June 6, 2013

Flood!

Caitlin Biggins

Today I was asked to help out in another grade one classroom with some science centers that had been organized by a physicist visiting the school. It was a really neat experience to go into another grade one classroom for a while, and see how that classroom operated. For this special activity, the students were divided into groups that moved around to different centers. At each centre they completed an experiment. I was in charge of the centre that helped students learn about materials and properties. I have not really worked on any science projects yet, so it was interesting to see what the students are learning in this area. There were a lot of manipulative objects and hands on activities for the students, which would really appeal to the kinesthetic learners of the group. There was also a worksheet that the students were asked to complete as they travelled around to the different centres. The Scientists in Schools program is great! The only drawback is the cost. I realized quite quickly during the first round of students at my centre, that there are a lot of things teachers need to outline for the children before they dive into a project. The centre I was running had plastic bags with six different materials that the students were asked to compare and contrast, in order to learn about the properties of materials. Each student had their own plastic bag with all six materials, but the objects varied. Some of the students became distracted by the objects in their bags, or in other students bags. I realized that I needed to specifically state to the students that they were only allowed to touch the materials in their own bag, and not play with or take other students materials. I realized that it is very important for a teacher to clearly state the behavioral expectations, especially for activities that are different from the day-to-day routine. Important discovery! You can run into this even during an art lesson or anything thats got a lot of steps. I am really happy that I had the opportunity to see the way that centres work, but I can see that using centres as a teaching strategy is a lot of work. I think it would be really difficult to manage students, and monitor the entire classroom. I always suspected that teachers had eyes in the backs of their heads, and now I am certain that is the case! I can really see the benefit in this type of teaching strategy, as it allows students to have the chance to discuss their ideas without having to compete for talking time with twenty other students with ideas. Some students might have felt more comfortable joining in and sharing their ideas with a smaller group. Good classroom management would be essential for this type of activity however, because I could see the volume level rising as more and more students get excited about sharing their ideas. Its kind of like the Daily5 structure I have discussed with you. The secret to its success is introducing one step at a time, modeling & practicing lots! But well worth the time it takes at the start. Once the students had gone through all of the centres, they were presented with a challenge to complete with their groups. As they were learning about structures, the students were asked to create a stool out of newspaper (using the

information they had learned about structures) that their teacher could sit on! I thought this was a really fun idea, because the students would then experiment with their creation, by having their teacher sit on the stool they had made! The students were really excited about this project and got right to work planning and creating a paper stool for their teacher to sit on. Once the projects were completed, I noticed that one of the students was crying. She was upset because she didnt think that the stool that her group had made would support her teacher, and that it wasnt good enough. Once all of the students had gathered to start the experiment by seeing if their stool could bear the weight of their teacher, the teacher complimented everyone on their hard work and team work, but then she asked, Grade ones, should we feel bad if the stool that we have made does not work? No, replied the students. Thats exactly right, the teacher continued, Just because something doesnt work the way you thought it might, doesnt mean you give up trying, and thats exactly why we do experiments in science! I saw the student who had been upset immediately cheer up, and the teacher (even though she knew the stool would obviously collapse once she sat on it), continued on with the experiment and tried everyones stool out. When she fell to the ground because the stool collapsed under her, the students all laughed (even the group whose stool had collapsed), and the mood stayed light and fun. It was really nice to see the teacher address the issue without drawing unnecessary attention to the student who was upset. Another hat for teachers to wear. The power of our words is so evident in cases like this. Just before the lunch bell rang, there was an announcement saying that the University would be closed for my seminar class because of a water main break that has caused quite a lot of damage to the school. There had been a rumor that university classes would be cancelled, and the announcement confirmed our predictions. When I went to my elementary homeroom, many of the students approached me to offer condolences for my school being closed. It really filled my bucket, to see the students so empathetic, and being genuinely sad for what had happened. It was really touching to have the students reach out to me in that way. It also made me think of the impact that schools have on children, and the incredibly important responsibility teachers take on; teaching children about empathy and community. Teachers are required to teach to the curriculum, but they are also called on to help shape well-rounded members of the community with good values. Im sure you will come across at least one discussion about the hidden curriculum in your university courses. Depending on what kids have been taught at home, it can be very challenging or easy to shape their behaviors. I would much prefer a class like I have this year with the wonderful citizenship qualities (and a normal range of academic differences) than a class full of kids with high academic achievement & bad manners.
Have you figured out why teachers go home so tired at the end of a day yet?