The Start of It All

Week 7:

Monday October 7, 2013

Today was our first day of fieldwork with Mrs. Benfer's 4th grade class at Bishop Dunn MemorialSchool. Groups 1 and 2 taught today. The 4th grade class was split up into two groups. One group stayed in the classroom with group 1 and the other group went into the computer lab with group 2. Each group taught for 25 minutes and then the students switched, so every student got to learn each groups lesson.

My group, group 3, first sat in on group1's lesson. Their first lesson was a direct lesson plan about Colonial New York.  They used a Prezi for their lesson. Throughout the lesson, they had the students following along with the Prezi on a packet. There were blanks in the packet so that the students could fill them in. At the end of the Prezi, the teachers had the students do a SMARTboard activity. I think the teachers did a great job. It was our first day of fieldwork so it is expected that everyone will be nervous, but group 1 did not show any hint of nervousness! 

When group 1 was done teaching their first lesson, my group and I switched to group 2 so we could watch them teach. Their first lesson was a direct lesson on the American Revolution. They started off with a Schoolhouse Rock video that the students definitely enjoyed. After the video, they had a power point presentation about the American Revolution. The teachers gave out a graphic organizer to the students so that could follow along with the powerpoint. Finally, the teachers used a vortex sort activity on the SMARTboard. The students were each given a laminated flag, one side was the colonists flag, the other the British flag. The vortex activity had statements and the students had to raise either the British flag or the Colonist flag up, which ever one they thought was the right answer.
I loved being able to sit and watch both groups teach today. I am so excited t finally teach, but I am definitely thankful that I get to watch these groups first. I have and will learn a lit from them so I can be the best teacher I can be!

Wednesday OCtober 9, 2013

Today in class we went over how groups one and two did in fieldwork on monday. By listening to what they had to say and what Dr. Smirnova had to say, I learned a lot for when I start my fieldwork.

Friday October 11, 2013

We were in Mrs. Benfer's class again today. Once again, group's one and two taught, while group three (my group) and group four observed. Today, both groups did an inquiry lesson. Group one did an artifact bag. I thought this was a great idea and the students really enjoyed it. I really liked how they first went over hat an artifact bag was and what the students could learn from it. Before starting the activity, the teachers demonstrated what the students would have to do. Once the students discovered their artifacts and did some research, they presented their findings. 

Group two did a bar code treasure hunt to help them solve a problem. They first asked the students if they were familiar with the Scientific method and showed them how it could apply not only to science but also their lesson today. They then had a voki of George Washington giving them the problem they needed to solve. The students were split up into groups to find out the what questions they had to answer after scanning the bar code. Once each group was done, the students presented their findings and helped solve the problem! I think the teachers did a great job with this lesson and I know the students definitely enjoyed it. There was a lot of time limitations for each lesson but if there wasn't I would have liked it if the teachers also demonstrated first how to do the activity. Other than that, they did great and once again I learned so much from.