This week we focused on classroom management, science process skills, and the closing of the lesson. Classroom management is something that I think will take some time to get comfortable with. The students in our class are really good and tend to behave very well. Sometimes they get really excited and want to share more with each other when we need their attention back, and that's where I think I need to work a little bit on developing confidence in gaining their attention. The classroom teacher has some cues like "One, two, three, eyes on me!" or the clapping pattern that work well. Classroom management is another area where having a coteacher is great- Alisha and I can both walk around the room to answer questions and check in with groups, so no one has to wait too long and lose focus.
The science process skill we focused on this week was observation. We have worked on this before with the class, but today was the first day they got their caterpillars so we thought it was important for them to get a good look at them. The students used hand lenses to get a close up view of the caterpillars, and they all recorded their observations through writing and drawing. A lot of students labeled their pictures with the parts of the caterpillars that they could see, which shows that they were making some good observations.
With so much observing and discussion going on, it seems like the class flies by. Alisha and I try to set aside the last five to ten minutes for a class discussion. Each day the students write an answer to the key question as a kind of "exit slip" for the day. Having the students write down answers helps bring them back around to our focus question. We give as many students time to share as we can, and help bridge together their ideas to make sure we've really answered the key question.
All in all, I think this week's lesson was successful. The students were happy to adopt the caterpillars into their classroom, and hopefully the caterpillars will thrive in their new home.
It sounds like you have a great class! The snow storm could have easily thrown us all off (especially if the caterpillars developed quickly!) but luckily they were still caterpillars on Monday! I loved seeing out students faces when we told them about the creatures! As for your students remembering science from two weeks ago, thats impressive! It really tells something about how you and Alisha interact with the kids. I agree that coteaching is a great classroom management tool. I also think that the group of students that we work with is so well behaved that we're lucky that our biggest issue is that they all want to share their ideas! The students were excited to use the hand lenses to observe the caterpillars, and i think this excitement made them more eager to write down/draw what they saw. Having the students write responses to the key questions every lesson is a great way to bring the focus back to that idea. It sounds like you and Alisha are doing a great job!
ReplyDeleteI also agree that co-teaching is a great class management tool. I don't know how I would be able to manage 25 students working in groups spread across the room by myself. Sounds like you have a good class but that you also work well together and are successfully teaching content and observation skills. Great job!
ReplyDeleteLindsay, I agree with both you and Katelyn the storm could have been disastrous to our lesson but thankfully they were still caterpillars Monday! I think I was just as excited as the kids to see the Caterpilars on Monday; I can't wait to see how much they have grown. As a few of us mentioned the other day, I wish that we thought to keep a couple of the extra caterpillars to see their progress and to plan our lessons accordingly. I am hoping that we are able to time our future lessons appropriately.
ReplyDeleteOur class also response well to the one, two, three all eyes on me approach. It is so cute when they call back one, two eyes on you. As both you and Arlette mentioned, having a co-teacher can be a blessing for classroom management and can very helpful if you want to give students additional one-on-one attention and support.