Engaging Class

Engaging Class

Our class has been studying a lot about plants recently. The teacher I work under has been going over parts of the plants, advantages of growing them, and how to grow them. In order to really input this lesson into their minds, the teacher has decided to start a garden. This week she took them on a walk through the garden area of the school. She taught them during this time about the envirmornt, climate, and best locations and times to start the garden. The class decided to start growing bell peppers and herbs. 

Another time, our class was having a hard time following the rules during lunch time. The teacher had tried talking to them, rewarding only the good behavior ect., but nothing seemed to be working. In order to show them the way they were behaving was not correct, her and I preformed a skit showing the bad behavior and asking what we were doing wrong. The children responded positively to the skit identifying all of the wrong behavior. That day during lunch, they acted exemplary during lunch time. 

A couple of months we studied fish. This month we are took a field trip to the Living Planet Aquarium. The children loved looking at fish and identifying the part of the fish and the types swimming around. This was a great way for them to apply the knowledge they learned. 

The teacher was giving a spelling lesson. The lesson to me was really boring, I even fell asleep in it... The lesson just consisted of going over the spelling words. Thats it. If I had been giving the lesson, I think I would have added an element of fun to the lesson. No one really likes spelling anyways. It could have been really fun to have incorporated shaving cream. While teaching the new words, if the children could have spelt them in shaving cream rather than just writing the in their writing books, they could have been more engaged and having more fun. 

Blog #3

Evaluation of the Teacher

• Describe a time your cooperative teacher has offered choice to students. 

There was a time that a little boy did not want to chose to do anything. So the teacher gave him choice, he could do what he was suppose to, or she could send a note home to his parents. The little boy chose to do his work, rather than receive a consequence.

• What does the cooperative teacher do to encourage a positive classroom community?  

The teacher I work with starts everyday with time on the line. While on the line she discusses important matters with the children, and the expectations of the day. Sometimes at the end of the day the class goes back to line, if they go back, the teacher gives acknowledgements to children who have done something great during the day. When she is finished she allows the students to also acknowledge students that they have seen doing something awesome. 

• What clear routines are established in the classroom?  How do they support a productive learning environment?

The classroom where I volunteer has a established routine. The children arrive at school, they sign in, mark whether they have school lunch or home lunch, they they get started on their work. They work until 11:30, Clean up, get their shoes, do their jobs, and eat lunch. After lunch they go to recess, and after recess they get to do a special activity (library, art, music, theatre, etc...) When they finish hat, they read for the last few minutes of class. And then they go home. I think routines are very important in the classroom. It helps the children to know what to expect, and I think that consistency is a great way for a child to feel comfortable in a classroom.