Week 3

We just finished week 3 and now onto week 4.  This past class challenged me to think creatively and on my feet when our professor assigned us to choose one of these random 5 words that I've never heard of and think of a way that I would teach it.  We were given a time limit to figure out the word and come up with an idea.  I chose the word nesh, which means delicate or overly sensitive to cold.  The way that I would teach this word is to have the students write a story about the time that felt nesh.  Then, I would instruct them to share their stories with a partner or the whole class.  I would encourage them to illustrate their story, too.  Young students love to draw and color.  I want them to explore their artistic and creative side as well.  I enjoyed hearing my classmates' ideas to teach their chosen words.  I also enjoyed hearing the definition of these words.  I've never heard of these words before, so this activity was interesting.

Another concept that we discussed was word walls, which I have seen in most classrooms that I have observed in over the past couple years.  The recent teacher that I observed had a word wall on the other side of her bookshelf.  It was colorful and organized.  Her whole classroom is full of color and organized.  The first time I walked in her classroom I just felt at ease.  I loved her environment within the classroom and I know the students did, too.  I will definitely want to incorporate word walls in my classroom as well as a theme.  I aspire to teach Kindergarten or 1st grade and these younger grades tend to enjoy themes.  One of the many themes that I like is camping.  I think it would be fun to add a tent in my classroom with this theme for a reading area.  I found this cute idea for a reading poster that goes along with the camping theme.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/177610779034170494/?utm_campaign=networkstorydigest&e_t=97b65b91234042f68de122cb6434b336&utm_content=177610779034170494&utm_source=31&utm_term=1&utm_medium=2026

Overall, this past class was fun and challenged me to be on my toes so to speak.  There will be many times when teachers need to be "on their toes" and think of an idea for their students within a short time frame.  I believe this was good practice.