One of my favorite experiences during Playschool was teaching my own class. I was collaborating with a fabulous teacher who gave me tons of advice, but she also allowed me to take control of the classroom and gain experience teaching lessons. I really had the opportunity to bring these lessons to life, adding fun and excitement to rather mundane lessons on vocabulary and grammar. During one of my lessons on weather, I incorporated strategies that I learned during my teaching English class, like the Total Physical Response method. I gave the students a die with pictures of different weather elements on it. As the students rolled the die, they had to state the type of weather and make the associated motion. The students were twirling like tornadoes, stomping like thunder storms, melting in the hot sun, and giggling like engaged students. They were having a blast, and their English vocabulary blossomed as they shouted things like "it's hot!" or "it's raining!" It greatly helped them practice and develop their vocabulary.
I connected these lessons with science class. Together, we created rain with shaving cream and food coloring, as well as a walking rainbow. The students were fascinated by these weather aspects because they could physically see how these weather factors functioned. And, the students visually connected these visual images of rainbows and rain clouds to the English words. Not only were they flourishing in their English, but they were also exploring science. It was awesome to see them prosper, and I was so glad to get the opportunity to help them in their journey!
