Feaps Critical Task

I.
Philosophy of Management
When I think about what my philosophy of management is, I am reminded of blog 8 where I am
discussing Assertive Discipline. I never thought of myself as someone who would be so strict with rules
and my follow through, but I think I have started to lean this way. My CT is very explicit in her rules and
she is constantly reminding the student, We have procedures for that, you need to follow them. I have
found myself liking this since there is a specific order to the classroom and the students know what is
expected of them and there is a strict follow through. To me, this means that the students are thought of as
capable and they have the ability to be responsible for their actions. I think this is a good thing for the
students. The rules are also not vague, they are specific and this helps the students, and myself, know
what needs to be done and when.
While I always thought I would be more of a Cooperative Discipline type of a person, working
alongside the students, I feel that, in the end, I am very Assertive. I kind of feel that I am this way due to
be being so new to teaching. I want to have order and specific rules for my management so that I do not
have to worry about this as much and I can focus on creating great first year lesson. I do see myself
playing with the other theories later on though. I do not believe that there is just one way to be, especially
since the classes I end up with could call for a completely different approach that will work better. At this
point, I am honestly assuming what I will feel like and I am open to changing my mindset and working
with what comes my way.
http://jessicarutkowski.weebly.com/internship-iii-create-and-differ/blog-8
Assertive Teaching:
(Canter, 1984) This concept is that the student should be listening to the teacher since there are rules that
are to be followed at all times. The rules and consequences are explicit and need to follow through
consistently. This is a concept that can be seen pretty regularly in classroom as a well-known model for
the past classroom management idea.
This model reminds me of my CT. She has been teaching for many years and I can see that her structure is
a focused on point ruling system. She tends to be saying things like, "We have a procedure for that, and
you need to follow it." This means that the children are being reminded of the specific rules and
procedures that were taught right from the start and they know the consequences for not following them.
She is not AS strict as assertive teaching sounds, but it is close. I am finding myself starting to lean
towards this concept as I am following my CT's example.
Canter, L., & Canter, M. (1984). Assertive discipline. Santa Monica, Calif.: Canter and Associates.
Cooperative Discipline.
(Albert, 1996) This concept is part of cooperative learning where the students and teacher are working
together in order to follow the rules and manage behaviors. Just as in earlier readings of Levin and Nolan,
the idea is to create the classroom rules and consequences together in order for the students and the
teachers to cooperate and build the classroom system together. Students could be misbehaving for four
different reasons (as discussed in the chapter), they are attention-seeking, power-seeking, revengeseeking, and avoidance of failure. The three c's of discipline (capability, connecting, and contributing),
these will help with those student discipline needs. Further on, the chapter talks about the code of conduct
and how it is enforced and this also is a big part of disciplining those students.
This reminds me of one student who has issues focusing and cooperating. We have found that he can be
praised for doing well when he finally pays attention, but then will go completely the opposite after that.
Almost as if the positive reinforcement caused him to stop doing what we praised. Some of these ideas
could possibly help, especially if the 4 reasons for misbehaving are considered, along with the 3 c's.
Albert, L., & DeSisto, P. (1996). Cooperative discipline. Circle Pines, Minn.: American Guidance Service
Kohn- Beyond Principle:
(Kohn, 2006) In this chapter, to start with, there is the central focus. The central focus is going with the
same concept as other concepts we have read about, which is a supporting caring classroom, but the
students participate problem solving of class problems. This also includes classroom behaviors. This is
going against discipline that is doing things TO students, rather they the students are involved as a partner
in the process. Kohn believes that nothing good come from rewards and punishments and it is actually
counterproductive. Teachers should really be focusing on forming a sense of community in the classroom
instead. Kohn believes that instruction should be based on the constructivist theory. This theory says that
students should receive knowledge from experience over directly from the teacher. Further on, the reading
lists Kohn's principles. These principles basically cover the central focus that was previously discussed.
The students should be taken seriously. Thinking in this manner will set up the classroom to have a
partnership community based on Kohn's Principles.
This is a little hard for me to connect to my internship. We use rewards a lot in the classroom and there
are definitely consequences for actions. We do push the kids to not relay on getting the reward, so they
build stamina and a want in themselves to do the work. This is a focus for my class since they are now in
4th grade and need to build this inner passion for doing what needs to be done, since they will soon be in
5th grade and then middle school where they are not rewarded for every little thing they need to do. I
hope to take this concept to my future classroom. I want to find the right balance of rewards and
consequences. I will be in a long journey to find what I feel works once I finally get my own class and
can see what works for me and those particular students.
Kohn, A. (2006). Beyond discipline from compliance to community (10th anniversary ed., 2nd ed.).
Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
II.
Learning Environment
The learning environment is a fairly close together, full room. The desks are arranged in groups of
4 to 5 and they are surrounding the large desk in the middle of the room that has the ELMO and a
computer. There is a large ocean animal covered carpet in the center of the room that is edging the wall
with the whiteboard/projector screen. This allows for students to come to the carpet to sit and be able to
project things next to them. This set up also allowed for the desks to fit in the room and be more spread
out. Along the walls there are bulletin boards and shelving for various things, including a classroom
library.
Here is a picture of the classroom at the beginning of the year before the carpet was centered and the
desks were more spread out. We have had a few changes in students in the classroom and the students
desks have all been changed around based on needs. The students names have all been blacked out as
well:
In Clayton and Forton (2001) this week, it discussed the classroom set up and how to set up a meeting
area. There were things to watch out for a meeting area, such as being sure it could accommodate
circular setting and the entrances and exits are all visible. For this and the room in general, having nice
space to move around is important. It needs to be safe from bumping into each other and feel open and
inviting. There were SO MANY great tips on ways to set up different areas and why they were important.
For example, carpets are a great way to separate different sections of the room to feel like they are an
area for its own purpose. In thinking about this reading, I am flashing back to my internship this
semester. I volunteered for pre-planning week. I really wanted that experience, I can put it in my resume,
and bond with my new CT. I got to be a part of choosing what could fit where and why, what the
billboards would look like, how the seating was set-up, among many other things. I have found that there
are many things still evolving as we go along, since student and lesson needs, have begun playing a part.
I want to see if there are some elements of this book that I can use to tweak the classroom even more. My
teacher is SO open to new ideas to help the room work smarter and not harder for us!
In Weinstein (2015) chapter 2, there is also a discussion about the classroom setting. The book describes
six basic functions of a classroom setting: security and shelter, social contact, symbolic identification,
task instrumentality, pleasure, and growth. For security and shelter, students and teachers need a
functional environment that is safe to walk-around, but also has a psychological security that is involves
having some softer things, such as rugs. As for the other basic functions, the general idea is to have a
classroom that helps the teachers teach the students in the most comfortable way that can have the
students feeling positive and are able to grow in. The chapter also describes quite a few classroom set up
examples and different issues with possible solution ideas. This seems like a great reference when
beginning a first classroom set up and for ideas when needing to tweak the room due to unforeseen
issues/circumstances. This connects to my internship in that I was, once again a part of this process in the
beginning of the year and previously mentioned. I am ALWAYS thinking of ways to improve the room and
this book will be a great resource.
There are many needs for my learners. My learners include 26 boys and girls, with only 9 of them
being girls. There are three ELLs, but I would consider all, but one, mostly proficient in English. This
particular ELL has many ESE issues as well and he is all around learning at a first grade level. There are
two students who have OCD, one who is considered having an EPD, and several students who have
ADHD, among a few other things. This class has some of the most ESE students in the whole school.
Daily there are issues with new medications not reacting well for the students so they are hyperactive,
unfocused, and/or sleeping all day. There is also a student who has a potentially undiagnosed sleep
disorder that we have been trying hard to get addressed. With all of these in mind, we are able to try our
best to educate these students with the help of a co-teaching environment that is inclusive. These students
need to have support from their peers, the teacher, linguistics instructor, ESOL instructor, and myself.
These students need movement and consistency in order to help them stay focused and on track.
The learning environment accommodates for all of the students since it an inclusive classroom.
The desks are arranged in ways that the groupings support each other and one student in a wheelchair can
freely move around and participate like anyone else. These desks have been moved around a few times as
