Review and Assessment

Visual Connection: 


Theory to Practice:

Varied Assessments- The students take lots of assessments ranging in all of the subject areas. Their are formative assessments of course, but their are non-formal assessments that the teacher uses that are very effective which consist of whiteboards, games, and silent answers. Whiteboards in the classroom are sometimes individual but groups also and these help determine overall how the students are comprehending what they are learning that day. Academic games show how they are applying what they have learned and the teacher can assess how students understand that certain concept. And silent answers which are when the students use hand gestures that only the teacher can see to help the students feel more comfortable to express their thoughts on how they are learning the content. With these assessments, the teacher is able to guide the students and the lesson and change the pace or how the teacher is explaining things quickly. To show their effectiveness, I will go into depth about the games. According to their levels and abilities, the teacher groups them together and they play all different kinds of academic games especially in math. Walking around and observing the teacher can get an assessment of the overall comprehension by how quickly they grasp the game,and how long they take when it is their turn. This doesn't only just assess their comprehension on the subject itself, but it shows how they understand instruction and reading rules and their social interaction with other students.

Quality and Prompt Feedback: The feedback that the teacher gives the students is very informative and timely. Yes, the teacher does give positive feedback but also incorporates academic terms that are within the lessons and previous lessons throughout the year. The teacher uses this type of feedback constantly and it is not only academic feedback but feedback about their social and overall behavior. So, this feedback overall clarifies the students learning and behavior making a positive and effective learning environment.

Instructor's Roles: Throughout the lesson the teacher's role goes through teacher to listener, to student to being a guide. The teacher turns into the listener as she listens and gives her undivided attention to the student who is answering or asking a question and gives prompt and well thought out feedback. As the students teach other students when they are helping one another, the teacher guides them into the correct conversations and make sure they are on the right track to answering all of the questions correctly to fully comprehend the concept they are learning.

Reflect: Through the assessments that the teacher uses, I want to incorporate these into my future classroom as they are very effective and help the students progress. The attitude that the teacher has towards giving positive and effective feedback have helped me see that I can incorporate the same positive feedback so the students can be more successful.

Interaction and Delivery

Visual Connection:



Theory to Practice:

Interaction- The teacher provides lots of time for interaction of student to student, student to teacher and student to content throughout the day. For example, this occurs when they are learning a new lesson in their math textbooks. It is first learning the lesson together for student to teacher interaction then having them try problems on their own for student to content interaction and then it is student to student as they can work together in groups to figure out the answer. The teacher keeps the students engaged by asking questions in a different way, having students who don't normally raise their hand answer the questions, have them ask each other for help and if they still are not fully comprehending the concept they go to the teacher for clarification.

Grouping Strategies- The groups when it is time to do math is usually small groups according to the level of how well they do on tests and homework and also how well they work together. All of the ELL students are grouped together as they are all on the same level in background knowledge, language and academic levels. Each group is overseen by the teacher, me, and another intern in the classroom so the students can be guided and to make sure that they stay on task. The students are held accountable for getting the work done and if they don't the consequences are not being able to play a academic game or read books. This group strategies especially for math is very effective and this is because every student is on the same level in each group so they can help one another and they can progress together as a group and that helps keep things on schedule and very organized.

Sufficient wait time- The teacher is very successful in having sufficient wait time for students to respond and participate. Their is pauses in between so students can work it out on their own, and then answer the question to the best of their ability. These pauses give students time to come up with a well thought out relevant answer instead of a rushed off the top of their head answer. With the teachers encouragement and emphasis on the academic terms for the lesson in whatever subject it is, the students slowly start to incorporate it into their answers and when they are explaining a problem to other students.

Pace- The lesson is paced according to the groups language and skill level so that gives the student's an opportunity to fully engage and interact to fully comprehend what the lesson was about. Students are actively engaged because the pace is at their comfort learning zone and so they can fully understand and enjoy the learning experience.

Monitor and adjustment- When it comes to instructional delivery, when students are confused, the teacher is able to rephrase the question, use visual aides and maybe even play games to reinforce the lesson in a different way is great. I have not really noticed how the teacher differentiates the lessons but I know that the teacher in each group gives them the opportunity to work together in the same skill level so the can have a less difficult time being confused and not understanding what the teacher is trying to get through to them.

Reflect: I have learned so much from this teacher about how to group certain students not just of academic reasons but for social reasons also. And this has helped the students have a positive, safe, enjoyable learning environment and experience.

The Learning Environment

Visual Connection: 




Theory to Practice: 


Positive: When it comes to the overall learning environment in the classroom I am serving in, being positive is #1 priority. This entails the students being willing to learn and that is shown through their quiet and calm behavior. Also this positive environment have the students willing to help out the teacher and each other as they have respect and kindness is always shown to each other. This has made their classroom and learning experience much more enjoyable and students have been more open to learn with positive feedback and the environment themselves.

