Observation Journal Entry #15
Mar. 18th, 2013 05:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aelfie Monday, today is a short day...but a BUSY one.
After 30 minutes of jump rope jumping we headed back up the hill. I was attacked by an extreme case of nervous bladder and ran ahead of the class and took care of the problem. And still managed to beat them to lining up. I shook hands with everyone and we all went inside. Ms. R got the class settled and then told the class that I was going to run the rest of the morning lesson and let me loose.
Review: I decided (with Ms. R's approval) to pull the last three weeks of discussions into a review. Basic topic, what can we say about the geography, history, and culture of the Southern US? In some cases it was pulling teeth. Some students were forthcoming with information, I asked others to elaborate or speculate on something their classmate just said, some I specifically asked questions. Some were not willing to enter the conversation and I targeted them specifically. For instance, when talking about the crops the South is known for I asked the student who's been studying Florida if he could tell that class what crop does most Americans drink each morning for breakfast. The light over his head went off and he answered "Orange juice!" I then asked him to share with the class the fun fact that we discovered about orange juice and "that other juice" He remembered and looked quite proud of himself afterwards. Unfortunately his head went back to the table. I was torn because I wanted to pull him into the conversation, but I knew that he had already had what seemed an emotional morning and that his head on the desk was his withdrawing to recompose himself. I decided that for now it had been enough. Although he did respond when I directly prompted him later in the discussion of culture.
What was hard was drawing them out. Most seemed uninterested in the conversation. Heads on desks, fussing with fingernails, staring off into space. I tried to utilize the map to prompt questions and comments. But honestly the conversation felt...well...dead. There were a few high points...which was nice....but I'm thinking I should have done something more active for them to do for the recall. Maybe I was expecting too much for a discussion. I keep forgetting that not everyone has my memory.
Do: Dictation. I've not seen a dictation before. I've never done a dictation before. I needed prompting from Mrs. R on this. I wrote a draft last week and sent it to her for approval over the weekend. Ms. R gave me a thumbs up, so off we went. Paper for everyone (lined paper for a draft). I didn't shy away from big words in my paragraph, and I expected to be spending time with spelling. I told them to ask if they needed help spelling something. First, I read the paragraph. Then started with the first sentence, breaking it into two parts. It took me awhile to figure out that I was going to fast. I started walking between the desks and looking at where the students were. Some kept up just fine (and their drafts are covered in doodles), and others needed more time. So I kept slowing down considerably. I'd read a whole sentence and then break it up for them to write down.
When someone asked how to spell something I did it at the board, asking them to try first, prompting the next sound or saying "not that sound...this sound", trying a different pronouciation to prompt an idea (i.e. fur-tle vs. fir-tile (Long I)), if they got stuck, I asked if anyone else had an idea. They did quite well. And the ones who aren't the greatest spellers seemed to be okay with the way I went over that.
The dictation took about as much time as I though it would, but even then I ended up being done 5 minutes before I had planned.
Then Ms. R jumped in to help with the silly state song and that filled in the 5 minutes! Yes! (I had all but the last verse memorized, it's really a cute song and I've had it stuck in my head all week)
New: History of Washington DC.
You know something? It's EASY to tell a fairy tell in a way that's exciting and fun. I'm struggling with history. Which is SAD because I LOVE history!!! On top of it, my undergraduate degree is in history. Maybe it's because I didn't find the history of the city as fascinating as other things. I found some aspects of it different, and new, and wait? Really? Honestly? But the history of a city seems to be one of those things that tends to break down to the most boring aspect of history. Names, places, dates. Blech. Yuck...how boring! But I did find several pictures of the city's history that either was interesting or touching. The children got quite quiet and grave when I described the "I have a dream" speech. I told them I would not repeat it, because I could not do it justice. I'm thinking maybe now, I should have tried. But I think I touched them with the image of 250,000 people, gathering for the demand of equal rights of all, man or woman, black or white. With the dream that we would all receive equal treatment of both the letter and the spirit of the law.
I finished up about 10 minutes short. Which actually worked out because I brought my Washington DC scrapbook. I made a week long trip there in January 1989 as a field trip and showed them some of the pictures, explained some of the things I saw, and showed them some of the souveners. I then left the book for them to peruse the rest of the day as I leave right after recess on Mondays.
I think it went well, and I think the bit at the end when I talked about my experience REALLY got their attention. Lots of questions and LOTS of energy. While I was talking...they were quiet. A few questions and comments, but it seemed they were zoned. So there was a big contrast in the two sections of the discussion. Now to figure out how to get that connection and excitement during the story part.
Cool thing! I've got homework to correct! Woot! I know this excitement won't last, but it really makes me feel like a teacher!
