IS183 Week #5 Reflection

This week was very different for me, compared to my other weeks! Instead of helping a class every day, I was in the office in the mornings (covering for some staff that was out and learning about some of the other "hats" the administrative staff there wears), and traveling to BCD to carry out my Enchanted Garden Lesson Plan with the 5-7 year olds. It was an exhausting week, but I learned a lot! (And, as I mentioned in my previous post, I got to use/contribute to the Contextual Learning Portal! I posted one of IS183's teacher's curriculum to this teaching resource website so that other teachers can adapt or be inspired by her content.)

A lot happened with my Enchanted Garden Lesson Plan. I won't re-post that entire lesson here, but it is in my blog archive. Instead, I will post the dramatic changes that happened. For starters, instead of a 2-3 hour chunk with the kids, I had about 1-2 hours every day this week with them (at the end of the day). So, total, I was teaching them for about 5 hours this week! My lesson plan took on a new shape, as you will see, and I will also include the feedback I gleaned and received:

Adjusted Enchanted Garden “Lesson” Schedule: (5^th week at IS183)

*Spread out lesson plan/time with 5-7 yr olds at BCD over a whole week, instead of just a 2-3 hr chunk:

Monday (8/6): 2:30-3:30    OBSERVE LUCIE WITH CLASS, MAKING “STAINED GLASS” FLOWERS

Tuesday (8/7): 1:30-3:30   LUCIE FINISH FLOWERS WITH CLASS, THEN ENCHANTED GARDEN STEPS 1-4 (Tale I Told Sasha, discuss, Storyboard own “garden stories”)

Wednesday (8/8): 2:30-3:30   ENCHANTED GARDEN STEPS 5-6 (CHANGED TO: READ EMPTY POT- ADD TO ANNOTATED LIST- , DISCUSS, READ “SAD LITTLE CLOUD STORY” I WROTE, ACT OUT ANIMAL CAST IN CLOUD STORY, DO “ALICE IN WONDERLAND” MEDITATION I WROTE UP TO COOL DOWN, SHARE MEDITATION STORIES BEFORE END OF DAY CHECK-IN (REMINDER WE WILL BE MAKING A PLAY TOMORROW AFTERNOON!)

Thursday (8/9): 2:30-3:30     ENCHANTED GARDEN STEPS 7-8 (CHANGED TO: A GROUP PERFORMANCE-WHOLE CLASS- OF MY “SAD LITTLE CLOUD” STORY. ME (PLUS OTHER TEACHERS?) AS NARRATOR(S), KIDS “CAST” INTO PARTS AND ACTING OUT WHILE I READ…  Play outside/sprinkler)

Friday (8/10): 2:30-3:30   PREPARE FOR ART SHOW (THAT’S AT 3:00)

Extra Activities I Utilized During This Week (as breaks and transitions in the lesson):

Meditation- I wrote up my own “Alice In Wonderland” kind of meditation exercise for a “quiet” moment with the kids that was also garden related

Storybooks- I read them The Empty Pot and The Tale I Told Sasha, both books related to garden and imagination in imaginary worlds (nice transition and focus-grabbing activities, as well as more “quiet” moments)

Game Adaptations- “Flower and Tree Tag” (vs. Freeze Tag)- when you are tagged, you stand still and wave your branches like a tree until someone frees you; “Gardener” (vs. Sandman)- all players sit in a circle, and a detective and (secret) “gardener” are picked. The gardener has to wink at players in the circle, turning them all into flowers (who stand up, “sprouting”) before the detective can guess who the gardener is.

Free Draw and Classroom Storybooks- kids were free to do these things if they finished their work early and cleaned their workstation

My Reflections from 8/7-9 (3 days of teaching under Enchanted Garden/Lucie):

What went really well, as is:

·         This age group is fascinated with toilet language, and toilets! They included these activities and words in their storyboards today, and so I encouraged them to choose other words and activities for their stories (I reminded them that their work is going to be in an art show on Friday, for everyone to admire)!

