Unscheduled Activity

This is week the children continued to help each other with daily tasks. I have noticed that the students are even starting to help other students in other classes. Most of the student are getting along with one another. I do have one girl who continues to hit. I conference with both parents and they ensured that they would talk to her, but the hitting continued the whole week. On Wednesday I sat down with her during my planning and talked to her for the sixth time and asked what was the problem. She said that she feels like no one likes her. This really struck a nerve because we have been working on getting along with one another, but the activities seem like they are not working for her. I really didn't understand what to do until I decided to put in charge of our class elections. We are having our annual class elections and school elections. I decided to make her the class president's campaign manager. The class was divided into groups who were in charge of posters, speech presentation, and campaign stickers. Even though this activity was not a planned activity students still seem to use the skills and strategies that we have been working with on this unscheduled activity. Hopefully next week we can continue with our planned activities.

Understanding Diversity: Introduction

Understanding Diversity: Introduction

Understanding and Managing Our Emotions: Introduction

Understanding and Managing Our Emotions: Introduction

WebQuest Search Results:K-2 Life Skills/Careers

This week was a short week because we only had four days at school. We still managed to complete two webquest and demonstrate how to get along with others. I am amazed at how the students are responding to working together without being told. Students are helping each other with day to day tasks. I have even witness students talking their problems out. Next week I am excited about how well the students will work together on designing a class T-shirt.

Feelings: Introduction

Feelings: Introduction

This week was much like last week, but I had to give post tests and enter final grades. I did manage to complete the chew and chat. The students enjoyed discussing the word "sharing". I do believe that they enjoyed the eating part more, but what every gets them to interact with each other is good for me. We also completed a webquest titled "Feelings". In this webquest students explored facial expressions and what they mean.

Pictures and Video Clip

On this picture, I picked four different color of tiles. The tiles represented the groups. In each group there were five students. The tiles where put into the bag for the students to pick their group.

These students are planning the menu for their chew and chat. The chew and chat session will be a discussion about sharing.

On this video, you will see the four groups making decisions on the menu for the chew and chat. If you look toward the end of the clip you will notice two boys playing rock, paper,scissors. At first I thought they were playing until I got closer and understood that they were using the game as a strategy for making a decision on what type of chip their group wanted. Sorry about the sound, I did the video clip with my digital camera.

Where did the time go?

I don't know where the time went this past week. On Monday I had our whole week planned. I surely was wrong if I thought everything was going to work as planned. This week I planned on completing the activity called "Share with Me". I almost did, but there is always next week. This week we discussed other ways to pick groups. So after many suggestions we decided to put color tiles in a bag and every child had to pick a color. The color tile you choose is the group you would be assigned to for this activity. We also discussed what the word sharing means to them. We got in a circle and said either how they share with someone or how they feel when someone shares with them. Some students just simply told about a particular thing they shared with someone.
On one other days, the students got into their groups and they had to use their communication skills in order to plan a menu for their chew and chat. What was so funny to me was when I walked around and saw two boys playing rock, paper, scissors. My first reaction was to start fussing and telling them that they were off task, but as I got closer I discovered that they were only playing the game to decided on what type of chips they wanted for their group's chew and chat. After I witness that I felt like this activity is really working for my class. My students are learning to get along and us other ways to solve problems. Next week we will complete "Share with Me".