Science in the front of the room

            This week my group got to teach the sixth grade science class at Sacred Heart, and what an experience this was. I loved every minute of being in front of the class. It was nerve racking while the students were walking into the class, but once they all sat down and calmed down, it was not that bad. I had butterflies until I stood in front of the class and spoke. I was excited and ready for the students questions. It was hard to divide our slides up evenly among six people, but I think that we did a fair job at it. Those who didn't speak much during the first day teaching had bigger parts during the second day teaching. Although, the second day we ran out of time so my closure got cut and another team member had to step in because my group wasn't done and needed guidance through the lesson. I really was sad that I didn't get to close the lesson because I was really looking forward to it. The first day of teaching was smooth and there were no big problems besides having to borrow Mallory's computer. That would have been a disaster if she didn't have it. We had thought that we had all angles covered because we backed our power point up on a flash drive just in case, but we didn't think the projector cord wouldn't fit. That was a really bad scare, but thanks to our awesome colleague she came to the rescue.
       The second day teaching was what our group had been looking forward to! The entire group was much more relaxed with the students as we got to know them and work with them. I know I was excited about Dr. Granite and his adventure in Hawaii! I couldn't wait to tell the students all about how he got stuck and he was unable to get to his research material and how he really needed their help! I had a lot of fun writing this script and practicing it out with my group members. I really liked how the class reacted to the phone call, half were in complete belief and the other half didn't believe us one bit. Although, Dr. Granite is a real life person he is not stuck in Hawaii due to a Volcanic eruption he is however in living in the dorms on campus. I think that the students really enjoyed the activity we had planned for them both days and they seemed so involved in making rocks. I know my group did not want to leave, and was sad that they had to go. I could see the light bulb click on for the students in my group who didn't understand the rock cycle at first, and this was the best thing ever! I could see it click in their heads and they finally understood it and that was just amazing to me. I don't think anything can compare to that. I really liked that the students were so engaged during the rock cycle process and that they wanted to do it. I think that overall the lessons went well , but I know that there is always room for improvement. I know for fact that I could have been louder, although I did try to be my loudest. I know that the first day we skipped a slide that we could have really used due to time shortage. Also, during the second lesson we had to skip the groups presenting because of time and this made me very sad. I was so interested in seeing what the other groups came up with and what data they collected to back it up. I am sad that this had to be cut out of the day. I think in hindsight I would have shortened the beginning before we started the groups. I would have put the crayon maker somewhere so more than two students could go up at a time, but more like two groups. That would have saved a lot of time. I would have gone on with the making of the sedimentary rock while the rest of the group was looking at the rock, that really took a lot more time then I would have thought. I would not have rushed their metamorphic rocks, but because we were running out of time I had to, and they didn't work completely. 
       One thing we didn't get to tell the class which made me sad was that the story they were writing we were going to make it into a book for the entire class to have. So everyone's story would be put together for the class to read and hold on to. I am excited to get the stories back so that we can do this for them. I do think that they are going to like it and I can't wait to read them. Overall I would say my group did a good job. We spent a lot of time together practicing and going over each slide and each lesson. I think that we were prepared but we were not ready for the time to go that fast.