Category Archives: EDUC 315

second week of short practicum

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There are definitely countless memorable moments in the classroom during this week. Here are something that I learned from my hands-on teaching experience:

  • Having routines and foster the habit of having routines with the students is very important. It saves much more time later on. As a teacher candidate, it will also make my teaching easier if I stick to their daily routine.  
  • No matter how inclusive you want to be in the classroom, you will not always have everyone’s attention at the same time. But this is okay as long as you have the majority and can bring the rest of them back to learning at some point. Moreover, it is important to know that even if the student is not learning with you, the student is learning something from somewhere during that time.
  • Be patient. Give students time to think, respond, and share.
  • Less me talking. Spend more time listening to the students.
  • I have to show that I am interested in what I am teaching in order to get the students interested.  

 

Now my inquiry question has been modified to “How might teachers differentiate instruction to accommodate student diversity in knowledge, ability, and learning styles in Literacy?”

One way of answering my inquiry questions is for me to talk to the teachers. My SA had provided me with some insights on the strategies that she uses. One of her strategies is to use open-ended questions. The teacher will break down big and abstract questions into smaller ones, which can guide the students through some thinking as a class. Later on, when the students go work individually, they have the choice of how much they would want to expand on. Students with limited literacy skills might use fewer words to show their thinking. Students with more advanced literacy skills will be able to focus more on the big question/ open-ended question and elaborate their answers based on the discussion that the class had earlier.

 

First week of the short practicum

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One of my memorable events of this week is how the students’ reading abilities are assessed and shared with the parents. One way of gathering information for teachers and parents to see the child’s literacy development is through video recording. Based on the running records, the Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System 2, that the teacher did earlier in the school year, the teacher will pick out two books that are around the student’s reading level. The student will have two choices to pick from. The teacher can use an iPad to film this reading exercise. The video focuses on the words that the student is reading, and the student only needs to read two or three pages. For these pages that are being recorded, the teacher usually does not provide help. This video will be uploaded to Freshgrade, and some assessments and comments will be made on the APP. The parents will be able to see the video and the comments. The parents can also comment on the posts.

Another way that the assessing can be done is through Book Creator on iPads. The students will pair up for this activity, and each of them will pick a book of their own choices and record it on the APP. The students will take a picture of the book cover and the first few pages of the book. Then, they will record themselves reading the word. After the recording is done, one speaker icon will show up the page. The students can go back to their own reading and listen to themselves. That is one good way for the students to reflect on their own reading. At the same time, the partner can help out when challenges occur. The last part of the work is to write few sentences for self-reflection. The teacher provided a template for the students (as shown) to help with their thinking and writing. For this project, some students practice the same lines several times until fluent before recording. These book readings will be uploaded to Freshgrade later for the parents to see as well.

Progress on read-aloud

I was practicing the books that I would need for read-aloud the night before so I would feel more confident. Besides from the fluency, I tried to pick up words that the students might not know, and think of ways to explain them during my practice at home. Another thing that I was trying to do was to decide on the main messages that I was hoping the students to get out of it. By doing that, it helped me to monitor the students’ conversation and find my way back when the conversation got carried away. I had been doing read-aloud for three days now, and each time it went pretty well. Students were listening attentively and participating in the discussion.

 

My wonders

How can we accommodate students with diverse knowledge backgrounds and learning abilities in the classroom? Besides from separating the class into small groups and assign them to different tasks, how can we keep everyone entertained and challenged?

Nature

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Today I noticed that the station activities were all connected to the conversations that the students had last week.

“Some rocks have dirt in them and some don’t. If they have dirt in them  then they are nature”

The students could use this bowl to crush the rocks and see what was it made of. There was the light table for students to see the rock slides. Different types of rocks were displayed so the students could study them with magnifiers.

