Roman Explores Creativity: Reflection for the week of October 2nd

This was an interesting week not only did we go to lab on Tuesday and Thursday but we came to lab on Friday so that we could teach our first lesson plan. Most of the week was devoted to preparing for the lesson plan which was our Co-op plan, we had to figure out how to integrate our plan into a classroom that most would call traditional in design and implementation. On Tuesday we had to get creative to fit another class into our room because one of the 2nd grade teachers was out for the day. Some kids were at tables with Ms. Ells kids (where we could fit them) and others were on the main carpet so that we could still do guided reading. We got to have Cherry join KJ and I to help wrangle in the madness of a class and a half worth of students. Noise and space were the main issues especially during guided reading were our normal routine is that everyone is quiet. Cherry worked with her normal students and KJ and I worked with our students, so that no one was left out or in need of help. When the class went to recess KJ and I were able to talk about our lesson and finalize some of our thoughts. On Thursday KJ had to be out of class so I was on my own when Ms. Ells started guided reading. I used this time to check on some of the students that I had noticed that were either struggling or doing well just so I could see a difference. I laid down on the carpet and took notes and called students over for a very informal and stress free talk while I looked through their reading notebooks. I stressed to the students that they should slow down when taking their AR tests so that they could improve their test scores. I also informed many of the students I called on how to fix their work if it needed fixing. At the end of reading Ms. Ells had me take up everyone's reading notebook and remove the work the students had done. Unfortunately some of the students had decided to not complete their work on time resulting in them losing their Friday Funday time, this time would now be used to complete work instead of being able to bring in their own electronic device for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). FRIDAY Friday friday, lesson plan 1 taught by myself and KJ is a go. We started by telling the kids we were gonna "play" and "craft" during our lesson the response was "cheers" and "woo-hoos". The plan didn't go as planned but the content was delivered and we were able to challenge a lot of the kids. We observed team work and lack of teamwork. The best part is we gave no stipulations to the students on what they could create except they had to name it and write their names on the project. The following pictures show the projects and the results run the spectrum on completed design and implementation of design. these results definitely helped me to understand the relationships some of the students have with each other.