Lesso 2 reflection

This week we talked about primary and secondary sources, we created a timeline of Vermont history, and we talked about some of the historic events and their causes and effects. First we went over the agenda and the expectations chart created together. Then we did our ice breaker where we asked if the students would rather live in the past or the future. The children responded with a variety of answers, one even being that he just wanted to live in the moment. Then we started on our first activity being the primary and secondary sources. This was more of a vocabulary where we talked about what the words meant and some examples of them. We then had the students match sources like a declaration of independence and a biography. The students are well with this activity and match all the examples correctly. Then we did the timeline. We laminated different historic events in Vermont with dates for the students into cards. Then we present the timeline and the way that it worked and how the dates would appear. The kids then used the dates to put the timeline in order and we read off the cards. The last activity we did with the students this week was the cause and effect. We had a sheet with causes and had the students brainstorm the effects that these events on the timeline had on the people of Vermont. We asked how these events affected people's everyday lives. The kids came up with similar answers like when asked how the big flood affected the people they answer with things like people being hurt, homes were destroyed, food was destroyed. This week I helped one of the students more one on one based on what I saw last week. Last week he was very hesitant to do any work but had no problem talking and sharing with the group. I sat and read all the questions and brainstormed with him. He also has a hard time spelling and doesn’t like to write his answer down so we talked about how to write down what he wanted and I helped with spelling. After this the students had a little time so they drew one of the events on the back of the worksheet. 

I learned a lot about the students this week. That one student in particular shows that he wants to learn and he is smart but he is very discouraged when asked to write anything. Next time I will try sentence starters on things so he writes less. Also the kids have a hard time taking turns talking but also letting us talk. No matter if we are talking about content or directions one student disrupts a lot. For future lessons I want to try and control the talking more by maybe having rewards or a system of some sort. I find that even after many reminders of the expectations where they start to say kind words and listen to others when they are talking, the students still ignore the reminders. I don’t like the idea too much of a talking stick but if I have to use one I will try. 

Lesson 1 Reflection

This week's lesson was on geography. More specifically how the geography of the state of Vermont affects the jobs, activities and where people live. This was also the first week with this group of students. We started with introductions. We have one girl and three boys. One boy will be coming half way through the lesson. We introduced ourselves and the kids went one by one telling us their name and then as a community building exercise we asked if they liked mountains or lakes better because these are part of Vermont's geography. The kids were pretty 50/50. After this we made the expectations chart. I chose to have the students make the chart with us. I came with a chart numbered one through five and together we made a list of expectations for each lesson. We went over the agenda for the lesson and crossed off what we had done thus far. The next activity was the map labeling. We started with a small five minute video that introduced the state of Vermont. It talked about the geography, history, how it got its name, some state facts, the weather and more. After they got a small intro to the state and some background knowledge about what they were going to be learning about we went over some vocabulary for the lesson. I picked about five words I thought would be unfamiliar to the students and we did a small matching activity with cards to match the definition to the word. I passed around all the cards and one by one we read out the definitions and had the students put up what word they thought matched. We then voted on which one we thought it was. The students matched all of the definitions and words correctly. Then we moved on to the map. I printed out a map for each student. These maps were going to be used to label the large anchor chart map. We started by explaining the map legend and what the symbols meant. Then we talked about the compass. The students all took turns labeling each part of the map. All of the students got a chance to label and were pretty accurate. The last activity was to tie in how the geography affected the citizens of the state. I had the students make a chart of the different parts of the geography of Vermont. Then they would list examples from the state, the jobs that would match that area and last activities that also matched. We didn't get to fully finish the chart because we ran out of time. I think we didn’t account for enough time for the introduction but also first meeting the kids and learning that they are a very chatty group will help with future planning. The students enjoyed the coloring part of the chart where I asked them to draw examples of the jobs, activities, and landforms. This group is very chatty and gets very off task easily. I find it may be a challenge to keep this group on task and for future planning me and my partner will have to find a way to keep the kids focused and talking about the lesson. 

This week I learned that keeping students focused and one task isn’t always so easy. There were many incidents where the students would answer questions and take a very long time. They were talking over each other and us. They would interrupt directions and questions being asked during the lesson. Not that the children were being rude or disrespectful in any way but they have lots of energy and have a lot to say. 

In the future I would try to make an easier lesson for the first visit. I think maybe I planned a lesson that was more detail oriented without knowing my students. Now that I know my students more personally I can gear the lesson more towards things that will keep them more focused, on task, and interested. 

 

Potluck Reflection

 My group's topic was civics and democratic education. We made a slide presentation with different activities embedded with questions to help you think about our topic. We first had the class take a kahoot that were questions from the citizens test for our country. This was to prove that students are taught many things about the country that immigrants need to learn for the test to become a citizen. We talked about important ways to do your civic duties and how these can be used in a classroom setting to help teach students early on. I think the class was very engaged in our presentation and they had fun learning but I think we had a few technical difficulties so in the future we could have all the tabs ready when presenting. 

It is important to teach students about their civic duties. By implementing these skills in your classroom you are better preparing students for the real world. An example we used was mock elections where students vote for either class leaders but even just voting for different choices. It is important to teach them to consider both sides and choose what is best. 

I learned that students need to be taught how to be involved in their democracy. No one is there to tell them how to be involved in their own government. Having students apply these skills in class will help with their future. Teaching students about current events also keeps them in tune with their surroundings and what is going on in the world they live in. 

