Week 7

This week I wanted to talk about the lessons that my host teacher and I taught, specifically, the ELA  lessons. This week we focused on the book Stellaluna.  The students were super engaged and the lessons built upon each other so well. On Monday, we read a non-fiction book about bats. The students were so surprised to learn that bats have fingers and thumbs! On Tuesday, we read a non-fiction book about birds, and on Wednesday we started reading Stellaluna. We then created a Venn diagram and compared and contrasted the two animals. On Thursday, the students answered a writing prompt about the book. Finally, on Friday, they painted bats and labeled parts of a bat and wrote some more. It was such a good learning week for the students and myself. The lessons built upon each other so nicely and it made the learning experience much more powerful.

This week there were few incidents with parents, which I can't really get into details about. I will say though that nowadays parents are in constant communication with teachers through email or class dojo, which can be a good thing but can also be overwhelming depending on the situation. This week I also attended a parent meeting and it was definitely a learning experience. I feel like I have MORE respect for teachers, specifically, my host teacher after this week. Teachers work so hard and are expected to do so much, and sometimes you have to deal with situations that make you feel unappreciated. I'm learning that to work in this field you also must have tough skin. With that said, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has announced that they will be going on strike on October 17th if a fair contract is not reached.

Last week I made it a goal to provide more student engagement during carpet discussions. This week I want to continue doing that until I feel completely confident. I also want to keep working on asking higher thinking questions that promote deep thinking. This week I want to implement the 4b break, which is a calming break for students who are feeling like they don't have control over their bodies. I

Classroom Confidential 

Great Teacher's Don't Take No (or yes) for an Answer 

The information I read in this chapter is really going to help me accomplish my goals this week. After reading this chapter I learned that when a teacher asks simple yes or no questions students become bored. The inquiry method is the way to go! Inquiry method questions are open-ended, which means there's no one right answer. The purpose of these questions is to promote elicit deep thinking. I have a difficult time asking questions to respond and follow-up. I learned that I can ask questions like:

 That's an interesting idea. Can you tell me more?

What do you mean by_____?

Could you give me an example?

I also learned that continuous exposure to inquiry questions teaches kids how to be critical thinkers and it teaches them how to think in situations outside of school.