Today the nature talk between students went even further. This was very interesting to be around with, and it showed so much thinking from the students. It was also one of the memorable moments that I would like to share:

“Rocks are not nature because they are before the big bang. The big bang threw out the rocks and created the world. Also, the big bang is not nature. ”

“What is ‘nature’ if everything is nature? Then they shouldn’t even use the word nature because it is too plain. Things that are made of nature does not mean that they are nature too. How is this plastic ruler nature? Your T-shirt is not nature. ”

One of my goals for my two-week practicum is to get comfortable with read-alouds in front of the class. Here are some strategies that I might try:

  • Get the book ahead of time and prepare it
  • Practice and practice
  • Accept the facts that it will not be perfect at first and mistakes are ok

 

Provocation and Scaffolding

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I had a conversation with my school teacher today about the idea of provocation, scaffolding, and the difference between them. With her explanations, I observed to see where I could find some evidence of provocation and scaffolding in the classroom.

From the beginning of the school year, my school teacher had natural materials out as invitations for the students to talk about and think about nature. Then, with some nature-themed picture books, she provoked the students’ thinking by asking them questions, such as “What does nature mean?”, “what does it mean to be living”, and “what is nature?”. By demonstrating an activity or thinking process, the teacher also helps the students to scaffold their learning.

Last week, one of the students came up with the realization that “oh everything is in a cycle. The life has a cycle. Seasons are in a cycle”. This idea was shared with the class, and we had more discussion around this idea. The students shared their ideas or examples of cycles and the nature. Students had a quick debate on whether a rock is nature. The teacher followed up with some more questions to guide the student’s thinking: “Does nature have to be alive?” “what is not nature? What is opposite of nature?”

There were some interesting conversations around whether a rock was nature:

One conversation between two of the students and me

One of the student “Rocks are not nature because it’s underneath the earth”

Me “is the earth nature?”

The student “Yes”

Me “if the earth is nature, and rocks are underneath the earth. Should rock also be part of the nature?”

The other student joined “ahhh (realizing something)… but lava is not nature because they do not grow”

The student “no it does! because… (I lost track of their conversation there)”

 

Conversation between one of the girls and me

“Rock is nature because it helps the nature”

“Why is that”

“Because rock helps trees to grow so they don’t fall (using hand gestures to show that rocks are stabilizing the roots)”

 

Conversation between one of the girls and me

“It depends. Some rocks are nature but some are not”

“What do you mean”

“Some rocks have dirt in them and some don’t. If they have dirt in them then they are nature”

“How do you know if they have dirt in them?”

“Some rocks you can easily smash them into small pieces, and they are basically just soil”

“Okay. are you saying that if the soil gets dried and becomes a big chunk, then it becomes a rock and that is nature?”

“Yes.”

…

“Do you think that the cement is different from the rocks that we found from the forest?”

“Yes”

“Are they both nature”

“Again, If you can smash them into smaller pieces then they are nature”

 

I found these conversations really interesting, and I really enjoyed challenging the students to think further. These conversations are worth investigating and can lead to further conversation about the landform, which is part of learning content in BC’s New Curriculum competencies.

 

Strategies for introducing lessons

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This grade 2/ 3 class that I visit has ongoing nature projects throughout the school year. They have observed buds, planted buds, visited a bog as one of their field trips etc. They have natural materials for decorations and nature picture books on the bookshelf. Today the students are reflecting on their bog field trip from yesterday and doing some drawing and writing on their Nature Book. This Nature Book is handmade, and it has cardboard as its cover. It uses recycling materials to explain to the students that we are trying to create an environmentally friendly space.

Before the students worked on this project, the teacher laid out several questions for them to think about. For example, the questions cards on the table where the students display their nature material collections. Also, the teacher wrote down a question on their agenda board in the beginning of the day to get the students start to think.

Since this is an ongoing project, the teacher does not need to spend too much time introducing this topic. Students are expecting the topic to come up. Moreover, when students are aware of the topic, they usually feel more ready or confident to participate in the class too.

