Get to Know your Students

What is the essential, non-negotiable content for your chosen teaching field? Who determines that? How will you find materials to teach that content? What do you think those materials will include?

Essential, non-negotiable content for Elementary Education is foundation for just about all main subjects (math, science, language arts, and so on.) This is determined by many different agencies, national and state standards, school boards, super intendents, principals, and individual teachers. I plan on finding materials to teach in many different areas, the internet, the school board/principal, workbooks, other teachers (in grades below, the same, above, and special education), and my past personal experiences. I think that these materials will include books to read for fun, books to learn with, math manipulatives, computers, different science experiment equipment, and outdoor equipment.

Tool #1: One of my favorite “Get to Know you” activities is the adjective game. *Bonus points: you get to introduce that word early to your students. * So, everyone in the class sits, or stands, in a circle. The first person (usually the teacher) will say a describing word about themselves that starts with the same letter of their first name (for example; Marvelous Miss MacKenna), then the next person repeats what the adjective and name is and says their own, third person says the first two’s adjective and name, and the game continues until it gets back to the first person who recites everyone’s adjective and name. This helps the students associate another word with their class mates and helps them remember. I know we used this at the beginning of the summer with our students and I still remember most of their adjectives.

Tool #2: For my assessment, I would have my students either fill out this worksheet or have them interview each other in pairs, one group of three would be ok as long as all students are getting interviewed. This would help me to see where the students are with writing, possibly use of colors and drawing skills, and I would have them present at least two of the categories on the paper to the class so I would get to see where they are speech wise.

Resource:

Nannini, K. (2014). Back to School Team Building Get to Know You Activities | First Week of School. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Team-Building-Get-to-Know-You-Activities-First-Week-of-School-263126