Can’t believe half of the first week is already over – it’s only a four-day week. I had the students from the beginning of the morning until recess again today. I’m really liking this time period because before I usually taught after recess and into the afternoon. In the beginning, I was sort of nervous having the students first thing; I was worried about settling the students in and getting them back in school mode. However, it has been a really valuable experience because starting the morning off right is really important as I feel this motivates students. Also, I feel like the better start in the morning, the greater the chances of having a smooth rest of the day as well.

We started with writing workshop in which students write in their journal books. The journal books have a number of different prompts, questions, and ideas to which students can choose to respond. And, it is entirely up to the student to choose which specific prompt/question they would like to write about. I definitely think this is a perfect way to start the day. First of all, there is student autonomy, they are beginning the day with something they choose themselves and they do enjoy this. Second, it is an independent task – in writing workshop, students are to work quietly on their own work – so it allows students to really come back into their school zone and turn on their focus and thinking caps. Lastly, the writing aspect itself, this is so important because right away students are expressing their thoughts and actually producing meaningful work. I could also see this activity working well at other times when students become a little rambunctious, lose their focus and just need some time to basically spit out what’s on their minds. For example, right after recess, lunch, or p.e.

After the journals, I went through two grammar lessons – suffixes and contractions. This was really simple. I introduced both topics, gave examples of both and then went over some questions from the related worksheets. Students then had some time to finish the worksheet. This was the first time I had done this type of lesson with them, so I was not really sure how long it would take for them to complete. So, a strategy my s.a. suggested was circulating and just observing how long it was taking students and going from there. If some students had finished earlier, I asked them to work on their book reviews. We then marked the worksheets and the marks were collected. After this, we marked the spelling homework from the previous day. Whenever I mark anything with the students, I usually try to let the students give the answers. That way I can ask them to explain their answer and also it allows everyone to share their answers. Because sometimes students come up with answers an answer key or I have not, and they have valid explanations for their answer. Also, when it comes to something like math, having students provide answers works really well because then I can ask them to come up to the Smart Board to show their work. This way we can see not just the answer, but also the process behind the answer.

We then moved onto math. I went over the previous day’s exercise. And this took a little longer than expected because the students really wanted to share their answers to a lot of the questions. It was so nice to see the students so engaged with their work, I even joked with that they are so much better than me because it actually took me a while to work out the answers to some of the questions. Their reaction to that was priceless. I love these types of moments with my students, I feel like these are the moments when you actually build connections with them and build a level of comfort in the class. And then, when we were about to move onto the new lesson, we were hit with a hailstorm! We literally went from full sunshine to a complete hailstorm within minutes and the students were so surprised that my s.a. and I decided to let them go out to experience the weather and even try to find the rainbow! Once they got back, we only had a little bit of time left. So, I was not able to go through much. However, the homework was assigned and my s.a. and I decided to tell the students they should finish as much of the exercise as possible and we would go through the rest together. This was such an interesting experience for me, a complete change of plans just because of the weather. I think it’s the surprises like this that teachers always talk about that keep this job so interesting and refreshing!

Today was the first day of our long-term practicum and I pretty much jumped in as soon as the students arrived in the morning! I liked beginning the day off with them because they were just as excited to see me, as I was to be in the classroom! And on my part, starting off right away didn’t really leave any time for me to be nervous or question myself. I thought this helped my confidence level and I felt very comfortable beginning by settling the class in. Also, the students were quite calm and focused which made the teaching a little easier for me as well.

