Day #8 & #9

So the past two days have been quite fun filled.  There have been a lot of great activities that I have learned a lot about.  On day #8, my Cooperating Teacher (CT) was absent so I was able to take a more prominent role in teaching.  It was a great experience and we were able to co-teach with the teacher from the other Prep class and work with the Sports Teacher as well.  We did some great relays that helped us with out maths activity as well.  Since Melbourne Cup (a horse race) was the next day, we had the students do a few novelty races that were fun and educational.  The students were asked to see which group came first, second, third, forth, and so on.  Students were learning about the different places (1st, 2nd, 3rd...) and the students were able to see math in their everyday lives during these races.  It was really good because the students enjoyed it and learned from it as well.  It was also great fun because there were only 14 kids and we made 3 groups so I had to be the 5th player on one of the teams.  It was really fun because it was a great way to bond with the kids and it was also fun for me.  It made me feel like I was a little child again.

Today (Day #9) I taught a math lesson and it went really well.  It was on doubling and it was great because I was able to give the students a number of different strategies and methods to help them solve the problems.  Almost all the students knew what they were doing afterwards and were able to complete the worksheet.  Some students still needed help, but it was mainly help keeping them focused.  I talked to my CT about it today and she was thinking that I could possibly pull these students out and then run and intensive maths group.  I think that this would be a great opportunity since she will have the help and I will also be given and opportunity to run an intensive maths group to help the students.  This will give me the opportunity to learn how I can structure and run an intensive maths group in my future classroom.

I think that I am learning a lot here and my CT gives me a lot of responsibilities int he classroom which is great.  I cannot wait to teach more lessons and work with the students.