observations have shown that different students needed to move away from others or they needed to be in
a different spot in the room in general. Certain students are seated near the teacher at the front of the room
to ensure they are paying attention or they can see the board. Another student has technology provided to
him so he can type up notes and then print them on his own. The particularly low ESOL student can be set
up at the computer to have the Journeys book read to him, as well. The whole class is set up so that the
teachers in the room can easily walk around and observe or assist as needed.
Here are a few blogs that discuss my classroom community:
Rothstein-Fisch & Trumball (2008) Ch. 4: This chapter is about the idea of helping and sharing.
Originally there was the idea that the teacher was the one who should be answering questions and helping
students. However, it was discovered that having students help each other can be very beneficial. This can
give the students more of a collectivism atmosphere and maybe the students can help in ways that the
teacher cannot. They can speak to each other in terms that maybe the teacher cannot. This eventually can
be turned into ways students can help that are sort of jobs in the classroom. Some examples of this are
classroom monitors and learning buddies. These are the idea of helping and turning it into a more
structured situation. Further in the chapter, the concept of sharing is addressed. Students want to share
with each other and the teacher. This can be seen as a positive thing and can also be turned into more a
structured situation in the classroom.
I do not see much helping each other regularly in my internship. The CT definitely runs a class
that is very organized with strict rules of no talking unless its a group discussion and things like this. She
wants no talking during independent work and students must raise hands. I wonder if this concept can be
changed a little to incorporate more students helping each other. As for sharing, my CT gets little gifts
such as drawings and highlighters. Stories of things that have happened or are going to happen and are
exciting to the students are also shared with my CT and me.
Weinstein (2015) Chapter 5: This chapter is about establishing expectations for behavior in order
to have effective classroom management. You have to set up the norms for conducting yourselves in the
classroom that are set up right from the start. These rules should be considered reasonable and necessary,
along with 3 other guidelines outlined in the book in order to plan good classroom rules. This chapter
goes on to explain that there are other types or routines that also need rules designed for them, such as:
class-running routines, lesson-running routines, and interaction routines. To sum it all up, there are two
important functions of classroom expectations: 1. to provide a structure and predictability that help
children feel safe and secure and 2. To reduce the complexity of classroom life, allowing you and your
students to concentrate on teaching and learning.
My classroom has many rules and expectations (norms) of the students. For example, the students
must raise their hand in order to get up and do things and they must turn in certain things at certain times
in certain places. Another example is that there is a little bell that is rung, and when it does the students
must become silent. It really helps when there is a ton of loud talking and you need to get it to calm down
or you need immediate attention. The students become silent super quickly! If they fail to do so, they are
reminded by being ask, "We have procedures for this, what is the procedure for what you are wanting to
do? (What procedure are you not doing?)" The students are set up right from day one to learn how to act
in different situations all day.
Levin and Nolan (2014):
This chapter was talking about types of authority in the classroom and what they look like. It
examines also how the students react to those approaches. The four types of authorities include: referent,
expert, legitimate, and reward and coercive. Referent is when a student reacts with positive behavior
because they feel that the teacher is truly genuine and actually cares about them. Expert is when students
know the teacher has the knowledge of the content and how to actually teach them, so they react as they
are expect to. Legitimate is when the students do what they are told because the teacher said so and they
understand that the teacher has the authority. Lastly, reward and coercive is that the student does
something good so they get a reward, but when they do something bad, there is a consequence, but the
teacher has to be sure to consistent.
In my internship I can see a mixture of these different approaches. I can see that the students
think of my CT as having a lot of knowledge of the content and that she really cares so they will ask her
questions and assume that she must know everything. They also write her many love notes saying how
much they care about her in return. There is also a reward system in place so that the students can earn
individually things, but also as a class. It is a great community reward and coercive situation since they
must earn or lose starts together, but need a certain amount in order to reach the goal of being able to earn
the pulling of tickets so that individuals get rewards. The more individual tickets you earn, more likely
your name is pulled when the whole class earns all the stars. Lastly, I do see my teacher trying to really
focus on the students following the procedures, since it is a big issues lately, so she will pull out the "do it
because I say that you need to" at times. I feel that a mixture of these is best in order to make your
teaching strategies very well rounded.
Rothstein Fisch and Trumbull (2008):
This chapter is about how Bridging Culture teachers have used their understanding of the
students' strengths and values in order to choose strategies that can create a smooth sailing classroom that
flows harmoniously. The chapter goes on to explain different strategies, such as redirection and transition
activities, that can be used. They also talk about nonresponse and direct discipline as a way to help fix
behavior issues. Further on, the chapter switches up the conversation to classroom rules. These rules
should be posted in a prominent spot and they are ones that the students were involved in framing.
In my classroom I see my teacher using these strategies outlined in the chapter. I especially see
the concepts of nonresponse, redirecting, and direct discipline. We are having an issue of getting the
students to focus on what we need them to during lessons so we have to redirect them back to the work.
We are trying different ways to do so, such as calling the student's name or tapping their desk as we walk
by. We are also directly disciplining through saying exactly what we need them to do or not to do. We also
have a few students who try to get attention through overreacting or pouting and we are using
nonresponse as a way to get them out of that.
Assertive Teaching:
(Canter, 1984) This concept is that the student should be listening to the teacher since there are
rules that are to be followed at all times. The rules and consequences are explicit and need to follow
through consistently. This is a concept that can be seen pretty regularly in classroom as a well-known
model for the past classroom management idea.
This model reminds me of my CT. She has been teaching for many years and I can see that her
structure is a focused on point ruling system. She tends to be saying things like, "We have a procedure for
that, and you need to follow it." This means that the children are being reminded of the specific rules and
procedures that were taught right from the start and they know the consequences for not following them.
She is not AS strict as assertive teaching sounds, but it is close. I am finding myself starting to lean
towards this concept as I am following my CT's example.
Canter, L., & Canter, M. (1984). Assertive discipline. Santa Monica, Calif.: Canter and
Associates.
(Albert, 1996) This concept is part of cooperative learning where the students and teacher are
working together in order to follow the rules and manage behaviors. Just as in earlier readings of Levin
and Nolan, the idea is to create the classroom rules and consequences together in order for the students
and the teachers to cooperate and build the classroom system together. Students could be misbehaving for
four different reasons (as discussed in the chapter), they are attention-seeking, power-seeking, revengeseeking, and avoidance of failure. The three c's of discipline (capability, connecting, and contributing),
This reminds me of one student who has issues focusing and cooperating. We have found that he
can be praised for doing well when he finally pays attention, but then will go completely the opposite
after that. Almost as if the positive reinforcement caused him to stop doing what we praised. Some of
these ideas could possibly help, especially if the 4 reasons for misbehaving are considered, along with the
3 c's.
Albert, L., & DeSisto, P. (1996). Cooperative discipline. Circle Pines, Minn.: American Guidance
Service.
(Kohn, 2006) In this chapter, to start with, there is the central focus. The central focus is going
with the same concept as other concepts we have read about, which is a supporting caring classroom, but
the students participate problem solving of class problems. This also includes classroom behaviors. This
is going against discipline that is doing things TO students, rather they the students are involved as a
partner in the process. Kohn believes that nothing good come from rewards and punishments and it is
actually counterproductive. Teachers should really be focusing on forming a sense of community in the
classroom instead. Kohn believes that instruction should be based on the constructivist theory. This theory
says that students should receive knowledge from experience over directly from the teacher. Further on,
the reading lists Kohn's principles. These principles basically cover the central focus that was previously
discussed. The students should be taken seriously. Thinking in this manner will set up the classroom to
have a partnership community based on Kohn's Principles.
This is a little hard for me to connect to my internship. We use rewards a lot in the classroom and
there are definitely consequences for actions. We do push the kids to not relay on getting the reward, so
they build stamina and a want in themselves to do the work. This is a focus for my class since they are
now in 4th grade and need to build this inner passion for doing what needs to be done, since they will
soon be in 5th grade and then middle school where they are not rewarded for every little thing they need
to do.
Kohn, A. (2006). Beyond discipline from compliance to community (10th anniversary ed., 2nd
ed.). Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
FEAP 2
A) Organizes, allocates and manages the resources of time,