I started the day with Socials and began my unit on Ancient India. Lucky for me, Socials is a subject the class really enjoys so when I said I would be teaching Socials, I received a really positive response. The lesson started with locating India on a blank world map displayed on the Smart Board. I gave students about three minutes to think in their groups and then students came up to the Smart Board to place a dot on a blank map identifying where they think India is on the map. To my surprise, even though a majority of the students have not learned about India in school or do not have much background knowledge about India, a lot of their predictions were very close. I also recognized the students enjoy using the Smart Board and they are much more engaged even when their use is as minimal as placing a dot on a map. For example, I had told the students they would have about five minutes to think about their prediction and to raise their hand when ready to make their prediction. And, the students were actually discussing with their group and it only took about two minutes for hands to start rising. After their predictions, I brought up two different maps – a world map with India labeled among the other countries and then a zoomed in version, which was a closer look at India. Using this map, I began a discussion about what just looking at the map could tell us about India, trying to get their critical thinking going. We first looked at neighboring countries, the continent India is in and then moved onto the southern region of India. I asked what looked really interesting about this region (the surrounding water bodies) and students pointed out the easy access to many water bodies. I then asked why this is important or beneficial to the people living in India. We talked about a lot of access to fresh water, easy opportunities for shipping out, transportation and exporting and how this helps their economy. I then mentioned that one of India’s strong industries is exporting to the rest of the world and that this is possible because of their geographical position close to water bodies. I then questioned the location of India in relation to the equator and the students pointed out how close it is to the equator. I asked how this could affect life in India as locations close to the equator receive more exposure to the sun. And students brought up terms like climate, weather, temperature and generally how India is a really hot country. I shared my own experiences in the country and asked if anyone else has been to India and had one student share his experience in the hot weather. After this discussion I mentioned how my roots are in India, so I’m really excited to teach about this civilization. And leading from this I brought in the scavenger hunt activity because it would benefit them to have an understanding of the basics of India today to fully understand the development of this civilization. I asked students to work with a partner in their table group and use one iPad between the two. Once they had their iPad and supplies ready, I explained that the scavenger hunt worksheet had the websites they should be looking through; however, the specific questions did not have an accompanying link. I explained why: this way they would be navigating all three websites and might even run into some information not required by the activity but would help build their understanding. And also I thought this made the activity a little more challenging and required students to think a little deeper if they actually had to read all the content on the websites. The pair work was good with one iPad because this meant they were actually working on the hunt together as opposed to having two iPads and then they would easily just divide the questions. I actually learned a lot myself from this activity. Specifically, the fact that sometimes you plan for an assignment one way and when you come to do it with the class, they bring up aspects that you may not have even thought of. For example, some of the students were asking if they could use other websites to find answers or simply just type in the question to Google. But, I asked them to only use the websites I had provided as I knew they were appropriate and as a warning I might even ask which website the answer was found on to ensure accountability. I also had some early finishers, so I had to come up with something for them to do. I asked them to list five interesting facts or ideas about India that were not asked about in the hunt and list these on the back of the worksheet so they could share with the rest of the class. We then discussed the answers and the early finishers shared their interesting facts. When the students shared their answers, I had to point out that it is okay if you have a different answer because some questions can have more than one answer and I encouraged them to share their different answers. I also tried to build on the student’s answers and offer information from my own experience with India. I feel like this is something I would like to keep doing as it makes the material more interesting for students and they were listening more when I added my own little details instead of just repeating what they had just said. Something my s.a. and I have talked about when responding is to try to repeat correct answers students provide but re-wording them in my own words just to emphasize.

We then transitioned over to math and continued with the probability unit. We started with a question based on the Goldilocks and the Three Bears story, which definitely hooked in the students – I had them summarize the plot first. Students worked on the first problem in pairs and then we were going to discuss the problem as a class on the Smart Board. However, a couple of minutes in, I noticed that a handful of the students had forgotten some of the concepts and terms (e.g., favorable outcomes, sample space) as it had been a couple weeks since my last probability lesson. So, then I decided to change things up and work on the problem together. First we reviewed some of the key terms that students had forgotten and then used this to work through the problem. I enjoy moments like these where I have to change my lesson plan because it just shows that not everything you do will go according to plan and I must learn to be flexible as this allows to better meet the students’ needs. We went through two more examples together and I could tell students had a better understanding after the first example as I had students provide the work for most of the steps and then come show it on the Smart Board. A couple of students did begin to get distracted and I tried something I haven’t before. I simply stood at the front and said “Ok, I’m just going to stand here until I have everyone’s attention, I’m just going to wait,” and it was so interesting to see the students’ response. The on-task students were asking the distracted to pay attention and it honestly took no more than a minute to get everyone back on track. I would like to keep experimenting with different strategies to get and maintain the students’ attention; for example, my s.a. gave me a shaker today and I could develop a process with the students where the louder I have to shake the shaker, means they are too distracted and I need their full attention. At the end, I had students write me an exit slip to tell me how they are feeling about the unit so far – something they completely understand, something they find challenging, and something they really enjoy. Some students were hesitant at first, but I told them they could take their time and hand it in whenever they were ready because it would really help me as a teacher understand how they are learning. Again, I realized sometimes you just need to give students a simple but true explanation as to why you do certain things and they do honestly understand after.

I really enjoyed the first day and it was a really good start to the long-term practicum. It was so good to be back in the classroom and having been able to teach first thing was just a bonus! I look forward to the rest of the ten weeks and after being in the staff meeting today I can tell there is going to be so many extracurricular activities and events happening that time is just going to fly by!

Today’s math lesson began with a “Discuss the math” activity in pairs from the textbook. In terms of solving the word problem this activity went well; students understood the content. The students began the discussion of the solution, and I was able to help complete their explanations. As a result, we were able to reach a consensus on the answer. However, I observed that the manipulatives got a little distracting for the students. It was the first time I had brought in manipulatives into a math lesson. So, I need to go over the “rules” so to speak around using these items in my lessons. The students need to be told that these manipulatives have a purpose – to improve their understanding of the given mathematical content – and this is the purpose they should be used for. For the group that was completely distracted, I did go over to point out this idea. And by keeping near this group, they did improve their focus a little bit. Regardless, it was a couple of students from this group that ended up being distracted for a majority of the lesson. Therefore, next time I use manipulatives, I need to have a discussion with the students as a class to explain why I bring things like coins, or mosaic tiles into the math lesson.

