PDP GOALS & REFLECTIONS

Week 1: One thing that went well was the participation in the activity, all of the students made a name card with a good amount of detail. One thing that was challenging was realizing not everyone wanted to share, so after we ran out of volunteers to share, I went around and asked those who didn't want to share their drawings with the class to tell us their only names, and some even after sharing their name found the courage to share further about their drawings. One thing I will do next time is to consider making specific requirements, as in the case of an assignment or art project that is less personalized, students may not always apply what you are looking for unless you lay down an outline of what is required of them.

- Overall I really enjoyed getting to know the students and had so much fun seeing their creations.

Week 2: One thing that went well was getting the students attention. Ms. Coffin had been discussing relationships and friendships with the students in health previously but hadn't really mentioned that this was the topic they were looking into, so I began with asking, "Ms. Coffin told us you have been learning a little bit about friendship." This caught their attention and we got a lot of "huhs" and some said, "I guess we have been." and they seemed to be intrigued to hear more. One thing that was challenging was making sure our action activity where they got up and moving didn't get to chaotic, but overall it went good, floating around and giving pointers helped keep them centered. One thing I will do next time is to practice some management skills in the sense of getting students attention back after the activity. Saying grade 4's and 5's did work but I would like to use a better attention grabber.

- Overall the lesson went well and the students enjoyed it, and we got some really great questions on the exit slips. I was glad to find that some of the things I had said were really good, Ms. Coffin mentioned she was glad to hear me using previous routines in the lesson like, "when you're done put your hand up like agenda" or having the daily helper hand out our exit slips. I was assured that I was doing well validating students responses. One student in this class tends to blurt out a lot, we were informed that is is because he has a lot of self confidence issues and wants to make sure he is heard, so in this case I felt it was important that he be validated. We had students circle where they personally feel stress and he asked us, "What if we feel it everywhere?". I said, "that is a good question, make sure you're waiting your turn next time, but if you feel it everywhere circle everywhere." He smiled, circled everywhere and next time waited his turn!

Week 3: One thing that went well was I thought quickly on the spot when one student answered a question in a testing manner. The question asked to the students was, "Why do we do drama?" This student's response was, "Because teachers make us do it." I felt proud that I quickly decided to say "Okay, so you mean we do it for school and learning." and then move on to the next student. One thing that was challenging was during our activity some students were getting a little to carried away within their groups while other groups were trying to present. Quite a few times I found myself having to ask the students to be good audiences, what I found eventually worked was having them put their butts on the wall while others performed. One thing that I will do next time is include in my instructions of what the groups should do when it's not their turn.

-Overall I do need some more classroom management practice so I will be using this same goal next week. The lesson went well overall and the students did enjoy it, I am excited to use drama again in the future. One student did have a little bit of a run in with my co-op, he did say some rude words to her, but this had arose from earlier in the day, so she took him to the hall while we continued. He did get to come back in after they talked, at that point we were finishing up the activity and were starting our closure. He took out his drawing paper while we were asking questions, and at that point I let him do so because I thought it was probably his way of trying to listen and manage his focus even if he wasn't answering the questions. I did catch that he wrote a small list of the words that we had written on the board beside his drawing. The students did a wonderful job performing their emotions and speaking clearly to do so. Our 'angry' group received the phrase 'what is that smell?', and took a few tries because of laughter getting in the way, but they eventually got it, and one of them even said, "this must take a lot of practice, especially when the lines are funny". I was very happy with the overall outcome of the lesson.

Week 4: One thing that went well this week was gathering the students attention after their work time was up. To quickly showcase the students work I asked students to hold their plates in the air when they had their materials put away. One thing that was challenging was keeping noise level down, because some students need quiet to work, so I had students make sure they were talking with their table groups only and that seemed to help. One thing that I will do next time is write 3-4 of my instructions on the white board, that way if students miss the instructions or forget, then they can look at the board as a reminder.

-This week we did co-create the entire lesson, however individually created our portions of the lesson, and let each other take the floor when it was our turn. My section was the artmaking section and it went really well. I reminded students of their pencil crayon techniques and showcased an example at the front for them. They were fairly quiet when listening to instruction, but got a little noisy while making their plates, so I had them talk with their table groups only. Overall it went very well, and taking the floor by myself was very fun, and although I had less eyes for floating, it was nice to experience floating alone and all the students focus being on just myself.

Week 5: One thing that went well was the level of participation within the discussion, there was some blurting, but it was on topic which was okay in my mind. One thing that was challenging was keeping track of time while teaching, although this was my goal I did feel it was difficult, I didn't want to look at the clock to much. Setting timers for when students were working went well. One thing I will do next time is have something for students who finish quickly, as there are some students who need more time and I want to give them the time they need.

-Overall this week went as planned, I feel I was more on track with keeping those top 3-5 students on task then I was last week, I asked them for at least 3 points on their word bubbles and 3-5 words for their answer to the question at the end. There was one student who did not have any answers down and we were out of time for him to write it down so quickly before we put our books away I asked him what his answer was and wrote it down for him. This week we did a social studies lesson which was quite out of my comfort zone, I didn't have a lot of knowledge on the subject so it was hard for me. I think next time, I will add a short activity where we get up and do something, just because they did get a little antsy in their seats. Even if its a small thing where I have them go to one side of the room if they think A, or go to the other side if they think B as a sort of assessment and closure.

Week 6: One thing that went well was the participation in the writing, my goal this week was to make sure that all the students were participating, specifically the top five students who struggle a little more with writing. I did some floating, and helped students by starting sentences, asking their ideas, and ensuring them that if they try their best that is what matters. And it went well! I got at least 2 sentences from each of them, and they all had amazing ideas. One thing that was challenging was helping those students who needed more help with their writing, and being able to help those who needed less help. Throughout I found most students who didn't need a lot of help had their hands up because they actually needed more paper, so I set the extra paper at the front and told them to help themselves. However it is really challenging to help 10 students at the same time, so I was grateful that they were patient. One thing I will do next time is have students ask a friend for help first, and then if their friend cannot help then they can put their hands up. 

-Overall, I was scared to do a writing lesson, but it went so well, students were engaged, they understood my instructions, and they ultimately came up with some very creative stories that I enjoyed.

Week 7: One thing that went well was the students excitement going into the lesson, they were so excited to work with Minecraft. One thing that was challenging was thinking about what to do when students messed up. I didn't want them to start over because that would waste a lot of paper, so I had them try to embrace their mistakes. I asked them how they could make it work with the background, and if it was really bad they were allowed one white out stroke. One thing that I will do next time is use this activity as more of a lesson, so having more detail, and looking at different techniques, maybe even using a different medium.

-Overall it was a very enjoyable lesson, and the students got to use their creative side and give themselves a cool outfit which they loved. I was proud of myself for getting the students started and going without the presence of my co-op, as she was dealing with some recess conflict, and I couldn't wait because we needed all the time we could get.