This week on practicum I led two activities – marking the students’ spelling work and a novel study read aloud (The Giver). Although the two are quite different in content, I found a commonality while carrying out these activities in terms of classroom management. That is, a lot of the time planned activities will not go completely according to plan. Specifically, in my class – being a grade 7 class, there are constantly interruptions. Therefore, myself or my s.a. need to think on the fly and adapt as required. For example, during the spelling, it was taking the students far longer than expected to get organized and take out the assignment to be marked. This was because a lot of them had not completed the required sections. And I must say, it was quite an ordeal to sort out. So what we decided to do was have the students mark what they had and then record the marks for those completed sections. However, what was key was the talk my s.a. gave the students afterwards. It seems as though some students are not putting in enough effort into completing their homework. So we touched on the importance of completing homework as if students build their homework skills now it will help them in the future, the near future. That is, they will have a much heavier homework load in high school and they were told about the expectations in high school. Specifically, high school teacher will not tolerate “lazy behaviour” and the teachers may not even run around to gather homework; they will simply just deduct marks. I thought having a talk like this worked really well as it was immediate, on the spot. Therefore, it was more relevant to the students compared to saving the topic for something like the class meeting later on.

My read-aloud actually went really well considering the timing. It was right after lunch, so students again were trying to get settled in and some were still shuffling in from lunch monitoring. Also, I was under the impression that I would be starting with chapter four; however, the class had already read that chapter so we were starting with chapter five. So, the questions I had prepared (for chapter 4) were not going to work. That meant I had to think of questions as we went along. My strategy was to look for examples of the book’s main themes and base questions around these themes. I ended up starting with a think-pair-share, asking the students to come up with four points in pairs highlighting the most important aspects in the chapters they had already read. I was able to see the interests students have in this book as they had a lot of points to offer. I then asked questions about “Coming of age” as examples of this theme came through-out the chapter. To give a little variety, I asked more simple questions related to vocabulary as this book has some complex language that students may not have been exposed to before. To check for attention, I questioned students understanding of different characters repeated throughout the book. For example, in the book there is a group called the “Collection Crew,” the people who come collect remains of food from households. I asked who this group is, what they do, why they are important and why the group’ name is always capitalized. This connected back to the theme of an ordered society through the book and students conveyed this through speaking to the fact that there are lots of rules – like not wasting food- in this society.

If I could change something, I would have the students read small sections of the given chapter. I feel this would not only help build their reading skills but also improve their comprehension of this specific novel. And this is important because like I said before, this novel is fairly advanced- both in language and the specific content and themes being presented. That being said, I’m not too worried about the students not paying attention just because they are not reading it aloud themselves as they have demonstrated great interest in the book already. For example, some of the students had read far ahead even though not they are not required to.

Apart from this, I would like to incorporate some more think-pair-share around one specific theme, “Coming of Age,” as this is actually really relevant to the grade sevens. A lot of the main character’s maturing experiences are those which my students can somehow probably learn from or relate to. I believe the think-pair-share will allow more of a comprehensive opportunity for students to discuss. Given there is enough time, I would probably like to add a written component to this time so there is more concrete material for me to assess their understanding. In the end, I really enjoy these read-alouds because the students are genuinely interested in the storyline and I look forward to completing the book!

Lesson Analysis: Math Lesson

Comments on Lesson Design
Hook:
==> As a hook into math, students are to work on a challenging math problem called the p.o.d. (problem of the day). These problems are usually unrelated to the given math topic being taught that day. However, they are word problems encompassing different mathematic topics and operations. Students must use previous knowledge from various math areas to find the solution.
==> I think this is a great way to get students’ brains running and actually engage their thinking, specifically about mathematic functions. Every time I observe students trying to solve the p.o.d., they are usually very motivated and it sometimes becomes a little competitive as well as students are required to solve individually.
==> What is also great about the p.o.d., is that quite often there is more than one answer, so different students can solve the problem differently. That is, students can make use of operations and functions they are most comfortable with. I believe this helps build confidence in students – especially since this is a subject, which makes most students apprehensive.

Instructional strategies:
==> Order of activities: p.o.d., went over questions from previous day, students note key ideas, go over new examples, work on assigned questions.

Active engagement/practice:
==> The way the math lesson runs is usually quite similar everyday, with just the specific content varying. I think this works well as it allows for predictable structure and a routine that students become accustomed to.

==> After the p.o.d., my S.A. reviews any necessary material from the previous math lesson. This can involve questions students did not fully understand or just content that needs to be repeated for the sake of students’ memory. I think this helps not only the students but also the teacher in that the teacher can get a sense for what areas the students are struggling with. This way the teacher can offer another way of explaining a tough concept that may be better understood by the students.

==> Following this review, the new material is introduced. Students take notes on the key ideas – usually these are found in their textbook. However, if my S.A. feels as though these notes are not sufficient and a concept requires further explanation, she will add her own notes. I see this as an example of fitting curriculum content to fit the needs of your class and more importantly individual students. Sometimes the textbook is not enough and must be suited to the various learning styles and levels present in your own class.

==> My S.A. then goes through a couple of different examples. And I think this is the most important portion of the lesson. This is where students actually learn the process of solving the new content – the formulas, short cuts, and strategies. I have noticed that although my S.A. is solving the examples herself, she always asks for input from students. I think this is a great way to ensure students are actually paying attention and again to keep track of students’ understanding.

Closure:
==> To end off, students are assigned questions from their textbook. Sometimes it is the entire set of questions, or it can be just odd or even numbers.

==> Students are encouraged to get as much done in class so that they can ask for help if needed. Any remaining questions are to be completed for homework.

==> There is usually a fair amount of time leftover for students to work on the assigned questions. This is important I believe because it can be really valuable for students to ask for help while working on the questions in class rather than going home and possibly not having anyone available who can offer assistance. Moreover, in some households, there may not even be someone who can actually understand the material. Therefore, teacher presence can be of benefit to the student.

Other observations:
==> From observing my S.A., I have realized that it is really important to keep checking for understanding throughout the lesson. You never know when a student is going to lose track of what you are trying to explain. Therefore, it is important to keep a close eye on student expressions. For example, in high school I remember one of my math teachers would explain a concept step-by-step and after each step he would ask, “shake your head yes shake your head no” to see how many students were understanding. I thought it could even be more simple by just asking students to stick their thumb up or down according to if they understood or not, respectively.