The Walking Field Trip the students went on was a Number Walk. The students had been learning about odd and even numbers for the past few days. My Cooperating Teacher (CT) and her team teacher decided that it would be good for students to actually apply it and look at numbers in real life. Therefore, the students went on a Number Walk around the communities that surround the school and looked at house numbers. Students were asked to identify whether the numbers were odd of even and it worked really well. Although it was hectic and a little bit crazy at times, I think it worked really well. My CT and I were discussing how after the Number Walk, the students really seemed to grasp the concept of what an odd number is and what an even number is, as well as how you know if a number is even or odd. It is a nice approach to learning about odd and even because all the numbers on one side of the street are even and the other side is odd so when students walked down one side of the street, every number was odd or every number was even. The constant repetition of the odd number and even numbers really helped to drill it in the students' heads. I think that this would be a good activity to do with students because when I was working with 2nd grade students in Boston last semester, the students had a really hard time grasping the difference between an odd and even number. This is a great activity that I will definitely make a note of to use in my future classroom.
The students also had Sports today, which is equivalent to Gym or Physical Education in the States. The students did a circuit of different coordination exercises that are supposed to activate both hemispheres of the brain at the same time. My CT was telling me that studies have shown that these types of activities are really helpful for developing writing, reading, and many other skills. It is very interesting so see this and students also seem to really enjoy it. I think that this is great and I have never seen any type of activities like this in the States; at least not in primary school where these activities would be the most helpful. I think that it is great that even the Sports teachers are using a really well thought out and developed curriculum that will help the students not only physically but also academically. I think this needs to be implemented more in the States where Gym is a time for playing only sports.
I found it quite interesting when I was reading a book to the students. I felt sort of out of place because I knew that I had a different accent than the kids. I was afraid that they would make fun of me for it just like one girl did yesterday. However, the kids were quite well behaved. It took them a little bit of time to become focused because they had just gotten back from the Number Walk, but overall, I would have to say the students were extremely well behaved for their age group. I feel as though these students are even more well behaved than the 2nd graders I had last semester. I am curious as to why there is such a stark contrast. I hope to talk to my CT about this observation and ask her if she has any techniques that she has used or uses to get kids to focus.
Today I was also able to sit in on a staff meeting. This is the first time I was ever able to sit in on a staff meeting and it was a really great experience. I think that I learned a lot about the inner workings of schools and staff. It's also really interesting to see how the funding for schools are done in Australia as well as seeing the entire teaching staff working together to solve a problem. It's amazing and interesting to see how many different ideas and approaches come up. During the meeting, the idea of doing Instructional Rounds were also address. Instructional Rounds are when teachers go around and observe other teachers' teaching and evaluate it and give feedback. It is a way for teachers to be able to reflect on their teaching and receive helpful feedback from other staff. It's also great because it allows for interaction between staff and the sharing of new ideas.
Today was a great learning experience for me and I cannot wait to actually start teaching lessons. To end once again on a happy note, this one girl today kept coming up to me and saying "It's so cool that your from New York. I really want to go to New York" and she said it with a very posh accent. It was quite adorable and she did it to me multiple times throughout the day. I just find it so interesting how different children react differently to me and my background.
No comments:
Post a Comment