Spring Break is Here!

     The final days leading up to spring break were intense and rewarding. Tuesday was our last day of fieldwork and group four's last day of teaching. On Thursday, we collaborated in class on a "Jigsaw" activity. This past week was intense in so many ways that I cannot explain; however, our last day of fieldwork was bittersweet. 

     To start the week off we had our last day of fieldwork at Bishop Dunn Memorial School AND group four had their last day of teaching. Tuesday was a bit stressful, not for me personally, but I felt the stress for group four. Group four had to teach two lessons in a forty five minute period, so we could then have our Celebration of Learning. Group four had a fantastic lesson and time management. I really enjoyed their voting booth because it enhanced the students cooperative learning experience. Group four was very positive and they all seemed interactive and knowledgeable on their topics. I thought that the children really enjoyed all the activities and picked up the concept of voting. Next, the Celebration of Learning was on Tuesday. The celebration of learning was fun because we all, the teacher candidates, said what we enjoyed about teaching the students. We also got the teacher a gift because she was very understanding throughout the semester. I loved working with Mrs. Pozzulo's second grade class this semester. 

     The articles that were assigned for this week, were the same articles that were for last week. So, I read the articles last week and I thought that they interesting. These articles reinforced information that we had taught our self in the process of cooperative learning lesson plan. I did learn about the 5 PIGS and the SIM Model. I enjoyed reading these article and watching these videos because I feel like I deeply understand the cooperative learning process. Below is a video that I found on the JIGSAW activity. The JIGSAW activity is what we worked on in class on Thursday. We split into groups based on the five PIGS to teach the rest of the class. I really enjoyed the JIGSAW method because I feel that it is going to be highly successful for students to teach each other versus traditional lecture. I am excited to teach the class on Tuesday (after Spring Break!).

     I really enjoyed these past few days of class. I feel that the class environment was more relaxed this week than ever before. I also enjoyed the Celebration of Learning, as well as, the JIGSAW method. I am excited to see what the rest of the semester has in-store for us.