Hello again internet!
Weeks have been passing by so quickly and here I am already, doing my TWS unit for my class. I am so happy to be working with these students and teaching them about plants this week. Today was the first day of my unit and it went so well! I was extremely happy with the way everything went, and also the behavior in my kids during the lesson. Sometimes it is hard to go into a classroom that is not your own and be the teacher. The students will try to test you in every way that they think they can. Since I have been in the classroom for many weeks now I actually thought the behavior might be even worse for me than with a teacher they had never met before, because I am not the main enforcer of the punishments in my classroom, my cooperating teacher is. Of course when I have the class to myself I am on top of behavior and I enforce it, but that is not a lot of the time I am given the opportunity to be the main teacher like that. So today when I got up in front of the class and I did not have to speak to any one of them consistently, that was a great feeling. This means that during the times that I did have the class to myself, I kept stern, and I kept in charge. It is extremely important for me to have good behavior in my classroom and for me to be on top of all the tactics I should be using. I have always been afraid of being too nice, and having my classroom get out of control. This semester, and my cooperating teacher especially have taught me to become that strong figure in the front of a class. Still the fun teacher, but one you respect, not someone that lets you get away with things.
I had done a pre-assesment about a two weeks ago for my students about plants and what they needed to grow. In the pre-assesment I conducted an interview asking my students what they knew about plant's needs. A majority of my students could think of two or three out of the five things I want them to know, so they needed some work. During the pre-assesment, becuase I did it individually, I took the time to explain to them the needs of a plant that they had not already told me. Today in class I was so impressed what I did my KWL chart that out of my twelve students, they were able to think of all five needs. Of course a majority of my students still need more instruction with these needs, but to know that the pre-assesment stuck with some of my kids was a great thing to see.
The song that I worked with them on was such a hit, and I plan to use it through out the week for reinforcement. I would love to use songs all the time in my own classroom, i think that it is such a great way to memorize facts and concepts, and it is also a fun way to get kids on task and learning.
I cant wait to keep going through the week and see what my kids will bring to the table next! Bring it on TWS! :)
