9th week reflection ( Baker)

Last week we had the same theme which is the people who help us however we were concentrating on baker as one of these people. In the first day I introduced the lesson with a story that related to the theme. Then I asked the students' to discuss in pairs what they can find in the bakery. They were talking to each other and saying lots of things that they saw in the bakery. After that I asked them to tell me what they saw in the bakery to check their understanding of the question before we move to the activity.

 

To make the lesson more enthusiastic I prepared cupcakes for the whole class and I allowed them to ice their cupcakes.  

 

After they eat their meal they enjoyed eating their cupcakes.

 

During that week I organized a visit to Al Noor Bakery to make the learning more meaningful to the students'. The students' were interested in that trip and they were curious to know everything was there.

 

 

 

 

In that week also the students' helped me with preparing a pancake and they were exited to participate and put all the ingredients together. It was so hard to involve all the students' however I gave each one of them the chance to mix the ingredients in the bowl. During the snack time I brought the pancake that I prepared at home and I let them to choose if they want to eat it with honey or without. They like it and some of them asked for another one.

 

 



8th week reflection (dentist theme)

The third week after the spring break was great week for me and for the students. The theme was about the dentist and our outcomes for that week were to show the learners that the dentist is one of the people who help us and how good it is to visit the dentist. In the first day we had a visit from the dentist and he showed the students' the right way of cleaning the teeth and how many times they should brush their teeth. Moreover, grabbed their attention very well and he involved them to speak and say which kind of food keeps our teeth healthy and which are not.

In the next day, before I moved to the lesson I asked the students' some questions about the dentist visit to elicit the information from them before I start. I read a story for the students and I chose a story about "Dora visiting the dentist" and she is one of the popular cultures that the students like. They were totally engaged to the story which let me think that my selection of story was good. I kept the whole lesson short and we moved to the activities corners after I explained to them what they will do in each corner. In the art corner they did their own dental craft with using the marshmallow and they wrote their name with the word teeth. They loved the activity and that showed clearly while they working and trying to finish what they are doing. The second activity was about classifying the healthy and unhealthy food on the strong tooth and on the weak one. Additionally, they had dentists stuff and doctors as well in the role-play area which the students' like to play in.

In the second whole after the students finished tiding-up their corners I asked the boys to set in one group and the girls as well. I asked them to tell their friend's what they did during the activity time and I was insisting on taking turns and listening to each other. Some of the students were trying to say some words in English however the other were speaking in Arabic and that was ok because my aim was to let them speak and listen to their friends. Finally, I taught the students' new song related to theme "brush brush brush your teeth" and they learn it quickly because it has repetitive words and words they already knew.

In this picture the students' were sticking the marshmallows on their dental craft.

 

  This was the activity were the students' classified the healthy and unhealthy food.

 

6th week in teaching practice

I started this week with fresh mind and full of energy after I took two weeks break. The theme for this week was 'people who help us- doctors and nurse' and the letter of the week is 'V' which they learn it before. Before I start teaching them we had a discussion time about what they did during the holiday and each child had the chance to speak. What I realized that the students forgot everything even the small things like our classroom routines. I started the lesson and we negotiated about doctors for example what doctors do? Who help doctors? And what doctors use? I used some pictures and rialia of doctors' tools such as plaster, bandages and medicines. Also I asked two students to come in front of their friends and be the doctor and the the nurse. Furthermore, we went to visit the school nurse in her clinic and they had amazing session with exploring and participating in learning.

After that day when I asked the students what we did yesterday and who we visited they were not responding and they showed that they did not understand what I asked them. I spoke in Arabic more than English and sometimes I was mixing the two languages with out I recognized it. I felt so sad that I spent long time in the first whole with asking lots of questions and without receiving answers or attentions. I used the behavior chart which is the smiley and the sad face but it didn’t work. Moreover, I did with them some exercises to grab their attention and it worked for a moment then when I moved to the letter of the week some of them were responding while the others were distracted.

On the other hand, with all of these issues that I faced and the mistakes that I did the students had a good time in finishing the activities which they had to do a doctor bag in the Art area, create their own vase for the letter 'V' and they played very well with the doctors equipment in the role play area.  

What I had problem with this week and I have to think of is their behavior that I have to manage it again and I have to go through the rules and insist on following it and use praises more.

These two students' were playing in the role-play area with the doctors and nurse tools.

  

 The students' were finishing their doctor bag.

 

The students ' were creating their vase.

