Last Week

Last week was an interesting one because I was at the elementary school for the entire week. I did this so that I could teach my five math lessons for my unit of practice. It was a really great experience since I had never been in the classroom for that long before. I was glad that I got a chance to see what the students' whole week is like. On Wednesday of last week the students got a special surprise because it was the 100th day of school. The students made hats, necklaces out of cheerios and fruit loops, and they got to eat cookies. All in all it was a fun day for them and it was a lot of work for us. In Kindergarten the students always need more help than you would think. Even with three of us in a room at a time keeps us busy because most of the students are not independent when it comes to making hats and necklaces. My math lesson had to be squeezed into the day around all the other 100th day activities that were going on. The lesson was on activities that take a short amount of time and ones that take a longer amount of time. I had a Power Point presentation to show the class and they seem to really like it when I show those.

On Thursday of last week I taught my fourth lesson for my UOP. This was a hands on lesson since the students made their own clocks. The clocks were made out of paper plates, brads, and a movable hour hand. The students wrote the numbers on their clocks and drew the minute hand so that it is always point to the 12. Then we worked together to tell time on our analog clocks. I was very pleased to see that the students were catching on quickly. They understood that they need to say o'clock when we are talking about time. My focus students were doing great as well. They both made fantastic analog clocks. After they each made a clock we went and sat down on the rug and I read them the story of The Grouchy Ladybug. This was very appropriate since the story has to do with telling time with an analog clock. As I read the students and I would set our clocks to whatever time it said in the story.

On Friday the students were tested to see if they understood the material that we presented when we taught our lessons. Before testing the students I went over a worksheet with them on telling time. They had no difficulties telling me what time it was, but they don't seem to remember which is the hour hand and which is the minute hand. But they do know the face of the clock and they also know that they need to say o'clock. When I tested the students they did an excellent job telling time. I reminded them that the minute hand always stays on the 12 for now and I think that helped them to do better on the assessment. Next week the students will be working on how to tell time using a digital clock. I know that shouldn't be too hard for them to figure out.