With our week being shortened because of Labour Day on Monday, our Literacy and Maths groups have been split into 3's instead of 4's to get everything in. It was supposed to be Grade 6 camp so that has given me a bit of breathing room for planning, but somehow I still feel like I am being rushed to cover the differ topics and specific skills that the area is focusing on for the week. Things seems to take a bit longer for this group of students, which is something I have had to remember when I am planning my lessons and rotations. As long as the students are on task and not wasting time, I do not mind giving them the extra time needed to work.
I think two of my biggest challenges/frustrating moments in the last two weeks has been managing 28 students during rotations and getting the students to think for themselves instead of rushing to a teacher for an answer. I believe there are many strategies that can be implemented at the beginning of the year that will help avoid the constant question asking. I decided to do some more research on this and found some great resources from both Susan and her cooperating teacher, as well as the Vice Principal, Helen. They both gave me information on the Habits of Mind which really makes students responsible for their learning and pushes them to think on their own for various reasons.
Some of the habits include:
1. Persisting
2. Managing Impulsivity
3. Listening to Others
4. Thinking Flexibly
5. Thinking about our Thinking
6. Striving for Accuracy and Precision
There are 16 habits and I am very excited to have this as a future resource. It is definitely something I will implement in my own classroom and over the next 3 weeks I am going to try and think of short activities or discussions that I can have with the students that focus on the "thinking" habits in this program.
I think the challenge of having 28 students has been a beneficial learning experience for me and has pushed me to really work on my management skills as well as differentiating my instruction. No matter what subject area I am teaching, there are some students that are at a very high intelligence level and also those students who really need to extra help and explanation to comprehend the information I am sharing with them. This week I decided to make mixed-ability groups for both Maths and Literacy to see how the students would work when there were very high and low achievers working together. Besides the reading rotation where the students sit and read a specific book with me, I would have to say it worked extremely well. The students were able to help each other when they had a problem and I think the higher achievers who produce quality work were able to demonstrate to the others in the group what the expectations are.
I am very proud to say that we were able to get through all of the Maths and Literacy rotations despite a setback in Maths early in the week. One of my rotations was having the students play Yahtzee with a partner and explain how the game related to our focus for the week. There were a few students who knew the game, but not the majority so on Tuesday I did a quick demonstration. After one rotation, there was much confusion about the rules and process of the game so I spent a session the following day doing a whole group round of Yahtzee and answering the questions they had. This showed me that I need to slow down and take my time with instructions the first time so students are not confused. Students need more time process the information I demonstrated the first time and it was rushed, which caused for the setback. This is one of many learning moments I have had this week in planning and teaching the majority of the day. It has been a great week and will have more to share soon!
Random note: Susan and I were making a list of the things we have tried since arriving and I wanted to share some of the chocolate bars we have tried and do not have in America!
-Violet Crumble, Picnic, Freddo Frogs, Caramel Koalas, Crunchie, and Morro-
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