stumped01

Once again the original lesson was modified to accommodate a third grade class. The lesson is the dramatization of a poem ‘Life of a Plant’. Originally it was planned for eight speaking parts, but instead I divided the class into groups of two and or three students. The students were given time to read the poem and practice their interpretation of it. So that all the students could participate in the dramatization, I read or another teacher read the poem as they performed it. I used a digital camera to capture some of the students as they performed. The students appeared to thoroughly enjoy acting out the poem. I only had one student who would not participate in the activity.

I modified this lesson for the new class. My new teacher has been very accommodating, and she gave me some time to review plants with her class so I could use some of my unit plan. I reviewed parts of plants and their functions with the students. The teacher wanted me to cover the plant life cycle, and since I was able to find a computer program on Inspiration to do this, the students and I scheduled time in the computer lab. This was a learning experience for all of us. Using the diagram function in this program we each built our own plant life cycle. We started off together step by step, but some students quickly mastered the program and we off and running. Of course, other students experienced some problems, and we worked through them.

The lesson was for students to explore plants by way of a nature walk. It rained on this day. However when I moved over to another grade, the class was scheduled for a field trip to a nature reserve so the students got to explore nature up close. We walked along trails and we learned how the availability of specific plants affect animal populations. Students even got to hug a tree. They were blindfolded and walked to a tree then they were walked around to disorient them. When the blindfold was removed the student was asked to find the tree. The students had fun on this trip and learned a lot about nature.

My IT experience did not go as planned. As instructed I gave lesson plans and a weekly schedule to my teacher, who handed them back to me without comment. Prior to IT I realized that giving up control of her class was going to be an issue with my teacher, and it was. After the first day I could tell things were not going well. She apparently didn’t think I was following her schedule, even though the time slots on my weekly schedule mirrored her’s.  The first day was the only day she stayed out of the room, for the rest of the first week she was in the room. In addition, she wanted me to do things her way. She uses worksheets and would pull them out and ’suggest’ I use them. One day I put morning work out for the students, and she replaced it with something else. The student’s in this class are difficult to control at the best of time, and this situation didn’t help. After one week I talked with my teacher (coordinated with UF) and at the conclusion of the conversation I had the impression that we had come to a mutally agreeable arrangement. The next day my UF, teacher and I met and confirmed the arrangement. But, nothing changed. She continued to stay in the room. She could not give up control of the class. By the end of the second week, I’d had enough of this situation, and I requested to be moved out of this class. So, at the end of the third week I was moved to a new class and different grade. Now I’m trying to modify some of the lessons I’d planned for the lower grade for this class. At least I’ve had the opportunity to use some technology with them. And, although I’m only teaching a few lesson to the students in this class, its a so much better than my original class.