Week Four Reflection:
Another week has passed in the blink of an eye. Again, with the passing of the week, I
have learned so much. This week I taught a mini-unit (Christmas Around The World),
French, and Art.
The Christmas Around The World mini unit was a lot of fun and I learned a bunch, too.
The first day felt chaotic as everyone, including myself, was trying to find the rhythm
of how to make this project work. I did see benefits from my planning as I provided
examples for how the students were to make their passport and what answering a
reading sheet looked like. This definitely helped alleviate some of the confusion.
I saw the benefit of integrating technology into the assignment as well. Each time a
student finished a reading about a country, they got to spin a virtual wheel to see
where they would travel to next. This motivated some of the students to complete
their work so that they could participate in some fun.
The second day ran very smoothly and I attribute that to a result of the
expectations and routines being developed from the following day. Furthermore, I
provided students with feedback from the countries they did complete to help
differentiate for students who struggled to read (providing questions for them to
answer) and other feedback for students to help engage them more in the readings.
The third day was where I saw more hiccups. I discussed with my TA how I saw some
of the students ready to move on and others who were still a few steps away from
being ready to move on. I felt a bit of an awkward juggle and realized what I did have
planned for students who were ready wasn’t enough for them to engage fully in
meaningful learning. My TA told me that she could tell some of the students were
tired from the work I had them doing. I had already planned for the next day to be a
closure day and to change things up, but her saying reaffirmed what I was
suspecting. If I did this again, I would plan for two days of the same and the third day
find a place to start where all the students were once again all on the same page or
plan to have a better piece for students who were ready for the next thing. My
decision to do one or the other would be influenced by where I saw the students and
their needs.
I was able though, through readings and showing video clips to incorporate my goal
of using meaningful literature. There were students in my class who are proud of
their familial cultures, such as being Nigerian and Filipino. Originally, the readings I
found did not include these two countries. So, I found some that did and integrated it.
The students were BEYOND excited to read about something so personal to them
and share what they knew about that country. The students’ reaction to being
represented definitely made me more passionate about my goal.
The final day was probably the most meaningful. I had the students participate in a
talking circle and use a speaking stick to work on consensus building skills. Our goal
and objective was clear. We needed to come to a consensus as to where we as a
class would travel to, using what we learned to make strong points, before we video
called a pilot. Every single student, even the ones who don’t normally, participated
and had a voice. I thought I would have to prompt them more to get the ball rolling on
making solutions but they got it and worked together well. I was genuinely so
impressed and excited. My TA’s feedback on the lesson was extremely positive and
she told me it was an amazing lesson.
The French classes I taught were fun! I had the students engage their mind and
body in learning new vocabulary words. Furthermore, the students were writing
and saying words in French. We had a snowball fight with our words. The snowballs
the kids picked up were put into their vocabulary sheet which turned into their bingo
sheet for the next class. My feedback from my UC was to try to incorporate more,
even if small, French within the class. For example, if I said “let’s say it in French” to
repeat it in French, “en français.” One thing I was proud of was my call back routine
to get attention. When I said “mes amis” the students responded “oui, oui, oui.”
The art class was meant to be a relaxing time for students. They learned what a
continuous line is and experimented with using colors/details while keeping white
space. Overall, it went well. Some students really enjoyed this and were able to
showcase their creativity and talent.
I also did closure activities this week. This meant doing an agenda and having a fun
activity. The first day was a bit chaotic, however, the rest of the days went so
smoothly. I developed a routine with the students and saw how much that benefited
our classroom running smoothly.
Overall, I continued to seek out feedback (from the AP, UC and TA) and work to
achieve my goal of integrating meaningful literature. I learned a lot and am grateful
to be continuing learning from some great educators. I am starting to get sad
thinking about leaving the school and the kids.