space, and attention.
Over the semester I have been leading a few different transition times. There was one day in the
first week of the internship that I had to help out another 4 th grade class all on my own, with a co-teacher
in the connected room with the boys. I had to basically lead all of the lessons and transitions between
these lessons. I had always been really nervous about being a teacher all on my own, but this experience
helped me feel very confident. A part of this is the fact that the girls were very talkative and did not
transition well. I had to keep trying to get their attention over and over again. One of the girls said that
they usually did a clapping pattern that the students had to copy after I did them. I used this to get the
class attention and I was able to get them to focus to get out the books and other things for the next
lesson. It just seemed that after every time I turned my back for a second to prepare for the next lesson
they were back to chatting loudly. This idea helped a lot and I have used it in my actual internship, too.
Another transition time was in the beginning of November when we were going into RTI time
and I needed to get my own group together. All of the students were told it was time and I had to tell 5
individual students that they needed to hurry and come. They were trying to do different things at their
desks, but I needed them at the carpet. One student was late by 10 minutes because she took longer than
she should have doing her morning job checking the planners. Because of this whole ordeal, I have been
strict on the students needing to have their RTI book and notebook on their desk before I go to the carpet
so that when I am actually going to the carpet I am not calling for them from there. With the one student
taking forever with her morning job, my CT and I have discussed that this is becoming a common
occurrence and has been talked to and now a new student will be given this job so that she is ready for the
RTI time from now on.
The readings that connect to this FEAP include:
Rothstein-Fisch & Trumball (2008) Ch. 4: This chapter is about the idea of helping and sharing.
Originally there was the idea that the teacher was the one who should be answering questions
and helping students. However, it was discovered that having students help each other can be
very beneficial. This can give the students more of a collectivism atmosphere and maybe the
students can help in ways that the teacher cannot. They can speak to each other in terms that
maybe the teacher cannot. This eventually can be turned into ways students can help that are sort
of jobs in the classroom. Some examples of this are classroom monitors and learning buddies.
These are the idea of helping and turning it into a more structured situation. Further in the
chapter, the concept of sharing is addressed. Students want to share with each other and the
teacher. This can be seen as a positive thing and can also be turned into more a structured
situation in the classroom.
I do not see much helping each other regularly in my internship. The CT definitely runs a class
that is very organized with strict rules of no talking unless its a group discussion and things like
this. She wants no talking during independent work and students must raise hands. I wonder if
this concept can be changed a little to incorporate more students helping each other. As for
sharing, my CT gets little gifts such as drawings and highlighters. Stories of things that have
happened or are going to happen and are exciting to the students are also shared with my CT and
me.
Weinstein (2015) Chapter 5: This chapter is about establishing expectations for behavior in order
to have effective classroom management. You have to set up the norms for conducting
yourselves in the classroom that are set up right from the start. These rules should be considered
reasonable and necessary, along with 3 other guidelines outlined in the book in order to plan
good classroom rules. This chapter goes on to explain that there are other types or routines that
also need rules designed for them, such as: class-running routines, lesson-running routines, and
interaction routines. To sum it all up, there are two important functions of classroom
expectations: 1. to provide a structure and predictability that help children feel safe and secure
and 2. To reduce the complexity of classroom life, allowing you and your students to concentrate
on teaching and learning.
My classroom has many rules and expectations (norms) of the students. For example, the
students must raise their hand in order to get up and do things and they must turn in certain
things at certain times in certain places. Another example is that there is a little bell that is rung,
and when it does the students must become silent. It really helps when there is a ton of loud
talking and you need to get it to calm down or you need immediate attention. The students
become silent super quickly! If they fail to do so, they are reminded by being ask, "We have
procedures for this, what is the procedure for what you are wanting to do? (What procedure are
you not doing?)" The students are set up right from day one to learn how to act in different
situations all day.
Clayton and Forton (2001) (chap 1-2) talks about the classroom environment. It mentions that it is
important for teachers to create "warm, orderly, and engaging environments that serves the needs of all
their students". Classrooms were not necessarily created with little children in mind, but of large adults.
This can be overwhelming and uncomfortable for children to be in day in and day out. Teachers should be
creating an environment that lets the children feel that the room is theirs and they fit. Basically, three big
ideas that classrooms should include are: Fitting the ranges of physical sizes, Accommodating special
needs, and supporting developmental needs.
This reading reminds me of the struggle my CT and I went through to figure out how to make sure there
was enough room for all the desks AND for the student in the wheelchair to move around. We had to
move desks and chairs at odd angles to be sure to let the student have access to places in the room, such
as the carpet, but also so that students are not bumping into each other and can see the board. We now
believe we finally have a good solution, but much trial and error has occurred. We ultimately wanted to be
sure to create that previously mentioned environment for all of the students to be able to comfortably
learn.
Not only have I been a part of originally trying to set up the desks to accommodate the wheelchair at the
beginning of the year, but I have rearranged throughout the year as needed. Students have been seen
talking too much and not being able to focus, so they were moved away from that group. Other times
students were seen not able to focus due to a particular student at their table group that bothered them and
did not let learning happen. This student in particular, for this last situation is commented on in a
Supervisor lesson observation reflection. This student has been moved around the room many times due
to causing issues at each group and is about to need to have a desk island. He is having issues with
focusing, among many other serious issues that recently involved the assistant principle needing to talk to
his him. It has basically been a struggle to find what his needs are to support him.
This chapter was talking about types of authority in the classroom and what they look like. It examines
also how the students react to those approaches. The four types of authorities include: referent, expert,
legitimate, and reward and coercive. Referent is when a student reacts with positive behavior because
they feel that the teacher is truly genuine and actually cares about them. Expert is when students know the
teacher has the knowledge of the content and how to actually teach them, so they react as they are expect
to. Legitimate is when the students do what they are told because the teacher said so and they understand
that the teacher has the authority. Lastly, reward and coercive is that the student does something good so
they get a reward, but when they do something bad, there is a consequence, but the teacher has to be sure
to consistent.
In my internship I can see a mixture of these different approaches. I can see that the students think of my
CT as having a lot of knowledge of the content and that she really cares so they will ask her questions and
assume that she must know everything. They also write her many love notes saying how much they care
about her in return. There is also a reward system in place so that the students can earn individually
things, but also as a class. It is a great community reward and coercive situation since they must earn or
lose starts together, but need a certain amount in order to reach the goal of being able to earn the pulling
of tickets so that individuals get rewards. The more individual tickets you earn, more likely your name is
pulled when the whole class earns all the stars. Lastly, I do see my teacher trying to really focus on the
students following the procedures, since it is a big issues lately, so she will pull out the "do it because I
say that you need to" at times. I feel that a mixture of these is best in order to make your teaching
strategies very well rounded.
This chapter is about how Bridging Culture teachers have used their understanding of the students'
strengths and values in order to choose strategies that can create a smooth sailing classroom that flows
harmoniously. The chapter goes on to explain different strategies, such as redirection and transition
In my classroom I see my teacher using these strategies outlined in the chapter. I especially see the
concepts of nonresponse, redirecting, and direct discipline. We are having an issue of getting the students
to focus on what we need them to during lessons so we have to redirect them back to the work. We are
trying different ways to do so, such as calling the student's name or tapping their desk as we walk by. We
are also directly disciplining through saying exactly what we need them to do or not to do. We also have a
few students who try to get attention through overreacting or pouting and we are using nonresponse as a
way to get them out of that.
B) Manages individual and class behaviors through a wellplanned management system.

