Without A Book....

Last week, I taught my first complete learning cycle. I was a little nervous but I had planned carefully and sent my lesson plan to my cooperating teacher ahead of time just in case I had to make any modifications. I taught an introductory lesson on wind that cross-linked science and language arts. My students exercised skills necessary to perform a scientific investigation and explored wind through straws and a laptop. However, I did encounter my first moment of panic!? I had been working so hard on gathering materials for the creative portions of my lesson that I hadn’t realized I had completely forgot to search for the book I intended to read for the explanation portion of my lesson. It was about one thirty in the morning when it hit me…and I was flipping out! I had not intended for this lesson to incorporate technology, but to save myself I had to. I got up an hour and a half earlier than usual to create an outline in the form of a PowerPoint. I made sure to include pictures and clip art that would both engage students and help them relate to the topic being discussed. It was a hit, and the students were really excited and captivated by the pictures and the laptop. I even created a game within the PowerPoint that allowed students to match tools used to measure wind to their appropriate name. Overall, my lesson was a success, but the thing that was most memorable was what happened during the exploratory part of the lesson. I had given each student a straw and a few leaves to blow around and after asking them to blow on their skin (to mimic how the wind would cool them down on a warm summer day) I ran into a little bit of a problem!? Some students began to complain that their air was hot and not cool like the others (their classmates). I did not know how to respond to this comment but their peers sure did!!! I heard much talk about “It’s probably because you breath is hot” and, just like the rest of the class including students who made the comment, I could not stop laughing hysterically!!! I just left it as that, being that no one’s feelings were hurt!