I asked students about whether they knew how water pressure works. 8th graders knew how water pressure worked and one student was able to explain that water pressure on the bottom is larger than water on top. 6th graders were able to guess and share their thoughts. Then I divided the class into 4 groups to do the first activity. There were 4 milk cartons that had three holes on the side. Two holes were covered with tape and the milk cartons were filled with water until the marker. Each group had a teacher’s assistant to help with the experiment. Students were responsible to take off a piece of tape and time how long water would fall into the plastic bin until the 2nd marker on the milk carton. Students made data tables in their journals and recorded the time for each hole. Due to time, we weren’t able to do the experiment at least three times. For about 10 minutes, I asked students to tell me about their observations from the experiment. Many students were able to confirm that water pressure was larger at the bottom. I transitioned into the topic about dams. I asked students if they knew the closest dam and whether anyone visited. Many students were able to tell me about how large and massive the Grand Coulee Dam. I proceeded to draw and explain a diagram of how a dam works. I drew it on a whiteboard and students also copied it in their journals. The last activity was building a model of a dam. I provided popsicle sticks, string, glue, tape, and a plastic bins. Students were so creative in building the propellers! I was extremely impressed and the activity was extremely successful! The students enjoyed it!
Because this was my first time teaching to a class, I was extremely nervous about my lesson plan. I never had prior experience of teaching to 25 students, therefore I asked Mikayla and Amy for advice and improvements. When the group was preparing materials the night before I made sure everything was ready and read through my lesson plan thoroughly. I taught the 7th grade class for the first time and it went better than I expected. The 7th graders seemed to really enjoy the lesson plan and I was extremely relieved! I was afraid that they thought it was going to be boring or lame. The others were able to tell me what I should do better, which was really helpful! Overall, I really enjoyed my time teaching to kids because I gained skills of communication and how to interact with middle school students. I gained confidence of running and controlling a classroom full of students. The second class I taught were 8th graders and I felt that my transitions throughout the lesson plan was smoother and efficient than the first class I taught. My fear of students not enjoying my lesson plan is now something I laugh at because all of the 7th and 8th graders loved it! When the 8th graders signed a card for all of us, almost all of them mentioned how much they loved building their own dam eco-system. The last thing that fascinated me was how almost all of the students were willing to answer my questions and provide really great explanations. They knew more than I expected them too!
I really enjoyed staying at our homestay! Jim and Eden were very sweet and very generous to offer their house for the Curlew group! My favorite activity was our long quest to find cool macroinvertbrae bugs in the area. We ended up driving to two different places to be able to find these creatures. Even though it took us a while to find them, it was a really great bonding experience and exploring the general Curlew area. My second memory was driving to the area where it was affected by wildfires from last summer. It was very close to the school and it was such a powerful view of seeing the burnt and ruined habitats. Even though I knew how serious the wildfires were last summer, I never knew the impact it had to the ecosystem and the people in the area. After looking at the amount of land full of burnt trees, I could immediately imagine the fear the people felt from the wildfires. Driving to this area really enhanced my first hand experience of living in a community where wildfires are common and hazardous. The last favorite community memory was the celebration on the last day we were at Curlew. The school was extremely generous by giving all of us cool Curlew crewnecks and baked us chocolate cupcakes! Some of the students wrote us notes and cards for us too! The celebration was so sweet and the sense of a small and close community at the school was such a great experience to go through. Because I went to a big public school, I never had the chance to attend and experience a close and caring school community. Being able to experience this for a week was extremely worthwhile!
When I first applied to EASB, I expected it to be a volunteer trip interacting and teaching students. I didn’t really know what to expect from this program. My actual experience exceeded my expectations. I never really thought my experience from teaching would be something that I would really enjoy. I do like working with children, but I never had too much experience in being a teacher. When I found out that I was teaching 7th and 8th graders, I was afraid of middle school students. They are extremely bright and funny students! My impression towards middle school students have changed significantly after this experience. The main takeaway from this experience was being able to live in a small town and distinguish the differences in community from big suburb towns. I loved how the principal would greet all the students when they were getting off the bus and how everyone would have short conversations.
- Soo Lee
Because this was my first time teaching to a class, I was extremely nervous about my lesson plan. I never had prior experience of teaching to 25 students, therefore I asked Mikayla and Amy for advice and improvements. When the group was preparing materials the night before I made sure everything was ready and read through my lesson plan thoroughly. I taught the 7th grade class for the first time and it went better than I expected. The 7th graders seemed to really enjoy the lesson plan and I was extremely relieved! I was afraid that they thought it was going to be boring or lame. The others were able to tell me what I should do better, which was really helpful! Overall, I really enjoyed my time teaching to kids because I gained skills of communication and how to interact with middle school students. I gained confidence of running and controlling a classroom full of students. The second class I taught were 8th graders and I felt that my transitions throughout the lesson plan was smoother and efficient than the first class I taught. My fear of students not enjoying my lesson plan is now something I laugh at because all of the 7th and 8th graders loved it! When the 8th graders signed a card for all of us, almost all of them mentioned how much they loved building their own dam eco-system. The last thing that fascinated me was how almost all of the students were willing to answer my questions and provide really great explanations. They knew more than I expected them too!
I really enjoyed staying at our homestay! Jim and Eden were very sweet and very generous to offer their house for the Curlew group! My favorite activity was our long quest to find cool macroinvertbrae bugs in the area. We ended up driving to two different places to be able to find these creatures. Even though it took us a while to find them, it was a really great bonding experience and exploring the general Curlew area. My second memory was driving to the area where it was affected by wildfires from last summer. It was very close to the school and it was such a powerful view of seeing the burnt and ruined habitats. Even though I knew how serious the wildfires were last summer, I never knew the impact it had to the ecosystem and the people in the area. After looking at the amount of land full of burnt trees, I could immediately imagine the fear the people felt from the wildfires. Driving to this area really enhanced my first hand experience of living in a community where wildfires are common and hazardous. The last favorite community memory was the celebration on the last day we were at Curlew. The school was extremely generous by giving all of us cool Curlew crewnecks and baked us chocolate cupcakes! Some of the students wrote us notes and cards for us too! The celebration was so sweet and the sense of a small and close community at the school was such a great experience to go through. Because I went to a big public school, I never had the chance to attend and experience a close and caring school community. Being able to experience this for a week was extremely worthwhile!
When I first applied to EASB, I expected it to be a volunteer trip interacting and teaching students. I didn’t really know what to expect from this program. My actual experience exceeded my expectations. I never really thought my experience from teaching would be something that I would really enjoy. I do like working with children, but I never had too much experience in being a teacher. When I found out that I was teaching 7th and 8th graders, I was afraid of middle school students. They are extremely bright and funny students! My impression towards middle school students have changed significantly after this experience. The main takeaway from this experience was being able to live in a small town and distinguish the differences in community from big suburb towns. I loved how the principal would greet all the students when they were getting off the bus and how everyone would have short conversations.
- Soo Lee