Today was another short and busy day at CC. The morning was packed with morning meeting, followed by a math lesson on problem solving. I really enjoyed observing the math lesson, as Mrs. S had started with one problem on the board which the students had to discuss and come up with a solution for. It was interesting to see the thought processes of some of the students, and I made some detailed anecdotal observations on their thinking strategies. The students were learning about adding and subtraction problems, and what types of words to look for in these types of questions (i.e. take from, give, and altogether). Mrs. S used some coloured popsicle sticks and demonstrated what a “take-away” problem would entail. She held 10 in her hand and gave 5 away to another student. She then posed a question to the class- “If Mrs. S had 10 popsicle sticks and she gave 5 away, how many popsicle sticks would she have left?” This provided the students with a visual representation of a subtraction question, which helped students make a stronger connection with the question given in word form. There were some students who still struggled with the concept of “how many altogether,” which will be reviewed further in the following class. Mrs. S then gave the students a math problem solving worksheet, and most of them had a good understanding of what was being asked. However, if student’s were not sure and having further difficulties, she welcomed them back to the carpet to keep working on strategies to find the answer. I thought this was an important approach to take, rather than sending all the student’s back to their desks to work separately. For those who needed the extra help, they could choose to join on the carpet and work collectively on further strategies. This is definitely a great technique to use in further lessons!

After recess, students had gym period, and this gave Mrs. S and I some time to work on marking math and other items that needed to be caught up on. We then moved into the science lesson, which students focused on solids, liquids and gases. Mrs. S had a large jug of water and different sized cups and jars so the students could take turns filling the same amount of water in each. This was a great experiment, as it allowed for lots of predictions and educated guesses as to the amount of water that was poured in each jar. Students provided some very thoughtful hypothesis- stating that even though one jar is taller than another, there still is the same amount of water in each. Even though the volume looks more in a skinnier container, it is the same volume as a large, wide container. I was amazed at their ability to make such ‘on-point’ observations!

After lunch, students read for 15 minutes, and we then moved into my lesson on 3-D umbrella art. As it was the last class of the day, on a Thursday before a 4 day weekend, the classroom management was more difficult than expected. I read a story called “Ella’s Umbrellas” which was a really nice segway into the art lesson. During the reading, students were quite fidgety and I had to stop many times to wait. I have realized that the time of day greatly influences student behaviors. Mrs. S was specifically looking for behaviors and management during this observation, and it was really helpful to see her comments. It’s truly amazing what you miss when you are so focused on teaching the lesson. I’ve learned how important it is to continuously scan the class, and to wait. Waiting is so important, and I feel as though sometimes I am too focused on getting through the lesson and how much time is left to complete the task. It is reassuring when Mrs. S tells me that if the class is not focused at all at the end of the day, you sometimes needs to leave the lesson and give the students time to play or go outside for DPA. I am definitely going to take this into consideration when I have days where my management strategies don’t seem to be working as well as planned. Aside from some troubled behaviours during the read-aloud, students really enjoyed making the 3D art and the umbrellas look great so far! I am looking forward to completing them next class with the students!

Today was a very eventful and busy morning in Mrs. S’s classroom. We had a shortened day as we spent the last half observing grade 4 math students at another school. We were preoccupied preparing for Valentine’s Day activities before the start of class, making sure that all the student’s had their heart holders ready for Valentine’s mail delivery. The morning started off with our typical Morning Meeting, and we played some thumb ball games to finish off the lesson. The student’s love the thumb-ball game, and are beginning to understand the expectations that come along with playing. I find that repetition of rules are key, and to ask the students to repeat the expectations back to the teacher helps verify that the teacher knows the rules are clear to the students. I then modelled how the ball should be thrown (lightly and by calling the name of the person that the ball is being thrown to). I then took the students straight in to our art lesson, which started off with learning the Cupid Shuffle dance. I wanted to incorporate dance into the art lesson, as I feel DPA is extremely important, and is often overlooked on a daily basis. The dance also helped student’s understand direction of movement, and provided an outlet for creativity and expression. I felt that the students really enjoyed themselves, and were excited to perform in front of me without my guidance.

