During Communication Technology and Education class prior to practicum we discussed the importance and disadvantages that technology has within the classroom. Based on this class and the idea that technology has a place in the classroom, I have planned three lessons that utilize technology. During the magnets unit to help explain SLO #2 I utilized the interactive whiteboard. Anther lesson that I utilized the interactive whiteboard was lesson #5. Both of these lessons incorporated the same technology; however, the tasks the students participated in where slighting different. To explain SLO #2 I had a couple students come up and circle where magnets were located in particular pictures and during lesson #5 all students came up and voted on a line whether they wanted, may have wanted/ not wanted, or didn't want a cell phone tower at all in the courtyard of the school. These two lessons demonstrated two different activities that utilized the interactive whiteboard. IPads, are another form of technology that I have incorporated into my lessons. I utilized iPads by having the students search "magnets in everyday life" and draw a picture about a magnet used in everyday life that resonated with them. I felt that it was important to incorporate these different forms of technology do to the impact technology has on students today. I also noted in the first couple of days being there that they do use both form of technology so helping reinforce this form of learning in the environment is important for the students.
On Thursday, I did an art lesson with my grade 2's. This was something very different for me, I wasn't 100% sure what I was going to teach in an Art lesson. I really wanted to relate it back to something that they were learning about already. Thinking about what they were doing I decided to do an art lesson using magnets. In science we had just covered what materials are attracted to magnets and what materials are not. So I planned a lesson that had the students paint using an object that is attracted to a magnet on a plate and creating the master piece with their magnet underneath. The students really enjoyed this concept and were engaged in trying to manipulate an object in their paint with a magnet. This was an interesting lesson that had me look close to the Program of Studies, which for Art I had never looked at before.
I believe that as a teacher it is important to include the students community and their lives outside of school. More often then not what we teacher in the classroom we can relate to the students surroundings. With this belief I thought it would be valuable to do a magnet lesson around some current event. As I was looking through the Edmonton Public School resources I saw that magnets get injected into cows. I thought this would be something interesting that I could teach the students but I was having trouble thinking of how this would relate to the students real life. My teacher associate gave me a letter that she received from Telus regarding the cell phone tower proposal that is being voted on within the city. I thought this would be perfect, it is current it is happening in the city, and possible in some of the students community. With this idea the lesson was created, I had the students vote on whether they wanted it with knowledge that they had, then we came up with pro and cons the tower as and then the class did a final vote. Throughout this lesson the students were engaged, they were energized because it was relevant to them it impacted them. As a new teacher I think that current event or linking our lessons to our students current life is important because it will resonate with our students because it means something.
Reflecting on my first lesson I found that I didn't use very many questioning strategies. Following this lesson and over the first couple of week I have been trying to incorporate different questioning styles within my lessons. Throughout my lessons I have used:
1) Finger 1-5 for understanding 1= Don't understand and 5= Understand (Lesson #1: Introduction to Magnets) 2) Popsicle sticks (Lesson #3: Where magnets are used in the world and why?) 3) For question that are more yes or no and agree or disagree using Thumbs up and Thumbs down. (Lesson #2: Attracted vs. Non- Attracted Materials) 4) Wait-time (Lesson #3: Where magnets are used in the world, and why?) 5) Partner/ Group discussion (Lesson #2: Attracted vs. Non- Attracted Materials) During reflection with my teacher associate they suggested the idea around trying to ask "big idea" questions to make the students thinking. This is important because it keeps the students thinking while they are doing their work and it is not something that is answered and then its over. Before starting practicum our classes really emphasized the importance of building relationships with our students and allowing our students to build relationships with us as their teachers. This aspect was one of that resonated with me because I believe that when the students have that relationship and feel comfortable they are more likely to achieve success. I believe this is possible because we as teachers are then able to help provide a positive learning environment for our student. This is done by the student feeling comfortable and opening up about struggles they are facing and areas they require help. So, going into practicum following orientation day on November 3 I really tried to make building a student- teacher relationship my objective. I did this by having my students names memorized the first day.Once I had all the names memorized I put it upon myself to learn something about the students and making sure that I talked all of them and introduced myself. I continue to build this relationship with my students by saying " good morning," asking "how there weekend was," "how recess went" when they came inside and saying goodbye every day. I also build on the relationship by always using their names when starting a conversation or asking a question.
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AuthorReflections within the classroom. KSA resemblance and how I am becoming a better teacher. ArchivesCategories |