It felt so much easier settling into things today, getting into the routine. I started making mental notes of particular students interests, which makes a huge difference knowing what things to include into your planning in attempt to lengthen those short mini attention spans..
I learnt in News today that majority of boys in the classroom LOVE star wars, we had a short mini light saber war going on underneath the desks at one point. Its amazing how something that I would normally see as a distraction can be turned around into something educational. We managed to divert them from light saber wars under the desks to describing what a light saber feels like ( incorporating our senses unit - touch)..
Describe:
The tricky thing I found today was I had the afternoon block for my lessons, and underestimated their energy levels. I started my lesson before I had all their attention and then spent the rest of the lesson trying all my best behaviour management techniques to regain their attention. Introduced my Unit on the senses. There was a lot of new information for the kids I'll admit, they were all super exciteable. We modelled touch, taste, smell, hear, see on a person on the board as I asked them what was missing. We then zoomed in on touch and I read them a story on touch then students had had to trace around their hand (visual exploration) and write 5 things that they could touch. I modelled some examples on the board for students to copy as prompts.
Analyse:
I think that sometimes no matter how engaging your lesson may be or what exciting things you have up your sleeve, it wont work without their attention.Sometimes we fail to realise how simple it can be to gain their attention.
- DEtective George was a hit, they LOVE him, but Ill need to work out some rules and engage them without distracting them with George.
- time management is a huge thing, just working out how much activities to plan for... I guess its better to overprepare and set realistic goals on what exactly you want the students to achieve.
PLan:
For next time I think, ill wait a little longer, build up the suspense when bringing out detective George ( the puppet) make it clear that when people are talking he gets shy and wont come out. Its hard to also control kids when you bring out something new and exciting I found that when I introduced detective George to them and explained that he would help us put on our investigative skills to explore the senses they went crazy. Everyone wanted a pat, all the kids were asking him questions like " Whose your mum? Do you go to school? Whats your favourite food?" as if it was their best friend. Most of them were trying to be sneaky and work out if he was a puppet.. The giggled at my funny man voice, which I myself found it hard not to giggle at (the whole changing between voices thing got a bit confusing).
So for next Senses lesson I'll make sure I have EVERY ONES attention before starting, it will make it so much easier from the outset.
On a brighter note, It was the first kings and queens of the day today.. They had such a blast felt like the most important people on the planet, doing jobs for the teacher, going out to lunch first, sharpening pencils.. what is it that kids find so attractive about those menial jobs we all despise.
All in all it was a good first day teaching.. thoroughly making myself at home, settling in and finding everything a little less daunting and much more natural. I know without a shadow of uncertainty this is truly what I'm meant to be doing for the rest of my life. I feel like I've finally found shoes to fit and the little people are so so cute.
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