New projects or plans are usually introduced in a circle with everyone gathered around. One strategy that the teacher uses to bring students’ attention is to wait until everyone is quiet and ready to listen. The teacher will wait patiently until everyone is quiet. It really helps to gather students’ attention and make sure that the teacher does not need to repeat herself.

SEL observations

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I noticed the bulbs on the table when I walked into the classroom this morning. This class had changed their weekly project into a new inquiry, which was seeds and gardening. There were magnifying glasses and flashlights beside the bowl of bulbs for students to observe. As part of the project, students were required to complete a chat with three columns which were “I see”, I” think”, and “I wonder”. Then, students needed to put their observations and questions into a short paragraph and decorated it with a drawing. Student would have the opportunity to plant the bulbs and solve their wonders later (are they alive/ dead; what plant is it; what color would its flower be etc.) through actions.

This project really interested me because it focused on students’ thinking process and reminded me of the idea of metacognition. Teacher was guiding students to think about students’ own thinking, to realize what students have already known with their funds of knowledge, to see what they are capable of doing themselves, and to reflect on their own curiosities. Moreover, this project went from the classroom setting to school setting, and even to communities and families. It allowed students to leave their classroom and plant things in their school/ community area. Their little plants might have the opportunity to contribute and be part of the community, and present student’s results available for everyone to share in this environment.

Another project that students worked on earlier in the week is a self-portrait. Students watched an video on how to draw a self- portrait and used a mirror to create one for themselves. The main focus was to notice the facial details, such as the the angle of the eye brow and the mouth with different emotions, and students practiced on the accuracy of their drawings through the activity. This project would help students to notice details, and this is critical because it is a major foundation for self awareness. It helps establish the ability to accurately recognize one’s own emotions. This will also prepare students for relationship skills, such as communications and relationship-building, and many other things.

There were many other small details in the classroom showed the SEL language. For example, the picture books that focus on emotions and the warm welcoming sign on the table. I could see that the teacher really valued the SEL language in this classroom.

Self-reflection

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This is a reflection piece on my first day observing in a grade 2/3 classroom setting. Pictures are taken with caution and permissions.

Before children came into the classroom, their teacher updated the Today’s Agenda board to list the schedule of the day. Children could get notified when they came into the classroom and feeling more prepared when these activities happen throughout the day.

Children had 15 minutes of free playing time as the first thing after the bell. There was no assigned seating pattern. Stations were set up for students to rotate around mostly based on their interests. I saw some of them playing with building materials, and one student was working on his storybook alone because he couldn’t wait to finish it and share it with the class. Most ofall, ipads were popular among children.

 

“Everyone is a teacher. Everyone is a learner.”

 

 

Their teacher kept on reminding children with the learning competencies and the learning intentions for each activity that children did. There were also printed versions of the learning intentions placed on each station as the reminder. Once the free-playing time was over, children came to sit in a circle and had their “Me time” activity, which involved sharing stories and read aloud activities.

After snack and the first recess, children had their gym class and reading class before their lunch break. I was very honored to be invited to two meetings with the school staffs and parents to discuss two particular children’s social and emotional learning challenges in the classroom. But as a result, I did not have the opportunity to attend all of their classes today.

Their teacher had another read aloud session to bring children back into the classroom after the lunch break. Complex words were used during the discussion, but the teacher would clarify the definition by providing a simple explanation. Their teacher would wait until everyone was quiet and focused before she spoke. She often used eye contacts to give signals and make connections with the children. Children slowly calmed their bodies during this activity, which was a good start for their next literacy practice activity called “word book”.

The last and the most exciting part of the day was the “Big Buddies” activity, which children worked with grade 4 students on a project shown in pictures. Children were challenged to build a complex using 10 cups, 12 sticks, and 8 blocks, but one block and nothing else was allowed to touch the ground. The learning intention was to practice children’s communication skills and social skills during teamwork, while they experienced the physics part of building structures. Grade 4 students also needed to practice their literacy skills by writing a “report” on this activity. With the format they learned in their classroom, grade 4 students needed to write down a title describing what the challenge was, their names, and their plans.