Today was an eventful day- I started off by leading the Morning Meeting and had the chance to incorporate some of my music pedagogy into our session. The kids loved it! I was a bit nervous at first because I am not overly confident with my singing voice. However, our instructor at UBC mentioned that it is best to start bringing song into class activities as soon as possible so it makes the TC feel less awkward (she was right)! I also had the chance to work in a reading group and partake in some assessment. The students were evaluated on their ability to read a “biography” -specifically on children’s book author, Robert Munsch. This allowed the students to focus on the purpose of biographies, and how to tell a recount (using words in the past tense). Once the students read the story silently, we all took turns reading out loud. For the most part, the students were well behaved and focused- lots of great ideas and examples were given.

After recess, we had the opportunity to listen to the Seaquam band play in the gym. It was amazing to see how attentive the students were- no management needed! We then worked together with Mrs. S’s Kindergarten class to celebrate Chinese New Year. We always love visiting the buddy class, as the teacher has an amazing inquiry approach that she incorporates into their learning. For the Chinese New Year celebration, each student made a section of the tail for the dragon display that will be featured on the hall wall. The students used glue and colored paper mache to create their masterpieces, and they all turned out wonderfully! I have noticed that when students are enjoying what they are working on, little management is needed- if any. After art, we went back to the class and worked on printing until the bell. Mrs. S realized that printing has been neglected lately with all the exciting projects that are ongoing, so we spent a lesson working on proper printing technique.

Mrs. S explained after class that there has been some bullying problems going on within our division, and that she has organized a few meetings with some of the parents. I was able to sit in on one of them, and was able to learn more about how to deal with these types of “icky” situations. There are many strong, egocentric personalities in the class, and they seem to be clashing at this point in time. It was interesting to hear how Mrs. S handled each situation, and she asked one of the students to prepare a plan on how to change his behavior for the next day. Another notable observation is the parent dynamics of those involved. One of the parents did not seem to be overly concerned with what was happening, and felt that “boys will be boys.” On the other hand, another parent was extremely frustrated and angered by the actions of her son. These types of issues that arise are definitely aspects that need to be dealt with as a teacher (quickly and firmly), and I am lucky enough, in a sense, to be able to observe how these situations are handled. Although many say my class is one of the most difficult to deal with, I am thankful that I get the opportunity to see the entire spectrum of what can potentially happen in the classroom setting.

Looking forward to another great week ahead! 🙂

Today we had a TOC in who graduated from the UBC program last year- it was great to have the chance to observe her, and she also provided me with the ability to take on more throughout the day. During morning meeting, I had some students that were having difficulty with their behavior, so I began to incorporate/practice some techniques that I learned in our classroom management seminar. I was using touch and the “teacher stare,” to help guide the students if I felt they were off track, and it did help to some degree. It was also “Super Hero Day,” so the face masks became a problem at times, in which I had to take them away until recess. Before Mrs. D, our counselor, came in to read us a story on social responsibility, I had the chance teach some DPA as well as visualization. I brought in a thumb ball and the students loved it! This one in particular has different actions that students must perform (i.e. “Kick a soccer ball,” “Shoot a hockey puck,” “Sink a basketball”). These are all great actions for a brain break/to get the students active. After this, we had some extra time before our story, so I took the students through a breathing & visualization lesson. I asked them to find a special place in their imagination that makes them feel happy and safe. For some of the students, they really enjoyed the exercise and I could tell that they were able to get into the activity. However, for some of the boys, they did not pay attention and acted silly. Next time I will talk more about mindfulness before I begin, and to lay out some strategies in finding that happy place- perhaps this might help them maintain green-zone behavior.

During recess, I saw some amazing things happening on the playground. The primary students had formed a large circle around 3 girls skipping jump rope. It took me back to when I was that age, and the song they sung while jumping was one I could remember skipping to. There must have been more than 30 students standing and cheering/singing the jump rope song. The way they interacted was interesting, as it took some time for them to organize who would be the next in line to jump. Myself and the other teachers on recess duty were watching attentively as they sorted out their differences and worked on decision-making. There was a few times where there was some shouting and arguing, but we decided to step back and let them resolve their issues. It was a wonderful experience to see the formation of a community, and their ability to mediate among themselves.

I also had the opportunity to go work with one of our students who requires extra assistance in the learning center. I enjoyed observing how patient the teacher was with the student, but also how she was strict in keeping him focused. They worked on letter sounds and symbol recognition. There was also a great IPad game that he played to reinforce the words that were previously learned. I enjoyed being able to work along-side the EA.

For the remainder of the afternoon, students worked on a mental-math strategies worksheet. It was difficult for many of them to put their strategies into words- many of them said that they “just knew how to do the math in their brain, and couldn’t explain it.” I thought this was a good way to help students gather their thoughts about mental math, so they are able to share the process of how they come up with the answer. I find this essential to math, as most students will just memorize the method and will not be able to explain why. Times have definitely changed since I went to school!

