I am not a toe dipper, instead I typically jump right in and see what happens. Yes, I make preparations, but I know that you can't anticipate every possible scenario, so I jump in, see what happens, and then make revisions as needed. That's what happened today as I engaged all the fifth graders, one class at a time, in a watershed model lesson. With each class, I bettered the lesson. Mostly I simplified the steps to make the project more doable and successful for all. I'll update the website to reflect the best iteration of the lesson so next year I can start from there.
I talked to the children about responsibility and what it means to do the right thing. I told them that when it comes to being chosen for a sports team, college, job, and even in a relationship, people want to know that they can depend on someone and that someone is responsible. I gave a few first hand accounts related to the issue. I could tell that some were heeding the message.
That talk was inspired by the fact that a few were off task during the science lesson, and a few can truly raise havoc when it comes to teaching everyone. That's to be expected during the first "jump right in" science exploration. I'm sure that our next exploration, creating solar ovens, will be smoother.
Teaching science takes a lot of prep and a lot of energy. All in all, I think the mission of introducing watersheds and learning about how they work was a success, and now I know what to expect with these students when it comes to science learning.
The highlights of the day besides accomplishing the science teaching including reading the great book, Bud, Not Buddy, with a student and having a good class meeting about playground safety and teamwork.
Since I'm out for a personal event tomorrow, it's time to think about next week which includes lots of special events including the visit from our naturalist-in-residence, a visit from a writer-in-residence, lots of math review, portfolio work, and a Friday math test. I'm still working on the classroom routines with students--almost all the students are meeting the expectations, expectations that leave lots of time for engaging learning experiences, but there's still a bit of work to do.
I'm not exactly sure why, but this year has been the busiest year of my career--it seems like the days move from one event to another with little time to take a breath or sit back a bit. In general, all that we're doing is positively directed so that's good. Onward.
