Lesson 6 was the final lesson. It was bittersweet reaching the end of this practicum. To begin the lesson, we reviewed the daily agenda and had a circle.
On the floor, students and TCs sat in a circle and shared. We talked about our favorite part of the lessons and our least favorite. Students mentioned how they enjoyed roleplays, would you rather, or Blooket. It was nice to sit down and have a conversation. Our second activity was a Bad Bunny read aloud. As a group, we read different excerpts from the book " Who is Bad Bunny" by G.M. Toboas Zayas. This was an interactive read aloud, students were given certain actions to do when the main character showed; his talent, bravery, helping others in Puerto Rico, turn and talks when prompted. After the read aloud, we reviewed his talent, bravery, and how he helped others. We then asked students to share a time they helped someone and how they did it. Next, we moved onto our third activity. For our third activity, we completed a brain break. This was done collaboratively. We completed it with the rest of the class and two other TCs in the room. The brain break was a freeze dance to two clean Bad Bunny songs. It gave students a chance to move around and listen to his music. He is known for making bilingual music, incorporating Spanish and English together (see google doc). After our brain break, we moved onto our fourth activity. This was cause-and-effect charts. Students sorted through different issues and impacts that occurred in Puerto Rico. Some examples were Hurricane Maria and the Spanish-American War. Students organized the events and their impacts on the cause-and-effect charts. For this activity, students worked collaboratively in groups of 4 (see google doc). Our fifth activity was invention creation. Previously in the lesson, we reviewed events that impacted Puerto Rico. We asked students to come up with a solution to one of the past problems. We asked students to work in a group and create an invention to help people. They also answered the three questions; what is your invention, what problem does it solve, and how it looks. We gave students complete creative freedom for this. Our groups came up with a robot who heals people and machine that makes ocean water drinkable. This activity was fun, and it was nice to see what they came up with (see google doc). The sixth and final activity was a roleplay. For this roleplay students were given different cards with; a role, a talent, a feeling, and one line to say. There were two teams: community helpers' team and the awareness and action team. Each team acted out how they helped during a big storm in Puerto Rico, showing how people work together. Students really enjoyed this activity and took turns switching roles (see google doc). We ended up having extra time, so we let students color a Puerto Rican flag. This was a fun ending activity, we got to sit and talk. Lastly, we took a picture all together to end our time together (see google doc).
Students met all objectives for the lesson. The goal was to successfully complete all activities. Students were able to do that. We did lose two students halfway through the lesson who were pulled for services. Although they were pulled and missed a few activities, they successfully participated in the ones they were present for. For each lesson, students were given formative assessments in the form of activities. There were no summative assessments (besides the pre- and post-assessments). This gave students a real chance to learn from the lesson content.
The first thing I learned from this experience is how important it is to foster relationships with students. Throughout all the lessons, the more I worked with students the more I learned about them. This information was especially useful to design lessons and to implement necessary materials for students. One student really struggled with fidgeting and keeping his hands calm. I recognized that within him and brough a fidget toy for him to use. I met him where he was and used what I knew about him to help him be successful. As an educator, this is a crucial part of successful relationships. The second thing I learned was how important it is to have backup activities. It is always better to over plan than to under plan. Taking that into account allowed me to keep students busy when they finished early.
This experience will influence my professional identify by giving my experience with different students and behaviors. This was the first time in a practicum I had a tougher time with students. There was a lot of disinterests, students not getting along, and problem behaviors. Instead of getting frustrated, I tried my best to work around it. I involved students more, took away things that were causing conflict, and added modifications or support for students who needed it. It was a nice experience to have. Things will not always be easy as a teacher and this experience showed me that. Considering how I teach, plan, and assess in the future, I hope to do it with understanding. I want to know my students, understand them, and meet them where they are. As mentioned before, relationships are very important. This gives a teacher insight on how their students learn and how to help support that. This experience definitely gave me a lot to put in my toolbox.
google doc with pictures: photos
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