Some strategies that I have tried, as part of a well-planned management system, is some
nonverbal communication. I have had to work on this in order to work well co-teaching with my CT. One
day we had a conversation about not letting the students talk to me too much or ask too many questions
during my CTs instructional time and I began working on this right away. I started that day. When
students tried to raise their hands or were unfocused I would put my finger to my mouth and point at my
CT. This was to signal to the student that they needed to be quiet and focus on the lesson and what their
teacher was saying. This began working quickly at getting the student to stop trying to ask so many
questions when they should be focusing on the lesson.
Another management system is for the dismissal time. I have tried dismissal a few times and it
was very interesting. I tried to get the whole class to quiet down first before letting table groups line up. It
took forever to get the whole class to stop and pay attention to what I wanted and we were running late
for dismissal. This means, that for the next time, I chose to mix things up. I used the act of lining up as a
reward for those that looked and sounded ready. When I began calling groups that earned this, other
groups that normally were very loud and uncooperative began to notice that others were being called and
they could not go up. This worked out well to get the attention quicker than usual of the students that
typically had behavior issues with not listening and talking too much.
I have tried a few attention getting strategies over this semester. I began with trying to get the
students attention with the set-up procedure that the students should become silent when they hear a bell
ring or when the teacher has their hand in the air and/or says Give me five. I have more so used the bell
since it is the most effective at getting the students to become quickly quiet. Many times during lesson,
especially during my observed lessons, I have used the bell to get everyone to stop talking and turn their
eyes on me. It is so well ingrained into the students minds that the teacher in the connected classroom
once rung her bell and my classroom became silent during a turn-and-talk moment. I had to tell them that
they did well with what they heard, but it was for the class next to us.
I have since used a couple new strategies. I have tried saying, One, two, three, eyes on me. And
the clapping pattern that I started using in the classroom that I helped out for a day on my own. (Refer to
FEAP 2A.) These work in a way, since the students know how to react when these things happen,
however, the students are having a hard time sticking to the reaction. They will become quiet for a
moment and then act like it never happened a minute later. This has caused a serious conversation with
my CT about what we should try next. We have begun taking stars away that the class earned as a
group. The students are supposed to earn 10 hand drawn stars so they can get tickets drawn that they
individually earned. The class earns these stars as they transition properly, walk through the halls
properly, among many other things. We have begun taking earned stars away since the whole class does
not want to pay attention anymore. The students have begun realizing they should be accountable for
themselves and give advice to their peers too.
I also have a reflection from my supervisor observation 1:
The next thing I noticed in my video was how I am able to get the class back together
after having a turn and talk discussion. I feel more comfortable taking the control back and I can
see it working really well. The children are able to know that they are about to have to stop their
talking and pay attention due to my counting down from 5. This is actually a tactic I learned from
being a part of the crew (rowing) team in high school, since the rowers needed to know when to
stop rowing at the end of a race. Counting down allows for the students to know the end goal of
time, rather than counting up, and there is more control. It was wonderful to see how well it
worked for the students to go from fairly animated discussions to complete silence.

(Kohn, 2006) In this chapter, to start with, there is the central focus. The central focus is going
with the same concept as other concepts we have read about, which is a supporting caring
classroom, but the students participate problem solving of class problems. This also includes
classroom behaviors. This is going against discipline that is doing things TO students, rather they
the students are involved as a partner in the process. Kohn believes that nothing good come from
rewards and punishments and it is actually counterproductive. Teachers should really be focusing
on forming a sense of community in the classroom instead. Kohn believes that instruction should
be based on the constructivist theory. This theory says that students should receive knowledge
from experience over directly from the teacher. Further on, the reading lists Kohn's principles.
These principles basically cover the central focus that was previously discussed. The students
should be taken seriously. Thinking in this manner will set up the classroom to have a partnership
community based on Kohn's Principles.
This is a little hard for me to connect to my internship. We use rewards a lot in the classroom and
there are definitely consequences for actions. We do push the kids to not relay on getting the
reward, so they build stamina and a want in themselves to do the work. This is a focus for my
class since they are now in 4th grade and need to build this inner passion for doing what needs to
be done, since they will soon be in 5th grade and then middle school where they are not
rewarded for every little thing they need to do.
Kohn, A. (2006). Beyond discipline from compliance to community (10th anniversary ed., 2nd
ed.). Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
This chapter was talking about types of authority in the classroom and what they look like. It examines
also how the students react to those approaches. The four types of authorities include: referent, expert,
legitimate, and reward and coercive. Referent is when a student reacts with positive behavior because
they feel that the teacher is truly genuine and actually cares about them. Expert is when students know the
teacher has the knowledge of the content and how to actually teach them, so they react as they are expect
to. Legitimate is when the students do what they are told because the teacher said so and they understand
that the teacher has the authority. Lastly, reward and coercive is that the student does something good so
they get a reward, but when they do something bad, there is a consequence, but the teacher has to be sure
to consistent.
In my internship I can see a mixture of these different approaches. I can see that the students think of my
CT as having a lot of knowledge of the content and that she really cares so they will ask her questions and
assume that she must know everything. They also write her many love notes saying how much they care
about her in return. There is also a reward system in place so that the students can earn individually
things, but also as a class. It is a great community reward and coercive situation since they must earn or
lose starts together, but need a certain amount in order to reach the goal of being able to earn the pulling
of tickets so that individuals get rewards. The more individual tickets you earn, more likely your name is
pulled when the whole class earns all the stars. Lastly, I do see my teacher trying to really focus on the
students following the procedures, since it is a big issues lately, so she will pull out the "do it because I
say that you need to" at times. I feel that a mixture of these is best in order to make your teaching
strategies very well rounded.
This chapter is about how Bridging Culture teachers have used their understanding of the students'
strengths and values in order to choose strategies that can create a smooth sailing classroom that flows
harmoniously. The chapter goes on to explain different strategies, such as redirection and transition
In my classroom I see my teacher using these strategies outlined in the chapter. I especially see the
concepts of nonresponse, redirecting, and direct discipline. We are having an issue of getting the students
to focus on what we need them to during lessons so we have to redirect them back to the work. We are
trying different ways to do so, such as calling the student's name or tapping their desk as we walk by. We
are also directly disciplining through saying exactly what we need them to do or not to do. We also have a
few students who try to get attention through overreacting or pouting and we are using nonresponse as a
way to get them out of that.
C.) Conveys high expectations to all students

I have lined the students up and then them to specials and lunch. I have been practicing this
different times a day. I have tried to call the students up by table groups based on their behavior. They
must be sitting and waiting patiently with their things placed where they should be. I instruct them that
they should be showing the Stallion Way, which is showing their best self. I was able to get the students
lined up fairly quickly once I began calling whole groups since I noticed the other groups would see who
got to line up. There was one table of known talkers who were not paying attention one time, but they
were quick to realize they were being looked at by the whole class, who was already lined up and waiting
for this group to get their acts together. Another time, it went much smoother since the known talkers
were at least watching the other tables, who were leading by example, and they soon stopped talking.
During the 4th grade field trip to Cracker Country, I talked to the students about how they should
act and that they should show they deserved to be called the best class so that they could look good and
the teacher would look good. I expected the students to show they knew and could model the Stallion
Way. My class was one of the quietest on the bus, especially compared to another class I had to sit with
on a different bus that was very loud and misbehaving. My class got complimented on how they were
lined up and walking to the different learning stations as well.
Assertive Teaching:
(Canter, 1984) This concept is that the student should be listening to the teacher since there are rules that
are to be followed at all times. The rules and consequences are explicit and need to follow through
consistently. This is a concept that can be seen pretty regularly in classroom as a well-known model for
the past classroom management idea.
This model reminds me of my CT. She has been teaching for many years and I can see that her structure is
a focused on point ruling system. She tends to be saying things like, "We have a procedure for that, you
need to follow it." This means that the children are being reminded of the specific rules and procedures
that were taught right from the start and they know the consequences for not following them. She is not
AS strict as assertive teaching sounds, but it is close. I am finding myself starting to lean towards this
concept as I am following my CT's example.
(Albert, 1996) This concept is part of cooperative learning where the students and teacher are working
together in order to follow the rules and manage behaviors. Just as in earlier readings of Levin and Nolan,
the idea is to create the classroom rules and consequences together in order for the students and the
teachers to cooperate and build the classroom system together. Students could be misbehaving for four
different reasons (as discussed in the chapter), they are attention-seeking, power-seeking, revengeseeking, and avoidance of failure. The three c's of discipline (capability, connecting, and contributing),
This reminds me of one student who has issues focusing and cooperating. We have found that he can be
praised for doing well when he finally pays attention, but then will go completely the opposite after that.
Almost as if the positive reinforcement caused him to stop doing what we praised. Some of these ideas
could possibly help, especially if the 4 reasons for misbehaving are considered, along with the 3 c's.
Albert, L., & DeSisto, P. (1996). Cooperative discipline. Circle Pines, Minn.: American Guidance Service
D.) Respects students' cultural linguistic and family background

