Lauren Barnard

OCTOBER 5th:

Primaria 2nd

Section A: Because we spent a lot of time walking around the school with Reuben and completing paperwork, I did not have much time in the Year 2 class this week. Normally, I will be in this classroom from 12:15 to 1:00, but today I arrived to the class at 12:45. I had the opportunity to quickly introduce myself to the class, and then observed Ana give a natural science lesson during which the kids followed along in their individual workbooks. She has the entire workbook downloaded and projects it on the screen, while they read along (in English) and complete the activities individually. Today’s lesson was about different types of animals (mammals, fish, etc.), and they did a couple grouping/sorting activities with lists and pictures of animals.

Section B: I realized today how little Spanish I actually know, as I found it very difficult to introduce myself to the room full of seven-year-olds. When I spoke in English, they looked a bit perplexed. But when I tried to clarify in Spanish, I made no sense. Even though this is primarily an English-speaking internship, I feel like it will tremendously help in learning Spanish.

Primaria 4th

Section A: I was with my Year 4 class for a full hour and a half today, 1:00 to 2:30, and went from table to table or about 15 minutes with each group speaking in English and getting to know the students. Elena wanted me to introduce myself, but also ask the students questions in English in order to help with their vocabulary. For example, I asked each students questions like “Do you have any siblings?”, “What is your favorite food?”, etc.  While I was with each group, the other groups were working on a lesson using the verb construction “have/have got”.

Section B: Reflecting on today’s experience as a whole, I was surprised because though I normally gravitate to younger ages, today I enjoyed teaching the Year 4 students more. I think this is due to the fact that they are better in English and I feel less difficulty in communicating with them.

 

 

OCTOBER 19th:

Primaria 2nd

Section A: Because the last class I had with my Year 2 class was so brief due to our orientation, Ana asked me to prepare a PowerPoint presentation about myself and my life back home to better introduce myself to the students. After I presented about my family, my interests, etc., I got to lead the class in their natural science workbooks on a lesson about vertebrate v invertebrate animals, as well as viviparous v. oviparous animals! They again classified the animals into each group once they understood what each label meant.

Section B: I really enjoyed this class today because of the freedom Ana gave me to lead the students through the lesson. I felt that the lesson did go well, but had some minor difficulties in explaining to Spanish speaking students what “from the womb” or viviparous animals are. Luckily, Ana jumped in to help them understand and all went smoothly. Though I am confident in my ability to teach, this internship is challenging because it makes me question me efficiency and competency in leading the class. I think this is because of the language barrier.

 

Primaria 4th

Section A: My Year 4 students had a spelling test today, and I helped them to correct their mistakes and grade each other’s tests afterward. Then they worked in table groups to decorate posters they had made about imaginary schools. They are learning about subjects, time, and school vocabulary in English, so this project gave them a chance to synthesize that knowledge and develop a fictional school wherein they create the timetable and curriculum. Today, they were mostly just decorating their groups posters as a reward for working so hard to finish the project ahead of schedule, and I helped to clean up paint spills and encourage their creativity. It was a fairly relaxed class.

Section B: Today I felt went pretty smoothly with Year 4. The test was very straightforward, and then students were working mostly independently, so there wasn’t any lesson to reflect on. I find it interesting that the students are learning British English rather than American English, but that’s mostly the only insight I drew from today’s class.

 

NOVEMBER 9th

Primaria 2nd

Section A: Today, my Year 2 students got to go from class to class to present posters they had created in groups about different animals. The students were asked to classify each animal based on the animal categories we’ve been studying in natural science: vertebrate/invertebrate, viviparous/oviparous, carnivore/omnivore/herbivore, walking/flying, lives in water/lives on land, etc. We didn’t teach any new lesson today because all of our time was spent presenting.

Section B: It was very cute to watch the younger students beaming as they presented their posters to older grades, some classes in which their older siblings were watching. The animals ranged from bunnies to panda bears, and every group divided the speaking roles so that each child was able to have a part in explaining the characteristics of the group’s animal. I really enjoyed how Ana was able to engage the students and design an activity they thoroughly enjoyed.

Primaria 4th

Section A: I led a small-group activity with my Year 4 students outside the classroom today to review the “have/has got” verb construction and physical description vocabulary words. We played a “guess who” style game in which they were assigned a character from a group of 16 pictures, and then had to ask questions to guess the mystery character. This is also the lesson I used for my first teaching demonstration in class.

 

Section B: I found it VERY difficult to control some of the students’ behavior today as we were separated from Elena. Typically, classroom management comes fairly easy to me. But the students’ apparent lack of understanding or care for what I was saying created a very chaotic environment, and I found it very frustrating. Hopefully, in the future I can remedy this situation by being a bit more stern out of the gate to establish a healthy learning environment.

 

NOVEMBER 23

Primaria 2nd

Section A: Today, I led the class in a lesson about protecting and caring for nature. We learned that cutting down too many trees, polluting our water and air, and throwing things away without recycling/reusing them is harmful to our environment. We also learned about some ways we can help our environment, for example by cleaning up our beaches or carpooling to work and school. After we completed the activities provided in the students’ natural science workbooks, I played a “read aloud” video of Dr. Seuss’s “The Lorax”.

Section B: I felt very independent and confident today, as Ana often left the room and I successfully led the class through the assigned workbook pages and activities. I even had additional time to show the fun read-aloud video. I tried a new method with the students today, asking them to show me a thumbs up when they have completed an activity and are ready to move on. This allowed us to move at a much more efficient pace. I will definitely be using this again in the future!

Primaria 4th

Section A: Today, I showed a video and then gave a presentation all about the Thanksgiving holiday and how/why we celebrate in America. Because these are Year 4 students, the video and presentation I designed was more related to the pilgrims and indian story than the one we gave at 5th Avenue. I also showed students pictures from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and surprisingly they had never seen or heard of it before! They particularly enjoyed that section.

Section B: Similar to the lesson I gave on Halloween, I found students were very engaged and eager to participate/answer questions about this new and exciting topic of “thanksgiving”. I didn’t run into any major difficulties designing the lesson, or in its execution. I do wish that I had created an accompanying worksheet or activity to further their understanding, but I honestly forgot.