Second time in new classroom at Spann...

I had another great day at Spann this week.  When we first arrived the students were in DI (differentiated instruction).  Students are broken up in groups based on level, where they might be on a on-going project, or randomly.  One group works with the lead teacher, one works with the assistant, one group works independently on something they are finishing up or a new task the teacher has given then after doing a small group mini-lesson and guided practice, and the other students who have finished their work can go into a center of their liking.  I really like this because it gives the teachers time to work more directly with children in small groups, while also giving other students independent practice on a skill they have been working on.  I worked with the group who was working independently.  They have been learning all about different apples the past few weeks and using apples across many content areas.  The students were finishing up counting books, 1 -10), where on each page they had to draw apples and write numbers.  Without being at this table watching the children work, many would have miscounted, written their numbers incorrectly, or rushed through their work without including much detail.  This makes me realize how hard it is to constantly watch each child to see that they are doing something correctly or understanding the concepts or skills you are teaching.  It also poses the challenge of having students do multiple activities in the class at the same time.

For snack, Mrs. Patterson made a homemade apple pie and gave each child a slice of red, yellow, and green apple.  The kids were able to try the three different kinds of apples they were talking about in class, as well as try something made with apples.  The kids loved this and it was a nutritious snack.  You could hear the students at each table discussing which apple they liked best, whether they liked, didn't like, or love the apple pies, etc.  After snack, Mrs. Patterson had all the students come to the carpet and sit on a circle.  She then created a graph based on which apple each student liked best.  The kids really enjoyed this and it was a great way to tie things together.

Lastly, we broke all the students into three groups.  Each student got a small amount of shaving cream.  When I told my group of six students to go ahead an take both hands and rub the shaving cream so that it was smooth layer on the table.  They looked shocked and really EXCITED.  They loved getting their hands dirty.  I rolled a die and which ever number came up, the students had to write it in the shaving cream.  I've done this before in another class I taught it.  I've also done it in sand.  Kids love this and its a great way to introduce them to different mediums, while at the same time having them practice their writing skills.  With working with just a few students, I was able to watch each of them write their numbers and help correct them when they wrote them incorrectly.  I also was writing the numbers in shaving cream and as I wrote I talked about the different strokes that I was using to write the numbers.

A recent Lemov technique that really interests me is "What to do".  Often we give children abstract commands like "behave", or "pay attention", or "cut it out" or define the the behavior we want of the child with negative statements such as "don't get distracted", "the behavior was inappropriate" or "stop fooling around".  In early childhood, kids don't necessarily know what you mean by these statements, and it also leaves room for interpretation and defiance.  In order to be effective, the books says that directions should be specific, concrete, sequential, and observable.  If we tell the child exactly what we want of them, in order they know, there is no reason for them not to do it.  I'm really going to try to remember this in my own classroom, because it can become very easy and habit forming to use short commands that don't resonant with the students.

I really enjoyed the new book.  I read the first chapter and chapter 2.  Chapter 2 discussed each of the different systems of the ecological model in detail.  Being at Chicora this week and driving around the neighborhood, it is very apparent that the environment that the students live in effects how they behave in school and in general.  They may be  exposed to things, such as drugs and violence or have parent(s) who don't watch and shelter them as best they could.  These things all effect the well-being of the child and influences their behavior.  As a teacher, when a child is acting up, is consistently tired, or late to school, I'm not going to take it as the student being "bad".  I am going to try and consciously think on a higher level "is something else going on here that is effecting this child's behavior".  I really enjoyed the parent educators speaking with us about this.