The Past Week

This week the 3^rd graders went through some smaller science projects and how they were going to present them to one another in the classroom. The students had to figure out who was going to present what material. I walked around and listened to the groups as they discussed what they were going to do. My CT said he was giving them total freedom in their presentations and allowing them to do pretty much whatever they thought was necessary in order to present their material. It was interesting to listen to the students in their groups because many of the students did not want to be the ones to present their project. My CT did not have much time with them today, so that is really all the students were able to do. I was able to help a few groups in figuring out how to organize their presentation, kind of the same way that I helped them organize their science projects and posters earlier in the semester. One of the girls practiced her presentation for me, and she seemed to really know what she was talking about. However, she was one of the smarter students in the class, so I am interested in seeing how well the other students do with this assignment because much of the time many students are off-task. They have a difficult time keeping their focus during these types of activities, which is why the science experiment itself was good for them. They were actively involved in the experiment, which kept their focus, but now that they have to present it they seem to be a little more off-task.