May 9th to 13th - numbers - writing

 1st and 2nd grades

1st grade

After very many songs and activities with focus on numbers pronunciation, it was time

for some writing practice. The previous pic shows the exercise I did with the 1st grade

students. The other, with the 2nd grades. They were ok, with just small problems that,

I believe, would be avoidable if I could get more of their attention while I am explaining.

Sometimes I feel that the children are not interested in the classes anymore or that I do

not know how to captivate their attention. I try to explain, but sometimes, it is so hard...

So, when I feel that they are distracting, I just ask somebody to give their classmates the

papers, seat in pairs and start doing it. Then, I go around the classes to give further

explanations and to answer their questions.

2nd grade

I felt enthusiastic when I showed the students we were going to have a writing activity and they

became so happy, especially the 1st graders. I was so surprised about that - a student desiring

to do a task! By the end of the class in both grades I felt a little disappointed because some

students did not finish, most of them because they did not concentrate. 


In the 2nd grade previous class, I had written the names of the numbers from 1 to 14 or 12 on

the board for them to copy. But when some of them started to do the writing activity, they simply

copied the letters disorganized, like they were on the paper. It took some time for a few of them

to realize that they had the proper way on their notebooks. And, of course, before giving them

the papers, I wrote all the numbers from 1 to 10 on the board, scrambled, and they helped me

to unscramble the letters to form the correct way of writing. So I gave the paper, and erased

the board. It was frustrating to see many kids writing incorrectly. It looks like their written

language does not make sense for them yet.

After this class, I started questioning myself how far I should let my feelings influence my job

and vice versa. Frustration, anger, disappointment have been more intense during the whole

May month. I am creating too much expectation on my students, maybe. Or, actually, it is vanity

- I want them to do everything I expect, so I can feel I am really good at my job. Maybe I am

thinking more about myself than about them...


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