November 28, 2013
Week Nine
Tuesday
The last day I was at Fratney, the class was doing workshops. There were a few stations that were set up where the kids were able to read, write, work on the computer, and I had a station as well. Every 15 minutes, I got a small group of students where I then went through my display board as a closure activity to review everything I had taught them throughout the lesson. Although it was fast paced, I was able to get through all the concepts with five minutes to spare. I gave them the remaining time to work on their last piece. Many of the student did not finish their drawings, however it was important that they understand the concepts if they were to finish them later on apply them later works.
As we went through the board, I showed the group pictures that matched a specific vocabulary word they had learned during the lesson. All of the pictures were in the slideshow I used as an aid while presenting my lesson, so they had seen all the images beforehand. As I showed them the pictures, I asked them to raise their hand if they thought they knew what vocabulary word matched the images and why. I gave them a moment to process the question and think of the answer where I then called on someone and asked the rest of the group if they agreed or disagreed. If anyone disagreed, I let them give their input and they reevaluated the choice. When the decision was made, I had the person that answered velcro the word to the pocket that matched the images. As more groups came, I was able to come up with a better process. As I only had groups of four or five, I ended up giving one word to each student and had them raise their hand if they thought their word matched the images. This allowed each student to participate in the activity and put a word up on the board, which they all wanted to do. As people raised their hands and chose a word to describe the images, some students were incorrect according to how I had arranged them, however some of the explanations justified their decision making and allowed for discussion, which I believe gave them a deeper understanding of the concepts and how they could be applied.
Because it was my last day, I received a gift from Mr. Manny and the class. It was a thank you book put together by the students. On the cover was a group picture of me with the class, and on each page of the book was a picture of the student, a hand decorated border, and a short paragraph thanking me and explaining what they learned from my lesson. I was amazed with all the things they put down! almost every student referenced at least one vocabulary word, and many of the students talked about their imagination, my big idea. It was so touching yet relieving to see that I made an impression of the class. I managed to expand their artistic knowledge and make it fun as well. It was a rewarding experience that taught me more than it taught the students!
As we went through the board, I showed the group pictures that matched a specific vocabulary word they had learned during the lesson. All of the pictures were in the slideshow I used as an aid while presenting my lesson, so they had seen all the images beforehand. As I showed them the pictures, I asked them to raise their hand if they thought they knew what vocabulary word matched the images and why. I gave them a moment to process the question and think of the answer where I then called on someone and asked the rest of the group if they agreed or disagreed. If anyone disagreed, I let them give their input and they reevaluated the choice. When the decision was made, I had the person that answered velcro the word to the pocket that matched the images. As more groups came, I was able to come up with a better process. As I only had groups of four or five, I ended up giving one word to each student and had them raise their hand if they thought their word matched the images. This allowed each student to participate in the activity and put a word up on the board, which they all wanted to do. As people raised their hands and chose a word to describe the images, some students were incorrect according to how I had arranged them, however some of the explanations justified their decision making and allowed for discussion, which I believe gave them a deeper understanding of the concepts and how they could be applied.
Because it was my last day, I received a gift from Mr. Manny and the class. It was a thank you book put together by the students. On the cover was a group picture of me with the class, and on each page of the book was a picture of the student, a hand decorated border, and a short paragraph thanking me and explaining what they learned from my lesson. I was amazed with all the things they put down! almost every student referenced at least one vocabulary word, and many of the students talked about their imagination, my big idea. It was so touching yet relieving to see that I made an impression of the class. I managed to expand their artistic knowledge and make it fun as well. It was a rewarding experience that taught me more than it taught the students!