1 Module D Reflections

What I have learned about my students and/or myse lf as a teacher:

My semester long student teaching experience made me aware of how crucial the beginning of the year is in setting norms. Being so familiar with the beginning of the year, lead me to unknown territory in the second half of the year. After my first full year I have seen how these norms must be upheld and reviewed continuously for months beyond the start of school. At the beginning of the year, routine came naturally to me and I was able to explain my expectations for my students. As the year

progressed I soon realized it doesn’t just stop there, it must be continued for the remainder of the year. Some students in my classroom needed more attention in this area, while others would lead by example. I have learned that I, as a teacher, must keep my students and myself held to high standards throughout the entirety of the school year. The greatest shift I saw in this was around our holiday break. I had focused so much and put so much time and energy into verbal positive reinforcement and intrinsic motivation. I neglected to set up a consistent and stable extrinsic motivation reward system. I began the year with table tallies, rewarding those students at the end of the week that demonstrated on task and productive behavior. I did not always have a set reward for them and it fell to the back burner. After a few weeks of this I decided I must do something to combat this frustration. I used my resources on TeachersPayTeachers.com and found a coupon reward system that my students would thrive with. I slowly introduced how we would earn these coupons. I was proud of how I got my students interested in working toward something they wanted. The rewards are not always tangible things, which makes it easy on my wallet.

Although it would be nice to think all students can work through intrinsic motivation, it is not realistic. I have learned just how crucial it is to work with students wants and needs in mind. When a student was starting to give up on earning a coupon because they didn’t like any of the choices, I conferenced with them and we discussed what they would like to see in the coupon book. This only happened a few times but it has taught me how to consider giving my students more choice in their rewards and beyond. I look forward to next year, beginning the school year with this system and continuing it throughout a full year. I have even begun to think of how I can tweak it just from using it a few months this year.

2 One way I have ensured equity in my c lassroom th is year and the impact on students :

I was able to learn how I am able to ensure equity in my classroom with the help of my school’s staff. At the beginning of the year I did not use equity tools during my instruction as frequently as some of the other teachers did. Through observations and conferences about observations I was given many great ideas. I have followed by the example of some of the veteran teachers at my school site. I also have enjoyed getting to try these out in my classroom with the help and guidance of my school’s principal. The first equity tool I began using was a think-pair-share discussion technique. In our district we use PROF. This is a structured discussion tool to assist students in getting the most out of the lesson. Students have a predetermined partner and set amount of time to discuss what the teacher has instructed them to. In my classroom students are either “Partner A” or “Partner B”. I might say something like “Partner A you have 30 seconds to tell your partner ______. Partner B you are listening to Partner A. I will ask you to share what they have said about ______.” This gives each student a responsibility to contribute in various ways. Discussion time without this tool can lead to inefficient and unstructured talk. A tool I began using mid year after suggestions from my school’s principal is equity sticks. To ensure my students are engaged and participating in a lesson I have a cup or popsicle sticks with each students name. Sporadically during a lesson I may use these sticks to motivate students to stay engaged and alert. They enjoy the chance of getting picked and encourage me to use the sticks more often. This also gives me a clue into who appears to be engaged but really is not. When I choose a student I do not put there stick outside of the cup, I put it back in with the others to ensure that student doesn’t participate once and then disengage from the lesson because they don’t think they will get chosen again. This as worked well thus far. On Class Dojo I am able to track participation by giving students points who are doing a wonderful job. This is a positive behavior I have started to reward more often. I go back and forth between “on task” and “participating”. In my experience students react more positively and become more engaged when they see another student earn a participating point. With these tools I have been able to ensure equity in my classroom. This has helped me instruction and engagement during my instruction. I have seen how students have been able to retain more information with the use of these tools when it comes to academic vocabulary. We review them every day and students know they are responsible for remembering. I have had a couple students tell me they have practiced at home in the case they get called on. It is great to see students going above and beyond with me encouragement in the classroom.

The most effect ive instruct iona l strategy I used th is year to make content access ib le to Eng l ish Learners :

This year I have learned so much about what it means to teach English learners. Although, at the start of the year I did not have a substantial amount of experience teaching English learners. Coming from a program not in California, I did not apply what I had learned in the classroom as much as I would have if I did my undergraduate here. Despite this, I did find myself very aware of major instructional strategies and specific lingo and acronyms. The teachers in my grade level supported me and were very knowledgeable about different strategies to help these students. In the last couple months of school I had the opportunity of seeing these teachers in action and collaborating with

