I Say Spaghetti, You Say Meatballs!

Now that our 5th science lesson is complete, it's so clear to me how important classroom management is. This week, we had a lot to accomplish in one hour. We did it, but it wasnt' easy. It required coordinated teamwork and paying careful attention to timing and pacing. Every teacher has his or her own technique for maintaining order in the classroom. Our classroom teacher typically does a rhythmic clapping sequence. When she claps it, the students clap it back and know that it means they are to stop what they are doing and look to the teacher. She also uses a "thumbs up" method to indicate when students are ready to move on to the next task. I know that some of our classmates have been using other methods such as the "red zone", using a xylophone, and even whistles. A friend of mine who teaches uses spaghetti and meatballs. When she says "spaghetti", her students respond with "meatballs" and know they need to listen. Whatever works is clearly the take-away here!

This week, I came upon a couple of students having a heated argument about whose turn it was to do the next step. My first instinct was to solve the fight and choose a student myself, but I quickly realized this wasn't fair to me or to the students, so I told them they needed to work it out for themselves. Instantly, they both started shouting their case back to me, and I calmly explained that they knew the rules and expectations of today's lesson and that taking turns was one of the rules and that if they couldn't figure out a way to work it out on their own, I'd have to take their materials away and ask them to sit out the rest of the lesson. The threat was enough motivation for them to come to an agreement without my intervention. I was relieved because I wasn't sure if it was going to work. I like these little learning moments. Now the next time it happens, and it will happen, I'll have a new weapon in my classroom management arsenal!

This week, we were observed on our ability to incorporate technology and writing into our lesson planning. Because we knew we had a lot of prep work to do for the materials up front, we decided to ask the students to write in their journals at the very beginning of the class. This gave them quiet, focused time to write while we set up. Our classroom teacher let us know that there is a variety of writing ability levels in the class, so we decied to use an open-ended question that would allow students to write at their own pace. We asked them to think about their favorite memory of the lessons we've done with them so far. I thought most of the students would write about the effervescent tablet lesson, because I think that is the one that I heard the most oohs and ahhs, but surprisingly, I think many of them wrote about the "Chubby Little Snowman" song that we did with them. I had to laugh when I heard them all talking about it because I did that part of the lesson that day, and I really messed it up. I kept getting the lyrics wrong (the kids kept telling me!), and my singing was horrible. Just goes to show you how important it is to ask for feedback now and then. Things we think are working/not working may be just the opposite!!

Once we began the lesson, it was time for us to really watch the clock. We had a lot to get done in a short amount of time, but we did it. The students were really great again this week. I continue to be surprised and proud about how well they do. We were working with "Prediction" as our process skill of the week, and most students successfully predicted that the gravel would be the easiest to separate from the water and the salt would be the hardest. Once we got through the experiment, we asked the students to think about what happened and to share their thoughts of what worked/didn't work and why. We also circled back to their predictions to make sure they understood that what they thought might happen, happened for a reason.

To conclude the lesson this week, Megan brought the kids over to the carpet and showed them a They Might Be Giants video that Michelle had shared with us the previous week. It's a fun, upbeat song about solids, liquids and gasses with great animation to go along with the words. The kids liked it so much they asked to view it twice! I thought it was an interesting way to incorporate technology into the lesson that I probably would not have considered doing if we weren't asked to! But it makes total sense. Today's students are very tech-savvy, and there's no underestimating the impact of the "cool factor" that slick computers and other technology can bring.

There's only two weeks left now! I'm sad to think the end is near, but I have really enjoyed the entire experience.