Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Using the space provided below, briefly summarize todays classroom experience.
Identify the Illinois
Standards 4, 5 & 7
Professional Teaching
Standard(s) targeted in
todays experience.
Identify performance
activities that occurs
today which addressed
the teaching standards
identified above. Then
describe what you
learned.
Using the space provided below, briefly summarize todays classroom experience.
Identify the Illinois
Standard 4 & Standard 6
Professional Teaching
Standard(s) targeted in
todays experience.
Identify performance
activities that occurs
today which addressed
the teaching standards
identified above. Then
describe what you
learned.
Using the space provided below, briefly summarize todays classroom experience.
Identify the Illinois
Standard 1, 5 & 7
Professional Teaching
Standard(s) targeted in
todays experience.
Identify performance
activities that occurs
today which addressed
the teaching standards
identified above. Then
describe what you
learned.
Mrs. H had given out two spelling lists at the beginning of the week
depending on the results of the pretest. Students had either regular or
challenge spelling list in order to serve students diverse needs.
During the week, they had prepared for the spelling by doing various
activities. One activity was to fill out a chart with the spelling words
every day. Today, as Mrs. H said each word while testing students,
she used familiar sentences she had used throughout the week while
practicing spelling. Afterwards, she handed out weekly newsletter to
the kids and told them to read the story in the newsletter (Times
Weekly for Kids).
Spelling assessment was the summative assessment in order to test
the knowledge and how much children had retained.
I learned Mrs. Hs persistence while trying to keep children on track.
For example, she gave old-fashioned telephone shaped plastic
instrument called whisper phones to the students who were reading
too loud. The purpose of the whisper phone was to let the child hear
himself as he reads so he can read slowly.
Students listened as Mrs. H called out spelling words. Since there
were two spelling lists, she passed out handouts for two items on the
agenda: the spelling test and the brainstorming map. One group of
students was writing the regular spelling words as Mrs. H called each
word out following an interesting sentence. The other group worked
Using the space provided below, briefly summarize todays classroom experience.
Standard 1, 4, 5 & 7
Identify the Illinois
Professional Teaching
Standard(s) targeted in
todays experience.
Using the space provided below, briefly summarize todays classroom experience.
Identify the Illinois
Standard 6 & 8. (Kindergarten teachers demonstrated Standard 5)
Professional Teaching
Standard(s) targeted in
todays experience.
Identify performance
activities that occurs today
which addressed the teaching
Using the space provided below, briefly summarize todays classroom experience.
Standards 1, 4 & 5
(Mrs. H was going to come a little late today so I observed KG in
Identify the Illinois
order to stay under a licensed teachers supervision)
Professional Teaching
Standard(s) targeted in
todays experience.
Once students were settled unpacking and sitting down, Mrs. Adil
started a discussion over what everyone did over the weekend. She
asked each student one by one what they did and received different
responses from all students.
As the students told her what they had done, she responded back
with either praise or constructive criticism. For example, when
students said they had done activities involving physical activity
such as riding bike or going shopping, she encouraged such
activities and commented that riding bike is a good exercise. When
students responded by saying they watched TV all day, she softly
explained to them that it is important to get up and move and that
can be achieved by playing various games or taking a walk outside
or playing in the backyard.
Mrs. Adil took the class to sit down on the rug so they could start
their day off by adding the day/month/date and weather to the
Velcro chart on the board. She called on one student to come up
front and asked the whole class to help him as they figured out
what day, month and date it is today. She asked a lot of before and
after questions as a review while they figured out todays date. For
example, she asked what date was it before the 3rd and what month
came before October.
I learned that teachers must consider the grade level of students
when lesson planning and start the day off according to that.
Younger students such as Kindergartners are still learning and
getting used to the routine of school and I learned it is extremely
important to slowly begin the day compared to the second graders
I usually observe who get to work right away. (It took some
cheering up for Mrs. Adil to make some sad students feel better
and this must be kept in mind if someone will be teaching
Kindergarten)
Students enthusiastically took part in the discussion about what
they did over the weekend. The student who was todays calendar
person today was having some difficulty figuring out some of the
things and the whole class participated in helping him figure out
todays date and month.
One of the Kindergartners came in a little late and was crying as
her mom was about to leave. Mrs. Adil hugged her and comforted
her by saying its ok sweetie, I know you feel sad but it is
important so spend some time at school and learn about all the fun
things in the world, right? The student was feeling much better
and started participating in class discussion in a few minutes.