3 them as part of a lesson study. Our grade level was chosen to participate in a lesson study focusing on helping the English learners in our classrooms. We met one day to plan and discuss where in the lesson we needed to give extra attention to English learners. We researched to make sure our strategies would actually benefit these students as well as the other populations in our classrooms. Without isolating these students, we developed a lesson on idioms. Through discussion we realized all of the students in our rooms need extra instruction when it came to vocabulary. Because idioms are such a difficult concept, we chose to it as our focus. This lesson was a lot of fun to do with my students and watch as an observer. I think the most effective instructional strategy I used all year and focused on in this lesson study was the use of sentence frames. This was not something I was taught how to use in college but I am so happy my district and school have focused on it so much because I have seen how effective it is. Teaching students how to respond to a question in a complete sentence can be extremely difficult and frustrating. Through the use of sentence frames I have been surprised at how responsive and engaged my students are. This was especially useful when it came to English learners in my classroom. Overall retention during and after lessons improved with rigorous use and attention to the proper use of sentence frames. Without sentence frames my students would have suffered with comprehending the big idea and objectives. In February I took the next step in developing myself as an educator by getting my English Learner Authorization. Weeks of studying for the CTEL exams while running a classroom was very time consuming but in the process I became aware of a lot of the things I was doing in my classroom and realized just how useful they were for my students. Things like being aware of my students’ apprehensions about speaking and writing and their disadvantages because their home language was not well developed. I enjoyed learning more about this population in depth this year. I have had many moments were I have had to take a step back and think about things in a new light. It has only furthered my attention to self-reflection and development.

What I wi l l invest igate or focus on in the next year:

Next year I plan to focus on understanding and organizing subject matter for student learning. This is an area I have not explored as in depth as I have classroom management and I am excited to learn and develop a different part of my teaching practice. This past year our grade level and school has struggled without a curriculum to work off of. At times I felt I was so focused on setting up my classroom for success through routine and expectations and did not give enough of my time and attention to organizing the content I would be teaching. This would frustrate me at times because my students who were further behind needed more pre-teaching and re-teaching. I feel that seeing how this year went will better prepare me for pacing and structure next year. Knowledge of how much time and what aspects to pay closer attention to will ensure my students are getting what they need. Although this is something I want to focus on next year I have already begun to investigate this. Mid year I was able to begin to thoroughly organize subject matter after we adopted a math curriculum and had a lot of new resources. This addition to my classroom helped with the routine I had been working so hard on before. I feel that well organized subject matter made it easier for me to handle behavior problems. I had the resources to help those students who are one or two grade levels below as well as the students who needed added challenge after finishing quickly. Having these resources helped me pay closer attention to who needed what and how I could get them that help. In addition to this, my Universal Access time at the end of the year was far more structured and supportive than it was at the beginning of the year. Being cognizant of my students’ needs and having resources to instruct them is where I will be steering in the future. I hope in the coming year I can reach my students by understanding what they need so I can then go out to look for it. The lack of organized subject matter and resources has made me determined to work harder next year to avoid this frustration. Looking back I see so much opportunity to include more for my students learning.

4 I will continue to focus on my classroom management every year I teach but am excited to move on to developing another part of my classroom practices. I am learning how to evenly distribute my time between different areas of my teaching. I hope to add this focus rather tan replace it because I will never be done developing one aspect. If I understand what my students need and how they need it, I hope I will be able to search or create what is needed. Collaborating with other teachers on their practices will also be extremely helpful in improving my own. I look forward to more opportunities to observe and discuss.

How I have grown in my capacity to teach diverse, 21st century learners:

This year was the first year I have had experience teaching in a STEM- now STEAM school. The teachers at this school work so hard to encourage the creativity and innovative thinking of our 21st century learners. I am amazed at how knowledgeable they are of strategies to engage these learners. I had the opportunity to practice this in my own grade level during our STEM Fest day in December. Each grade level switched classes and participated in a different STEM activity with the teachers. In my classroom, 3rd graders became engineers and developed their own “Candy Cane Catapults” to launch a snowball (marshmallow). I had fun engaging these students through the creative design process of their catapult. They were given a list of materials and had to brainstorm and then develop blueprints for their product using self-direction. They then joined a group of “engineers” to build and test a catapult. This took critical thinking and problem solving skills during the trial runs. They began to collect and analyze the patterns in their data to reflect and improve upon their previous design. Teaching this same lesson several times also helped me adapt my instruction. I saw what did and did not work for students and adapted the lesson as the day went on. In math I readily made available quality learning tools, technologies, and resources. The

math curriculum we adopted mid year provided me with so many new instructional tools. Taking the suggestions from the curriculum and creating my own uses increased understanding and retention through the use of these tools. Time was a very difficult concept for my students but by giving them real world examples and solving problems that had to do with our classrooms’ schedule made the learning relevant and effective.

5 A way I differentiated my instruction to accommodate students from special populations and the effect it had on these students: (**Differentiated instruction refers to altering, accelerating, chunking the content, process, product, or learning environment for learners without modifying the standards.)

