It was great to get started on my work stations this week. Getting back in front of the classroom felt as natural as could be, and set aside a lot of my anxiousness. I discovered how hard it is to introduce a band new procedural concept to a group of second graders. As I observed through Marjie's teaching, you must break down every little detail to their level of understanding. I tried to think about this as much as I could before I taught the lesson, and Marjie reflected that this showed in my teaching. I was glad to hear that my preparation and attention to the details came out in my work station mini-lessons. I was very surprised how well the students caught on to the cleaning up procedure. For the first two mini-lessons, six out of the eight groups had everything put away in the correct places, work turned in, and materials accounted for. I rewarded these groups, and encouraged all the groups to do their best the next time. My second word study mini-lesson had a less than satisfactory result. The students were very excited to get started on their work stations, but didn't grasp the concept of word expert cards. Although I stepped them through this in whole and with their small groups, many were confused. In addition, the vocabulary dominoes that I had made did not work the way I planned. Therefore, I chopped up the dominoes so that they can just match the work and definition. I think this will work better, and be more easily understood for the students. I also plan to reteach this station next Thursday before they are expected to do it again in a work station format. Hopefully breaking down the word expert card even more, and having the students all do one at their seat, will make this concept easier and understandable. Overall, I am so excited to be teaching more, and can't wait to do more this coming week. As a goal for the week, I want to try to differentiate my instruction even more for my students, and help those who have special needs. I've been trying to do these in my work stations, and love that it seems to be working. Since I have assigned the groups by ability, I can differentiate the materials in their stations to best fit their needs. I am so glad that Bethany and I have decided to do this, especially with the wide range of abilities we have in our classrooms. I think the differentiation is accommodating these students, and helping them enjoy their stations.
It was great to get started on my work stations this week. Getting back in front of the classroom felt as natural as could be, and set aside a lot of my anxiousness. I discovered how hard it is to introduce a band new procedural concept to a group of second graders. As I observed through Marjie's teaching, you must break down every little detail to their level of understanding. I tried to think about this as much as I could before I taught the lesson, and Marjie reflected that this showed in my teaching. I was glad to hear that my preparation and attention to the details came out in my work station mini-lessons.
ReplyDeleteI was very surprised how well the students caught on to the cleaning up procedure. For the first two mini-lessons, six out of the eight groups had everything put away in the correct places, work turned in, and materials accounted for. I rewarded these groups, and encouraged all the groups to do their best the next time.
My second word study mini-lesson had a less than satisfactory result. The students were very excited to get started on their work stations, but didn't grasp the concept of word expert cards. Although I stepped them through this in whole and with their small groups, many were confused. In addition, the vocabulary dominoes that I had made did not work the way I planned. Therefore, I chopped up the dominoes so that they can just match the work and definition. I think this will work better, and be more easily understood for the students. I also plan to reteach this station next Thursday before they are expected to do it again in a work station format. Hopefully breaking down the word expert card even more, and having the students all do one at their seat, will make this concept easier and understandable.
Overall, I am so excited to be teaching more, and can't wait to do more this coming week. As a goal for the week, I want to try to differentiate my instruction even more for my students, and help those who have special needs. I've been trying to do these in my work stations, and love that it seems to be working. Since I have assigned the groups by ability, I can differentiate the materials in their stations to best fit their needs. I am so glad that Bethany and I have decided to do this, especially with the wide range of abilities we have in our classrooms. I think the differentiation is accommodating these students, and helping them enjoy their stations.