3/5 - Wed

Today was a day 2 with Mrs. W and her students.

3rd grade: 30 students/90 min
This class is behind due to snow days and the change in rotation that ensued; this means that these students are in the same place that the last group of third-graders were. They are continuing their sarcophagi and Mrs. W had them gather around the central table for a demonstration. While waiting for their attention, Mrs. W said, "eyes on me please, I'm waiting for two people." I think this worked well because it gave these students the opportunity to quiet down without being singled-out. I spent the hour helping these students catch up to the other classes, this was a great group of students to work with. I think that Mrs. W does a great job with cleanup; depending on the age she either demonstrates or reminds students how to properly cleanup after a project. Mrs. W reminded these students that they "know where markers go" and motivated them by saying, "you all did an awesome job today, let's do an awesome job cleaning up too." This was really great, I'm going to use this for my lesson. It compliments their work for the day as well as motivates them to clean up well after themselves.

2nd grade: 18 students/90 min
This group of students was also behind due to the snow days; they were trying to catch up with their castle books. These students began their stained glass windows today (fabric paint and project paper) after a demonstration. It was easy to catch this group up due to the small class size. Although this was a difficult aspect of the lesson, the small number meant we could quickly work our way around the room to help all of the students efficiently. These small classes are a dream to work with! When it came to cleanup and dismissal, Mrs. W said, "I'm looking for tables that are seated and ready to go." Instead of telling students be be quietly seated, she gives them the option as a group of students at each table to quiet down so that they can be dismissed.