Observation

Grade: 2nd

Date: 22 February 2017

Curriculum: Writing with a focus in Social Studies

The day before my cooperating teacher taught this lesson, the

school had a guest speaker visit to discuss bullying. My teacher had

noticed that his students were participating in bullying and

disrespectful behavior towards one another. During the writing time the

prompt given was to write about a time whenever they felt upset or

hurt by anothers actions. They were kindly reminded to not place

blame on another student, but simply to write about how they felt in

regards to the situation. Many students wrote about rude comments

that a fellow peer had said to them. The class reflected on how they

felt as a whole. They were then instructed to write about a time when

they might have hurt someone elses feelings. A majority of the class

wrote about a time when they said something mean to someone else.

During the writing portion of this assignments students were able to

write about when they felt they were the bully and also when they felt

bullied. My cooperating teacher then gathered the class around to

participate in a whole group discussion on bullying. He reminded the

class that it is a community and that everyone must give respect in

order to receive it. A few of the class members asked questions to

clarify if specific situations were classified as bullying. The teacher

reminded that the objective of this was not to label one another as
 Observation

bullies, but to learn from prior experiences to change their behavior.

The class was then instructed to practice their letter writing skills and

write a letter to try to comfort someone who may have been bullied.

This allowed the students to realize the implications of their actions

toward one another. To wrap up the lesson the teacher reminded the

class that they are treat one another with the same respect they would

want to receive.

Overall this seemed to be an effective lesson and good example

of powerful teaching. The class remained engaged throughout the

entire lesson. They participated in whole group discussions and

individual time to reflect on their learning. They were reminded that

the classroom is their community and that they must respect all

members of their community. This was a good example of a social

studies lesson, because it allowed students to act as citizens. Students

are not students for the remainder of their life, they must learn how to

be upstanding citizens outside of school. Building a classroom

community is a challenge, but I plan on making sure my class acts as a

community to the best of my ability.