Jennifer Dixon TWS 1: Contextual Factors 1) Classroom Factors

September 26, 2013

a) Physical features, technology, and equipment: My classroom has 24 student-sized desks. They are arranged in 2 rows of 5 desks on the left side of the room, and 3 rows on the right side: 2 rows of 5, one row of 4. My teacher has a bookshelf with many books for the students to read in the back of the room. Beside the bookshelf, she has a round table to use for small-group activities and one-on-one instruction. Lining the back wall of the classroom is shelving that holds books, teacher resources, and materials such as scissors, glue, markers, rules, and base ten blocks. The classroom also has a sink for the students to use and one window in the back of the room. In the front of the room is a SMART board/projector system. My teacher uses it all the time because she only has a very small dry-erase board. She has a laptop that connects to the SMART board as well as an iPad for the class to use. There are also 5 computers in the back of the room. In the library is a class set of iPads for teachers to reserve for his or her class to use. b) Parental involvement, rules, routines, and scheduling: There is little to no parental involvement at this point in the year. Only 2 parents have gotten in contact with Mrs. Lawrence so far, but she did say some parents probably would volunteer in the future for field trips, class parties, etc. At the PTO/Grandparent night meeting, she had less than half of the students grandparents come. My teacher has a poster on the wall with her classroom rules listed. She and all of her students have signed this poster recognizing that they are agreeing to follow the classroom rules. Her rules are: 1. Keep hands and feet to yourself. 2. Always be honest. 3. Be nice to one another. 4. Listen. 5. Be respectful. 6. Raise your hand and wait your turn. I think that having the students play a part in their classroom rules is a great strategy for helping classroom management. The students have several everyday routines that they follow. When they enter the classroom, they take their chair off their desk, have a seat, get out homework, materials for math and science, then hang their book bags up on the rack. They return to their seat and begin working on the daily five. This is a set of five math question that are displayed on the SMART board every morning as they enter class. Students work on this, eat breakfast, and then watch

Jennifer Dixon

September 26, 2013

the school news. This is a routine that they know to do everyday, but is not always completely followed. The other routine is lunch procedures. Around 10:45 everyday, students are told to get agendas out and record that nights assignments. Then they pack up and wait quietly for Mrs. Lawrence to call them to line up. Once in the hallway, they put their book bags down against the wall and walk to the cafeteria. This is always something they are very familiar with. The daily schedule begins at 7:35, when students enter the room and begin eating breakfast and doing morning work. At 8:00, they begin writing workshop/word study/grammar. They work on that for an hour, then science begins at 9:00. Math begins at 9:30 and ends at 10:45 when the class begins to pack up for lunch. Lunch is from 10:55-11:20, and then recess directly follows and lasts until 11:20. Students come back inside at 11:45 and change classes. From 11:45-1:25, Mrs. Lawrence teaches science and math again to another class of 4th graders. The students go to activity (computer/PE/art/music) at the end of the day, from 1:25-2:25 and then dismissal begins. 2) Student Characteristics i) Age: 9-10 years old (17 students are 9 years old, 7 students are 10 years old) ii) Gender: 11 males, 13 females iii) Race/ethnicity: Caucasian: 11, African-American: 7, Latino/Hispanic: 4, Asian/Pacific Island: 1, Other: 1 iv) Special needs: There are no students with special needs. v) Achievement levels: Math: 9 students below average, 8 students average, 7 students above average. Reading: 8 students below average, 12 students average, 4 students above average. vi) Culture: There are 4 students with Hispanic backgrounds and 1 student with an Indian background. vii) Language: There are 4 Hispanic students that receive ESOL services, but only 2 are pulled out for instruction. The other 2 are only monitored periodically. All 4 students are very fluent and easy communicate with.

Jennifer Dixon viii)

September 26, 2013

Interests: From the student surveys, I learned that many of my students

really like to play with and read about animals. I also learned that they enjoy playing games and the person they admire most is a family member. 3) Instructional Implication i) This information will guide me as I select and plan lessons to teach. Based on the information on the inventories, I know many things that my students like and enjoy. I will try to use this information to make lessons enjoyable for them. Since I know many of my students really like animals, I could select texts, math problems, and other things that involve animals. I know that many of my students have a family member that they admire, so I could use this for discussion and/or writing topics. The lack of parental involvement means that I cannot rely on students to complete difficult tasks at home. For projects and computer usage, I should make sure the students could work on these while they are at school. Because several students are below average in math and reading, I will make sure I accommodate for those students to have materials that are appropriate for his or her level, along with extra help. The ESOL students will also have accommodations if needed. I can read texts aloud, summarize, or assign a partner to work with them to help to catch on and be able to achieve at the level they are expected to.