Taking on 75%

This week I took on 75% of classes at the elementary school which is about 3 classes a day. It has been a good ease in by taking on a couple more classes each week. The students are getting familiar with me and taking good direction. However, my Kindergartners have been my biggest challenge. I have been able to keep them engaged in my lessons no problem. I begin by reading them a story and capturing their interest which works well. But come 30 minutes into the class period when it's time for cleanup, the students have issues in listening and following directions. My CT has referred to that as "mob mentality" which I completely agree with. I realize that I have to make sure that I give clear expectations and hold them accountable for their behavior. I also need to make sure I repeat myself more often because at that age level, they need that. My lesson this week got adjusted and modified. I had planned a clay owl lesson for K4 and K5, but my CT recommended I have a "Play Clay" day so that the students have time to feel what it's like to poke, pinch, and pull clay. With the modeling clay, they would not keep anything that they make. Instead, my owl lesson would be pushed back to next week. The hopes with having a "Play Clay" day is that the students will respect the white clay more when they get it. This also engages higher level thinking because they will be able to tell me what's similar and different with the two types of clay.

My other challenge this week was leading the majority of Ex. Ed. classes on Friday that consist of CD and Autistic students. I designed a lesson creating Owl Puppets out of brown or white paper bags and torn scrap paper. The students used glue sticks to glue on a variety of paper scraps to create feathers on the belly and back of their owl. Most students loved the project. It was a project that they could do at their own pace. Prepping was my biggest issue because I didn't know how much paper the students would go through. The Ex. Ed. classes are the most difficult to coral because everyone's developmental level is so different. There are around 8 students per class, but tending to each student individually is a challenge. Each class was different. For a couple, I knew I had their attention to lead with reading a story. With others, I put out the Owl books and let them look for themselves. I also had postcards out on the tables of images of owls that they really enjoyed. When I brought out beaks, wings, and eyes for the students to add to their owl, they really pushed to finish the project so they could play with their owls and make them "fly".