So things have been going good in my classroom. There are challenges, but I am thankful for them. If I was given a easy and perfect class, then I wouldn't be as prepared for the many obstacles and differences I will undoubtedly find in classrooms all over. My mentor teacher states a lot that we have to accept that this is the class we have this year, and we have to do the best we can with it (referring to the 16 boys we have and only 5 girls). It is just a very high energy classroom. And of course there are the several key players that keep that energy high always. I do not think its a "bad" class by far and I don't put any negative term towards them. I personally like my class. They are great kids, and I feel like all of them really are moving ahead and learning a lot. It just takes extra energy from both Becky and I to keep up with them.
Mini residency is next week and Becky had me plan everything! I came in on Saturday so she could show me how to give the Montessori language lessons that kids will be needing soon enough. What is great about being in this classroom is that Becky pretty much lets me do what ever I want, or at least she wants me to. Even though this is a Montessori school, Becky has made it clear that if I know other ways to teach language and math that I should definitely bring in those ideas and use those as lessons in my residency. She doesn't want me bound to the Montessori lessons that they do every year. So my challenge right now is thinking for January what language and math lessons can I incorporate into the classroom.
Back to mini residency. I have M-F planned out. The theme I will be starting the kids on is "Under the Sea." I decided this might be good because our big Christmas party is not about Christmas at all. We are having a Hawaiian party. This is lead up to by our lessons and activities which are all going to be about the migration of whales from Alaska to Hawaii. In science we ended our plant unit about a week ago and we are now on mammals. That is where the whale comes in. I thought if we are going to talk about whales we could also talk about life in the ocean. So everyday next week I have a fun water/ocean/life lesson to give the kids and activities to go along with it. We will also be learning Hawaiian songs next week and our school nurse who is from Hawaii will come in and teach us how to do a Hula dance. I want to find a book that teaches the kids about what life is like in Hawaii, who Hawaiians are, etc..Our school Library doesn't have a book like that. But we are still looking.
Here is my outline for the week:
Monday
9:00 Calendar
9:10 Introduce Hawaii Songs
9:20-11:15 Lessons and Open Work
o Me: 1) long vowel lesson 2) Long vowel object match
o Becky:
12:30 Silent Read
12:50 Library
1:35 P. E
2:05 Introduction to the Ocean
Water Table and globe
o Sand/rocks
o Shells
o Fish objects
2:20 Science journals
2:40 Snack and share
3:00 Dancing Water: First discuss water. Choose a few students at a time to show us all how water moves when it falls from the sky, the beach, the lake, thunder, ocean and a waterfall.
3:15 Prepare for home
Tuesday
9:10 P.E
9:40 Calendar and Hawaii songs
10:00 Handwriting W/O Tears.
10:10-10:20 Begin work session and Lessons
o Me: 1) object game 2) Sand paper letters and object match
o Becky:
12:30 Silent Reading
12:50 Ocean Life Lesson
1:10 Finger Paint Ocean Life Mural
- Finger Paint
- Individual paper
- Bulletin Board Paper
1:30 Clean up
2:00 Snack/Share
2:30 Prepare for home
2:45 Music
3:15 Get ready to leave
Time left over or in between? Teach them the “5 little fish song” (counting and numbers CD)
Wednesday
9:00 Calendar/ Hawaii Songs
9:20 Wash Shell Lesson, Counting Shells, Matching Shells
o Shells: Small, large
9:30 Hand Writing W/O Tears
9:40-9:50 Begin Work session and Lessons
o Me: teen board lesson
12:30 Silent Read
12:50 Teacher Read (Character Setting &Action; “What did the Characters do?”)
1:10 Journaling
1:30 Circle and Share journals
1:50 Snack/Share
2:15 Art
3:15 Prepare for home
Thursday
9:00 Calendar/ Hawaii Songs
9:30 Handwriting W/O Tears.
9:40-9:50 Open Work Session
10:20 Counseling
]10:50 P.E
12:30 Silent Read
12:50 Hawaii Discussion- “What do you wear in winter? What if you lived in Hawaii where it is summer year round, what would you wear?”
1:00 Nurse Pattie teaches Hula?
1:30 Work Session
2:30 Hula Movie
3:15 Prepare for home
Friday
9:10 Music
9:40 Calendar/ Hawaii Songs
10:00 Chalk Board lesson whole group (Straight, Curve, and Cross lines)
10:15 Begin Work session and Lessons
o Me: ABC Retrieval
o Becky:
12:30 Teacher Read
12:50 Possible Little Mermaid “Under the Sea” Scene
1:00 Computer Lab
2:00-3:00 Reading Buddies
3:00 Snack/Share
3:15 Prepare for home
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