Here I am writing a blog about someone other than my own teachers' lessons, all since my teacher left early this week for a reason I never found out. All I know is that she'll be getting home on Saturday! Anyway...
So a teacher came in on Tuesday and talked about safety, but also the big idea: personal space.
She first got the students' attention by sitting them all down on the rug. Then, she introduced them to the topic by asking them what they remember from the most recent assembly. Even when the children got the answer wrong, she was very patient and gave them the proper encouragement so that they still felt as if they had a good answer. She then keyed into the main point of it all, which was personal space.
She then read a story to the children about a boy who had a "personal space problem" and was sent to a personal space camp. During the middle of this story, she paused and had a volunteer to stand inside of a hoola hoop. She then asked how he felt about his "personal space bubble" and he was content. She then let about three more students join him inside the hoola hoop, but they were all still content and giggling about their situation. Finally, she let in about three more and the mood somewhat changed in the hoola hoop: the children began to feel less comfortable.
She then explained how personal space is something important to make sure that everyone is happy and feeling comfortable with their situation as she finished the story.
Overall, the kids remained engaged and then went to do a worksheet on it. It was also interesting because of how well the students pay attention to "guest teachers". At one point last week, I got the opportunity to read two books to the students. The entire time, all their focus was on me. I also had this same experience when I taught a lesson to a classroom last year in high school. The children are always very attentive. This really makes me wonder what it's like to have my own classroom: do the children at first respect you? When is it that they become more rowdy?
I think that this is why it's important to have your students really care about you: they never want to disappoint. I know for a fact that the children in my classroom care about me which is why they were so on task when I read to them.
Anyway, student aiding is going awesomely and I'm sad it's already halfway over!
I like that before your teacher told the students what the lesson was she got them thinking and had them come up with some ideas. I think it is important to get the students involved in what they are learning instead of just telling them what they are going to be doing. I feel it gets them involved and they feel like they are doing a little more then just busy work. I think it is interesting how she read a story related to the lesson plan which gave them background information on what they were learning. I think it is important when reading a story that you ask the students questions what she seemed to do. Good job and keep learning lots! :)
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the story, I think that was smart and a good way to get the students interested and help them better understand what the lesson is going to be about. Especially at a younger age, its important to keep their focus because they have such a low attention span. Sounds like you have been learning alot of new interesting things! :)
ReplyDelete