Plant Update!
After 30 minutes of jump rope jumping we headed back up the hill. I was attacked by an extreme case of nervous bladder and ran ahead of the class and took care of the problem. And still managed to beat them to lining up. I shook hands with everyone and we all went inside. Ms. R got the class settled and then told the class that I was going to run the rest of the morning lesson and let me loose.
Review: I decided (with Ms. R's approval) to pull the last three weeks of discussions into a review. Basic topic, what can we say about the geography, history, and culture of the Southern US? In some cases it was pulling teeth. Some students were forthcoming with information, I asked others to elaborate or speculate on something their classmate just said, some I specifically asked questions. Some were not willing to enter the conversation and I targeted them specifically. For instance, when talking about the crops the South is known for I asked the student who's been studying Florida if he could tell that class what crop does most Americans drink each morning for breakfast. The light over his head went off and he answered "Orange juice!" I then asked him to share with the class the fun fact that we discovered about orange juice and "that other juice" He remembered and looked quite proud of himself afterwards. Unfortunately his head went back to the table. I was torn because I wanted to pull him into the conversation, but I knew that he had already had what seemed an emotional morning and that his head on the desk was his withdrawing to recompose himself. I decided that for now it had been enough. Although he did respond when I directly prompted him later in the discussion of culture.
What was hard was drawing them out. Most seemed uninterested in the conversation. Heads on desks, fussing with fingernails, staring off into space. I tried to utilize the map to prompt questions and comments. But honestly the conversation felt...well...dead. There were a few high points...which was nice....but I'm thinking I should have done something more active for them to do for the recall. Maybe I was expecting too much for a discussion. I keep forgetting that not everyone has my memory.
Do: Dictation. I've not seen a dictation before. I've never done a dictation before. I needed prompting from Mrs. R on this. I wrote a draft last week and sent it to her for approval over the weekend. Ms. R gave me a thumbs up, so off we went. Paper for everyone (lined paper for a draft). I didn't shy away from big words in my paragraph, and I expected to be spending time with spelling. I told them to ask if they needed help spelling something. First, I read the paragraph. Then started with the first sentence, breaking it into two parts. It took me awhile to figure out that I was going to fast. I started walking between the desks and looking at where the students were. Some kept up just fine (and their drafts are covered in doodles), and others needed more time. So I kept slowing down considerably. I'd read a whole sentence and then break it up for them to write down.
When someone asked how to spell something I did it at the board, asking them to try first, prompting the next sound or saying "not that sound...this sound", trying a different pronouciation to prompt an idea (i.e. fur-tle vs. fir-tile (Long I)), if they got stuck, I asked if anyone else had an idea. They did quite well. And the ones who aren't the greatest spellers seemed to be okay with the way I went over that.
The dictation took about as much time as I though it would, but even then I ended up being done 5 minutes before I had planned.
Then Ms. R jumped in to help with the silly state song and that filled in the 5 minutes! Yes! (I had all but the last verse memorized, it's really a cute song and I've had it stuck in my head all week)
New: History of Washington DC.
You know something? It's EASY to tell a fairy tell in a way that's exciting and fun. I'm struggling with history. Which is SAD because I LOVE history!!! On top of it, my undergraduate degree is in history. Maybe it's because I didn't find the history of the city as fascinating as other things. I found some aspects of it different, and new, and wait? Really? Honestly? But the history of a city seems to be one of those things that tends to break down to the most boring aspect of history. Names, places, dates. Blech. Yuck...how boring! But I did find several pictures of the city's history that either was interesting or touching. The children got quite quiet and grave when I described the "I have a dream" speech. I told them I would not repeat it, because I could not do it justice. I'm thinking maybe now, I should have tried. But I think I touched them with the image of 250,000 people, gathering for the demand of equal rights of all, man or woman, black or white. With the dream that we would all receive equal treatment of both the letter and the spirit of the law.
I finished up about 10 minutes short. Which actually worked out because I brought my Washington DC scrapbook. I made a week long trip there in January 1989 as a field trip and showed them some of the pictures, explained some of the things I saw, and showed them some of the souveners. I then left the book for them to peruse the rest of the day as I leave right after recess on Mondays.
I think it went well, and I think the bit at the end when I talked about my experience REALLY got their attention. Lots of questions and LOTS of energy. While I was talking...they were quiet. A few questions and comments, but it seemed they were zoned. So there was a big contrast in the two sections of the discussion. Now to figure out how to get that connection and excitement during the story part.
Cool thing! I've got homework to correct! Woot! I know this excitement won't last, but it really makes me feel like a teacher!
Plant Update!