Working with the Kinders: Week 3 Reflection

Hello!

I have now completed three full days in my kindergarten classroom – I am very excited about what has occurred so far, as well as what is yet to come in the upcoming weeks!

The kindergarteners had a lot of energy today because our placement landed on a full moon! Each child had extra exuberance to channel which was wonderful! We combatted this by allowing the students to be out of their desks as much as possible and by doubling our normal allocated time for body breaks.

My second individual lesson plan worked very well, the students were excited about the material being presented and loved being active in their learning! I am also very excited about how this lesson played out. This week I taught an English Language Arts Lesson for my first time. Please see the attached document to take a look at my lesson: Jodie Munro, October 24th lesson plan

This week the kindergarteners and I worked on outcome CRK.4 indicator (h) of the Kindergarten Saskatchewan Curriculum: we worked on creating a play based scenario from a basic understanding of a story text. This lesson is called, “The Three Little Pigs: Popsicle Puppet Reenactment”. My lesson was conducted in three parts:

1. the students watched a visual reenactment (animated video) of the Three Little Pigs during their morning snack.
2. the students and I worked together to retell the story using felt puppets. While we retold the story we talked about the major events (and corresponding emotions/actions) in the story.
3.  I assigned roles for the reenactment; the students then used their popsicle stick masks to create a dramatized representation of the story.  *the students used the carpet during this portion of the lesson to ensure that they had ample room to explore the environment, ‘build’ the houses/move and collaborate together.

*this activity was conducted in small groups during ‘center time’. Working with approx. 6 students at a time I was able to scaffold each individual student as needed. Because the story only has 4 characters, the wolf + the 3 pigs, two students per group had to ‘double up’ with a buddy. I created the doubling pairs based on which students needed further assistance and confidence to complete this task.

While the students were creating their play based situations I scaffold them by asking some of the following questions:

• “okay, can my three little piggies begin building their houses?”
• “________, what are we building our house out of? Do we think that this material is strong?
• “how does the wolf blow?”

please check out the following photos:

 

 

 

 

 

After the completion of my lesson, I had the opportunity to sit down with my cooperating teacher and discuss the strengths/ areas I would like to see development in. Please refer to the following ‘PD form’ to see my comments from my cooperative teacher. This week’s professional development goal was:

• set- to focus students at the beginning of the lesson
• development- to focus on developing a meaningful
• closure- to have a relevant closure with students

in terms of where I would like to see growth:

1. again, writing observations is difficult during a quick 15-minute lesson. This week I filmed one group on the ‘seesaw’ app which was wonderful as I was able to go back and rewatch specific students- I would like to continue using this method of observation.
2. I would like to continue to work on my classroom management strategies. The students had more energy than normal today, but I would like to work with them to identify our ‘level of voices’.

Overall, this week was great! The students were engaged and had fun. I left the masks at my placement to be used further during the ‘dramatic play’ center- I am hoping my students will continue to use the masks to reenact and create more stories.

Until next time,

Ms. Munro

Working with the Kinders: Week 2 Reflection

Hello!

I have now completed two full days in a kindergarten classroom. I am very lucky to have a wonderful cooperating teacher and a supportive pre-intern partner to accompany me through this journey! Pre-internship is a stressful, busy, engaging and beneficial experience and I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to learn in the field. Working with students, families and staff members reminds me that teaching is an intellectually stimulating profession that has the potential to change lives – and this confirms my reason for loving what I do.

The students are so worth every moment of planning, prepping and working. The kindergarteners amaze me with every lesson they are taught, every moment that they are learning through play and while I am observing their interactions with one another – it is such a humbling experience to realize how important and knowledgeable each individual child is entering the classroom. When I hear a student make an inquiry, connect to personal experience or state their understanding I feel such awe in these little humans – teaching is a calling.

This all being said, I would like to take a moment to debrief on my experiences thus far:

1. On Wednesday, October 10th my partner, Ayla, and I co-taught our first lesson.
2. On Wednesday, October 17th I taught my first individual lesson.

My first individual lesson was a success! (YAY) and I am already beginning to feel more confident, capable and considerate in the classroom. This week my kinders and I worked on outcome NK.3 indicator (a) of the Saskatchewan Kindergarten Curriculum: we practiced constructing a set of objects that correspond to a given numeral. This lesson is called, “Monster Dice Game” – the students were asked to roll the dice, count the number rolled on the dice and then proceed to place the corresponding number of googly eyes on their monster template. The students refined their skills of subsidizing, creating a visual representation and counting using strategies such as verbal counting and counting fingers for numbers 1-10. Check out a student’s representation:

 

This activity was so fun! The students became very engaged and loved creating their monsters – math is fun! Please follow this link to see my first lesson plan: Jodie Munro, October 17th lesson plan (1)

After the completion of my lesson, I had the opportunity to sit down with my cooperating teacher and speak about the strengths of my lesson as well as the areas that I would like to see growth in during my placement. Having the opportunity to learn to be critically aware is so important – I am learning to constantly receive and create constructive criticism for my teachings and to apply them to my understandings of the profession.

Please refer the following ‘PD form’ to see my comments from my cooperating teacher. This week’s Professional Development goal was: communication – to develop strong verbal and nonverbal communication skills

in terms of what I would like to see growth (general):

1. I would like to bring in the student’s voices when teaching. I strongly believe that a classroom should consist of the teacher and student learning together and being seen as partners in the learning. I hope to relate to my student’s experiences and to validate their voices in my upcoming lessons!
2. writing in-depth observations about each individual student has proven to be harder than I had anticipated – I need to refine my skills of writing/thinking fast and noticing each individual student while they are working. In kindergarten our lessons are only 15 minutes – this moves by quickly!
3. creating stronger connections with the students. I am beginning to break through with many of my students but I know I need to work on strategies to relate to all of my students – I am excited to continue to build relationships with these wonderful children!

I am very happy with how I was able to ‘go with the flow’ of my lesson – as always, unexpected things occurred during my teachings and I worked with my students to engage in these moments, positively, and to realize that these moments could be used as ‘teachable moments’. It is a wonderful thing to laugh and to enjoy your students and their knowledge!

until next time,

Ms. Munro