Even though it seems easy to tackle lower grade levels such as KG
but keeping all the students on track and making sure of each and
everyones progress is tough. It takes years of practice and
patience to achieve the level at which teachers can handle even the
most uninterested students diligently. My question is: what
techniques may teachers use to keep themselves patient throughout
and consistently as they try to teach same concepts over and over
again? I saw much more repetition today in the kindergarten
classroom which is why I am asking this question. It was quite a
different experience today compared to the second grade class I
observe.
Using the space provided below, briefly summarize todays classroom experience.
Standard 1 & 7
Identify the Illinois
Professional Teaching
Standard(s) targeted in
todays experience.
learned.
One of the students kept standing up and was having a hard time
keeping still. Mrs. H allowed him to stand up and discussed with
me privately that she had recently read about letting students stand
if they need to (ADHD cases).
Mrs. H takes into consideration different emerging needs of her
students and tries to cooperate with them in that which would
make them focus more and perform better. My emerging question
is how can a teacher effectively address each individual students
needs without spending too much of the class time disciplining the
children and keep in mind each individual students unique style of
learning?
Using the space provided below, briefly summarize todays classroom experience.
Identify the Illinois
Standard 2, 6 & 7
Professional Teaching
Standard(s) targeted in
todays experience.
she wanted them to look for a pattern in the spelling words. When
they were finished with the spelling test, she asked the students to
identify a pattern in the words that they might have observed. The
students guessed different patterns but the right pattern were the
diagraphs. Mrs. H demonstrated in-depth understanding of content
area knowledge as she discussed the phonics.
Pre-test gives a good idea to the instructor about childrens different
learning needs. Mrs. H does not keep all students at the regular list,
but rather, challenges those who get full points in pre-test by giving
them a little harder word list. This also seems to help her with
differentiated instruction.
I learned that outlining what the teacher expects students to
concentrate on is a great way to promote critical thinking and helps
in initiating deeper understanding of concepts in students minds.
Students were actively participating in the review before the pre-test
and most of them had the right answers. After the test, they learned
about diagraphs such as ch, tch, sh and etc. Students seem to grasp
the concept very well.
When the pre-test was over, they observed the exceptional weather
above 75 degrees in Mid-October. They talked about the geese who
had landed in the vast green field which could be seen from the
classroom windows. Mrs. H asked the students why they think the
geese were landing in the fields and they responded: for food.
I graded the pre-test for Mrs. H. There were 5 students who had spelled all
14 words correctly. Majority of the class got 2 or 3 wrong.
My emerging question is regarding the students who do not abide by
repeated reminders to follow teachers directions. I understanding that the
parents should be sent a note home if the student is being a complete
distraction to the class, but what may the teacher do right there at the
moment so that the second grader who would not listen would start
behaving (or instantly start behaving) without losing her patience? What
techniques may she use to positively reinforce the child to listen and
follow directions?
School: IFS
Using the space provided below, briefly summarize todays classroom experience.
Identify the Illinois
Standard 2 & 6
Professional Teaching
Standard(s) targeted in
todays experience.
Using the space provided below, briefly summarize todays classroom experience.
Standard 7
Identify the Illinois
Professional Teaching
Standard(s) targeted in
todays experience.
Students reviewed the past, present and future tenses with Mrs. H
before she gave a test in language arts. Mrs. H used hand gestures to
point out past, present and future and students followed. Students
were also given a maze handout to work on as a warm-up before the
test. Most students were able to finish the maze handout quickly and
correctly.
I learned that it is always a good idea in elementary grades to review
the concepts quickly before assessing students in order to refresh the
lesson. A lot takes place between the time when school ends to the
start of a new school day and it helps to review in case anyone has
forgotten anything.
Students enjoyed the maze handout and I heard phrases such as this
is so hard and I finished already. Many students also finished
their language arts assessment on past, present and future tense
quickly. During review with Mrs. H, students followed Mrs. Hs
hand gestures to remember past, present and future tenses.
After an hour of above mentioned activities, snack time and reading
(for those who finished test early), students went to gym. I stayed
with Mrs. H to help put the big pile of papers she brought from
home in students mailboxes. As I worked on putting away the
graded work, Mrs. H and I talked about similarities and differences
in public vs. private schools. She stated that public schools have
more access to updated technology compared to private schools. I
mentioned to her my chat with Mrs. Mazaccano last week during
Parent-Teacher Conferences about the different points-of-views of
public school teachers compared to private schools. I also asked her
if she gets to pick her room furniture or she just has to work with
whats available. It was interesting to hear that she was allowed to
Using the space provided below, briefly summarize todays classroom experience.