I began the year with greeting the student and their families at Meet the Teacher event. I was
beside my CT shaking hands and welcoming them into the classroom. I showed them their desks and
listened to the families as they talked about their students and the questions they had as we talked to each
family one-by-one. I talked to the students about how they felt about being a 4 th grader now. Some said
they were nervous, others were excited. One student, in particular was an ELL students mom who mostly
spoke Spanish and the older brother had to translate. She was very understanding and welcoming to me as
a learning future teacher. I was able to tell her that I would be there for her student if he had questions and
I supported the students and my CT. The mother said she was very happy about that.
Along with the previously mentioned encounter with the ELL, I went to many parent-teacher
conferences as part of conference night, but the same students meeting stood out to me. I was able to
learn more about this student and see where he was coming from. I have read his IEP and other reports
provided by the ESE teacher, so I was aware of many issues that this student had. The parents talked
about these issues and what it was like for the previous school he was at in Puerto Rico. Apparently, in his
old school he was not really a part of a whole class that was integrated. This student is an ELL, but
according to his parents, he is not really fluent in Spanish either. He is stuck in between languages. He
also reads and comprehends at about a 1st grade level. The moment that stuck out to me the most was
when the father mentioned that the student asks why he is so special and he also prays to God to make
him a normal boy. This really touched my heart and I felt for this family and this student. In this same
conversation, we were able to see what his previous school was able to do for him for certain focus and
easily frustrated issues. The parents said he worked well with little rewards, such as stickers. This got me
thinking of possible things my CT and I could do for this student in order to help him when he is
frustrated with his language and learning barrier. Something that we began doing was helping the student
understand that he can ask for a break or to have something read to him and feel comfortable doing so.
We began by reassuring him that he could do this when the need seemed to arise and he did not think of
it, or praising him very specifically when he did do it. He is now able to ask for a break when he begins to
get very upset. This has happened a few times recently. He started to get overwhelmed and very maturely
asked to take a break and I asked if he wanted to take a walk in the hallway. He said yes and he calmed
down very quickly in the hall while also saying, You know, sometimes I just need a break and then I feel
better, sometimes people just need that and then they can try again. This showed me that he has really
grown and is able to work with his language and learning barrier, even if he gets overwhelmed, he can
help himself keep learning. Right after his break, he is able to begin working right away with a clear, calm
mind.
(Rothstein-Fisch & Truman, 2008) Chapter one begins with mentioning how culture affects the classroom
and its management. It also clearly defines classroom management as creating an environment that is
hospitable for learning. Culture is basically the values and beliefs that guide communication in daily life.
Realizing that different cultures value different behaviors and have different beliefs on what should be
done or not done, can be very helpful when trying to deal with managing your own classroom culture. For
example, there are different emphases on the individual and the group and the balance between the two
being used in the classroom.
Chapter two is about the idea of the group culture. This is seen when you have the class work in groups
that work interdependently so they can be accomplished together as a sort of family group situation.
There is also the bigger version of the whole class being a family. A break down for management can
been seen as: Family- the class as group- and then the individual student. This sees the groups values as
collective over just seeing each student individually.
CONNECTIONS:
For chapter one, this reminds me of a student in my class that came from Puerto Rico. I have been trying
to see if there is any difference in how he acts based on how the culture of Puerto Rico is. This is not only
at home, but especially how the school and class culture is in Puerto Rico. It is a bit too early to tell
though. I find it interesting that I have been thinking about this and there is a reading about it.
For chapter two, this connects me to my internship classroom where my teacher began on day one with
making sure the students understood that we are a family when we are at school and this is almost exactly
what the chapter was talking about. The class has goals for behavior and other things that they meet in
order for the individual to earn privileges and so there is a group culture for sure.
ADDITIONAL CONNECTIONS:
Something additional that I want to connect the readings to involves the idea of the individual and the
collective. I am currently trying to find a way to become more involved in the lessons in a co-teaching
fashion. Considering the fact that I have been mostly dealing with the individual learner over the whole
class, I want this to be a future focus for me. When it came to doing my whole class observations, in the
past, I would become overwhelmed dealing with so many kids and in discussions where it would stray or
it did not flow well. This is in part because I mostly had whole class opportunities during my observations
times. I talked to my current CT about ways to get more into co-teaching through having whole class
discussion moments and she said that this would be a great idea and she would work with me in order for
this to start happening.
Rothstein-Fisch & Truman (2008) Ch. 3:
This chapter connects and discusses the relationships between families and family culture and the
classroom, including the management of it. Having a strong relationship between the family and the
school, especially as the teacher, is important. There needs to be family involvements with the school and
the teacher needs to know about the social aspects of the home. There is now opportunity to understand
that an "inappropriate" behavior may be culturally appropriate at home and it would not be known had
there not been some form of communication with the family and the school. This chapter also discusses
different ways to build and strengthen a good relationship with the child's family as the teacher. This
reminds me of a student in my internship that has sleeping issues in class. He can go from great
participation to being completely out cold within a few seconds. If there was no deeper investigation into
the situation besides thinking he is just sleeping and not caring, he could be thought of as a bad students.
There has been a communication built up with the parents in order to understand what is going on. We are
still trying to figure it out, but there might be a medical issue involved. The good thing is that when he is
awake he is really involved and easily picks up the lesson's information.
Weinstein (2015) Ch3 Building Respectful Caring Relationships:
This chapter essentially goes over how having a connection to the students as a teacher is important, but it
needs to be in the right way. Learning, teaching, and caring needs to be a part of the classroom in order to
get a successfully managed classroom. If the students feel that they are cared for, they will be open to
learning and teaching can happen. The example of Annie never saying no because she wanted the students
to feel that she cared, shows an example of caring, but not having the management to allow for teaching
and learning to happen. There are several example of how to show you cared in the chapter. Several of
these I have seen in my internship and have tried to work on myself. One of these I have done is to be
welcoming. I was a part of pre-planning this year and the open houses. I made sure to welcome the
students and talk with them a little about their feeling on school starting and things they liked. Another
one I have been working on and seeing my CT do is to be fair. I understand it is important to treat all
students the same, no matter their background or looks. There are just SO many different little situations
that come up and it is hard to judge each case and being sure that it is fair for all students. Recently I am
working on how so many students ask me to go to the bathroom while my CT is teaching and I have
figured out to ask them if they feel this is an appropriate time to go or not and if they REALLY feel that
this is an emergency or they can actually wait for the right time. They have the option to think for
themselves as a 4th grader and to make the right call and not learn to go whenever they feel like it. I know
that I felt concerned that I would say no, but it actually be an emergency and I caused them to have an
accident or something.
Internship Connection: in bold! Today I had a great lesson that I created for science. I had the students
learning about heat energy and we did an experiment with rubbing an eraser on paper. The students were
really good at discussing their findings and even finding connections to prior knowledge on their own and
were eager to share with the class. I have been working on the flow of an open discussion and how to
react to what the students say. I feel that I have greatly improved in this area and able to go with the flow.
E) Models clear, acceptable oral and written communication

skills
This FEAP connects me to my observed lessons this semester. I have been working on getting
across when I want the students to call out, raise their hands, or thumbs up/down. I have had issues with
the students calling out and not knowing how best to get back the control at first. I will past part of my
reflections on these lessons below:
CT Observation 1:
I want to work on making sure to set the standard for how students should answer
and communicate questions. This could be thumbs up and down, calling out, or raised
hands. Some students have problems with calling out while others are trying to answer and
setting this standard explicitly of how I am expecting them to react will help this issue.
CT Observation 2:
I would also stick with very specific rules for how I want questions answered so that
everyone is on the same page.
These reflections came from my CT noticing that I have issues with students, a few in particular that want
to call out in my lessons. Before my last supervisor lesson, I made sure to try and explain when I expected
raised hands and when it was ok to call out the answer as a group or just using the thumbs up/down
signals. It worked better than in the past and when students were modeling the proper behavior I made
sure to praise them so others would potentially notice and follow this procedure too. One student in
particular loves to talk and tell you many things. I have her in my RTI group and she likes to sit right next
to me on the carpet. If I look at her and let her, she will talk a long time about her thoughts on the story
when not even called on. I have realized that I need to reiterate that I need her to raise her hand so she can
take a turn and also let others share their thoughts. She has gotten better at this, but it is still an ongoing
issue with her.
F) Maintains a climate of openness, inquiry, fairness, and