Another observation that I have made during class is the over-use of needing ice for injuries after PE. During most classes, students are “injured,” and need to go to the office so they can get ice. It seems as though they have been abusing this lately, and are requesting ice just because others need it. I am curious about how to monitor this, and to know when it is being carried away. I do not want to stop a student from getting ice if they are injured, especially if it is a sincere injury. However, I believe the use of it is being manipulated.

Overall, it was a great day with lots of hands-on experience, and I am looking forward to working with Ms. T again- she was great and had amazing insight!

Today’s class was an interesting day full of inquiry! It was so nice to finally see the magic that inquiry brings to a class. After I took the students through morning meeting, they moved into math lesson, where Mrs. S was teaching them about concrete graphs and pictographs. Mrs. S wanted them to discover the difference between the 2 types, so she asked the students to take off their shoes and place them into categories (black, white, or coloured). This gave the students the ability to determine what a pictograph was (using uniform, representative pictures to depict quantities of objects or people). The students really enjoyed taking their shoes off and putting them into specific categories that related to its color. I thought this was a great approach to take, as students were more engaged with understanding the concepts. This was a lot more meaningful than simply giving out a worksheet on the different types of graphs. The students also broke up into groups in order to discuss differences with the rest of their classmates.

During the latter part of the day, the students engaged in a wonderful activity of learning how to build an igloo! This is part of the matter unit, where students will eventually build an igloo out of empty milk cartons. It will take over 150 cartons to make, so we are starting to collect as many as possible for the class. This is so exciting for the students to participate in, and even thrilling for the teachers! However, before the class igloo is made, the students were to work in partners and create their own igloo out of sugar cubes. Mrs. S wanted them to explore, and gave minimal directions on how to build the igloo (other than a photo of one posted at the front of the class). I thought this was such a great experience for all the students, and encompassed the “big idea” concept. Mrs. S and I had a clipboard and walked around making observations of how the students were interacting with each other- it was truly amazing to see what was constructed. The ability to let the class go and explore enabled little need for class management (they fit naturally into the environment of which they were working in). This activity was also cross curricular- exploring math (counting sugar cubes), science (the study of matter), as well as relationship/community building (creating a safe environment to work in). It was a great experience to sit with the students and listen to their ideas and to watch their creativity. I am really looking forward to helping the students create their igloo made of milk cartons!

After class, I helped Mrs. S with some marking, and we chatted more about the first unit that I will be teaching. I will be taking on Science as the first unit- focusing on the “Environment”. I am looking forward to this, as I am very passionate about Geography. It will give me a great starting place to develop an inquiry-based approach for long practicum.

It was so nice to be back in Mrs. S’s classroom after the winter break. The class started off with greetings from all the students, and I was able to chat with them about their vacation and what they enjoyed most. They were excited to tell me all about their presents from Santa, and their lovely trips to places like Hawaii and Taiwan. After 15 minutes of morning book-work, we moved straight into calendar/morning meeting session. Mrs. S requested to teach this round, just so she could provide me with another opportunity to observe her style, as she had made some alterations to stimulate the students minds even further. She incorporated more mental math (skip counting by 5’s and 10’s) with the calendar, as well as mad-minute math. Mrs. S got the students to call out answers to a variety of questions such as 4+3, 4+4, 4+5, and so on. I thought this was an important aspect to bring into calendar, as it challenges students in a less-anxiety driven manner. Having the rest of the class blurt out the answer decreases stress for many, rather than being asked on the spot. It also tests their working memory as they do not have rulers or math charts to assist them. I found this morning calendar to be a lot more stimulating as a result of implementing more math concepts. In addition, Mrs. S also incorporated music dynamics, such as forte (loud) and piano (soft)- where the students had a choice to sing the days of the week in rhythm or beat using a dynamic of their choice. I loved how a concept such as morning meeting can tie in a wide variety of subject areas such as math and music. I also believe that the class pledge is extremely essential, as it provides for a great sense of community and social responsibility.

Today I also payed particular attention to how the new fidget toys were working for the students. The toys are small circular-rings that slide easily over the finger. Some of the boys were taking advantage of the fidget toys, and at times was causing too much of a disturbance rather than helping them remain calm and self-regulated throughout the lesson. I do believe that the idea of having something to fidget with is a great way of reducing stress and can help focus the child, but from what I have been noticing in the class, it is creating the opposite effect. There is less attention being focused on learning, and more attention focused on the toy. I’m curious to know more about the concept of fidget toys, and what results are being shown by the use of them to date in the classroom. There has also been some arguments over who is getting the fidget toys, as there are only 3 of the rings available. Some of the students are beginning to get frustrated that they have yet to have a turn. There is definitely some ground rules that still need to be applied.