For the two examples we worked on together, content wise this part went really well. Students were understanding the use of different diagrams – tables, tree diagrams, spider diagrams – to organize their outcomes. And how to further use these to answer leading questions like the total possible outcomes and the sample space. I made sure to include some tips as a way of offering different explanations; for example, pointing out an easy way to write out sample spaces with or without a diagram. Between each question I asked for any confusions and reminded students about the post-it notes I had given. This was also the first time I used these post-it notes so the students need some time to get used to them. And I plan to use them through a lot of my teaching in the different subjects. I ask them to keep the post-it note because their questions or concerns do not just need to come from the lesson time period. They may have something come up when they are at home or working on the assigned work. I also tried to frame the questions a little differently during these examples. For example, instead of just asking me “who knows the answer to _____” I tried asking “Who can explain what a tree diagram is to the rest of the class?” I feel like this kind of question may motivate more students to participate as the question is framed more as a demonstration of their knowledge. That is, it is more of a moment of pride, they get to demonstrate what they know. Again, while working on these examples, the same students mentioned above were quite distracted again. As a result, I found myself giving constant reminders to bring their attention back to the front. This is something I need to get comfortable doing, as my s.a. and I have discussed, having full attention from all students at all times is almost impossible. This is why I think the short brain break between the examples and the next word problem worked really well. I also thought it was really important to make sure that they actually got up to talk to someone from another table. This helped the distracted students calm down a bit and refocus. I thought this brain break worked better than a normal brain break because the break was still relevant – they had to speak about what they were learning. So, it was much easier to settle them back in and like I said they were actually more focused upon returning. When they came back to their seats, I asked for examples about what they talked about and I received input from almost each table group.

Coming back from the brain break, the students worked in pairs on the last “Show you know” word problem. And when we discussed the solution, there were no interruptions, and I did not have to ask for attention constantly. So, something I really thought about afterwards is how important it is to be able to change the lesson if for some reason there are interruptions – whether that is from distracted students or an external source. For example, just providing that small, yet relevant brain break. This is something my s.a. and I have spoken about in great detail. And sometimes it is not important to have the lesson go exactly as you planned; but rather, focus on addressing an issue that may become a larger concern. For example, maybe skipping out on a small portion of the math lesson may be okay to discuss a bigger idea like the importance of participation and attention in learning.

Related to this, student participation and accountability is something I really would like to focus on as I enter the long practicum. I discussed with my s.a. to maybe even change up the seating plan completely as I observed just one off-task student was distracting others in the table group. However, it was interesting to note that once I had asked that student to pay attention, his partner began participating and continued to participate throughout the entire lesson. In terms of the seating plan, we may need to discuss about the current seating plan being a privilege to be able to sit in a group with friends. Also, I plan to have a discussion about the importance of paying attention and participating. This is something I would like to incorporate into the class meeting as a variety of class topics are always discussed in these meetings. This is especially because I actually had students who were paying attention throughout the lesson come up to me and point out that certain students were not paying attention and it was “not nice.” Basically, I want to make it clear that one of my expectations is respect and this can be shown by simply just paying attention to not just me, but also peers. And if they are paying attention, they will be more likely to participate which will only benefit their learning. Lastly, something I noted on the performance checklist I completed with my s.a. was that I can use assessment as a way to set learning goals and motivate students. So, I plan to include this in my discussion on participation – so students know that their participation is crucial in their final grades. Another idea I had is creating an anchor chart of our discussion that can be kept up in class. That way, when I notice problematic behavior, I can point the child to the anchor chart as a reminder. For today’s circumstances, my s.a. actually spoke to some of the students individually as there has been some problematic behavior occurring this week. And sometimes this kind of private talk can be helpful for the students involved and it might be more likely to result in a solution.

The ending to the lesson was actually really interesting. I began to assign their homework questions. Some of the students noticed that I did not assign the last 3 problems. To my surprise, they asked if these problems could be assigned as well. I was more than happy to agree!

We also finished reading The Giver today. The students have been engaged in the read-aloud of this novel throughout. I learned a lot about novel studies through leading these read-alouds. First of all, students need to be asked a variety of questions. This means, not just basic recall questions, they get bored really quickly. Instead, I found I received the most input when I asked questions about their interpretations of what was happening in the novel. For example, asking, “how do you think Jonas feels knowing his brother is being released?” I was pleased to see a majority of the class raise their hands. In fact, I had to say, “I’ll get to all of you!” Another popular question was asking students to analyze why a character behaves or acts a certain way. Again, these kinds of questions allow for students’ opinions and a variety of answers. I also was able to improve my own teacher voice through these read-alouds. Specifically, I found myself getting better at using different tones to my voice as different events occurred in the novel. For example, I would stress my voice more when something really important was occurring, to emphasize. This novel had a variety of themes which were really applicable for this age-group and I definitely would use it again in the future!