We then moved in to our lesson on directed-drawing of the Angel Kitty. For the most part, students did a good job of focusing, as I have been working on developing classroom management strategies. I feel as though the management is becoming easier as time passes, although there are some students that keep me extremely challenged. I am looking forward to learning more about how to help these particular children grow, and also to stand firm ground when they are misbehaving. Sometimes I give them too many opportunities to make the right choice, and need to show more control over the situation. I am also going to be working on providing more constructive feedback on student work, rather than making observations such as “great,” or “perfect.” At times, I feel that being as positive as possible is a natural response, but forget to provide detailed feedback on what aspects I like the most- I will definitely be more aware of this in future lessons. After our art lesson, during prep time, Mrs. S and I worked on creating a story with our weekly spelling words for the students. We then transitioned into a Valentine’s math worksheet (addition and subtraction). During this time, I worked with one of the students who typically struggles with focus, particularly in math. We looked at manipulatives instead of working on the math sheet provided, as this is the best method for his learning at this time. The students worked exceptionally well independently, and this gave me an opportunity to wonder around and assist those who also required extra attention. I have noticed that many students do not yet understand the “make-a-ten” strategy, which makes it difficult to add larger numbers such as 8+9. They currently use their rulers and number charts to help them “count on” from a number. In the coming weeks I will work towards developing a way for the students to understand further strategies that makes more sense. I feel as though some math strategies are too complex for students to grasp at this point- but we will continue to work on them!

At lunch, I handed out Valentine’s Day treats to the kids, and took off for the next session at Annieville! Until next week…

Today was a very busy day at CC. We had to run-through Morning Meeting session quite quickly as we were asked to watch the K class parade down the hall in their celebratory attire for Chinese New Year. Their outfits were fantastic and dragon face-masks were incredible! It is amazing to see how some of the classes work towards building diversity and appreciation for all cultures in the school community.

When the students settled back into the classroom, I assisted Mrs. S by giving the spelling test, as she worked one-on-one completing student assessment. They all did really well on the quiz! Surprisingly, there was not much stress related to the concept of having a “test.” I was worried about anxiety levels when I mentioned it was time to have our spelling test, but there was not much worry circulating the class- everyone did great. We then moved into our math session, where we worked on addition strategies which Mrs. S did a fantastic job of explaining. Today we focused specifically on “counting up” from the greater number (typically good for numbers, 1, 2 and 3), as well as “doubles.” I feel it is so important that these students have the ability to utilize these strategies at this age and beyond, as when I think back to my early my education, I never had these types of wonderful lessons/learning techniques. Math was always a struggle for me in school, and if these strategies were taught at that time, understanding the concepts would have been so much easier.

After recess, the students participated in “Jump Rope for Heart,” that was held in the gym. They all had a great time skipping with their buddy class. When the students arrived back in the classroom, they worked on spelling sheets and had time for centers. During centers, they worked on creating words with different objects (i.e. beach shells, dominos, plastic/washable colored plates). I enjoyed watching them create their letters in an assortment of ways (not just writing on a piece of paper). This activity allowed them to use their imagination in a creative fashion- making use of a multi-modal experience.

After lunch period, the students had 15 minutes of silent reading, and then one of boys had a race car book he wanted to read-aloud to the class. He is one of the lower readers in the class, but he did such an amazing job reading to his classmates, and took time to make sure the audience had viewed all the photos thoroughly! I felt that he gained so much confidence from this experience. Afterwards, I shared a Valentine’s story with the class, which all the students loved. We then moved into some social responsibility due to the bullying issues that have been ongoing in the classroom. We used a Second Step lesson that depicted a photo of a boy who wanted to play with his friend who was using building blocks. We spoke about the importance of body language, and how it can tell so much more than a person’s words. The student’s had great ideas about how to resolve the issue that the 2 boys were in, and learned the importance of sharing and trading. I felt this was a useful activity considering the classroom dynamics that have been a concern for both teachers and parents.

To conclude the day, Mrs. S gave an art lesson on creating heart holders for Valentine’s Day cards. The concept of the activity was for the students to create 3 animals made of hearts only (all body parts had to be created with hearts). The boys and girls had some great techniques and used lots of color. It was also extra special for me, as one of the students wrote on his Valentine heart that “I love you Miss. H, and you are the best teacher ever” 🙂 These are the moments that are definitely cherished the most as a student-teacher, especially when you are not having the best of days. Overall it was a great day, and I stayed late to help Mrs. S complete some marking. We are looking forward to Valentine’s week ahead!