NCSS Reflection

           The NCSS stands for National Council for the Social Studies. They have outlined six guiding principles to help social studies professionals develop ethical decision-making, create equitable learning environments, and support democracy. The six principles are integrity, justice, authenticity, civic engagement, responsibility, and democratic values. These principles serve as a framework for social studies professionals at all levels to reflect on their practice, make informed decisions, and engage in meaningful, authentic learning that promotes democratic values. 

The first principle integrity means professionals should act with integrity being honest and truthful about knowledge claims in their schools, curricula, and classrooms while working to model and demonstrate respect for the dignity and integrity of every student, the content, and the community overall. The second principle justice means professionals play a vital role in shaping citizens who can contribute positively to society by focusing on justice, human and political rights, resource distribution, and various aspects of humanity. This includes teaching the rights and responsibilities of community members and selecting curricula that foster a just and equitable learning environment. Authenticity is the third principle in social studies education. Authenticity is essential, as educators must be honest and genuine in their interactions with students, content, and the community. These educators create real opportunities for students to engage in discussions that connect to the world beyond school and prepare them for active participation in future society. Civic engagement is important for a thriving democracy. Social studies professionals play a key role in fostering the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors necessary for students to participate in government. They teach democratic citizenship, civil liberties, civil rights, and human rights,  explaining the importance of active citizenship in democracy. By doing this, social studies professionals model the characteristics of good citizens, upholding dignity and rights in their classroom. Responsibility in social studies involves making ethical decisions related to content selection, curriculum interpretation, and pedagogy, all while educating for democracy. Social studies professionals are accountable to students, families, colleagues, and the broader community, ensuring their decisions are democratic and just. They engage in thoughtful deliberation to make choices that best prepare students for active participation in democracy, while also continuing to develop their own professional growth.

Teaching students social studies is creating the foundation for their civic and democratic identities. They will take these tools with them for life. Young people learn skills that go beyond the classroom and will impact their everyday lives. 

Reflection Lesson 6

     This week's lesson focused on paragraph shrinking. The lesson was going to start with a poem about Thanksgiving being the week of. Then we were going to learn about the parts of paragraph shrinking. After learning about finding the important parts in the reading I was going to show an example using a story about a queen. The students were then going to try it with me with a story about a boy looking for gems. After the anchor chart was complete we were going to read a short book. The lesson then would have ended with an exit ticket practicing the paragraph shrinking on their own. Unfortunately I was absent from this lesson due to feeling ill. For next time, I know that as a group we had a solid lesson plan so even without me the lesson was still able to be taught.

Reflection Lesson 5

     This week we taught affixes. Specifically prefixes, suffixes, and root words. We started our lesson with an ice breaker. This week we asked what Thanksgiving traditions if any were their favorite because not every student celebrates, we asked a second question of their favorite holiday. All the students said that their favorite holiday was Christmas. Then we went over what a prefix, suffix, and root word was. We made a chart with examples. The students then listened to two books that were all about prefixes and suffixes with examples and told the meanings of each. The student took the words in the story and wrote them down on sticky notes to cut apart the parts of the words. They used their cut up words to stick to the chart under prefix, suffix, and root word. For an exit ticket we had the students fill out a worksheet with words that had prefixes and suffixes and they separated the words into columns. I think that we could have focused more on the meaning of the prefixes and suffixes. 

All of the students showed that they have a strong understanding of prefixes and suffixes. They can easily identify and break apart the parts of the words. I think that we could have focused more on the meaning of the suffixes and prefixes and incorporated this into the lesson. We could have had the students separate the word, tell us the meaning and then change the prefix or suffix to make the word have a new meaning. 

This week I learned about classroom management. One student talks quite a bit and has the answer every time and calls out the answer. The other two students sit there quietly and whisper the answer to themself because he takes over. Reminding him to take turns with answers and maybe having them put thumbs up for understanding and different techniques that aren’t formally raising their hands to share or talk. 

In the future, like I said last week, lessons should be planned with more than one focus point. Some lessons get simplified and we focus strongly on more topics and there isn’t much expansion. So like I said this week we focused more on identifying the parts of the word. In the future more topics can be focused on at one time. 

Reflection Lesson 4

      This week we used a word map and the PAVE organizer to teach vocabulary. This week I started with a Thanksgiving trivia and then pulled words that I thought the students were unfamiliar with. We used these words to fill in the word map chart. I showed them an example with the word harvest. I put up my sticky notes to show the different parts and what I expected. Then I gave them words to do the same. They did two words each with teacher guidance and we put the sticky notes on the chart and shared our word maps. Then I read the story, Happy Thanksgiving, Curious George. I instructed the students to write down words while we read of any words they were unsure of or had never heard before. They then used one word they picked from the story to fill out the PAVE chart. The students enjoyed the Trivia and putting the sticky notes on the chart but they didn’t write down any words while we read so we had to go back into the story to find them words. After the exit ticket we went over the sentence expanding. I explained what it was and the where?when?how?why? questions to help add details. I showed them a basic sentence and how each question was added to the sentence to make it more robust. I then had a few examples for each student to try. 

This week one of our students was absent. So we only again had two students to teach. Both students did a good job with the anchor chart. After seeing my example and doing two examples themselves and seeing each other's work they were ready to try on their own. Both students filled out their PAVE maps successfully and correctly. 

This week we were expected to do two SLO’s and I think with the limited time we had it was hard to fit in explaining and doing it on their own. I think next time I will try and combine the lessons together. With the sentence expanding we could have done an explanation and tied it into using the expanded sentences in their vocabulary. 

In the future I can use the idea of connecting lessons together. Everything should be taught in depth but then connecting the lesson through activities can also be helpful.