Meeting the Class

Meeting the class of sixth grade students our class will be teaching for the first time was an exciting experience. For our first time there, each group designed a quick activity to help get the class excited about what we will be teaching them that also helped us find out a little of their prior knowledge, in addition to the pretest our class contributed to.

My fieldwork group decided to bring in different types of rocks for the students to see and make observations about. We also asked the students to try and group the rocks in order to see if the students would inadvertently notice characteristics about the rocks that show what type they are and group them accordingly. The students were all quick to offer their thoughts on the rocks: what they looked like, felt like, and so on. The students' eagerness to discuss both with us and each other was exciting to see and made me more excited than I already am to have the opportunity to teach them all. It was interesting to see how each group of students divided the groups of rocks and what characteristics they thought were both uniting and dividing factors. Further, students quickly made connections between the marble and granite pieces we brought in, and counter tops they'd seen or had in their own homes.

The first visit to the school was definitely an experience that will help everyone design lessons based on, and has motivated me further for the fieldwork experience this semester.

Whole Class, Whole Mind

Preparing to teach in front of a full class is a daunting assignment. I am incredibly excited to be in front of a class, but being up there for the first time, and working out all the details in lesson plans is a bit nerve-wracking. Trying to think of every possible outcome for questions being posed to the class, and the activities that the students will be taking part in is important, because by thinking of all different scenarios, I know we will be prepared for anything that happens. Because the students are in sixth grade, it seems more intimidating. The content taught to younger grades is generally content I have been taught over the course of my academic career, but to varying degrees of difficulty. Truthfully, I do not remember much of sixth grade, much less about metamorphic rocks and the rock cycle. Being sure to have read up on all the information I need to effectively teach the class as well as answer all the questions the students may have is important to ensure I am providing students with all the information they could possibly need. Practicing the slides I will be teaching to the class is helpful because the other members of my fieldwork group are able to give feedback and help ensure I will be fully prepared for teaching when our opportunity comes.