Today was our first teaching day the battle that changed history. We began our lesson by having Dr. Smirnova introduce the class and tell them she has a special surprise for the class. Harman walked in first playing pretending to blow the trumpet as we had music playing that sounded like a trumpet sound from the medieval times. Then Amanda and Sarah walked in pretending they did not know where they were and were looking for the medieval classroom, then Kim and I walked in and gave the students crowns and feather pens that we previously made and told them they are now ready to be a part of the medieval classroom. We all walked in with crowns with our names on them. The students seemed to really enjoy this introduction and it started off with high, fun energy that was carried throughout the lesson.
The first lesson we taught was the direct instruction lesson. Things could have gone differently, but in the end I thought it went well. The students were given a note sheet packet to fill out as we went through the slides teaching them about the battle of hastings. The students then got the opportunity to make their own Bayeux tapestry, which we taught them was the tapestry that told the story of the battle that changed history by having the events on it. This was an interactive activity, and each group got to come up to the smart board and create their own tapestry using the touch screen. This was a fun, interactive activity for the students that started to wrap up our lesson.
Our group worked really hard and spent countless hours working on this lesson. We wanted the students to travel back in time to medieval times and get a feel for what it was like back then. The students also made banners on the very first day we were with them, and we attached them to string and hung it in the classroom during our lesson for decoration to add more to the theme. We also had mini castles, that was called the "pen dungeon", if the students were not respecting our pens and playing around with them. All of the students were also given crowns as their name tags, and they really enjoyed being kings and queens for the day. I am very proud of our fieldwork group for putting in so much effort and making the students enjoy learning about the battle of hastings.
Yesterday at St. Josephs we met our fourth grade class that we will be working with for fieldwork. It's a fairly small class with some students on different academic levels. It's also a very diverse classroom and one student has a learning disability. It was very good to know who the students are that will be needing extra attention so we can plan our accommodations better for our lesson plans. The first day we were instructed to do a getting to know you activity with all of the students. The students set themselves up into groups and our group of teacher candidates rotated every 10 minutes. Each group of students got the opportunity to participate in each of our activities. My group had the students create their own medieval times banner and write the first letter of their names really big, like they would do in medieval times. They then were asked to write on the back one thing they already know about medieval times, one thing they want to know, and one interesting fun fact about themselves. After they were finished with the writing, they got the opportunity to decorate their banners. We told them we had a surprise for them what we were going to do with the banners when they are finished. When it is our groups turn to teach, we are going to hang the banners on a string and hand it across the classroom so they can be proud of their work! The students seemed to highly enjoy this activity and it helped a lot seeing where the students stand in terms of knowing about medieval times. These students surprised me about how much they knew. They are all brilliant young kids and I cannot wait to work with them and teach them more. I am very excited to start actually teaching them about the battle of hastings in a couple weeks and I think our group will do a great job.
The first week of class we were all assigned to create a digital me project and present it. We each got to choose a different educational tool to use in our classroom. It was first come first serve picking the tools, and I picked Voki. Voki is an engaging and interactive educational tool that allows you to create your own talking character.
Voki characters can be customized to look like historical figures, cartoons, animals, and even yourself. You can also either record yourself, or type in what you want to say and you can pick a animated voice to say it for you. Voki is a great way to introduce a lesson or a topic, and can be used for different types of learners. It's a fun way to engage your students and they will most likely listen always listen to the voki because it is something different.
The Voki I created was a medieval times princess, and I introduced my project and engaged the class by asking why I might have chosen this voki. The class answered with because that is what we will be learning more about and teaching our own fourth graders. I then introduced myself using the princess voki, and then held up flags from where I was from for the class to guess. I also explained how to use voki at the end of my presentation and gave my peers a better understanding of how to use it in a classroom, and what it could be used for.
This project was a great way for everyone to get to know each other and teach how to use technology is many different ways in a classroom. We then got to give each other feedback which helped me out tremendously. Seeing what I did well and not so well has really been pushing me to fix those things I did not do so well, and keep improving on the things I did do well. This project was very motivational for me and began to excite me about becoming a teacher and using different means of technology that I believe my future students will be interested in and have a blast with.
