Kolb ECED 429

Contextual Factors

1) Classroom Factors
A. Physical Features: When I first walked in Mrs. Rogers classroom, I loved her monkey themed room. It was perfect for both genders. When you walk in, on the right side of the classroom are the shelves and hooks for the students book bags. Right next to the hooks and shelves is the bathroom, which has the rules for bathroom use. In front of the bathroom are two of the tables where the average students sit. To the left of the bathroom are two other tables where the low and high students sit every day. In the back of the classroom are five computers which are for student and teacher use. Above the computers are shelves filled with books ranging from genres to reading levels. On the left of the computers is her storage closets and her kidney shaped table with stools for Reading and Math Workshops. Next to her table is cubbies for her supplies that are labeled. She also has an area next to the cubbies where she has many books in baskets for the students to read. She has baskets of books for the students to read during their own time that they can pick out. She also keeps under the table in that area the different reading level series books for each of the tables. Right next to the area of books is where her laptop is hooked up to the Smart Board in front of the classroom. Next to the shelf where her laptop is on, she has a small whiteboard with another flipchart and they were focusing on finding repetitions and character traits in series books. In the middle of the floor is a rainbow-colored square rug for where each student is assigned a square to sit in. Also in the front of the Smart Board is where she keeps a rocking chair with a green squared seat for lessons using the flipchart. Next to the Smart Board are rainbow containers where the students keep their folders for each subject in. The last place that is by the door is her file cabinets where she keeps many pictures of her daughters and her husband on top of it. Mrs. Rogers keeps many writings that she has done on big poster stick paper on the walls such as Reading Workshop and The Elements of Writing. The posters tell me that she focuses on reading and writing for her students. B. Availability of Technology:

Kolb ECED 429

Students are allowed access to four of the five computers in the back of the classroom. The fifth computer is for the teacher and for any other clinical teacher or student teacher to use. She has a printer to use for papers she needs to print out but she uses the copier in the workroom to make copies for students. She has use of the Smart Board for the majority of her lessons. Her laptop is hooked up to the Smart Board and she pulls up songs and dances for the students to do before instructional time. The computers are used for students during math workshop for students who are visual learners in the classroom. She utilizes more of the Smart Board than the computers in the back of the classroom because she will pull up scans of the students pages of their workbooks on the screen. She will even have the students come up to the Smart Board to write the problem and answer to a math problem or have them drag a word to the sound of Hard G or Soft G. These two things are the only implications of technology that I know of that she uses in the classroom. C. Equipment/Resources The students have cubbies, which hold their math workbooks and other resources for them to use during class. The students have their bag books in each of their desks, which consist of 7-8 books per bag. Mrs. Rogers also has books all over the room and in baskets for students to have access to read. The baskets of books in the reading corner are organized according to their reading level so the students know which books they can read. She establishes time for her students to become independent readers and work hard to go up in their reading level. On each of the tables, students have their own color of bins, which have pencils, pens, scissors, glue, and small manila folders for tests or quizzes to prevent cheating. Students are grouped together by reading level and each table has their own basket of books for Partner and Share time after independent reading. The basket of books are based on the students reading level. The books range from the Magic Tree House Series, A to Z Animal Mysteries, and Clifford. The students use My Math for their math lessons and for homework as well. What is great about My Math is that the students are given workbooks rather than textbooks and it even gives students who need the extra help by giving more mini lessons. The students are given many books for both personal use

