During my observations and my service hours I heard a lot more positive than negative language being used with the children. I saw more of the “praise in public, discipline in private” rule (discussed by Dr. Barrett). You could immediately see whether the teacher had withitness and was a good classroom manager(notes from Dr. Barrett) or not. For example, one of the children was in the morning circle goofing off and the teacher, Mrs. Weather looked down and gave him the stare. While she had her back turned writing something on the board, ‘Tyler’ started up again, acting crazy and making the other kids laugh. Without missing a beat Mrs. Weather turned around, looked directly at ‘Tyler’”, knowing good and well he was the culprit, and said “we will be having a talk when our morning circle is over”. Knowing he was in trouble, Tyler sat still and was relatively quiet for the remainder of the morning circle. After the children were in their centers Mrs. Weather pulled Tyler aside and dealt with him.
During my experience in Mrs. Weather’s room, I noticed that time was used very well and the children were on tight schedules. It was hard to tell which she was better at efficiency or effectiveness. I fell like she cut down on instructional time by having classroom management. She was able to keep the kids engaged and on task which helped them get to the academic learning time quicker. She also helped them remain on task by making them raise their hands to ask a question, not just letting them shout out. This way she was not bombarded with little bodies all around her desk causing lots of noise which would have drawn onlookers; thus, getting everyone off task. Less correction on behavioral problems means less explaining and interruptions which means more learning.
Organization in the classroom is key to giving the kids more learning time. Mrs. Weather the Pre-First teacher always has her room ready for the day. She would put things out and organize them the day before or the morning of to have them classroom ready for the kids to learn. She has sheets copied, books picked out, activities planned and songs to sing so all she had to do was teach and not prepare. This creates improved achievement because the kids were staying on task and remaining focused because their learning environment was organized.
The different learning styles (notes from Dr. Barrett) were addressed not only through, reading and writing about a subject but by also singing, dancing, and talking through the subject. The children are able to gain comprehension on every level. For example, the children were learning about the weather one week while I was doing my service hours. So the teacher picked out a book, a song, and an art project for the kids to do. The book was read to them during morning circle, and the book was full of big words like condensation and evaporation. Which were explained by the teacher, then the children were asked throughout the story what was going on and what these big words mean to test their comprehension of it. Once the story was read, the teacher followed up with a song that also contained these words. The children stood up, did a dance and sang it with her. Then they sat back down and were once again ‘tested’ on what they were learning. Last she gave the children an art project where they had to pick out the cloths they wanted their paper doll to wear. The clothes they chose had to match the scene they drew. For example, if it was raining they would pick rain boots and an umbrella. Then they had to write four-sentence story about their picture and what they were doing. This not only helps the read/write learners but it also helps the visual, auditory and kinesthetic learner by all the activities involved.
The pedagogical cycle (notes from Dr. Barrett) was also used during these activities and learning about the weather. For example, while reading the book, Mrs. Weather started by saying, ““Charley” When you take a cold glass of ice water outside on a hot day and the glass gets foggy and wet, that is called condensation.” Then Mrs. Weather asked ‘Charley’, “What is condensation?” Charley responds, “It is the foggy wet stuff you get on a cold glass when you take it out in the hot sun.” Mrs. Weather, “That is correct Charley, good job!” Mrs. Weather also asked another kid, “what word rhymes with condensation?” ‘Sammy’ raised his hand and answered, “Evaporation?” Mrs. Weather replies to him, “Yes Sammy, great job!”
Not only did I see the pedagogical cycle (notes from Dr. Barrett) in these examples of question and answer I saw Bloom’s Taxonomy(notes from Dr. Barrett) as well. There was knowledge of the subject matter, in this case weather...It is sunny, it is rainy, etc. Comprehension of sunny and rainy or condensation is tested when the teacher asked them to explain those words. They then applied the knowledge and comprehension in their activities. To do this they were made to analyze a thought during their art project of, where do I want to be? Should I be in a rain storm, at the beach, in the snow, etc? Then they had to pick out the right outfit and write the story to evaluate and show what they had learned!
I saw that the children were so engaged. A great example of John Kellor's ARCS Model of Motivation (notes from Dr. Barrett) could be seen here. By reading a story, following with singing and dancing, then sitting and writing it was like a roller coaster which children need. They do not and cannot just sit at a desk all day. By having low activity balanced with high activity it helps them stay engaged thus learning so much more. I saw the children paid attention and had so much confidence in the subject matter which gave the teacher satisfaction in knowing that she was teaching and they were comprehending!
No comments:
Post a Comment