Thursday, Day Thirty-three

Today was my second observation and Murphy's law was in full swing. Today students were given a strategy of using a multiplication table to solve multiplication and division equations. I had saved a multiplication table on the computer so that we could use the Smart Board to trace the path. Well my picture showed up just fine but I could not get the tools to work at all. So we just went to pencil and paper. It all worked out. The multiplication was not at all a problem. As I have said they have been studying the times table all year, so they knew most of the answers; I just had to get them to trace the path. But then they saw they could also solve division with the table and that was surprising to them. They are really seeing that multiplication and division are inverse operations. Students had to go to the computer to complete an assignment I had made for them and sent in their email. They had to use the highlight function to solve equations using the multiplication table. Some of them got a hold of the table and changed the table dimensions, which created some problem. But they did well with it. One student did not get finished and had to save the document to finish it later. This was a good exercise for them. Anything I can get them doing on the computer I think might give them some type advantage in future classes.

Language arts went well today. Students asked to play our long i game. A couple of them were not too enthusised about it but they still participated. I still thing this is a good thing for all of them. They are learning more about the long i sound and socialization skills. They are doing very well with this spelling pattern. I have enjoyed their enthusiam about the game also.

My little guy is doing very well also. I am thinking I should really remove the points on the numbers. He is becoming very dependent on them. I have a sheet were he writes each number everytime he is assessed. He must tell me what the number is first. He will create the dots on the number first on the ones he is not sure of. His alphabet is doing well also. He still has trouble with the g, h, and q. He tells me that his parents are using the flashcards and numbers I sent home. I believe that they are helping because he is doing very well.

During my observations we had several interruptions other than the Smart Board mishap. One student had just arrived at school because of a doctor's appointment, so we had a parent in the classroom talking with the ST. We had 3 of the 3rd graders that needed assistance, we had various teachers in and out to talk to the ST. Just a lot of distractions. I was very proud of my kids, they stayed focused and understood what was taught and completed the lesson. This is a really good group of kids.