fourth lesson: JOBS!

Okay, so this lesson was probably the best of any lesson in terms of how it went, how engaged the children were, etc. This was probably due to several factors: the main teacher was away, so it was only my teaching partner and me with the kids, in addition to the teacher's aide. They knew they had to respect us and listen to us, because we WERE the lesson that morning. Secondly, it was morning time. The kids were so mellow and actually pretty well-behaved! Thirdly, they had a great incentive: the chicks in the incubator had begun to hatch and so the children could go look at the baby chicks if they did what they were supposed to during the lesson!

The Kindergarteners were really cute and made me remember that I actually DO like children! During the Curious George book, for example, they would cheer as they saw him do silly things or make funny predictions about what might happen next.

Next, as we led the children in reciting the Firefighter Song with its motions, we were joined by some student volunteers in the classroom, probably 2nd year students. It was really kind of a cool experience for me as I was there leading the children in song or resorting to automatic teacher methods by now (quickly reacting to student behaviors, calling on students who are less engaged to get them refocused, being more stern) and realizing that just 2 years ago I was in these volunteers' shoes, just helping out and not having a clue how to manage a class. Of course, I still don't really know what I'm doing, but I had to stop and reflect for a moment that all of a sudden I felt like the teacher and that maybe, just maybe, these girls would see us teaching and think- I want to do that too!

I modified the concept attainment model in order to help children match jobs to their descriptions, which I think went over well. What I did was hold up tools that each job might use and list examples and non examples of job characteristics, and then the students would determine (based on the information) which job I was describing. Then the children would help spell out the word as I wrote it on the board. Looking back, I should have passed around the tools and let the children be a little more hands-on for each job. For example, I pulled out a whisk and spatula for the cook, and I realize now that the kids would have loved to touch these items.

Something Lorena and I started doing after each lesson as well is gathering students in a circle for a short discussion or wrap-up session. It's fascinating to me to hear their responses about what was fun, what was challenging, connections they've made, etc. It's sort of the reward at the end where I see that they actually DID learn something!!!