This week went off to a great start because the first thing I noticed on Monday morning when I got into the classroom was that our sunflowers had finally germinated!! It was only day 7 and every single persons sunflower was about three centimeters tall! I was so excited for the kids to come and witness it because it sure put a big smile on my face! They had grown so fast over the weekend. I let the students crowd around it for a couple of minutes to enjoy the beauty of the seedlings and the day went well from then on. By the end of the week, the sunflowers had grown another 5 centimeters.

For this week’s observation, I was observed on a science lesson for the very first time. Math and Mindup are usually the lessons I get observed on because they would fit into the schedule best but science fit for this week’s schedule. The lesson went well but I did notice that I talked and asked too many questions for a long period of time. Although the questions were relevant and important, I could have done it differently by using pair-share or changing up the activities to get the students more engaged. With my group of kids, they always need to be doing some hands-on work and should be changing activities every 15 or so minutes in order to stay on task and not wind down. This is the same advice my FA gave me on our debriefing period after my lesson. She also said to try and include brain breaks after reading a long story like I did. Although the kids may be engaged in the story, they are still sitting for a long period of time. There is always room for improvement in every lesson and although at the time it’s hard to realize that your lesson is not going exactly how you wanted it, one often realizes this later on or even right after it’s done! I am so glad for this opportunity to learn and grow from every lesson and be creative and change things around in order to adapt every lesson to the needs of my students. I look forward to next week where I will be teaching 100% although it is very nerve-wracking. I am also worried because my SA won’t be there the entire week so I hope that it is not too overwhelming not just for me but for the students as well. I am hopeful that everything will go smoothly 🙂