So i've been preparing for it for over two weeks and i was really nervous. but how bad can it be their only preschoolers right? Well yesterday i went to set up my class room and it took me about an hour and half, but it saved me from having to get up at 5 to get there and set up this morning so i'm really grateful that i did that.
I taught on bugs that help our gardens. but the kids in my class dont like to listen very well so we basically just talked about bugs in general. and of course since today was my first day ever teaching all 18 of the kids had to be there.
We start the day off by check-ins and i was the greeter. its super easy you just sit by the door and then welcome the kids and ask them to put their stuff in their cubbies and help them find their name tag so then you can pin it on them. and after they get it on you ask them to go wash their hands.
after washing their hands there are multiple activities set up for them and they have free choice time. i had the cootie bug game set up, a math counter game, a place for them to play house, blocks, playdough with cookie cutters and rolling pins etc, letter beads and string for them to make necklaces with their names on them, a sensory table filled with sand and bugs(plastic ones) to search through, and their favorite activity of all was the science one. I had set out baggies for them to use and with the help of another teacher they could squirt the paint in to the bags and see how it mixed together and changed with every color that they put in. this one kid was so excited to show me and take it home to show his parents.
Then after we clean up from free choice we have gathering time, which is large group. I was going to talk about how bugs help our gardens and have them help me figure out which ones did and didnt but none of them were really cooperating, so i read them a book call "why insects are good" or something like that, and we acted out some of the actions that bugs do. and then the teachers passed out some"pollen" for them to sprinkle on a large flower that i had made and i showed them how it made the flower grow.
Its so funny to hear all of the random things that they say, like this one kid was talking about a grasshopper and this other girl just goes "i have fish at my house"they are so cute.
But after group time we have focus activites. which are sorta like free choice but i choose where the kids go. and they are more focused on what we talked about in gathering time. i had 4 activites set up. 1. was bug collages- i had printed out some ladybugs and some bees for them to glue stuff on, like pom pom balls, pipe cleaners, feathers, beads, buttons, googly eyes, sequins. and then they went to town gluing on whatever they wanted.2.They pretended to be wiggly worms. it was so cute. they would lay down on a blanket that was layed out and then roll up in it and wiggle around like a worm, but one kid wanted to be a butterfly so he acted like he was a caterpillar and then rolled up in his blanket to form a chrysalis and then jump and yell "im a butterfly" it was adorable.3.it was a ladybug matching game, i had some ladybugs with velcro spots on them and a dice for them to roll and then which ever number they got was how many dots they put on or for the older ones they could take them off (so they were doing addition and subtraction)4. Heres the best one!! hahah not reallyi went to walmart last night and bought some worms, and then put them in a sensory table filled with potting soil so the kids could dig thru and play with the worms.. one kid didnt like the worms and didnt think the others should play with it so he would knock the worms out of their hands everytime they picked them up.
and then after we were done with this we went outside and rode bikes and stuff and then came in side and had snack.
Then it was time for closing circle.
We danced with ribbons to some songs and then read a book called the very busy spider. its so fun with little kids because they will all make the sounds with you about like the animals and stuff. and by this time most of the kids have gotten picked up. but there was about two kids left and so i turned the music back on so we could dance. and one kid had to go to the bathroom. and when he was done it was time for him to leave, but i didnt realize it was so important that he knew that i knew that he was leaving so i was having too much fun dancing around and he runs up to me and goes "teacher, i have to leave now, bye"
it was sooooooo cute!!
so after all the kids have gone home we have time to assess how we think we did and for the other teachers to give us pointers or to tell us things that they saw. we'll i didnt even realize it but one of my supervising teachers had left during free time and went in to the observation booth to observe how all of us did, so at post-lab she handed us these papers. and she said i was really aware of everything that was going on and did a good job talking with all of the kids...but i didnt even notice she was gone.LOL
and then another girl said she couldnt believe this was my first time ever teaching because i seemed so confident and acted like i knew everything that was going on. well im glad that it seemed that way cause that was not how i felt. but it was alot easier then i thought it was going to be and i think i stressed way more then i needed too. lol
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