This week I must admit, things went a little more smoothly than the past few weeks. Now, don't get me wrong, there were definitely some behavioral issues and some trying moments during my instruction, but the students really seem to be understanding and comprehending the materials that we are teaching! This is such a great feeling!
I did have one new challenge this week though...I taught my first real social studies unit. Last semester I taught two consecutive lessons on the census, but this week I was asked to write the lessons for the first unit within the first grade social studies text. I taught the students about schools, school workers, rules in our school and the world, schools around the world, schools from today and years past, and lastly the students learned about our president and the Constitution for Constitution Day. Since I had not seen a social studies lesson ever taught before, this was a challenge for me, especially in a young, first grade classroom. However, I was quite pleased with how it all turned out.
After each lesson, I used the interactive whiteboard to write down the students' thoughts, ideas, and to gauge whether or not they were understanding the materials. The first day I created a set of classroom rules along with the students on the interactive whiteboard. Then the students had a quiet, imagination activity that I thought of at the spur of the moment. I had the students imagine what school would be like if there were no rules at all. I was really surprised with some of the responses I got when I asked the students to tell me what they saw in their heads. I was afraid that the students would think that having no rules would be an awesome thing, but every student said that it was a scary place and no one was learning anything. So, after this occurred, I was really impressed with how well the students caught on to the lesson itself, and I was also impressed with how the lesson went as a whole.
The next lesson I introduced a Venn diagram to the students. Many of them had never seen one before, so we worked on it as a whole group. However, by the end of the lesson, most of the children were able to tell me what a Venn diagram was, and they were able to put the thoughts in the correct category. So, now I know that the students will more than likely be able to handle this type of activity in the future, which will be very useful in my upcoming reading groups.
Beyond social studies this week, I was pleased with how well the week turned out. The students improved their math scores on the test this Friday, and their spelling tests seemed to be better as well. This shows that they are finally getting used to the routines and they understand that school is a serious matter; it's not always fun and games. It is amazing how much they mature in that light just in a few weeks, in comparison to their kindergarten days. I have seen so much growth in the students over the course of 4 weeks and it gives you such a great feeling knowing that you had a little part of that achievement. Even just seeing a student write their 5's correctly, or seeing them self-correct their b's and d's after you have told them countless times that they have reversed them is a rewarding feeling. This feeling alone excites me because I can only imagine how much these students will learn and grow by the time December comes when my internship comes to a close. I cannot wait to see the students' progress! I am enjoying every minute so far, and I honestly cannot wait to start my own teaching career soon...hopefully next year!
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