Agriculture Animals 101

Today our science lesson focused all about farm animals.  I regaled my students with tales of how I got my first cow, what we feed our animals, how we do chores, how we keep our animals safe and comfortable, and ways to be safe around them.  I debated whether I should show them a video of a pig giving birth (I found a pretty good one on YouTube).  I forgot to ask Mrs. J if it was okay to show it to them, so I put it in the hands of the students.  They all put their heads down and their hands up if they weren't comfortable seeing a pig giving birth.  No one's hand went up.  So I showed the video. 

I'm glad I did because that was what half the class said was the most interesting/the coolest thing they learned today.

Here are the highlights of their comments:

"Giving birth to a baby pig because pigs are important."
"My favorite part is when the peacock chases the chickens."
"Coolest- How you feed the animals because I think it's really cool how you feed them."

The most important thing they learned (according to their post-it notes) is "where you should be with animals for safety."  Another student remarked, "I thought the safety would have to be the most important because I always grabbed them the wrong way."

One student decided to use his post-it to petition for a seating change in addition to listing the most interesting part.  This morning, some of the boys used their "Dolphin Dollars" to purchase a one day seating change.  A bunch of them did it at the same time so they could sit by each other in a pod.  I was envisioning utter chaos, but they were surprisingly well-behaved most of the day.  Two of the three boys begged me to let them stay there for the rest of the year.  I thought about it for about two seconds, but I've been struggling in keeping the classroom managed, so I told them no (I have trouble enforcing my expectations... but I'm working on it).  I do need to make some seating adjustments because some students are complaining they can't see around someone's head.  Why didn't they bring it up to Mrs. J at the beginning of the year?  Did the student suddenly get a big head or what?  I suppose I seem like a pushover who will agree to whatever demands they make.  Ha! They'll soon see how stubborn I can be... just let them try it.