Blogs I have commented on:
1. Lindsay
2. Ashley W.
3. Harmony
4. Matt
Monday, 2 April 2012
Last week :(
I can't believe it is over. It was the best/tiring month...and I am so sad to leave that class!
This week was just mainly wrapping everything up. They were handed their final assignment in social studies, which consisted of a group presentation in any form they wanted and an individual aspect. They worked on it for three days and on Thursday and Friday presented it. All of them worked so hard and they all turned out amazing! It was also neat to see what the students could come up with on their own and how creative they were. Their final assignments were also done amazingly! They had a choice of six activities and had to choose two to do and hand it. I was very impressed by so many of them!
Math was wrapped up with review and a test this week too. All the students did very well on them, especially considering they had so much trouble last week with parts of the unit. I learned using manipulative's is key in math and to make sure they are available to students at all times.
I learned the challenges of a teacher this week with marking. I had so much to do in soooo little time! Everything was handed in on Thursday which gave me one night to complete it AHH! It took forever but it got done! For their presentations I had them self evaluate their selves and then one group at a time peer evaluate a presentation. the students loved it, they said they felt like a teacher.. and they wrote so many interesting comments on them. It was also nice to see how seriously they took it and that most of their evaluations came very close to meet mine!
The last period of the day was so sad! We had a party and then played games outside, it was a lot of fun. We then came in and I gave them all cards and a treat and they all gave me their cards. It was really sad to go and they made me promise to come visit them. I love those grade six's such a great class, they will for sure be missed!!
This week was just mainly wrapping everything up. They were handed their final assignment in social studies, which consisted of a group presentation in any form they wanted and an individual aspect. They worked on it for three days and on Thursday and Friday presented it. All of them worked so hard and they all turned out amazing! It was also neat to see what the students could come up with on their own and how creative they were. Their final assignments were also done amazingly! They had a choice of six activities and had to choose two to do and hand it. I was very impressed by so many of them!
Math was wrapped up with review and a test this week too. All the students did very well on them, especially considering they had so much trouble last week with parts of the unit. I learned using manipulative's is key in math and to make sure they are available to students at all times.
I learned the challenges of a teacher this week with marking. I had so much to do in soooo little time! Everything was handed in on Thursday which gave me one night to complete it AHH! It took forever but it got done! For their presentations I had them self evaluate their selves and then one group at a time peer evaluate a presentation. the students loved it, they said they felt like a teacher.. and they wrote so many interesting comments on them. It was also nice to see how seriously they took it and that most of their evaluations came very close to meet mine!
The last period of the day was so sad! We had a party and then played games outside, it was a lot of fun. We then came in and I gave them all cards and a treat and they all gave me their cards. It was really sad to go and they made me promise to come visit them. I love those grade six's such a great class, they will for sure be missed!!
Week 3
This week has been a busy week....
It seems like March Break was so long ago...meanwhile it was our first week back from it. Monday was easy we had a presentation all morning and then Rosary until Lunch and then I started our new Math unit on 3D shapes and measurement. I did not understand (or even think) how hard it would be to teach something they have never done before in Math. The first few days were okay because it was just nets and naming polyhedrons but when it came to surface area and volume that was a huge challenge. We did a lot of fun activities to work on this but it was still so difficult.We ended up having a mid-chapter review day on Friday just so they could have extra time to work on their skills. However, I think most of them are getting it now.
We are wrapping up our unit on Aboriginals and the Fur Trade and next week they will work and present their final projects. It was a long unit but we did a lot of fun activities so I think everyone enjoyed it. I'm excited to see what they all come up with for their final activity.
We had a lot of events going on at the school, both boys and girls volleyball tournaments were this week so for two days half of the class was gone. We had Mass, Rosary and a presentation so a lot of class time was taken away. It really made me realize how flexible you have to be.. even when its every ones first week back and its hard to get back into the swing of things!