·         It was so great to have helpers (like my supervisor and another T.A.) who could take students who needed “breaks” into another room for a story or a rest; especially because the kids didn’t know me well (unlike my supervisor) and were tired at the end of the day.

·         Reading an applicable children’s story to the class = one of my favorite things to do, now! I love how engaged they all become as they follow along and imagine what will happen, especially if I feel like my reading style is drawing them in!

·         I was proud of the “Garden Adaptations” I made to their favorite games; two of them were in-the-moment when the kids wanted “Freeze Tag” and “Sandman”

What I would improve:

·       -  I NEED TO BE UNAFRAID TO BE MORE STERN WITH THE KIDS. Classroom management is definitely an area that I need to grow into; I’m sure this will come with the more time I spend in a classroom, whether someone is observing me or not!

·       -  For the storyboarding exercise, if I did this lesson again, I would MAKE MY OWN TEMPLATE. The one I used was kind of small and had lines on it, so there was one student who grew upset when she thought she was supposed to write (and hadn’t learned how to yet). Next time, I will make my own storyboarding template that is larger (still 3 squares), and without lines (instead, with empty space around the boxes in case students do want to write, as some did).

·       -  Taking them outside for the really active movement activities is a better idea than the classroom. (Space, fresh air, etc.)

Supervisor’s (Lucie's) feedback:

·        - Overall, it went really well and it was great! My reading was great and effective, and I was very encouraging and adaptive to the classroom and student’s needs.

·      -   Agreement with the storyboarding template reflections… (Next time, make my own!)

·      -   Classroom management could be better: tricks = “all eyes and ears on me” to get attention, then WAIT and praise the students by name who are listening; break up physical clashes between students by separating them- “hold hands or shoulders” to keep them from contacting the other student (of course not with a rough hold, so as not to injure the students); explain lesson transitions to students while you still have their attention (ex. moving from reading circle to table: tell students what they will be doing at the tables while they are still sitting in the reading circle)

·        - It was a great idea to add movement and acting to the lesson; usually they just do visual art.

 I know I can just keep returning to this lesson plan and making more and more improvements... I can't wait to get the opportunity to employ it again! 

As for the class's art show, I will include some pictures here (I helped them to make the stained glass flowers, and the garden stories; the rest was done with them by another teacher):

Stained Glass Flowers in process (with my supervisor, Lucie)...

...Stained Glass Flowers finished, hanging at the art show!

Grass Heads project; like "Chia Pets!"

Magic Keys to gain access to the Enchanted Garden

Paper Sunflowers

Flower Pot Turtles and Critters

Palm Leaves with Rainbow Caterpillars

Outdoor Scenes with Watercolor and natural elements

Enchanted Garden Treasure Chests

Felted Rainbow Geodes

Easter Egg and Tin Foil Mushrooms on sticks

Everybody made a pair of Fairy Wings to wear at the Art Show in their Enchanted Garden!

And our little Fairies lead us around their  Enchanted Garden Art Show...

Enchanted Garden Stories

Cats who take shelter from rain under a rainbow

A little girl who goes to the garden every day to give a flower to her mother

“Once upon a time, there was a cat in a garden with a path. And the cat goes across the path. And it digs a hole for its ball of yarn. And it falls down into the hole and it falls down into a wonderful world in the sky, and it makes a friend in the garden in the sky.”

-M.

"The cat is digging a hole and lands on the roof of a house.  Then the cat falls on the floor. After that, she falls through the hole. She then slides on the ground and walks to a tree in the garden." -S.

“There was a girl. She never had fun. She is having fun.”

-E.

"This is a story about everything I made in this garden class."
-H.

“On the top of the plate was some spaghetti. On top of the spaghetti was a meatball. The meatball rolled off the table and onto the street. Then a hungry dog came and ate the meatball.”

-M.

“The Cat is in a house and falls into a lightbulb! And the cow is licking her lips. Yum! She just ate a plant.”

-V.