Kolb ECED 429

and the classroom. The students have notebooks for each subject and they have different colored folders in the front of the room, which are Assessment folders, and Writing Portfolios. D. Parental Involvement: The classroom is consisted of twenty-five students, who are all different emotionally, physically, socially, and mentally. My cooperating teacher informed me that parent involvement is half-and-half in the classroom. She will have some parents come in on parent conferences and there are parents who do not come in at all for conferences. She said that there is a language barrier for her Hispanic children because the parents cannot speak English or know very little of it. She said they do try to be involved with the childrens education but it is very hard because of that barrier. My teacher pointed out that some of the parents do not sign important documents that the students need to bring back to school. It is heartbreaking to hear that some of the parents are not getting involved with their childs education. E. Classroom Rules and Routines: Mrs. Rogers expects her students to follow the rules they made together as a class. The rules are written on a big flip chart paper which has the following: 1) Always be respectful, 2) Use the right voice, 3) Use your hands to help others, 4) Use kind words, 5) Try your best, 6) Always have a positive attitude, and 7) SMILE!. She also has rules for the bus and carpet time, which are criss cross applesauce, eyes, and ears on the teacher, lips zipped, raise a quiet hand, and use your talking voice for group work. Mrs. Rogers also has come up with a The 3 Step Plan for students who are bothering other students. I have not seen it in the classroom yet, but the students have to follow the procedure. The first rule is to say Please Stop! The second rule to say Please Stop or I will tell the teacher! In addition, the third rule is to put your hand and say I have an emergency. Of course, to every rule, there are consequences and which are not posted in her classroom anywhere. The consequences I have seen implicated in the classroom is a warning but according to her long range planning, the consequences are warning; time out and silent lunch; time out, silent lunch, and note home.

Kolb ECED 429

The routines in the classroom are the same every day except the past times when I was there for the snow day and the delay. The students are waiting in the hallway and they are to come in the classroom to hang up book bags and to place their homework folders in the homework box. The students are supposed to have two pencils already sharpened but if the pencils break, then they have extra pencils on their tables. Students come in every morning where they have breakfast and then the news show comes on. The students start on morning work and they give their folders to Mrs. Rogers. The routine for the hallway is that they sing the song of how they go into the hallway. When they make a choice for lunch, she has their names on cards and pictures of the lunches they serve on a chart and the students put their name on choice one or two. However, she does write down their choice as well for the cafeteria. When they leave for lunch, they line up by according to lunch choice. The students have to eat for the first ten minutes or so before they can talk to each other. After they have completed assignments, they choose from reading a book from the bag books or a book from one of the baskets. Sometimes she will let them finish any incomplete work as well. She tries to keep them as busy as possible so they can be ready for third grade. F. Grouping Patterns As mentioned before, students are being grouped by academic reading level and most of the time they are about eight students to the middle level tables, four to the low-level table, and six to the highlevel table. The students have an assigned square when they come to the carpet and they sit next to their partner for turn and talk time from a read aloud or the greeting song for the morning. As part of Mrs. Rogers grouping patterns, she has certain remediation level groups that she works with during times of each day. These groups are for Reading and Math Workshops. They are grouped at her kidney shaped table in backside of the room. G. Scheduling: Mrs. Rogers Daily Schedule

Kolb ECED 429

7:35-8:05: Unpack; Sharpen Pencils, Check Homework Folders, Attendance, Lunch Count, Breakfast, WMER, and Morning Work 8:05-9:05: Math Workshop 9:05-9:55: Science / Social Studies 10:00-10:50: Related Arts 10:50-11:20: Lunch 11:20-11:45: Recess 11:45-12:00: Flocabulary 12:00-12:25: Word Study 12:25-1:35: Reading Workshop 1:35-2:25: Writing Workshop (Tuesday-Brain Boosters) 2:25-2:35: Pack Up / Review H. Classroom Arrangement: The classroom has been arranged in a way that is accessible to the students. The students are able to go to their cubbies and get their workbooks and any other supplies that are needed for the lessons. The desks are arranged in tables for students to collaborate and discuss during Partner- and- Share time after independent reading. Her kidney shaped table for her remediation workshops is in the back of the room because she can work with those students away from any other distractions. The computers are accessible to the students who use it for educational purposes because they are in an area that is away from other distractions. The students have accessible way to get their reading level books so they can pick out the books that are best for them. Her teaching supplies are located in other shelving so she has easy access to them during her reading and math workshops. She keeps the posters and ideas about reading in the front of the room so the students can always look back on them and they see that the rules and concepts are always practiced through any lesson.

