Tuesday, February 10th, 2020
Expo Elementary
2nd-grade teacher Ulla Tervo-Desnick
7-8 years of age
9:00 a.m -12:00 a.m
3 hours
Today I experienced a different part of the day. Since I usually come in at 7 I see the reading/writing workshops. Today I got to see what Math workshop and Library time was.
When we went to the library the kids seemed to forget how to properly check out books. They left a lot of un-checkout books on the ground. To bring this to the kid’s attention Ulla sat all the kids down in a line and explained what their behavior was and how they need to resolve it. She explained consequences and included the librarian into the conversation so they kids saw how their actions affected other people.
During Math Workshop one student was having an especially difficult time paying attention. He was walking around the room playing with different things and making a lot of noise. To keep the classroom flowing Ulla allowed him to do this as long as he wasn’t a distraction to other kids. As soon as the noises began to distract students Ulla went and called for extra assistance. An office aid came in and escorted him to a sensory room. To calm down the remaining students Ulla stopped the lesson and had all the children do some calming breathing exercises. This allowed the kids to calm down and recenter their focus back onto the lesson.
During this experience, I saw how Ulla used every situation and made it into a teaching experience. This was very valuable for both me and the children.
Wednesday, February 11th, 2020
Expo Elementary
2nd-grade teacher Ulla Tervo-Desnick
7-8 years of age
7:00 a.m -10:30 a.m
3.5 hours
Today was the day of the Hidden message lesson. (A card with a circle spinner inside to show a message) Lynda arrived at 9 and the lesson began at 9:30. I started by asking the children what holiday is coming up and what it means to them. They had very good answers to what they believe Valentine’s day is. Many responded with giving, love, and friendship. And of course, candy. There was very good participation. Lynda came up and introduced who we would be giving Valentine’s day cards to. (Ladies of Basset Creek Independent living)
The lesson went fairly smoothly. The kids really enjoyed all of the materials and came up with some very creative solutions. The collaborative effort the kids showed was intriguing. When someone created something I would pair them with a student that wanted to do the same thing. This allowed the kids to work together and teach each other. Also, since there were only 3 adults helping (Ulla, Lynda, and Myself) many of the kids had to come up with there own creative solutions.
All in all, I think the lesson went amazing. All of the kids participated and the cards turned incredible. The use of different colors and materials also made the kids very excited. In the end, I think all of the kids enjoyed the activity.