It seems like March Break was so long ago...meanwhile it was our first week back from it. Monday was easy we had a presentation all morning and then Rosary until Lunch and then I started our new Math unit on 3D shapes and measurement. I did not understand (or even think) how hard it would be to teach something they have never done before in Math. The first few days were okay because it was just nets and naming polyhedrons but when it came to surface area and volume that was a huge challenge. We did a lot of fun activities to work on this but it was still so difficult.We ended up having a mid-chapter review day on Friday just so they could have extra time to work on their skills. However, I think most of them are getting it now.
We are wrapping up our unit on Aboriginals and the Fur Trade and next week they will work and present their final projects. It was a long unit but we did a lot of fun activities so I think everyone enjoyed it. I'm excited to see what they all come up with for their final activity.
We had a lot of events going on at the school, both boys and girls volleyball tournaments were this week so for two days half of the class was gone. We had Mass, Rosary and a presentation so a lot of class time was taken away. It really made me realize how flexible you have to be.. even when its every ones first week back and its hard to get back into the swing of things!
Sunday, 18 March 2012
Week 2
I can not believe that practicum is half over!!!! Next thing I know it will be over and we will be back in OISE
This week has been kind of blah... all their units are over (except my social studies) so we have been just trying to find them fun things to do. Jane came in on Tuesday to observe and my lesson went really well so that was fun. We have played a lot of games in our unit to make them have hands on about the fur trade, both the students and myself have been having so much fun in this unit!
On Friday the junior department held the "geography challenge" which was a list of 25 questions that the top 5 students from each class competed in. Throughout the week students completed nine tests consisting of 10 questions each. They were extreamly hard... as a geography major I was kind of embarrassed I didn't know half of the answers hahaha. The five students with the highest score of all the tests moved to the gym to compete. The winner (was in my class!! :)) and won a free year subscription of national geographic. In the afternoon we had a class party,my AT and I brought in treats and we watched a movie, it was a lot of fun.
I had a great march break... did not do anything but relax and it was amazing..much needed! Back at it tomorrow.... good luck everyone and I hope you all have a great week!
This week has been kind of blah... all their units are over (except my social studies) so we have been just trying to find them fun things to do. Jane came in on Tuesday to observe and my lesson went really well so that was fun. We have played a lot of games in our unit to make them have hands on about the fur trade, both the students and myself have been having so much fun in this unit!
On Friday the junior department held the "geography challenge" which was a list of 25 questions that the top 5 students from each class competed in. Throughout the week students completed nine tests consisting of 10 questions each. They were extreamly hard... as a geography major I was kind of embarrassed I didn't know half of the answers hahaha. The five students with the highest score of all the tests moved to the gym to compete. The winner (was in my class!! :)) and won a free year subscription of national geographic. In the afternoon we had a class party,my AT and I brought in treats and we watched a movie, it was a lot of fun.
I had a great march break... did not do anything but relax and it was amazing..much needed! Back at it tomorrow.... good luck everyone and I hope you all have a great week!
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Week 1
Being back in a classroom full time…and not being a student, has been so much fun (sorry OISE)!! During those seven longgg STEP days I was getting tired.. but now I am so glad we had so many! Starting my first day did not seem scary or horrible because I knew the students so well and they knew me. The week went by pretty quickly actually, probably because I was so busy.
The junior department has started volleyball intermurals and I have been refereeing them at lunch, plus we have had so many extra interuprtions this week there was no time to drag on. The volleyball is a lot of fun, all the students in grades 4-6 have taken part so its nice to see my grade sixes take leadership roles and help out the younger students on their team. We also went to see a play this week at the local highschool, a comedy version of the complete works of shakespere. Although a lot of the jokes went wayyy over the students heads it was really funny and they had a good time. We incorporated this into our language for the rest of the week.