Safe: Safety in the classroom that I have been in is very enforced and taken to a very high standard which it should be in every classroom in every school. The students need somewhere that is a safe haven from the rest of society and have a calm loving environment in order for them to learn more successfully and have trusted adults and fellow classmates that they can rely and be friends with. It opens the students mind to be more social and to be more academically sound. I have seen this in the classroom and students are more open to one another and including having the teachers positive encouragement has had the students slowly get comfortable in the classroom.

Effective: Both have a positive and safe environment have been effective for both the regular and ELL students. I have noticed with the ELL students personally and how it has changed them for the better and how they are more willing to participate even though they have been slower than the other students. And the students and teachers respect their timing and help them out and encourage each other and that is what a classroom should be all about.

Making Content Meaningful

Visual Connection:

Theory to Practice:

Instructional Strategies and Technology: The technology that has been used to enhance the students learning is computer lab time, the teacher's personal device, and a smart board. They use the smart board and the teacher's device for math, writing, reading and to do lessons. Computer lab time is educational games that teach them to type, math, writing, and reading games. They make concepts clear and more meaningful as they get to touch and physically get up and do something so they can interact and learn that way. Also it is more fun and makes students want to participate more abundantly then when a teacher is just talking and reading out of a textbook and having students follow along and answer questions. Interaction= more successful learning for every student even if they aren't the one doing it themselves they encourage and help the student who is doing it up front. The teacher really heeds to supporting the student's diverse learning academic and linguistic needs by finding and even making activities that have made every student successful in learning what they need to get out of that activity or lesson that they learn with technology.

Practice and Apply: The teacher provides countless opportunities for the students to practice new concepts taught with many practice problems and games. For example, in math they learn the lesson in the book and then go through practice problems to grasp the concept and then there is usually always a game that they work together in groups or as a whole class to reinforce what they have learned in the math lesson that day. The materials that are used are work books, colored pencils, flashcards, and the big white board. The language domains integrated going on with the math example, the students write down the math essential question, read along in the lesson with the teacher and each problem, and listen to others when they answer and explain how they got the answers, and lastly speak out loud to fellow students in their groups and help one other figure out the problems.

Critical-Thinking Skills: The tasks are demanding in order for the student to learn the concept taught and they are effective as the students are required to think outside the box in order to figure out the answer to specific problems. The teacher uses lots of varieties of questions to promote critical thinking by rephrasing the question, adding examples to the question, and having students make up the questions themselves and having their fellow peers answer them.

Reflect:  The way that students are grouped together efficiently to help one another and be more successful has impacted me to do it in my future classroom. Technology is essential in classroom when used in the correct way and at the correct time and used effectively and my experience so far has taught me tools that I can use and have had time to come with ideas of my own to helps students know how to use it themselves and really integrate it well into a curriculum. Even though it is first grade, critical thinking skills are very effective even though they are very simple it is giving them steps and prepping them to get into more depth of critical thinking later in junior high and high school more easily and this is something I really want to apply into my future classroom.

Building Connections & Vocabulary

Visual Connection:                 

                 

Theory in Practice: 

Attitude: Even though the linguistic students are very few, the attitude that the teacher possess towards these students are love and wanting them to understand and learn at their own pace and get as much help as they need so that they can be successful. A way that the teacher does this is through connecting with the students background experiences in the way that she knows each students circumstances at home, how they got here, and is always in contact with the parents to add more personal connections into her students lives. My experience in the classroom has been a great opportunity to work with the ELL's in a group together as they learn because they all connect very well together and the teacher has always initiated it. 

Knowledge: The teacher accessed previous knowledge by learning from her past experiences with ELL's and is also never afraid to try new strategies and curriculum to make sure that they students are successful. This is important because each student every year is different and every student learns differently and connect with different students and it is good to access old knowledge but to expound and tweak it to the needs of the students. This is so the students can be more successful and enjoy their learning experience and have access to the world of knowledge and possibilities. 

Vocabulary: Vocabulary has been taught very efficiently in the way that the teacher breaks every word down like this:

-sound it out

-spell it

- write it down

And the teacher gives many examples that the students can connect with so that they fully understand what the new term means and how they can apply it to the lesson that they are learning that day in whatever subject it may be. Their is also visuals which are super essential and the students have interacted more with pictures and have learned the vocabulary words more efficiently then when the teacher just describes the word to the students. 

Reflect: This has really impacted me in many significant ways. First of all, I have personally been working with the English Language Learners in a group together so I have learned a handful of things about how they learn, interact with others and myself as a teacher and facilitator to them. Secondly I have learned what attitude, skills, and knowledge that I need to possess in order to successfully teach ELL students. This consists of having a positive attitude and lots of patience and taking things at a steady pace, connect with each student and get to know them personally and get to know how each of them learn personally and what strategies work with that. And lastly I have been empowered to really take extra time out of service learning to figure out what will work with each child and really learning to be a teacher in the sense of one on one learning and connecting and getting to know and love each student that I have interacted with. 

