Best for Last

Observation- I loved observation I think this was my favorite part about the R2P’s it really allowed me to see deeper into my students and their actions. Plus watching and observing children from a non-judgmental point of view is interesting. Also children do crazy things as well. Like one of my observations that I didn’t use was of one of my students licking the bottom of his shoe and eating his toes. Super funny and gross. I just love moment like that.

 

Question- sometimes finding the right question to ask was difficult. Since you try to think or why, how, what, when, and where you should create your questions. This part was not horrible, but sometimes was challenging.

 

Research- I absolutely hate research. It is one of the most boring things to do. Reading through multiple stories, articles, journals, and even other observations was very time consuming and a lot of the things I was reading most of the time didn’t relate to my questions I was asking.

 

Reflection- Reflection is very easy it is a summary/perspective of all the content you’ve already stated. So this was the easiest thing to do out of all of them I personally think.

 

Technology- I used my phone to record and type everything. So my usage of technology was very much. I also researched everything through the use of our millersville library. The platform that I used to post my blogs was via video since I am a horrible writer and can talk like there is no tomorrow. So, videos are my go to. I am a horrible writer and so videos were my number 1 choice. I didn’t choose podcasts cause that involves too much effort, but I’m sure if I had more time that would have been a viable option. Though I really love videos since they are easy to make and they give you a visual representation of what you are physically talking about.

 

I don’t think I’d have changed a single thing. The only thing I’d have changed was not doing this blog post at all. I personally am not for this platform for communication. I like face to face communication and I prefer poster boards and even letters home. I just do not like blogs at all.

 

What I am taking away from this experience is taking proper observations and asking special questions that help me determine what I should be doing to take care of my students and classroom.

 

The advice that I would give to the next class is. Don’t stress it is not as much as you think it is. This can be a fun and easy experience. Teaching is fun, so don’t stress.

Materials Matter

In our observation on Thursday Andrew, Trevor, and I witnessed some awesome child experiences. For instance, the children were very intrigued by and excited for our soap clouds. Before we conducted the experiment, we asked each child to write down or draw what they thought was going to happen. A lot of the children thought it was going to melt and others thought it was going to explode. Their eyes lit up as the soap bar puffed up and bubbled into a cloud. Once the time ran out, we asked the children to write or draw what actually happened and to compare it to their previous hypothesis. We let the soap cool enough for the children to touch it and a lot of them were shocked by the texture. Most of them thought it was going to feel like shaving cream since they already had a pre existing schema to associate with what they were seeing but it ended up feeling crispy and crumbled between their fingers.. It was really interesting to see how surprised they were by the entire process. It really forced the children to challenge what they thought they knew and how not everything is so easily predictable.

After having this observation Trevor came up with the question of how/why does using prior knowledge of heat, pressure, and foams, would the state (shape, volume, or temperature) of a bar of Ivory soap change if heat were applied? 

With this question came into mind the use of materials. We had to use Ivory soap since it contains air and molecules that only allow that special soap to puff up and make a awesome cloud. Which brought me to thinking about the article, art at the heart article , which we reviewed last week. This article goes in depth on how important it is to correctly pick your materials. With using our prior knowledge and the childrens prior knowledge of the clouds in our experiment led to the kids thought processes of what the soap might do.  The activity went super well and our kids loved it with each group that passed, through we only wish we had more time to explain and show the materials and why clouds do what they do. So, next time you do an activity make sure you take into count the prior knowledge and use of materials. Because your students matter and so do the materials you pick!

What This Is About ?

This is a blog that I have to write for class about a child observation. This blog will contain 5 other posts than this one. They will be about assessment, analyzing, articulating, and acting. Hope you enjoy it! 🙂