Starting off the “Fur Trade and Settlement” unit has been a lot of fun. We as a class have done so many fun activities and the students have really enjoyed it…(so it seems)! On Friday we made “beaver hats” since they were so important to the fur trade and all put them on and had a “French meeting” which was a lot of fun. We took pictures and the principal even joined! This unit is going to be fun to continue with.
Although it has been exhausting, getting lesson plans and the class ready, it has been a lot of fun. The students in this class are amazing, and I am so lucky I was placed here. Classroom management was something I struggled with last practicum with this grade eights, and it is a breeze here (lets hope it stays that way!).
I hope everyone else had a great first week, and I cannot wait to hear stories! I miss you Midtown!
Sunday, 27 November 2011
Its over :(
I have mixed feelings about this week that just passed. I am excited that Midtown is back together now however, I'm going to miss my class and Runnymede very much!
I had a great last week, and it flew by! It was my best week of classes yet, I do not think I had any problems, I had much more confidence so all of my lessons ran smoothly. We finished up the novel study with the grade sevens, "The Outsiders" and started essay writing. We discussed themes and they were in groups and presented specific themes from the novel to the class, they all did amazing! We then did a lesson on essays and I used the hamburger outline (just changed it to essay not paragraph) and they loved the concept! I marked their essay outlines and they are going to be so good! On Friday, we brought in snacks and a pop corn machine and had a movie party and watched the film (which I forgot I LOVED haha). With the grade eights we finished the math unit and their English unit "the most dangerous game" and had the same afternoon as the grade sevens except watched that film.
My favourite part of the week was Friday after lunch when the grade sevens left and the grade eights came they all joined out side the portable and I was called outside. All 60 of them were standing there and in unison yelled "WE WILL MISS YOU MS.CAUGHEY" and gave me a wrapped gift. Inside was both class pictures framed with their signatures around them. The back of the frame was filled with notes from all the students including a nice card from my AT, I did everything to hold in my tears! They all begged me to stay longer and teach there while their teacher leaves for surgery. It was sooooo cute and the best feeling!
These four months I have learned so much and feel so much more confident in my teaching abilities. I learned great techniques for classroom management, most importantly the change in your voice! I met so many great people and really can not wait until I can have my own class and call teaching my "profession". Although, I know my next placement is going to be great I am really going to miss that class and that school, they are all amazing students and could not ask for a better class!
Now that I have found my ground I am ready for whats ahead and so excited for many more special experiences to come!!
I had a great last week, and it flew by! It was my best week of classes yet, I do not think I had any problems, I had much more confidence so all of my lessons ran smoothly. We finished up the novel study with the grade sevens, "The Outsiders" and started essay writing. We discussed themes and they were in groups and presented specific themes from the novel to the class, they all did amazing! We then did a lesson on essays and I used the hamburger outline (just changed it to essay not paragraph) and they loved the concept! I marked their essay outlines and they are going to be so good! On Friday, we brought in snacks and a pop corn machine and had a movie party and watched the film (which I forgot I LOVED haha). With the grade eights we finished the math unit and their English unit "the most dangerous game" and had the same afternoon as the grade sevens except watched that film.
My favourite part of the week was Friday after lunch when the grade sevens left and the grade eights came they all joined out side the portable and I was called outside. All 60 of them were standing there and in unison yelled "WE WILL MISS YOU MS.CAUGHEY" and gave me a wrapped gift. Inside was both class pictures framed with their signatures around them. The back of the frame was filled with notes from all the students including a nice card from my AT, I did everything to hold in my tears! They all begged me to stay longer and teach there while their teacher leaves for surgery. It was sooooo cute and the best feeling!
These four months I have learned so much and feel so much more confident in my teaching abilities. I learned great techniques for classroom management, most importantly the change in your voice! I met so many great people and really can not wait until I can have my own class and call teaching my "profession". Although, I know my next placement is going to be great I am really going to miss that class and that school, they are all amazing students and could not ask for a better class!
Now that I have found my ground I am ready for whats ahead and so excited for many more special experiences to come!!
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