things happening within the classroom. I am almost half way done and looking forward to the next weeks to follow.