July 27, 2016- Today was the first time I was given the
opportunity to teach a third grade class at Efamini. The teachers do not seem to have a lesson
book with plans written in it so one can look at it to determine what the class
was supposed to learn. When I entered
Miss T’s class, the class I observed Monday, she asked if I had planned something. Replying no, I volunteered to teach whatever
she gave me. After all, she only gave me
a pacing guide and not her lesson plan book that indicated what she wanted to
be taught each day. She gave me multiplication/division
worksheet and wanted me to pass it out to the students. After passing them out, she told me to walk
around the room and check student work, marking it with a red pen. It soon became clear that several students did
not understand how to multiply or divide many of the problems. I attempted to demonstrate the multiplication
problems by drawing tally marks and grouping them. Since
the students did not have additional paper to use to draw pictures on, I had
them “act out” the problems using students at the front of the room, holding up
fingers. After working a few problems, Miss T. gave me a box containing several bags of
Unifix cubes. With the aid of a couple
of students, I modeled how to use the cubes to work out a couple of the
problems and then gave each table group a bag of cubes to use as they worked
together in their group to solve the remaining problems on the worksheet. The
students were very excited, but Miss. T. told me in a concerned voice that I
would really need to watch the students as they would take her cubes and hide
them to take them home. I got the impression that the students had
never used the cubes before, because I had to model how to join them together
to make the groups. As I called out the
problems, the students begin to work together to solve each problem while both
Miss T. and I circulated to observe and give assistance. Soon Miss T. seemed to be enjoying the lesson
as much as the students, cheering and clapping for the each group when they
were able to find the correct answer. The
lesson was a lengthy one, but worth every minute as every student seemed excited
and actively engaged in the lesson. During the afternoon, I read a story in
English about a giant that cooked a large pot of soup adding different
ingredients including a human boy. While
reading, Miss T. translated the story using isiXhosa. Afterwards the students
drew pictures of the large pot of the soup with the ingredients, including the
boy. Several drew the giant in their
pictures. Their pictures were
delightful. I had a very enjoyable
day. Tomorrow we go to Grahamstown.
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