The practicum thus far has provided so much more time to build relationships with students. This week I got to witness a students showing his appreciation for lessons I had done with the class. During a morning exploration time I was walking around observing when I saw him playing with the dinosaurs and the chain links: 
Week one I had them measure the length of dinosaurs and week two I had them measure the height as a station during a math lesson. This week I watched this student compare the heights of dinosaurs using the chain links. I sat with him for a bit while he showed me which ones were taller and told me their names and what they have for ‘defense’. 
Later I checked back in with him and he was measuring the length of different dinosaurs he had taken from the bin. The same student on Thursday before I began my math lesson asked why we weren’t measuring the dinosaurs again. Although it becomes visible while teaching lessons whether or not students are enjoying it, it is very reassuring to see that the students are utilizing something that was taught during a lesson as a part of their exploring time.
Update on the book creating during library: students have yet to use the Ipads because their drafts are not complete. Some students had rushed the paper copy to get to the Ipads step, however their library teacher explained that a publisher would not accept a book with scribbles on it or something that was incomplete therefore they must go through the same process an author would. I enjoyed this and thought it was an effective way to encourage students to focus on producing a clean and complete product.
I learned this week that motivators during clean up times work amazing. One morning, prior to recess, after sounding the clean up chime I told the students that I would give them until 10:10 (there is an analog clock in the classroom) and it was 10:02, which meant they had eight minutes. 
I said this because I would need at least ten minutes to read the story I had selected before snack. Little did I know that telling them a time would motivate them to clean up very quickly, in four minutes. I made sure to take the time to praise everyone for cleaning up so quickly and working together to do so. I emphasized them working together to complete the task because usually once they have cleaned up their area they simply sit down rather than helping clean up other messes. Another time at the end of the day I told students I would read them the book they had been requesting if they cleaned up quickly since it was a longer story. They were cleaned up and quietly sitting at the carpet in about three minutes. I plan to continue to incorporate these strategies next week while trying to incorporate different awards.
This was the first week that I dismissed students at the door to their parents/grandparents/guardians. This was a great experience as I got to see the parents of students I haven’t yet seen and I also got to see the reciprocal excitement of being reunited with family.
See Week 3 for more information.