During math period, Mrs. S started up a “Passion Project” with the students, which allows them to discover more about a particular animal that they are interested in. I thought this was such a wonderful way of incorporating the big idea approach of discovering personal interests and curiosities within that. This project is also working across subject areas, as Mrs. S taught the students how to develop a graph/table. This is a learning outcome that is required of the students this year, and she was able to masterfully incorporate this math component, as well as an ongoing science and socials component of the project. The students will learn about their favorite animals habitat, how it interacts with the landscape, as well as how it compares with two other animals of their choosing. It was interesting to hear the animal choices that the students picked, and some in fact overlapped. There were 3 students with an interest in learning about penguins, while 2 wanted to learn about monkeys, etc. This gave Mrs. S a window of opportunity to teach more about what a graph is, and the different subheadings/categories that you can place within these graphs. It was impressive to hear what variations of subgroups the students came up with. In particular, one was if the animal lived on land, at sea, or in the sky. This was a great way to start of the Passion Project unit!

During the afternoon, I was about to read the students a story called “Bike on Bear,” which they adored. The theme of the story is to persevere through any obstacle that you come across- to keep trying! This moral was specifically helpful for our final art activity of the day, which the students were working on “blotting” techniques with paint brushes. The students were to create a snow scene with a snow man, which required them to use white paint to blot down on their blue pieces of paper. Some students became frustrated at the technique, and quickly started to “paint” in strokes. Both myself and Mrs. S reminded the students that it takes patience and time to really understand how to blot with a paint brush, and to work towards creating a visual that is strictly blotted. It was amazing what they accomplished! They left the images to dry over-night so they could add more details the following day. I am definitely looking forward to how they turned out next week!

At the end of the day we also worked on some outdoor precision jumping called “Parkour.” This is an amazing activity that requires agility and a high level of jumping, running, leaping, and vaulting. Luckily, with my background in volleyball and other sports, I was about to help Mrs. S instruct the students on how to get the best momentum for explosion through a precision jump. Students were also asked to help each other if they were unsure of proper techniques involved (using a great deal of scaffolding). This was a lot of fun, and the kids enjoyed. Mr. J also caught a glimpse of our parkour jumps, and he hopes to participate with us next time!

The day flew by, but I continue to learn so much from Mrs. S. We stayed to chat about my inquiry question, and also about lesson planning for when I start long-practicum. We are both looking forward to working with each other more, and I am so thrilled to have such amazing support from her. The resources she provides are incredibly helpful, and are always so appreciated.

Until next week…

Today I had the opportunity to visit my grade 2 class before winter vacation. Mrs. S allowed me to come in to spend the day, as I had been away sick for the past 2 weeks. It was so nice to be back in the classroom, and I could tell how much the students missed me. They even made me a get-well place-mat on my desk! 🙂 Once I greeted the students at the door, I got lots of hugs and they were all excited that it was finally Friday, the day before break. The students came in and exchanged some gifts for the teachers and other classmates. We started off with the morning meeting, which I taught. It was a bit difficult for the kids to get settled, as they were all looking forward to the afternoon movie in the gymnasium. Once show and tell was over, the students worked on a math sheet which included using their calendar chart. They had to find the missing numbers which included using a lot of good mental math strategies. I have noticed that many of the students ask for extra assistance during math class, and have a difficult time being patient for myself or Mrs. S to assist them. Next time I will reinforce the importance of asking their partners for help while they wait, so they can work on scaffolding each other’s learning (quietly though, of course)!

After recess, I read the students a story called “Daddy Christmas, and Hanukkah Mamma.” I specifically picked this story because we have a Jewish boy in our class, and the rest of the students celebrate Christmas. I also thought it was important for the other students to learn more about the Jewish holiday. By incorporating these two traditions into a storybook, the students became more aware of different celebrations that occur around the same time as the Christmas holiday. The students enjoyed the story, and the boy who celebrates Hanukkah was especially excited to elaborate on what the story entailed. After the story, the students worked on their winter landscape pictures, where they learned how to use different green colors to shade in trees. It is great to see how talented so many of the students are in drawing and painting- there are definitely some artists in the making!

During the lunch break, I brought the students some Christmas-themed donuts from Tim Hortons, and they loved it! There were almost too many treats going around and the kids were jumping off the walls! Mrs. S and I also had some time to exchange Christmas gifts and enjoyed coffee. When the bell rang, students lined up to go to the gym where all the grades watched “Inside-Out.” This gave Mrs. S and I lots of time to take down Christmas decorations around the class, and we changed the desks around for a fresh start come January! We got lots done in the time that the students were in the gym, and we gave out some presents as they left for the day. It was great that I was able to join in for the day before Christmas vacation, and it was also very helpful for Mrs. S. I can’t wait to see my students again after the break!