Section 1
Today was the first day that we met our class, and they
were not
what we were expecting. We had originally chosen a grade 2 class as
that was
the grade level that we were both teaching . As time and the strike wen
on
we were unable to contact our teacher. We eventually found out that is
was
a behavior class, which then turned into a grade 2/3 behavior class,
then
into a grade 2/3 behavior class with only 5 students in it then turned
out
to be 5 boys. The dance that we had chosen to do and taught to the
class
was not a dance that we could do with this class. We chose the
warrior dance
to teach to these boys and we called it an action sequence rather then
a
dance. When we took them to the gym we had the classroom teacher and a
T.A. with us (in case they had to 'capture' anyone). We began teaching with 4 of
the 5 boys completely engaged in the story and the movements with the
5th boys sitting in the center of the gym. He began to move when he saw
how much fun the others were having and when we introduced more than
just the basic gallop movement. By the end of the class we had 3 boys
dancing, one sitting and another one playing on the stage. Apparently
for this class, we had a good outcome. It is unusual for them to be so
engaged. Next week there will be two more additions to the class for a
grand total of 7 boys to teach a creative dance to. We really enjoyed
this class, they were not as bad as we were expecting. They each had
their own ideas about how to move and their creativity shone through. I
think it is very valuable for us to have the experience of working with
"troubled" children and I would not change the placement that we have
for any reason. I just don't think that this placement is doing what it
is intended to do which is take a creative dance to a
class
and experience how it feels and learn how to better teach in a real
context.
What are the odds either one of us are going to be teaching a group
such
as this? Not very good. However, I suppose if we can teach a class such
as
this, we can teach anything.
Section 2
Going with the Flow
After our second visit the proceedings
for
our next visit were handed to us on a silver platter.
After beginning the day with comments
about
how this activity “sucked” the kids ended on a particularly high note. This happened all because they happened
to hear the end
of the song and begun hypothesizing all of the different ways in which
this
story could end. They were so excited and
begged to
be able to make up an ending for the story next class.
This was not how our unit was originally
supposed
to go. However, we recognized that as teachers we must grab onto
those things
in which the students really want to do and use them to further our own
curricular
agenda. The students ended their last day by each performing
their dances
to the whole class. This is was very successful and a good
reminder that
as teachers our job is really to motivate the children and light a fire
under
them, even if that means that our original plans must sometimes be
burned.
Today started off on a bad foot. We went to the class to meet the boys
and
we encountered one of the students, screaming, crying and throwing
things,
after which he screamed down the hall in tears. It was definitely a
sign
of things to come. We entered the class where the remaining 5
boys were
picking up the mess left by the screaming child. The two new boys
are now
in the class, one is a joy to teach where the other is an alpha type
personality who will give the screaming boy a run for his money in
terms of being the "star" of the class.
We took the boys down to the gym and it took a minute to get them all
in dance mode again (one boy was sick, the other went home). So again
we taught 5 boys to dance. 3 had dances last week and the two new
ones were starting from scratch. We reviewed and it became boring for
the boys who new what
they were doing and they became really off task. running and sliding
instead of galloping and leaping. Eventually we got back on track and
did some partner work. That went okay except for the fact a few of the
boys could not keep their hands to themselves and had a comment for
everything we said or an idea for every image we gave them that they
just had to share. It is a shame to not allow them to share because
they have such great imaginations but we are
in a great time crunch. By the end of the lesson, it almost felt like
we
had gone backwards instead of progressing into the next section. We
will
have to see how it goes next week, to see if we can pull it all
together.
Today we had 2 T.A.'s in the class as well as the two of us and the
classroom
teacher. I think that this was maybe a part of the problem, the
other three
were not letting us do our job so the boys were getting bombarded with
instructions from every side and it was sensory overload. I would have
almost preferred to be left to our own devices with only the classroom
teacher to observe. It is too much when you have a lot of people to
tell you what to do. It was frustrating for us because we could not do
what we came to do. Every boy in
the class today participated and displayed great creativity.
Section 3
Too Many Cooks Can Spoil the Broth
As
we had a “special” class we also had a clear look at some of the
classroom management issues which can arise. These
are not probably what you are thinking. Sure
the students did act up
but we have been fairly well trained and versed in classroom management
techniques to try and at least deal with most situations.
No, this was a problem of having too many adults in the
room. With Andrea, myself, the teacher and
two classroom aids, there were literally as many teachers as students. This became
a problem when a child would act up and one of the adults not teaching
at
the time would choose to discipline the student. This
was meant with the best of intentions; however, it sent
a message to the students: it is OK to
interrupt as long as it is important. This
may seem like a reasonable
rule, however, what is important in the mind of a behaviorally
challenged
student and what is important in the mind of the teacher may be very
different
things. This seemed to steer the class
into
a more unruly state and made the lesson far more difficult to deliver
Like
Selling Ice Cubes to a Penguin
This activity just goes to show that you
can
truly teach creative dance to anybody. We had a class comprised
completely
of boys all with designated behavioral issues. Yet we still did
it and the
kids truly enjoyed it (we have the video to prove it!). It just
goes to
show that no matter what the subject is, a teacher can make something
enjoyable
and doable by adjusting for the students and truly buying into the idea
itself.
Too often teachers claim that certain things simply could not be done
with
certain demographics of students. However, it is that belief in
itself which
will limit the students in appreciating or even participating in the
lesson,
and thus, it is the wariness of the teacher which can hinder our
students'
learning capabilities. A good teacher can “sell” anything to
anyone, they
just have to be willing to buy it themselves.
Today was the last class with the boys. We had them review and then
create
an ending to the warrior story with their group. At first we were
apprehensive
about putting the boys into groups. We know so little about them that
we
were unsure about who would work well together. No one worked all that
well
together but they were manageable. The main problem was making sure
they
kept their hands to themselves and stayed in their own space.
Feedback from the Mentor
Teacher
