Placement Information.
Location: Lethbridge, Alberta (Lethbridge School District)
School: Mike Mountain Horse Elementary School
Grade: 2
Subjects Taught: Social Studies, Science, Health, Phys. Ed and Math (Problem Solving)
Teacher Mentor: Megan McMillan
University Consultant: Donna Mackay
School: Mike Mountain Horse Elementary School
Grade: 2
Subjects Taught: Social Studies, Science, Health, Phys. Ed and Math (Problem Solving)
Teacher Mentor: Megan McMillan
University Consultant: Donna Mackay
Summary of my Experience.
My internship took place at Mike Mountain Horse Elementary School in Lethbridge and what a joy it was. I worked with a wonderful grade 2 team (4 teachers, 2 interns) who were so supportive and encouraging along the way. Each week we would meet and have a grade level meeting where we would collaborate and help build each other up. It was such an enjoyable experience. Here taught Social Studies, Science, Phys. Ed, Health and problem solving in Math. During this practicum I learned the importance of collaboration and team work with other teachers. I was very fortunate to have a fantastic co-intern at the same grade level and we worked across the hall from each other. We taught many of the same subjects, we also co-taught gym. I also was blessed with the most amazing teacher mentor who collaborated with me, allowed me to bounce ideas off her, and was a really great friend who built me up. Mike Mountain Horse School has been a wonderful example of great teamwork as a staff!
I also took part in a wide variety of extra curricular activities, from help supervise and take part in after school skating once a week, I co-coached floor hockey 2 mornings a week for a group of grade 5 boys and girls. But the one activity I poured a large portion of time into was the grade 4 drama club. I started this drama club with another intern, Amanda Peterson. We worked with a group of 30 students over the course of 11 weeks to create our collective creation called. "The Real Stories of Once Upon A Time". There were 3 fractured fairy tales the students acted out. They were based on The Three Little Pigs, Cinderella and Snow White. I loved working with this group of students because it was super cool to get to know other students around the school, not just my grade 2's. It was really cool to see how excited the students were to share their skits with their peers and teachers. I was really touched how supportive the staff were for this play as well.
Sample Lessons.
Social Studies.
One of my favourite lessons that I taught in Social Studies was a lesson called Scoot! It was part of my summative assessment in Social. Each desk in the classroom had a question on it, and each student had an answer sheet. The students would read the question on their desk, and place the answer in the corresponding box. When everyone was ready, I said SCOOT and everyone "scooted" to the next seat to answer the next question until all of the questions were answered. One way I made this lesson easier for my students who needed a bit of extra help, was that i had them all start in desks that were beside each other so it made it easier for the EA and myself to quickly answer questions and help with reading and writing. Below is a PDF copy of the questions and the template. |
Science.
In Science the students loved exploring and figuring out concepts on their own. In science I took on the approach Experimentation before Explanation which means I wanted the kids to discover the concept before I taught them what the concept was. One really good example of this approach was my introductory lesson into Topic B: Boats and Buoyancy. I informed the kids that we were starting a new unit called Boats and Buoyancy and immediately hands shot up all around the classroom asking what buoyancy meant. But before I explained to them I wanted them to experience buoyancy first hand. So we grabbed a tub of water, and a variety of objects that we would test to see if they would float or sink. They kids made their predictions based on weight and size. They were so excited when something floated that they thought would sink and vice versa. We then talked about buoyancy and created actions that would help them remember |
Problem Solving in Math.
This is what I based on my Personal Inquiry Project on for my PSIII. I was given a few math chunks a week to work on problem solving with the kids. I am very passionate about children's literature and wanted to integrate this in somehow so I decided to compile all of my materials, lessons and books and create a resource for literacy in math for problem solving for the grade 2 team at my school. The kids favourite stories included: P.Bear's New Year's Party, Red is Best and The Greedy Triangle. I would read the story 2 times and then introduce the activity that I wanted them to do. I had a variety of strands and activities. The link to my project can be found below. |