support
There are several times where I helped students to resolve conflicts:
Sa and So were not getting along and So wanted to talk to me in the hallway. I found out that Sa
was making her feel uncomfortable and always arguing with her. She expressed to me that there was a
history between them of their clashing personalities. This one day was very upsetting to her, however,
because Sa told So that every time she said she was sorry and wanted to be her friend she was faking it. I
had to talk to So about why she thought they were arguing and having a clashing of personalities. We
came to an agreement that she would take the higher road and squash this with kindness. We also talked
about how Sa seemed to be acting on this day in particular. We came to the realization that something Sa
must be having a bad day, possibly something happened at home, and she might not have actually meant
what she said. I then had a conversation with Sa about how she was feeling and she agreed that she was
having a particularly negative day. In the end, both students fist bumped and said they were sorry and that
they understood that some people have bad days and in the future they will try to talk about why they are
feeling certain ways. During the original conversation with So, she also said that she feels that she talks a
lot where she sits and she has been reflecting on that and wanted to see if there was a better place for her
to sit so she can focus more. I thanked her for her honesty and a great self-evaluation and convinced her
to try and see if she could be responsible enough to try and not talk on her own now that she realizes she
has this issue.
The ELL student in my class gets easily overwhelmed and reacts with arm flapping, jumping, and
crying. During my CTs district observation, this student had a break down since he felt that he wanted to
learn what the other students were learning. He has recently been upset when he has to learn different first
grade level math with the ESE teacher. He declared during this observation, when we tried to pull him for
a small group, that he was a 4th grader and wanted to be with the regular 4th graders. We let him stay and
he eventually got overwhelmed with the essay writing assignment that was an hour long. He started to ask
when it would be over soon and if it was time for recess. He began to cry and I asked if he wanted to take
a walk with me. My CT nodded to me that it was a good idea after I said this and the ELL and I walked
up and down the hallway. He began to instantly feel better. He was very reflective in saying that
sometimes he just needed a little break and that was all. I talked with him in the hallway about little things
so that he felt comfortable and his stress level would go down. He was soon able to return to the class and
try again.
Rothstein-Fisch & Truman (2008) Ch. 3:
This chapter connects and discusses the relationships between families and family culture and the
classroom, including the management of it. Having a strong relationship between the family and the
school, especially as the teacher, is important. There needs to be family involvements with the school and
the teacher needs to know about the social aspects of the home. There is now opportunity to understand
that an "inappropriate" behavior may be culturally appropriate at home and it would not be known had
there not been some form of communication with the family and the school. This chapter also discusses
different ways to build and strengthen a good relationship with the child's family as the teacher. This
reminds me of a student in my internship that has sleeping issues in class. He can go from great
participation to being completely out cold within a few seconds. If there was no deeper investigation into
the situation besides thinking he is just sleeping and not caring, he could be thought of as a bad students.
There has been a communication built up with the parents in order to understand what is going on. We are
still trying to figure it out, but there might be a medical issue involved. The good thing is that when he is
awake he is really involved and easily picks up the lesson's information.
Weinstein (2015) Ch3 Building Respectful Caring Relationships:
This chapter essentially goes over how having a connection to the students as a teacher is important, but it
needs to be in the right way. Learning, teaching, and caring needs to be a part of the classroom in order to
get a successfully managed classroom. If the students feel that they are cared for, they will be open to
learning and teaching can happen. The example of Annie never saying no because she wanted the students
to feel that she cared, shows an example of caring, but not having the management to allow for teaching
and learning to happen. There are several example of how to show you cared in the chapter. Several of
these I have seen in my internship and have tried to work on myself. One of these I have done is to be
welcoming. I was a part of pre-planning this year and the open houses. I made sure to welcome the
students and talk with them a little about their feeling on school starting and things they liked. Another
one I have been working on and seeing my CT do is to be fair. I understand it is important to treat all
students the same, no matter their background or looks. There are just SO many different little situations
that come up and it is hard to judge each case and being sure that it is fair for all students. Recently I am
working on how so many students ask me to go to the bathroom while my CT is teaching and I have
figured out to ask them if they feel this is an appropriate time to go or not and if they REALLY feel that
this is an emergency or they can actually wait for the right time. They have the option to think for
themselves as a 4th grader and to make the right call and not learn to go whenever they feel like it. I know
that I felt concerned that I would say no, but it actually be an emergency and I caused them to have an
accident or something.
Internship Connection: Today I had a great lesson that I created for science. I had the students learning
about heat energy and we did an experiment with rubbing an eraser on paper. The students were really
good at discussing their findings and even finding connections to prior knowledge on their own and were
eager to share with the class. I have been working on the flow of an open discussion and how to react to
what the students say. I feel that I have greatly improved in this area and able to go with the flow.
http://jessicarutkowski.weebly.com/internship-iii-create-and-differ/inquiry-blog-checkpoint-3
I began showing my data to Kristina King through first restating my wondering. I wanted her to see the
data with the same mindset that the data was intended to be seen. (I wonder how I can get students to
focus during lessons, especially in science, so that they have a better understanding of the content.) The
data that I have gathered began with doing observations on student focus during different lessons. I
noticed that there were quite a few students struggling to keep focusing during lessons and were getting
distracted quite easily. I decided to focus on two particular students. I decided to choose what content area
I wanted to work on based on looking at the students' different ISN's for different content areas. I could
see that science needed some help with their comprehension and I could see a lack of focus in that area
that could have contributed. I copied some days of their science ISN to have data for before and after my
inquiry to see potential progress. After review some of this data, she could also see the issues with the
focus, particularly with whole class discussion time compared to independent work. It would then show
lack of comprehension in the notebook when they could not explain their answers in the end.
Moving onto the data that was taken during my time implementing different techniques, we discussed
how I have been using movement in the classroom and technology in my science lessons. My main data
for this is the exit tickets that I collected after each lesson. You can see at least some form of improvement
in the comprehension. Kristina brought it to my attention that there was at least more of an attempt by the
students to answer (more so J than M) compared to the format of the previous lessons that were mostly
sitting and discussing. There was also the end of chapter test, this showed some very hard to read data.
Both of my students got a 60% on the exam. I did a review the day before based on the test, completely
different questions, but the concepts were heavily covered and discussed using an interactive Prezi.
(Interesting!) When Kristina and I looked at the tests closer, we noticed that the students were able to get
the multiple choice questions right, but the fill in the blank/sentence was much more difficult. J actually
referred to the example in the Prezi, which was switched by talking about cold spoon and a hot soup
compared to the exam which was a hot spoon and cold water. This means she was able to remember the
technology based lesson, but either did not understand the concept or did not read carefully. She did this
again with a question about windmills, but she thought about the pinwheel example with blowing your
breath. They are not the same and she wrote it as if it was. (Patterns!) M seemed to just not want to write
so much. One question she completely skipped and another he was writing the correct answer, but just
plain stopped mid-word at the end. We could see a connection to not wanting to write out all of his
answers. (Next steps?) Makes us wonder if there could be a way to approach this. Either different options
for assessment or building up writing stamina. This is also evident in his ISN. He just does not write
much, if at all.
(Next Steps!) Lastly, I am still trying to get one last bit of data from a test before the semester is over.
This way it can be compared to the previous test. If this is not the case, then the final exit ticket from my
last lesson will work out OK. It is writing in 4 answers to questions that have to do with their own
thinking and to see if they can connect to the interactive lesson. I still have to get this from my focus
students. I am still trying to add different movement activities and interesting uses of technology to see if
this helps the students become focused. I am going to try to get one more data of focus observation to see
how they are in science now.
Finally, after review the data, I do not see as much of an improvement as I had hoped on paper for the
comprehension portion, but I have observed more student involvement in the more interactive lessons.
This is a good sign that there is at least a start to getting the students to be a part of the content to
hopefully improve even more throughout the rest of the year.
G) Integrates current information and communication

