I had my first observation on Feb 2nd!
Right off the bat I noticed that Ulla let the students initiate learning, instead of a top-down approach that I went through in elementary school in China. During the math group, students were learning the Fact Family, in which two numbers add up to the third number. At first Ulla gave out three numbers and had the students fill into the equations, then she asked them to make up their own numbers. She also encouraged them to use bigger numbers when they know how to add/subtract single digit numbers. In China, the teacher usually tells you what to do, and learning math was always like what is 4+5 or what is 9-4, instead of finding three numbers yourself that have an additive relationship. By encouraging self-initiate learning, students won’t just see learning as a task to complete, but also explore and find it fascinating, and be more engaged.
It was so great to observe a first grade class, I already learned so much during the two sessions. I noted a few things that I find important and should learn. One is to always listen to students, even if it’s not related to the class. It’s always important to be heard. Adjust according to how students are learning. When Ulla found out her students couldn’t recall the content they read two days ago, she slowed down and had the students summarize each paragraph to make sure they understood.
I would like to end this blog with something a student said during community building time: “Ms. Ulla, when you sing, it makes me so happy.”