2) Student Characteristics and Demographics

Kolb ECED 429 Mrs. Rogers 2nd Grade Class Merrywood Elementary Spring 2014

Description Number of Children AGE

Female 12

Male 13 5 6 2 6 4 1 1 1 1 2 (one of the boys with autism) 2 (one of the boys in Speech) 6 8 0 11 1(He speaks English and Spanish) 1(Fluent in Chinese and English) 1

Total Number of Students 25 11 12 2 12 8 1 1 3 1 2

Seven Years Old Eight Years Old Nine Years Old

6 6 0 6 4 0 0 2 0 0

RACE/Ethnicity

Caucasian African American Chinese Pacific Islander Hispanic

SPECIAL NEEDS/IEP

Autism/Occupational Therapy Speech

Resource Learning Styles Visual Kinesthetic Auditory English Spanish

0 5 6 0 10 2 (Both speak Spanish and English) 0

2 11 14 0 21 3

Language

Chinese

Culture

Originally from China

Kolb ECED 429 SkillsReading High 0 2 (One is recommended for Gifted/Talented) 8 3 (One of the students is a repeater) 2 9 (One of the students is a repeater) 2 2

Medium Low

9 3

17 6

SkillsMath

High Medium

0 9

2 18

Low
b) Achievement/Developmental Levels:

The students in the classroom are all different achievement and developmental levels. With the reading levels, and only two students who are above level; however, one of the students has a recommendation to be part of the Gifted/Talented class for next year. Seventeen students are on level but they are given books to read that go with their MAP test score. Six students that are below level and one of the students is a repeater. The low-level students are given extra reading strategies during RTI at the end of the day while the other students do shared or guided reading time. The students with the highest math skills are the ones that have the highest reading level skills. Eighteen students are medium and the repeater for the lowest reading level does really well in math. Five students have the lowest math skills in the class and these students go to Math Workshop at least twice or three times a week for extra help. Developmental levels go with the ages and maturity of the students. Our low-level repeaters developmental level is different because for personal things like using the bathroom and snapping his pants back into place. According to my cooperating teacher, he has no self-help for himself. The student who has autism is a very bright and smart child; however, his behavior and social development affect him in the classroom with emotional outbursts at inappropriate times. He has not registered that he needs to control his outbursts but sometimes it has to do with his schedule being changed.

Kolb ECED 429 3) Implication Instructions

A) For my implication of instruction, every characteristic of the classroom and my students will influence the way I teach my five lessons. The classroom is organized in a way that is appropriate for the students and opportunity to learn. It is evident that the way the classroom is set up that the students find many ways to learn through the methods that she places. Since my cooperating teacher does many lessons based on independent reading, read aloud, and partner and share time, it is important that I include these elements of instruction in my lessons regardless of the subject. It is important I establish partner or group collaboration when it comes to my lessons so the students can share opinions and ideas with each other. Regarding the different levels of all the students, it is important that each of my lessons have special accommodations like extra time on an assignment or help from a peer. If I were going to do reading groups of different books like a literature circle, I would have the students of the low reading level mixed in with students that are middle or high reading level. If that were the case, students would have a responsibility to the group by doing a job so it is not all one person doing it. For my students who have IEPs, RTI, and other skills that need to be worked on, I would need to make sure my lessons include accommodations and methods of instruction that work for each person and those they are getting that extra help. B) Regarding the management of the classroom and what the students are expected to do, I will put that same implication in when teaching my lessons. It does not matter who the teacher is, the rules and expectations are the same. I still want my students to strive to do their best but I expect them to follow the rules and routines that they have been implementing since the beginning of the year. I will strive to learn the rules and routines from the classroom, and since being there for a short time, that would be my top goal for the classroom. I would like to continue to know the students as well as how they learn in different ways. It is better for me as future educator to teach them different methods to understand a concept and expand on that concept.

Kolb ECED 429

The students who are Hispanic, two of them are on level but I am hoping to expand their knowledge and challenge them on what they already know. The other Hispanic child who is below level must have more time on assignments so I will make my accommodations for him that he gets extra time or help. My students learn better through kinesthetic and visual learning methods; therefore, my lessons will be visual and hands on. The students are all on different developmental and academic levels; therefore, my lessons will strive to meet each need and connection. Since there is more, a variety of diverse cultures in the classroom, my lessons will strive to connect to each student in their own personal way and so they can make those extensions to think critically. For my Pacific Islander, and Chinese students, I will incorporate their cultures in my lessons to expand their connections. As for my student with autism, I have to make sure my lessons include he is getting the same time of instruction that he always gets because I know he has to follow the same schedule every day. It is important that my lessons include partner and group work for student collaboration.