Teaching ES Students

Reflections from the 6B student-teachers:

• "What surprised me about my teaching experience was that the students were very knowledgeable and had the ability to ask very relevant questions. The questions that were being asked by the students were, "How can climate change be affecting the arctic the most out of all the destinations on Earth if the arctic is the coldest place in the world?" and some questions relating to which species of arctic animals were being affected the most. I feel like the questions being asked, showed that they were thinking deeply, and it made it easier for me to explain the issue." -Ashima O

• " I thought that it was wonderful how I could teach kids about my topic. What surprised me was how they really listened and also asked some really thoughtful questions. 3 things that went well was that they asked very good questions, they listened, & they seemed to be worried about this problem. When I was finished with my presentation, the kids didn't really understand the vocabulary sometimes but they learned it all by me, they wanted to make a change in their behaviour and start to recycle more. I learned that I love to teach kids and let them learn. Kinda like a tour guide guiding them. I really hope that in the future we could do more of these projects to teach kids and have fun!" -Olivia Z

• "I think that most of the students were quite interested in my topic, though there were a few quiet people who didn't raise their hands, or didn't talk that much. Most of the students seemed to care more about the animals that themselves (which is perfectly fine). I think that , for one, I learned how to teach a class and secondly I was able to inform the younger generation about what plastic pollution and microplastics are. I think that this info will be useful for them in many ways. Firstly for them to know how and what to recycle, and secondly how what any of us do has actions that can affect many people. I learned that you have to explain things simpler the younger you teach, because they don't 100% understand what you mean." -Lea C

• "The students were very surprised with the information we shared with them. The kids are going to try to decrease the amount of plastic usage used in their family. Something that went well was that the students were very engaged because we were asking them to turn and talk and raise their hands to answer questions. I was really surprised with the answers they gave us because some of them helped us learn too. I was surprised that the students actually liked the information we were sharing because I thought they would talk to their friends while we were talking, but that didn't happen. they were very well focused." -Diya C

• "It was a really good experience to teach in front of them because they all listened very well and had lots of good questions that I could help them out a bit, also we played a Kahoot which was 10x more fun for them." -Zack B

• "It was surprising how much they learned from my presentation, because I was scared that they would not understand what I was talking about." -Chloe E

• "To be honest, I actually thought that it was better than I thought it would. I actually think that I actually taught the kids something. At first, I was worried whether they knew all of my information and that I would just bore them by telling them facts that are already within their knowledge. However, I did manage to surprise them with some facts that they didn't know about. That made the whole experience new to me, seeing how they reacted to some of the info that I gave out." -Connor L

• "Something that I learned from my experience is that teaching is HARD!" -Vivaan

• "Something that surprised me about my teaching experience was that it was pretty hard coming up with a lesson plan in such a way that the students wouldn't get bored so quickly. That surprised me because it was a lot of work! Some actions the 5th graders are going to take is that they will be telling their parents the solutions they came up with on the carpet. It was their exit ticket, so they will feel motivated to share their learning with their parents. Maybe the parents will agree to some of the solutions/changes the students came up with! Something I learned during this experience is that although it takes a lot of work to plan these lessons, it ends up being super fun when the class is engaged. I would do it again if I could!" -Ananya R

• "During my presentation to the 5th graders, I was pretty nervous in the beginning, but after a few minutes I started to get more comfortable with the class and I spoke naturally with fluency. At the beginning of my presentation, I asked the kids what they already knew about my sustainability topic. To my surprise, multiple hands were raised. I made sure to call on every single one of them. While I was speaking, I noticed that the kids were paying attention and actually listening to what I was saying. At the end of my presentation, I handed a sheet with a few questions about what they learned and what I could improve on. They responded by writing things like, ”I like how you projected your voice”, ”I learned fun facts about your topic”, and ”I liked your slideshow” which made me feel really good. I also got feedback like this, ”You could speak more slowly” and ”you should add a video”. These pieces of feedback will help me improve my teaching skills for the future. After presenting, I learned how fun it is to teach other people about a topic I feel passionately about. I hope they remember what I taught them. " -Isabel V

• "I was surprised to find that the students were very attentive and ready to learn. I also thought that the students learned that palm oil is harmful, and is affecting our environment. In the end, I think that they learned that having a sustainable palm oil industry would be important and necessary for our life. I also really enjoyed playing a Kahoot game with them." -Senur