technologies
In my observation lessons, there a few times that I have used technology. As a part of my inquiry
I have been trying to improve focus and comprehension through different techniques and the use of
technology is one of them. Here is some of my observation reflections:
Supervisor Observation 1:
Lastly, you can see in the video that I was using a Prezi in my lesson in order to have a
nice visual for the students and to have the discussion questions displayed up to start the
conversations. I am trying to add in interactive and technological elements to my lessons in order
to help my students focus more and have better comprehension, which is basically my inquiry
wondering.
Supervisor Observation 2: (using the ELMO and Slideshow of close up pictures)
Lastly, I want to bring up the book that I connected the science lesson to. I was
able to use a book that brings up a real-life connection to the students, taking a bath. The students
also had a nice big visual of the cover of the book so that we could discuss what they observed
before we even read the story. This way the students were able to get a mental picture of a story
that I did not have the actual book for. I was able to set the students up to visualize the concept
without having to provide visuals along the way.
I could see that the students showed excitement for the lesson. In the video you can see
visual expressions and hear vocalized excitement when something was interesting to them. The
students were all raising their hands and wanting to be a part of the conversations. This is
especially seen during the read aloud. You can see students waving their arms around to be called
on in order to make predictions about the story based on the projected picture. There is even a
student, who is known for not paying attention in lessons, who is very actively participating
through hand raising and answering.
CT Observation 1:
To begin with, I noticed in my video that had all of the students engaged in the
lesson. I see myself asking questions that promoted thinking and understanding of the concept.
So, this means that the students were engaged intellectually since they were all raising their
hands participating in the whole class discussion. They were all also engaged since they wanted
to be noticed they were participating so that they could earn the use of the wireless mouse that
was being passed around. Even those that did not get to use it, they were able to participate in the
online activity through answering the questions on their own charts, raising their hands, small
group discussions, or thumbs up and down.
Lastly, you can see in the video that I was using a technology in the form of an online
interactive activity in my lesson in order to get the students engaged in the lesson and to help
with comprehension. This is directly related to what I want to do for my inquiry. I am trying out
technology as a way to improve focus in lessons and to hopefully enhance the comprehension of
the lesson. My co-teacher did say, after the lesson was over, that she saw the students connecting
to the topic of heat energy more than she has seen in quite a few years of her doing this lessons
on this topic. This tells me that this was a great lesson that was resulting from the strengths I
have previously mentioned.
While you can see pretty much all students participating and understanding, there are
those few that are consistently an issue with this. I can see that there are times where they still
have some form of focus issue and they fade in and out of participating.
http://jessicarutkowski.weebly.com/internship-iii-create-and-differ/inquiry-blog-checkpoint-3
I began showing my data to Kristina King through first restating my wondering. I wanted her to see the
data with the same mindset that the data was intended to be seen. (I wonder how I can get students to
focus during lessons, especially in science, so that they have a better understanding of the content.) The
data that I have gathered began with doing observations on student focus during different lessons. I
noticed that there were quite a few students struggling to keep focusing during lessons and were getting
distracted quite easily. I decided to focus on two particular students. I decided to choose what content area
I wanted to work on based on looking at the students' different ISN's for different content areas. I could
see that science needed some help with their comprehension and I could see a lack of focus in that area
that could have contributed. I copied some days of their science ISN to have data for before and after my
inquiry to see potential progress. After review some of this data, she could also see the issues with the
focus, particularly with whole class discussion time compared to independent work. It would then show
lack of comprehension in the notebook when they could not explain their answers in the end.
Moving onto the data that was taken during my time implementing different techniques, we discussed
how I have been using movement in the classroom and technology in my science lessons. My main data
for this is the exit tickets that I collected after each lesson. You can see at least some form of improvement
in the comprehension. Kristina brought it to my attention that there was at least more of an attempt by the
students to answer (more so J than M) compared to the format of the previous lessons that were mostly
sitting and discussing. There was also the end of chapter test, this showed some very hard to read data.
Both of my students got a 60% on the exam. I did a review the day before based on the test, completely
different questions, but the concepts were heavily covered and discussed using an interactive Prezi.
(Interesting!) When Kristina and I looked at the tests closer, we noticed that the students were able to get
the multiple choice questions right, but the fill in the blank/sentence was much more difficult. J actually
referred to the example in the Prezi, which was switched by talking about cold spoon and a hot soup
compared to the exam which was a hot spoon and cold water. This means she was able to remember the
technology based lesson, but either did not understand the concept or did not read carefully. She did this
again with a question about windmills, but she thought about the pinwheel example with blowing your
breath. They are not the same and she wrote it as if it was. (Patterns!) M seemed to just not want to write
so much. One question she completely skipped and another he was writing the correct answer, but just
plain stopped mid-word at the end. We could see a connection to not wanting to write out all of his
answers. (Next steps?) Makes us wonder if there could be a way to approach this. Either different options
for assessment or building up writing stamina. This is also evident in his ISN. He just does not write
much, if at all.
(Next Steps!) Lastly, I am still trying to get one last bit of data from a test before the semester is over.
This way it can be compared to the previous test. If this is not the case, then the final exit ticket from my
last lesson will work out OK. It is writing in 4 answers to questions that have to do with their own
thinking and to see if they can connect to the interactive lesson. I still have to get this from my focus
students. I am still trying to add different movement activities and interesting uses of technology to see if
this helps the students become focused. I am going to try to get one more data of focus observation to see
how they are in science now.
Finally, after review the data, I do not see as much of an improvement as I had hoped on paper for the
comprehension portion, but I have observed more student involvement in the more interactive lessons.
This is a good sign that there is at least a start to getting the students to be a part of the content to
hopefully improve even more throughout the rest of the year.
H) Adapts the learning environment to accommodate the

