Clinical 3

Well, today was the first full day. I had a hard time getting there at 7:30, but I still made it.
Did anyone else watch Channel 1 at their schools? They watch it first thing in the morning, and I really was not much more impressed with it than I was when I had to watch it. The news was interesting, but the kids spent more time staring at me than paying attention to the broadcast. It felt like a bit of a waste of time, and since it was an assembly today, the teacher ended it early so the kids would have enough time for their units.

Being prepared is so important! Mrs. Christensen had to use her break hour going to the store to pick up food because she hadn't realized that she was running out. She barely had enough to give all the kids in first hour, and some of the apples they were using for fruit salad had gone bad. Luckily she has second hour break and can walk to Macey's in five minutes. If it wasn't that convenient though, their wouldn't have been enough food for the next class. I also would have liked to see the recipes before I was supposed to help the kids get their food, they would ask me how much of things, and I could only say to look at the recipe. Organization and "withitness" (thanks Barb) really do help so much.

The 6th graders were fun. It was the last day of their unit, so they were a bit restless by this point. It didn't help that there was an assembly, so they were more interested in that and the different schedule than they were in cooking.

Classroom management:
In the morning, Mrs. Monk doesn't come in to help Mrs. Christensen. She works with another teacher at that time. So 6th grade is split into several different groups, each with a color. She has a round robin chart that shows where each group will go for the day. Half of the groups cook, and the other half watch videos or work in their workbooks. Each student has a blue binder which they keep their assignments in. There are also binders for each unit. The papers for the unit are kept in the binder so they can just grab it and she doesn't have to instruct every group each day.

Discipline:
Today was a bit crazy with discipline. The last day of the unit, plus an assembly made for some antsy kids. There was one student who kept stealing ingredients from the kitchen next to his. Mrs. Christensen didn't notice because she was working with other students, so i just stood between the units and watched the two groups. If he tried to grab things, I would ask him to put it back. He stopped after that.
During the assembly it was hard to get the kids to stop whispering. Some teachers spent the whole time moving between students, and moving the students. Others would gently tap anyone talking, or whisper to students out of their reach to be quiet. By the end of the assembly, the latter had students who were being more cooperative than the former. Students that were moved would whisper behind their hands, and the teachers moving around distracted the students who were paying attention. The whispering didn't end, but it was quieter by the end.

*mental note* If conducting an assembly, do not ask the kids a question for them to respond to, they erupt into talking, and then you have to waste time getting them back.

Teaching techniques:
I have noticed that Mrs. Christensen focuses far more on helping the kids follow directions and communicate clearly than she does on what their actual products are. She approaches the activities as ways to help develop life skills. She has them read their directions, and if they ask her about them she refers to the recipe first, then guides them to understand what they need to do. For some of the activities this really worked, others it wasn't as effective.
Some of the kids had to work out math problems on a worksheet for equal measurements. most were easy to figure out just by multiplying or dividing by two, but there was one where they had to multiply to find the equivalent to a cup, then divide to find a third. She had me immediately correct their assignments, so they could fix their answers that class. Most missed that question. I let them try it on their own, and if they missed again, I gave them more instruction to find the answer.