When I first walked into the classroom and saw the students, I wondered how I was ever going to learn the names of the students. Knowing names is very important and I know that by communicating with each student by name, I am able to build a better connection and positive environment for everyone. To tackle the task of remembering names, I created a DIY seating chart in my notebook. When I learn the name of the student, I wrote their names in my seating chart and each day, for every class, I would silently practice their names while I observed. For the class I am currently teaching, I also am trying to force myself to say the name of each student at least once during the class period, which is a task I learned from KC at the preinternship seminar.
My Vet Science course has been create so far! Each student has been engaged in the content and it has
been so much fun to get to know each of them. I started the week with a "get to know you" day, where I had the students play a Kahoot to see how much information they could guess about me. We created name tags, introduced ourselves, and shared some fun information and facts about each other. I also went over the class procedures, expectations, and consequences for the course. At the end of day one, I had the students complete an "all about me" Google Form, so I had information about what they preferred to be called, their favorite songs, and which unit they were most excited for!
Moving onto day two, we learned what the 3-circle model was and how important is it to Agricultural Education. I was very surprised to see how many students were not aware that they were in FFA! I also found out that many students did not watch Harry Potter or know who the Kardashians were, which was a big part of my interest approach. I might try Mrs. VanSant's 3-circle model's next time I teach this content, which was having students create a structure with three circles of PlayDo! She then had them go to a different student's structure and take one of the circles away to see how it completely changed the structure and most were no longer stable. It was really great to see the different ways one activity could be taught!
I ended my first week with students exploring career opportunities in Vet Science. During class, students were able to "apply" a job in the field of veterinary science in any state they wished. I had them record what their job requirements, description and salary would be and share with the rest of the class. It was interesting to hear all the interesting and unique jobs that students were able to find. This activity was a fun way to end the first week before we entered our first unit of Safety and Sanitation.
There are a few challenges that I am working through (and probably will for the entire time I am student teaching) has to do with our new favorite work- COVID. My first challenge is that each Wednesday is a half day, so I only have 25 minutes to teach. It has only been one week and it has already been tough to teach something in that amount of time. My next challenge is that students at Pequea Valley have the choice to go all in-person or all online, which means that I will have online learners for every class, every day, with the exception of my ag mechanics course. I feel guilty and that my online learners are not given the same opportunities as my in-person learners and have been trying my best to make online learning (asynchronously) as interactive and effective as possible. I would love suggestions from my cohort or anyone else with creative ideas or online teaching experience for ideas for my online learners!
Week 1 was fun, exciting, and a crazy experience and I know it will only continue as the weeks go on. I can't wait to hear from the rest of my cohort and get some suggestions and advice! Make sure to comment below!
Micheala, your first week sounds like it was so much fun! I love that you're taking the advice KP gave us about saying each students name during the class period I too am going to try to incorporate that into my own teaching as I begin teaching my first classes tomorrow! As far as engaging with your in person and online students have you tried integrating Menti or Slido into your lessons? You can engage with all of your students using the program and they can all compete against each other just like kahoot! I am also going to explore having some of my in person students logging on to the Zoom so that they can work in groups with my online students. I would try to find what not only works best for your teaching style but also your students, the world in our oyster in this COVID teaching world! :)
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you are off to a great start! You already to be building in important components to your lessons. This will help especially as you find yourself running short on time, whether on a "normal" Bell schedule or a shortened period schedule. Keep learning and doing good things for students whether they are in person or remote.
ReplyDelete-Dr. Ewing
Michela - How fun that you got to have these first week experiences! I especially like your idea to do a Google Form to collect information about your students. I know if I were your student, there is information I may share with you on a form rather than aloud with the class in an ice breaker game. I also echo your concerns for remembering everyone's' names. Although, I have found it to be much easier than I anticipated because of my hybrid schedule I only have about 6-7 students at a time - but yes a work in progress for sure. Looking forward to seeing what week 2 has in store for you!
ReplyDeleteHey girl! I am so happy to read about all of your experiences during your first week and I can't wait to keep following you on your journey. I loved how adamant you were about getting to know your students and especially their names. You were able to accomplish so many different things throughout the week. Keep working hard and I will keep rooting for you!
ReplyDeleteXOXO, Riley
Happy first week of student teaching. Michaela! Teaching learners that both in-person and virtual at the same time is a challenge! As someone who is dealing with the same thing everyday, my best advice is to be creative and think outside of the box when you transform learning activities traditionally done in the classroom for the digital world. Including resources for students to use, samples of what you want their work to look like, and instructional screen cast videos that guide them through what they need to do step-by-step have been incredibly helpful for my students. I'm happy to share examples of what I've been doing.
ReplyDeleteMichaela,
ReplyDeleteWe just started week three and it is crazy to think about all that you have experienced already! Between virtual days, snow days and half days you really have shown your ability to adapt to new environments. I enjoy reading about what you thought went well and what you hope to change in the future. Constant reflection and change is a good thing; this means you want to improve! Keep up the great work!