Last week was my first week in the
preschool classroom at Brigham. I was pleased to finally experience the other
classroom for the first time this semester. It was my job as a “TA” for the
other two teachers to work the “tasting” table. I had between two to three
students at a time who had to taste salt and sugar. I would ask them
descriptive questions, such as, “Does this one taste like a cupcake?” or “Does
this one taste like potato chips?” I could usually tell which substance the
students would taste based on their facial expressions (which was hilarious, by
the way). I noticed when making observations, however, that many of the
children seemed overwhelmed with everything they had to do in such a short
amount of time. I don’t blame them because I honestly felt the same way. After
the children tasted the salt and sugar, they had to categorize different foods
that were either salty or sweet. Based on their decisions, I would record if
the children were able to differentiate salty and sweet food items.
Unfortunately, I only had five minutes per group so trying to get the materials ready, ask the children questions,
explain the rules of the sorting game, and assessing each child, I barely had time
to reach my goal, which is to “learn more about each student’s personality and
interests. I hope to accomplish this by knowing the strengths and struggles
each ELL student endures.” With such little personal interaction time, I feel
like I neglected to move towards my goal working with English language
learners. I did, however, find out that one of my kindergarten student’s, from
my clinical site, has a younger sibling in the preschool class I assisted in!
Talk about a small world. From the interactions I had with these preschoolers, I
did enjoy spending the time I did with them. We shared laughs, but I also noted
some major confusion they experienced with differentiating the difference
between sweet and salty.
This
being my first time in this classroom, I felt that I was almost starting from
square one with my goal. Not only were the children younger, but different
challenges arose. There is a tremendous difference between the kindergarteners
and the preschoolers. For starters, I have been in the kindergarten classroom
every time since we started teaching at Brigham. I became familiar with their strengths,
personalities, and interests just from the amount of time I spent in that
class. In preschool, however, I felt as if I was starting all over. I didn’t
know any of the children by name, I was unsure of the languages spoken in this
setting, mainly because this classroom seemed more diverse in cultures than the
kindergarten class, and the children seemed overwhelmed with the amount of
people and activities that needed to be completed in such a short amount of
time. I wish that I was able to bond with the students on a personal level
before implementing my section of the lesson so that I would be able to detect
which students required additional language support, as well as the degree to
which each student understood English. When assessing the children, I noted
that many children struggled with categorizing sweet and salty foods. I think
that reviewing the five senses is imperative, but I think the sections should
have been spread out because at that pace, I don’t think any of the children
were able to process the material being taught to them. If I were to be placed
in this classroom again, I would want to allot the appropriate amount of time
to consult with the teachers of the classroom about each student, as well as
observing the children in their natural environment before teaching them about
a topic that may be especially difficult for any preschooler to grasp, let
alone an ELL student. Even though I feel as if I didn’t move towards my goal
this week, I feel that this experience just shows me how each student poses new
advantages and struggles when teaching in different environments.
Exceeds: Went over the word count and added an article
pertaining to different preschool learning styles for all children.
http://www.abilitypath.org/areas-of-development/learning--schools/learning-and-teaching-styles/articles/childrens-learning-styles.html
No comments:
Post a Comment