Identify the Illinois
Standard 2, 6 and 9
Professional Teaching
Standard(s) targeted in
todays experience.
Identify performance
activities that occurs today
which addressed the teaching
standards identified above.
Then describe what you
learned.
Using the space provided below, briefly summarize todays classroom experience.
Identify the Illinois
Standards 2, 5 & 6
Professional Teaching
Standard(s) targeted in
todays experience.
Identify performance
activities that occurs today
which addressed the teaching
standards identified above.
Then describe what you
learned.
Using the space provided below, briefly summarize todays classroom experience.
Identify the Illinois
Standards 6 & 8
Professional Teaching
Standard(s) targeted in
todays experience.
Identify performance
activities that occurs today
which addressed the teaching
standards identified above.
Then describe what you
learned.
and she was more than happy to let me do so. (I was thinking of
bringing some form of goodies for the kids on Wednesday when
they would have their marble jar party). When the kids lined up, I
told them that if they walk quietly and well-behaved to the gym,
they would receive a surprise from me on Wednesday. Students
demonstrated excellent obeying skills which they might not have
otherwise demonstrated so easily. Mrs. H was impressed but I did
mention to her, that I understand teachers cant always be offering
tangible surprises for good behavior so this is not a great technique
after all. She wholeheartedly agreed!
There is one particular student that comes in tardy every single day
to class which results in missing about 30 minutes of instruction
time and morning work. How can Mrs. H tackle it better instead of
just reminding him that being late is not a good thing to do? Should
she contact the parents with regards to this issue or should she keep
it to herself assuming there might be a valid excuse for this kid
being late every single day? (This particular student was recently
transferred from the other section of the second grade class to Mrs.
Hs class for personal reasons).
Site Visit Notes- Visit 14
Using the space provided below, briefly summarize todays classroom experience.
Identify the Illinois
Standards 2, 6 & 7
Professional Teaching
Standard(s) targeted in
todays experience.
Identify performance
activities that occurs today
which addressed the teaching
standards identified above.
Then describe what you
learned.
Using the space provided below, briefly summarize todays classroom experience.
Identify the Illinois
Standards 2, 4 & 5
Professional Teaching
Standard(s) targeted in
todays experience.
Identify performance
activities that occurs today
which addressed the teaching
standards identified above.
Then describe what you
learned.
more time than other students to follow the instructions. Two ADHD
students were distracting the class a great deal during instruction.
Mrs. H asked one of them to sit right by her on the rug to minimize
the distraction. She also gave her students (both ADHD) energy
breaks where they went to the reading rug and jumped up and
down and walked around in that area to release energy.
Even though, IFS agrees to provide assistance with screening for
students who may need an IEP, many parents deny that there may be
a need for special education plan for their child. This creates a havoc
in classes where teachers have no extra help to meet needs of
individual students. How shall a teacher tackle such situations when
the whole class is impacted during instruction because of certain
students? Consider that the teacher has no extra help and the
teachers aide spends half her time with the other section of the 2nd
grade class.
Site Visit Notes- Visit 16
Using the space provided below, briefly summarize todays classroom experience.
Identify the Illinois
Standards 2 & 4
Professional Teaching
Standard(s) targeted in
todays experience.
Identify performance
activities that occurs today
which addressed the teaching
standards identified above.
Then describe what you
learned.
Mrs. H began the day by reviewing where the class had left off the
day before. She shared colorful books with class on the topic of
ocean life to give them more ideas about what they can add to the
ocean project. Then she began a new lesson in ELA. The class read
the vocabulary words out loud. Some students were not looking at
the words as they read so the teacher picked on a couple of students
to read the words by themselves to make sure they were following
along. They read the sentences related to the vocabulary words out
loud as well. After the vocabulary, teacher read the background
information passage (the topic was Musical Instruments). She asked
students to picture in their minds what they heard as she read the
passage. She asked the class where they have heard the bands play
together to promote critical thinking.
I learned that effective teachers keep the entire class involved like
Mrs. H picked on students who seemed distracted and paid less
attention.
Students followed directions for reading the vocabulary out loud.
Some students started dancing in their chairs when they heard the
introductory passage about musical instruments as she read it aloud.
Students were eager to share their response to the question about
bands. Some students shared they had heard bands playing together
at parades and at games.
The morning began quietly and nothing significant had happened yet
in the short period of time I spent in class today.
Emerging question: How long should it take for an effective teacher
to develop a routine and have students follow through as she expects
them to?