Lot’s of in-the-trench action happening this week:
Over the weekend, I was able to co-ordinate some observations with my FA, design a few lesson plans, and spend a bit of time reflecting on what I had seen in the classes; I need to decide what level of complexity I will choose regarding the 6/7, and 8/9 mixed classes.
Foods: The week was well timed with the start of the 2nd term 6/7 foods classes on Monday. It was nice to be in the class from the first day, and establish credibility as a resident instructor, rather than “that guy” who just appeared at the front of the demo table without warning. My first full lesson plan was delivered on Monday with a knife skills/vegetable and dip lab, and for the most part it went okay. As it happened, I was able to do this lesson again on Tuesday in front of my FA and both SA’s, with some of the problems corrected, and familiarity of the room working to my advantage. The demo and lab went well, and I even invited my FA to judge the dishes and design presentation after – he seemed to enjoy it and offered some valuable critique and feedback after the lesson. He is a very supportive mentor, and I believe I will learn a lot from him during the long practicum.
I received some first hand experience with difficult students as well during these labs – 1 being off his meds. This young man was in constant motion all of the time, and my FA had him pegged within the first 5 minutes of the lab. I had to pull him aside 3 times in the 75 minutes, but my approach was kind and calm (down on 1 knee at his eye level, spaced a good 60 cm. away), and he admitted to me that he was off meds and having a very difficult time staying calm. I thanked him for his honesty, and I think he tried extra hard at the end because we made a good connection; lot’s to be learned (by me) from this one.
There is a young girl in the room that is quite perplexing as well. I have her in 3 classes (junior woods and makerspace as well), and have tried on several occasions to connect with her:
- Tried to show her some simple hand saw techniques in woods. She did let me show her how to get a cut safely started, but was not very open to some simple technique which would have made her task much simpler.
2. Tried to get her to participate in a short scavenger hunt in the Home Ec lab, basically naming and placing the the items at each station, she just crossed her arms and shook her head silently when I tried to prompt and/or help her get started. I decided to leave her be on this one.
3. A bit of a breakthrough – I could not find her a pencil for sketching in makerspace, so I leant her my own “personal” pencil. She was very respectful and returned it at the end of the class. Following this she seemed much more relaxed and open to talk. Hopefully this carries through to my next visit. Funny how the small and seemingly meaningless gestures carry weight for certain individuals……
Community Connections: I started off this week with a safety demo on metal work equipment in the makerspace. I went over safety, setup, and operation for the hand grinder, metal chop saw, horizontal band saw, and mig welder. First off, 60 minutes of safety demo is waaaaay too long for these kids. I had the whole class in for this one, and was down to about half who were actually paying any degree of attention by the time we got to the mig welder. Some of the kids knew, or at least thought they knew, all of the safety protocols and just chose to ignore them, so my best chance next term is to get them on safety fresh off the bat, strongly enforcing the rules as we go along. On a good note, as only one person could work on the go-cart at any given time, I was able to get the rest of them wiring up breadboards with LED’s -something that they themselves initiated no less! I know these kids want to learn, it’s just a question of what and how. We appointed a few of the kids group leaders, so there job is to lead by example and enforce the safety rules. Hopefully this doesn’t fall apart in my absence.
Woods 6/7: I was finally able to hook up with the junior woods teacher this week and meet the younger crew. I am very excited about teaching this group, as it falls in with my philosophy of solid foundation training to ensure creativity and success in advanced levels of ADST. The teacher here, Mr. Williams, is a well liked and soft spoken guy, so I hope to expand and improve upon his method when I “take over” the class next February.