One of the most exciting and challenging part of the junior practicum for the teaching professionals will be the full-time teaching. My students were assigned a topic for the unit teaching. They will create ten connected lessons within the unit topic. For the past months, my students and I have explored and worked hard to come up with excellent ideas, developing materials and activities to support the unit teaching. By this time, my student interns have developed strong muscles and gained strong self-confidence to take charge of the class management and teaching all day long. I have watched the progress these interns made, and observed many exemplary lessons in this urban school. It was a fantastic and rewarding experience to note that I have come a long way developing marvelous teachers for the future and my student interns are performing beautifully to my expectations.
On my visit to my student interns’ classes today, I was torn by the incident that Jessie and Kathy were asked to take down their wonderfully designed decorations for the rainforest unit lessons. Their first grade cooperating teacher felt bad and sad for them, too.
A piece of light green plastic cloth was hanging like a jungle canopy, with one side attached to the inner classroom wall, with the opposite side hanging with a long string across the room. They built a paper tree decorated with animals and other rainforest stuff behind the canopy. It was a great creation and it was powerful to engage all students in active learning. Students adored their teachers and appreciated their efforts. They dived in the jungle learning place and enthusiastically produced many smaller projects and hung their work on the wall to enrich the rainforest environment.
This morning, a Fire Marshall member from the state department came to inspect the school safety. He pointed out that the rainforest decorations were prone to fire hazard and must go. Otherwise, the school will be fined. That was a harsh order.
Hey, Sir. Would stay for a moment and let me ask you a question? Please take a look at the environment in the school and let me know which item in the school is not prone to fire hazard? Paper, books, old heaters, computers, outdated appliances, wall power outlets, ….
The unit teaching will last for only ten days. Can you allow them to complete the unit lessons and take down the decorations afterwards? I am sure everyone in the class will be extremely cautious about the fire hazard.
The bottom left picture was the jungle decorated with a jungle canopy.
The bottom center picture showed the jungle canopy was taken down.
The bottom right picture showed a student wearing a tiger foam board and having fun.
