Observation Day!

Yesterday was the 100th day of school! I wasn't there to celebrate with them, but I was told (multiple times) that "Zero the Hero" definitely came to visit...

Today was the day my advisor was coming to observe my classroom interactions and development as a future educator - I wasn't so nervous as to how I was going to do, but I was nervous about whether or not the kids were going to behave.

Right off the bat I was presented with a choice this morning - I could either run the center where I oversaw the completion of a counting by 10s worksheet that involved coloring, cutting, and gluing; or I could lead the center exploring the flow and properties of water. Clearly, for observational purposes, the worksheet would have been the obvious choice. Naturally, I picked the second. The water center would be challenging, yes, but also more exciting and far more rewarding. I was willing to risk a potential disaster during the observation time in order to do something that felt more meaningful and had equal amounts of potential to be a great lesson. And what kind of future teacher would I be if I stepped down from a challenge?!

It went great - although a little trying at times because I've been losing my voice over the past couple of days - and my advisor was very entertained and impressed. And the kids were so well behaved! I was so proud of them; not that science centers are ever very hard for them to get engaged in. :)  We had three tasks to complete in 20 minutes for each center:
1) Discuss water as a liquid that takes the shape of it's container and has flow. Answer the question, "What is flow?"
2) Demonstrate a fountain by pouring water into a cup that had straws inserted on both sides and discuss what was happening and why.
3) Created a trough/water fall out of clay with walls to keep the water in that could be successfully used to pour water down and into a bowl. Discuss how to create the trough and why some things worked and some things didn't.
Tables were wet from missing bowls when pouring water, hands were sticky from mixing the clay with water, but every single student had the opportunity to ask and answer questions and make connections. A couple times we got off on more involved topics because of student imposed questions - like what purpose a dam serves in a river and how we can demonstrate it with our troughs, or how filters can create flow for pools of water (fish tanks, swimming pools, etc).

This is real life stuff, guys. And these kindergarteners get it. I am always so impressed and excited for them. I think their excitement is contagious...

**Side note, I did go back and add some pictures today - I'm working on trying to use different mediums, and since I have to take pictures anyway, why not include some on here?**