I am not sure I have ever been as excited for the weekend as I am right now. 7 weeks in to student teaching, and another full week ahead. I just needed to get through today, as today was Village. Village is like a carnival or county fair that has rolled itself out inside of a school. The only difference is that the pain is self-inflicted, as the classrooms become stores and the kids work at them.
My legs have never felt as tired as they do today, and I am at marathon runner. Standing in the same spot for 3 hours, roping kids into tasks, was a little crazy. Alas I have survived, will head out for some pizza and look forward to 2 days of sun. I'll race on Sunday too. For now though, I am happy to be at home.
Showing posts with label village. Show all posts
Showing posts with label village. Show all posts
Friday, May 15, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
What does it mean to succeed?
The kids need to fill out job applications for the store on Village day. I didn't do a very good job of explaining the process, or the application. I should have put it under the document camera and had them read with me. Instead I had them on the carpet, and read it to them. It doesn't have too much text, but enough to confuse some kiddos...
One of the questions was "What skills do you have that would make you successful in this position?" or something like that. I got lots of kids who said, "what does successful mean?" Ummm, my lesson was not very successful, how ironic.
One of the questions was "What skills do you have that would make you successful in this position?" or something like that. I got lots of kids who said, "what does successful mean?" Ummm, my lesson was not very successful, how ironic.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Caterpillars!
There seems to be an abundance of things happening right now. We have Village on Friday, and there is a ton still to be done. I am in the midst of a "reading is thinking" unit, and get observed on a lesson from that unit tomorrow. We're finishing a unit in math, all the while trying to figure out what an equivalent fraction is without calling it that (1st grade... more seeing the equivalency than naming it). Plus... caterpillars came on Friday afternoon! Oy Vey!
Back up a few weeks. Originally I was planning to teach a science unit on Organisms like the other 2 first grade classes. We didn't get a kit, and we were going to be planting plants for Village... so I went it without the kit. After a few weeks (as we do science once a week, and flip flop with social studies) I got a little stumped, as I am A) not a brilliant scientist and B) not much of a scientist at all. In talking with TeacherWife I elected to get some caterpillars. The overarching idea behind the Organisms kit is "What do living things need to survive?" and this seemed to fit perfectly.
Well, it has (perhaps) made for a little too jammed of a day. Between butterfly/caterpillar journals, lavender sachets, sticky notes for reading, and small cut outs of paper (representing 1/8ths), we've got a ton happening. Perhaps that is just the way it is supposed to be.
Back up a few weeks. Originally I was planning to teach a science unit on Organisms like the other 2 first grade classes. We didn't get a kit, and we were going to be planting plants for Village... so I went it without the kit. After a few weeks (as we do science once a week, and flip flop with social studies) I got a little stumped, as I am A) not a brilliant scientist and B) not much of a scientist at all. In talking with TeacherWife I elected to get some caterpillars. The overarching idea behind the Organisms kit is "What do living things need to survive?" and this seemed to fit perfectly.
Well, it has (perhaps) made for a little too jammed of a day. Between butterfly/caterpillar journals, lavender sachets, sticky notes for reading, and small cut outs of paper (representing 1/8ths), we've got a ton happening. Perhaps that is just the way it is supposed to be.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
making it smell good
The school I am at has a giant (and I mean GIANT) project called Village. It is fantastic, and would be a wonderful problem-based learning opportunity for the kids. For us, and I mean student teachers, it is a little bit of treading water. This is a project that has been going on for years, and it just runs with teachers talking via phrases and sentences unknown to the uninitiated. The process of learning the information is very much like knowing a second language and then stepping into a conversation with 10 native speakers. You tread water and try to keep up!
Well today we had an afternoon of Village workday stuff. Kids were making the envelopes for the seeds we are selling (as part of a Plant in a Box product), they were creating Lavender sachets (think potpourri), as well as shucking so much Lavender that the whole school smelled like Lavender (and it is a big school).
High expectations, and giving them enough instructions that they can succeed, coupled with asking them to solve their own problems works. For some that meant actually talking respectfully to each other and taking turns. When I heard "Mr Hanson, we are taking turns" just after another kid said "Jennie, its your turn" I knew it was working out well. You'd think it is common to treat each other respectfully, but sometimes it gets lost in just trying to be a kid (and having needs you need met!).
Well today we had an afternoon of Village workday stuff. Kids were making the envelopes for the seeds we are selling (as part of a Plant in a Box product), they were creating Lavender sachets (think potpourri), as well as shucking so much Lavender that the whole school smelled like Lavender (and it is a big school).
High expectations, and giving them enough instructions that they can succeed, coupled with asking them to solve their own problems works. For some that meant actually talking respectfully to each other and taking turns. When I heard "Mr Hanson, we are taking turns" just after another kid said "Jennie, its your turn" I knew it was working out well. You'd think it is common to treat each other respectfully, but sometimes it gets lost in just trying to be a kid (and having needs you need met!).
Thursday, April 2, 2009
It Takes a Village
I am struggling with ideas for the "Village." Village is a giant project that the school undertakes where each classroom becomes a store. My master teacher has sold plants in the past, and we will be doing that again this year. But I am trying to conjure up other ideas that we can have at our store... Ideally I would have some ideas going forward, and I plan to also bring this to our kiddos... what do they think our class should sell to go with our plant/garden theme? Any ideas would be appreciated...
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