Role play activity

Last week we talked about the firemen as one of the people who help us and we had lots of fun activities that we integrated with that theme. I introduced the theme with a story about the fire engine and we went through some books about firemen that we discussed the pictures together. During the activity time we did fire truck and it was group work in outdoor area. To make the lesson more meaningful we went to the fire station in the next day and the students enjoyed it and I noticed that in the next day when they talked about it during the 1^st whole. They were enthusiastic while they negotiated about what they saw and did in the tour. Because of that, I decided to make something new and take risk to do a small role-play with the students even if it is their first time.

To start the role play I discussed with the students about what they did in the fire station and what they saw. Then I asked the students to close their eyes and imagine that there is a fire on a house. After that I let the students to lead the role play and what I did was I helped them by asking some questions to move on. We had fun together and they liked the role-play. We sang together and we did some actions at the end of the role-play. The students were totally engaged to the drama however there were few students distracted with the things around them in the class and what I did was I involved them by asking them to be in role of something.

Next time I will integrate my lesson again with a small drama if it is suitable with the theme because I found lots of students that were silence in the lesson they participated in the role-play. They were also asking to repeat the role play in the next day and we did it again in front of the HOF which she like it either.

Writing numbers in pairs

At the end of this week I decided to let the students work in pairs in the numeracy lesson because I was focusing in assessing what they have learnt during this week and who need more supports. The learning objectives were recognizing the numbers from1 to 10 and identify them. Both of these aims were old however we returned back to them to be sure that all the students' achieved them.  I gave each pair white board and one marker and what they had to do is each time one the pair will write the number that will show and the other students will say it. 

The students liked the section and they were totally engaged. They were also responding to my instruction and when they all finish writing they have to stop and listen to a child who was identifying the number. They were also having turns in writing the numbers and helping each other. It was the first time that they have to work in pairs while they sitting on the carpet and using the white board however they used it before but individually and in the activity corners.

Most of the students could recognize the numbers and could write them in write way and say it but some of the students were the opposite and there were two students who needs more support in both aims.

I enjoyed the lesson and the students as well however next week I will focus on the students that need support and I will let them work in small group to master these outcomes.

Students' talking during the 2nd whole session

In the first week in the school I noticed that the young learners' were talking and not listening to the person speaking especially in the plenary time. During that session I asked one student each time to come in front of their friends and talk about what they have done during the activity time. What happened is the students' were not listening and they were speaking and distracting each other while their friend tries to speak.

At the beginning I was focusing on the child who is speaking and encourage him/her to talk in front of the other and forgetting that the other should listen and respect the person who is speaking. Because of that, I had to stop the child who was speaking and asked who was distracting the students' to watch and listen. It was so hard to keep them listening to the person speaking especially after they finished their activity because they were talking to each other about what they have done.  

To solve this problem I used new rule which is listen to the person speaking and I explained to them that they have to respect the person speaking like teachers' or even their friends' and it worked for few days with some students. Therefore, I decide to ask the students to sit in pairs and let them talk to each other and say what they have done during the activity. During that time I can observe them or let on from each pair to speak in front of the others. Another solution to this issue is to ask each group that worked together in the activity time to discuss what they did. After that we will sit in circle and one from each group will speak and the others have to listen.

 

 

last week "literacy lesson"

The second lesson was literacy lesson and the aim of the lesson was responding to short simple questions. The theme of that week was the national day so I asked lots of questions about the UAE and the seven cities to make it link with the objective. Also I introduced the life in the UAE in the past and in the present. I used different pictures on the laptop to show the difference of our life before and now and I tried to elicit the information from the students. It was difficult to the students to learn about past and now in second language however what I noticed that they understood what I was asking about and they were answering however they were answering in Arabic and what I had to do is to say it in English.

What I did for the focus activity was something different than the arts activity that we have done before. They did this time national day card which I prepared it and they had to decorate it. I prepared some pictures that they can stick such as sheikh Khalifa and the logo of the UAE which is the falcon. Also I printed the word " I love ……. " for the low and the medium ability and what they have to do is to write the UAE or copy it however the high ability group wrote I let them to write the whole sentence. Moreover, I let the students to draw the flag and I asked them some questions about what they are doing and what the color of the flag. The whole lesson went very well and they were listening and responding however what I have to change next time is make the 1^st whole section like a conversation between me and the students rather than asking lots of questions. What I used to do is just asking and waiting for the answers and that should come later in the middle of the week to check their understanding. And what I have to do more is to start the lesson talking and discussing in the first two days especially when I want to introduce new lesson.