Week 2 - Halfway There

So I am feeling pretty good after my first 2 weeks of practicum.  I've been teaching French since the first week to all of the grade 4 students in the school (38 of them, in the library).  I was worried at first about this class, but I would say, it is probably my best class and that I feel the most confident about it.  My AT has been really nice and letting me do things that are totally different than how he normally teaches French.  I told him that we could do some of the things he normally does, as well, but he said he preferred to let me continue what I was doing because he was learning a lot.  Talk about making a person feel good!  I've also been teaching science, some language arts, and most recently Art.  On Friday I taught the children how to finger knit.  I found a connection with social studies and "medieval times" when I did some research on the history of knitting, which apparently began in the Middle East, and got to Europe through the Islamic Empire, when they were in Andalusia for 600 years during the Middle Ages.  I also included a little music, teaching them a song so they would remember the technique.  As I expected, based on my experience teaching kids to finger knit, they became kind of obsessed with it, and I'm sure some of the students will want to do it day in day out (several students asked to take some different coloured pieces of yarn so that they could do it at recess and after school and over the weekend.    Finger knitting is something you can teach very young children, and it also improves hand-eye coordination.  If there is enough interest, I may have a knitting club 1 or 2 lunches per week, and open it up to any of the students at the school, not just the ones in my class.  


I did learn that I when I first teach it to the children, I should prepare the first knot (the disappearing knot) in advance, because it is actually harder to do than the actual knitting - and when I taught it to my class, the children who couldn't do it right a way (the majority of them) were feeling like they just couldn't do it.  I will also limit it to one colour of yarn at first, until they get the hang of it, because it took up a lot of time cutting the colours of yarn that the children wanted to work with, and then making the disappearing knot for them.  If I did it all over again, I'd pick one colour, make enough disappearing knots for the whole class - and then after demonstrating how to finger knit, give them each their piece of string, and work on the actual finger knitting together.  Once they successfully knit that first piece of string, then they could come up and ask for another one, in a different colour (it would minimize the mob of children all approaching at once, talking at once, wanting their string 5 minutes ago ;)


Overall, it was a pretty enjoyable art lesson and all the children seemed to be pretty happy/proud of what they were able to make.  


Next week, I'll be doing my first Media studies class (on Monday).  I'm going to start lesson planning now.  Until the next time,  Have a great week.