differing needs and diversity of students.
In my lessons, I have had to be aware of the different needs of the students. There are a few ELL
students, many ESE students, and one student in particular that needs to use a typing assistive technology
called a Forte. When I created my lessons, I made sure to keep these, and several other needs in mind. He
reads, writes, and comprehends at a first grade level and I wanted to be sure that he could participate with
all of the other students. He is not particularly extremely fluent in writing and reading in Spanish
or English. These things cause issues when it comes to him being a part of the rest of the class.
When it comes to most subjects, he tends to be pulled to work with the ESE teacher, but for
science, he is a part of the whole class. I keep this in mind when creating my lessons.
For lesson one I included:
How will you differentiate instruction for students who need additional language support?
This is a discussion based lesson and an online interactive lesson. The reading portion is done in
table groups so there is support there. The online lesson has clickable text that is read out loud
through the speakers.
I made sure to make the lesson so that the student is supported and is able to be a part of
the whole class. Having the activity be more verbal allowed for the student to not get behind
trying to write things down, which is a verbalized worry that this student has. When it comes to
the directions and the text in general, the activity has a way to click the text so that it can be read
to the whole class. This allows for the student to hear the information and not worry about what
is being asked of him and not feel that he is different from the class and getting the text read to
him personally. He has also verbalized that he worries that he is not like the normal students.
For lesson two I included:
How will you differentiate instruction for students who need additional language support?
There will be a Prezi with posted up definitions and a co-teacher to help support students. There
is also group help so they can hear from fellow students. One student has 1st grade reading,
writing and comprehension level. He will have a printed out vocabulary sheet with fill-in-theblank as well in order for him to start filling it out for the whole unit.
For this lesson, the student is supported in a similar way as the first lesson, but I was able
to think of my CT as an additional resource. She can sit with the student and be sure that he is
able to understand what is being asked of him as needed. I also added the printed out vocabulary
sheet so that the student does not have to worry about writing things down as much and be
behind.
In the end, the student was able to be a part of the class and not feel different than the
other fourth graders. He even felt comfortable participating in the discussions and answering
posed questions. This is a big difference compared to other lessons in different subjects where he
feels lost and becomes so frustrated that I need to take him for a walk up and down the hallway
for a break because he begins to cry hysterically.
Readings and Internship situations that connect to this FEAP:
Clayton and Forton (2001) (chap 1-2) talks about the classroom environment. It mentions that it is
important for teachers to create "warm, orderly, and engaging environments that serves the needs of all
their students". Classrooms were not necessarily created with little children in mind, but of large adults.
This can be overwhelming and uncomfortable for children to be in day in and day out. Teachers should be
creating an environment that lets the children feel that the room is theirs and they fit. Basically, three big
ideas that classrooms should include are: Fitting the ranges of physical sizes, Accommodating special
needs, and supporting developmental needs.
This reading reminds me of the struggle my CT and I went through to figure out how to make sure there
was enough room for all the desks AND for the student in the wheelchair to move around. We had to
move desks and chairs at odd angles to be sure to let the student have access to places in the room, such
as the carpet, but also so that students are not bumping into each other and can see the board. We now
believe we finally have a good solution, but much trial and error has occurred. We ultimately wanted to be
sure to create that previously mentioned environment for all of the students to be able to comfortably
learn.
Not only have I been a part of originally trying to set up the desks to accommodate the wheelchair at the
beginning of the year, but I have rearranged throughout the year as needed. Students have been seen
talking too much and not being able to focus, so they were moved away from that group. Other times
students were seen not able to focus due to a particular student at their table group that bothered them and
did not let learning happen. This student in particular, for this last situation is commented on in a
Supervisor lesson observation reflection. This student has been moved around the room many times due
to causing issues at each group and is about to need to have a desk island. He is having issues with
focusing, among many other serious issues that recently involved the assistant principle needing to talk to
his him. It has basically been a struggle to find what his needs are to support him.
Supervisor Observation 2:
Once again, E is still off task and this is seen while he is on the rug. Knowing his
attention span, it would have been potentially beneficial to have him sit next to me or with my
co-teacher. He really needs someone on him constantly. I will point out, however, that his
negative behavior has started to escalate and he is being very defiant and task avoidant at the
same time. He is having even more extreme behavior issues recently that has caused him to have
a meeting with one of the assistant principals. He is a very difficult circumstance that we are
constantly trying to help and develop. I have suggested giving him a class job of having to water
a class plant. This could potentially help him to feel he in an important part of the class and he
needs to participate with everyone else and help himself learn the content.
In Clayton and Forton (2001) this week, it discussed the classroom set up and how to set up a
meeting area. There were things to watch out for a meeting area, such as being sure it could
accommodate circular setting and the entrances and exits are all visible. For this and the room in
general, having nice space to move around is important. It needs to be safe from bumping into
each other and feel open and inviting. There were SO MANY great tips on ways to set up
different areas and why they were important. For example, carpets are a great way to separate
different sections of the room to feel like they are an area for its own purpose. In thinking about
this reading, I am flashing back to my internship this semester. I volunteered for pre-planning
week. I really wanted that experience, I can put it in my resume, and bond with my new CT. I got
to be a part of choosing what could fit where and why, what the billboards would look like, how
the seating was set-up, among many other things. I have found that there are many things still
evolving as we go along, since student and lesson needs, have begun playing a part. I want to see
if there are some elements of this book that I can use to tweak the classroom even more. My
teacher is SO open to new ideas to help the room work smarter and not harder for us!
In Weinstein (2015) chapter 2, there is also a discussion about the classroom setting. The book
describes six basic functions of a classroom setting: security and shelter, social contact, symbolic
identification, task instrumentality, pleasure, and growth. For security and shelter, students and
teachers need a functional environment that is safe to walk-around, but also has a psychological
security that is involves having some softer things, such as rugs. As for the other basic functions,
the general idea is to have a classroom that helps the teachers teach the students in the most
comfortable way that can have the students feeling positive and are able to grow in. The chapter
also describes quite a few classroom set up examples and different issues with possible solution
ideas. This seems like a great reference when beginning a first classroom set up and for ideas
when needing to tweak the room due to unforeseen issues/circumstances. This connects to my
internship in that I was, once again a part of this process in the beginning of the year and
previously mentioned. I am ALWAYS thinking of ways to improve the room and this book will
be a great resource.
I.) Utilizes current and emerging assistive technologies that

enable students to participate in high-quality communication
interactions and achieve their educational goals.
In my classroom we have a student who has issues with being able to write and speak. His
handwriting his not very legible, about the level of a 1st grader or kindergartener at times, and when he
speaks it is hard to make out some of the words he is trying to say. It is hard for him to physically hold
and write with the pencil properly. He has assistive technology called a Forte and this lets him type out
his papers and large amounts of notes. When I am creating lessons, I am aware of times where large
amounts of writing is needed and I plan for telling the student to get the Forte. I have also made sure that
he is set up at the computer to be able to upload what he types and print it out.
One particular lesson is when the students were done with a math lesson and there was silent
reading time. The student was about to work on an essay in ELA time later in the day and I had been
wondering how the student types, since these days there are no typing classes like they did when I was in
elementary school. I began to have a conversation with the student about his typing and he said that he is
allowed to practice at times.
I had this student take time to practice his typing skills. When he is done early, there are times
where I have let him practice typing words and letters in the Forte, which is what I had him do during this
silent reading time that was previously mentioned. On a later day, I helped the ESE teacher set up a
repurposed laptop to be able to access a website that is meant for practicing typing properly. It is
important for the student to be able to use the assistive technology that is provided so that he can fully
participate in high-quality communication interactions and achieve his educational goals. If he is not able
to use his assistive technology properly and efficiently, then it cannot help him have a high-quality
community to be able to achieve his necessary educational goals.
III.
Conclusion
The facilitation of the learning environment impacts the learners in my
classroom through allowing for an environment that is conducive to learning. How
the classroom is set up and what the mood of the classroom is like will either make
or break how the lessons will go down and if the students can even be receptive to
the information being taught. If the students to not feel supported or know what is
expected of them, then they will not be able to fully participate in the classroom.
I feel that my classroom management skills are now more consistent and
thought out than ever before. I pretty much never had any management skills to
speak of until now since I had not been explicitly taught these skills or had them as
a main focus. I am now able to have an opinion on what management types I
believe and I know enough to be able to work on trying my own skills out. I know
that I still need to work on different techniques and practice what I do know, but this
is a great start to what I know I will be developing and changing my whole career. I
have only just begun, starting with what I have doing for each of these FEAPS listed
above.
Some strategies that I have to work on include differentiating and basically
anything that requires working with specific needs of the individual. I believe I need
to work on this because I am so new to teaching that I could have possibly come
across enough different situations to be able to be prepared for anything that comes
my way. I feel that I have mastered the ability to be open and create a community
of inquiry. I am always thinking of new ideas and trying them out, I have always
been this way. I have also been very good at reaching out to the students and
showing how much I care for them and they understand that this is an open
environment. Many students felt comfortable coming to me and opening up to me
with their problems this year.
References
Kohn, A. (2006). Beyond discipline from compliance to community (10th anniversary ed., 2nd ed.).
Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Clayton, M., & Forton, M. (2001). Classroom spaces that work. Greenfield, MA: Northeast Foundation
for Children.
Albert, L., & DeSisto, P. (1996). Cooperative discipline. Circle Pines, Minn.: American Guidance
Service.
Weinstein, C., & Romano, M. (2015). Enhancing Students Motivation to Learn. In Classroom
Management (6th ed., p. 204). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
Fisch, C., & Trumbull, E. (2008). Managing diverse classrooms how to build on students'
cultural strengths. Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development.
Levin, J., & Nolan, J. (2000). Principles of classroom management: A professional decisionmaking model (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

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I.

A) Organizes, allocates and manages the resources of time,

B) Manages individual and class behaviors through a wellplanned management system.

Kohn- Beyond Principle:

C.) Conveys high expectations to all students

D.) Respects students' cultural linguistic and family background

E) Models clear, acceptable oral and written communication

F) Maintains a climate of openness, inquiry, fairness, and

G) Integrates current information and communication

H) Adapts the learning environment to accommodate the

I.) Utilizes current and emerging assistive technologies that

classroom through allowing for an environment that is conducive to learning. How

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