Explosions
This past weekend, Lin and Alex and I set off the fireworks Alex got me for my birthday (because I love fireworks!) We had roman candles and sparklers and actual little cannon fireworks that exploded in cascades of color and a bullet-box-thing that had 100 little bullets that whistled up into the sky and exploded in pops of light one right after the other. So cool! We set them off in the darkest open place we could find outside of the city. Here are some pictures:
Lin and Alex setting up the cannon fireworks
Me playing with a sparkler (pretending to be Shiri)
I have a full day of teaching on Thursday, so I'm not teaching this week Mon-Wed. Today I observed other TFA teachers all morning. Highs:
~ Seeing a little boy who couldn't sit up in the morning being an active participant after lunch.
~ Watching one of my CMA group members deal so calmly and yet engagingly with his students, in contrast to my own high-energy style.
~ Being so engaged by a teacher's opening on the topic of forces (3rd grade, using tug-of-war), that I stayed for two oberservation periods because I wished I was one of her students.
Lows:
~ Watching a collaborative member drop a book and a marker to teach about gravity on Earth in preparation for a lesson on the differences between Earth and the Moon, asking which dropped first, getting "The book," and responding, "That's right, the book hit the floor first because it's heavier."
~ A kindergartener who was disrupting the class and clearly annoying the teacher give a right answer and be completely ignored.
~ A math problem added incorrectly on the board by the teacher, which the students noticed and attempted to alert the teacher, which the teacher ignored.
~ A second-grader hit another second-grader when the teacher wasn't paying attention.
~ The same second-grade teacher listing, "I see M's hand and S's hand. Anyone else know?" while a little girl who was in the back because of behavior issues waved her hand frantically in the air.
My take-aways: pay attention to all of your children. The disruptive ones need and want to learn, too. Listen to your children.
Lin and Alex setting up the cannon fireworks
Me playing with a sparkler (pretending to be Shiri)
I have a full day of teaching on Thursday, so I'm not teaching this week Mon-Wed. Today I observed other TFA teachers all morning. Highs:
~ Seeing a little boy who couldn't sit up in the morning being an active participant after lunch.
~ Watching one of my CMA group members deal so calmly and yet engagingly with his students, in contrast to my own high-energy style.
~ Being so engaged by a teacher's opening on the topic of forces (3rd grade, using tug-of-war), that I stayed for two oberservation periods because I wished I was one of her students.
Lows:
~ Watching a collaborative member drop a book and a marker to teach about gravity on Earth in preparation for a lesson on the differences between Earth and the Moon, asking which dropped first, getting "The book," and responding, "That's right, the book hit the floor first because it's heavier."
~ A kindergartener who was disrupting the class and clearly annoying the teacher give a right answer and be completely ignored.
~ A math problem added incorrectly on the board by the teacher, which the students noticed and attempted to alert the teacher, which the teacher ignored.
~ A second-grader hit another second-grader when the teacher wasn't paying attention.
~ The same second-grade teacher listing, "I see M's hand and S's hand. Anyone else know?" while a little girl who was in the back because of behavior issues waved her hand frantically in the air.
My take-aways: pay attention to all of your children. The disruptive ones need and want to learn, too. Listen to your children.
posted by Jessica at 10:07 PM
1 Comments:
Were all the teachers you observed TFA teachers? Do you have a chance to give them your feedback so they can improve?
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