Classroom Community:1st grade class

Visual Connection: 



Theory to Practice: 

• Classroom management: 

- Clip up and clip down: If the teacher notices that a student is doing well and doing what they are suppose to be doing in a respectful and appropriate matter then they get to move to levels of student behavior. If a student isn't behaving and disrupting the learning environment they must clip down and parents can be notified in certain circumstances.  It is very effective as the students see others doing well and start to slowly follow their examples.
- To get the students attention the teacher says, "Winner, winner" and the students respond with "Chicken Dinner".  The students fall silent and look at the teacher so they are ready to hear instruction.
- Each table gets points when they are all quiet and doing work and following instructions and whoever has the most points by the end of the day gets to pick out of a prize box. It is very effective as they see the rewards that they can get when they are good, so they are well behaved more often.
- The teacher guides and reinforces participation by calling on those who are quiet and raising there hand. The teacher has assessments and with each test they have a progress sheet that they color in themselves to show their parents and themselves how they are doing.
- There is parent teacher conferences but she also meets with some of the ELL parents and the students who need extra support to be able to help the parents understand what the parents can do to help and support them in their homework and learning efforts.

• Classroom Organization and Structure:  

- The physical classroom layout consists of a smart board and boards at the front with a rug for the children to sit on for lessons. There are 4 groups of tables of 7 and storage in the back, cubbies at the front by the door and a round table for the teacher to test students and do group work.
- This classroom setup effects the learning atmosphere in a positive way, as the students sit in groups and are able to help one another instead of sitting all alone and they help build friendships among the students.
- The students individual materials are stored in their desk drawers and other materials and worksheets are throughout the classroom. This is effective and ineffective at the same time because it is a good storage place and easy to access but also ineffective because they are very messy and unorganized which doesn't help and can be distracting and doesn't help with the easy flow of the school day.

• Proficiency Levels and Objectives 

-  The teacher supports the diverse linguistic learners by making them feel comfortable and have a classroom as a safe haven with her positive and loving attitude towards each child. She does this as she pays special attention to them and also asks of my help as she needs to help other students also.
- The teacher at each math or reading lesson time will post the objectives and the lesson expectations through explaining it to them but also to have them sometimes write it down themselves to get a different perspective on the aspects that the students are learning.
- The students always know the lesson focus and as they do examples and games to help them understand it as a class and that makes them engaged and want them to learn more and do the example back at their tables. Sometimes if the students don't get the lesson and start to get upset it is hard for them to get engaged and put them in focus.


Reflection: 
The experience of service learning so far has impacted me to reach out and know more of the children's needs academically and socially and help them in any way that I can so that they can be on the path to reach their full potential, especially the ELL's who are struggling much more but also all of the students overall. I am now considering how I can get extra activities according to each ELL's needs to help them overcome and come to the understanding of the math, reading, science, social studies or computer lessons that they are currently learning. I really love this class!

Class Demographics:1st Grade Class

I am completing my service learning experience in a Title 1 elementary school with an identified high ELL population. I worked in a 1st grade classroom with the following profile:

Number of students: 25

Gender: 17 female, 8 male

Languages: 5-second language learners

• 1 girl speaks Chinese
• 2 girls and 2 boys speak Spanish 

Language Proficiency and Ability: 

The students are mainstreamed and are ELD's. There is some of the ELL students, however that are struggling with academics and language.

Chinese- Has difficulty even speaking any English, but can count and understand most things that I am telling her to do when I have pictures to help explain. The students also does math problems by drawing out the number of circles then counting them all together to do addition problems.

Spanish- Some of the students have difficulty understanding what they are reading and doing things on their own and staying on task. I have experienced so far that they work well together in a group and I am there as a guide and direct them to help them figure out the correct answer. I have found also that it is easier to explain to them in many different ways until they get it to see which one connects in their head.

Other Relevant Information: 

Reading books side by side and to the whole classroom as they are quiet and ready to listen and to follow along as I ask questions and get them excited and help them understand what the book is about. Also when students ask what a word means I try to use examples of them that they can relate to and understand. For example a student asked what the word "same" meant as we were doing a math problem and I explained what a twin was a how they were the same and their head instantly clicked to the word as they had a cousins who were twins.

Visual Connection: 

I was surprised about how much of the mainstreamed regular kids would reach out without hesitation and help the ELL students to be able to make sure they had a friend and having fun like everyone else. Also academically were the other students helpful as they would help the ELL's find the right page and make sure that they were getting help even when the ELL's hands weren't raised they would come and tell me that they were struggling and needed that extra help.