Observation 2 fun and planning

February 23rd was our second observation day. This day the students convened in the cafeteria to watch a movie to award good behavior. They also had an award ceremony for students who had shown large improvements. It was refreshing to see not only how excited the children were that won the award but also to see how excited their peers were for them. It definitely proved the importance of acknowledging students when they are doing well and they joy they can get from a small gesture such as a paper certificate or even a sticker. It made me want to go out and purchase a bunch of stickers with apples and stars on them in advance to give to the children when they performed exceptionally in my classroom in the future. I also enjoyed watching the Magic School Bus movie the teachers had picked out for the students. It reminded me a lot of my experience in elementary school reading the books and watching the movies. It was even more amusing to me now because I realized that there were a number of celebrities that did the voices for the show such as Lily Tomlin and Malcolm Jamal Warner.
Despite the fact the students were there on good behavior there was some acting up during the film, which is a reminder that constant vigilance is needed when you are a teacher.

After the students left my partner and I began to plan what we would be teaching for out unit. Mrs. S told us that we would be teaching the 5 regions of Virginia. Geography never struck me as an extremely interesting topic to learn, so I thought it would be a good challenge to find interesting ways to teach it to her students. I don't want them to sit there in boredom as they memorize facts like I had to when I was in school. Mrs. S gave us some basic materials so we would know what they are expected to know and sent us on our way.