Differentiating instruction to accommodate for students from special populations drove my lesson inquiry. Although the focus of my lesson inquiry was classroom management the foundation was in my spelling time. Half way through the year I made the decision to change my spelling format because I saw not all students were benefiting from the instruction. The students in my classroom from special populations struggled with classwork and I did not see that it was developmentally appropriate for them. They often became frustrated and made bad behavioral choices because they weren’t able to complete and understand their work. This led me to differentiate my students’ spelling words and cater to their individual spelling stage. I assessed all students using the tools from Words Their Way and had students completing developmentally appropriate work. They loved it. I accommodated students’

needs to move around and discuss while learning by including activities that promoted this type of work. Their learning environment was altered in a way that they could benefit most from. Students from special populations had an altered product to turn in. Because it took several of them more time to complete an activity, they were required to complete less in the given time frame. Students that were advanced in spelling were able to work with accelerated content and enjoyed this added challenge. A majority of students that struggled before felt confident and demonstrated this by taking responsibility in their classwork.

A piece of student evidence that best illustrates a shift I have made in my teaching:

In my brief teaching experience I have seldom experienced a student that misbehaves due to boredom. Very early in the year I noticed a student that was constantly whispering to his peers, drawing, etc. My first thought was he needed more redirection/attention but after I conferenced with him I realized he was bored of the content because it was too simple for him. He excelled in math and whenever math time came around his off task behavior increased. This student opened my eyes to the high achieving students in my class. He taught me to plan challenging work for early finishers and give them something to do while others may need more review. This led me to greatly change the way I spend my Universal Access time. I was able to transform this time in my room from an unorganized intervention time to a well thought out instructional time based on student performance. I paid close attention to how I was able to access students progress in what we were learning and either take a step back to reteach or push them to critically think and challenge themselves to deepen their knowledge. I am proud of what I have created because it

6 has made my classroom day much more productive. In addition to this student, I have learned how to note why an undesirable behavior has occurred with many others. Two students in my classroom are working through some troubling behaviors. How I react to these students when they misbehave has tremendously affected their attitude of school and our relationship. It had been my mission at the beginning of the year to be cognizant of the trust I was developing with each of my students. I began to realize that different students needed different types of reinforcement and punishment. These students would shut down if approached about a bad behavior in a certain way and would begin to demonstrate more negative behavior. It took so much of my time in this cycle whether it was getting in trouble with other teachers or on the playground. I am happy to say that these students and I have developed a trust with one another. I am more than a teacher to many of my students and I believe this is something that every teacher is reminded of each year. I have had to change some of my instructional practices to be certain these students could not fall into negative behaviors with themselves or each other. These students taught me how to distinguish between different types of off task behavior. I look forward to developing more ways to cope with these students in my classroom to make sure they are getting the most out of my classroom as they can. Setting up my schedule and room to combat these problems is extremely avoidable and I am learning how to work through them each week.

One funny or interesting thing that happened to me this year:

This year I began teaching in an area that was completely new to me. I was not very familiar with students of this population as I am with students in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio. Working with colleagues, parents, and students different than my previous norms was an interesting experience. I had a small field experience with students from low-income families but did not witness or realize the affects it can have on a classroom. This year has opened my eyes to the different roles I play as a teacher. I did not believe I would have as many of these eye-opening experiences in just one year. The greatest learning came from the knowledge of these students home life. Awareness of some of the challenges my students face has made me look at their behavior in the classroom differently. I have learned how to consider all aspects and reasons for inappropriate behavior. In addition to this, reactions to changes in my classroom have been found to be an effect of some of my students’ home lives. This has only made my relationships with my students more important and dependent on success for their learning. One of the meetings we had for our induction program focused on childhood trauma and the effect that can have in the classroom. I really valued this meeting and discussion. It was wonderful to have a professional discussion about topics that are unfortunately not pleasant to talk about. However there have been more uplifting times this year. I have several students who are bilingual, speaking Spanish at home. I enjoy having them share things they learn in Spanish because it is something I am kind of envious of. I have traveled a lot for my age and have been exposed to many different situations in other countries. Language has been an obstacle while traveling and I see how beneficial it can be when communicating with people from new places. When I studied abroad in Austria and Luxembourg; I observed the schools in several regions and I was amazed at how their focus in the classroom is directed almost solely on learning different languages. Seeing how my young students are excited about learning and developing that through language is encouraging. I have several students that can read in Spanish and English and see great things for them. During parent teacher conferences I had the new experience of communicating through a translator. Parent teacher conferences can be an intimidating aspect of the school year. I found it interesting how it could difficult when trying to get my thoughts across. I enjoyed sharing ideas with parents and having them working at home with their children even if it was in their native language. There have been so many invaluable teaching moments this year that have made me a better educator.

7 Continuum of Teaching Practice

Standard 2: Creating and Maintaining Effective Environments for Student Learning

Element Beginning of the year End of the year

2.1 Promoting social development and responsibility within a caring community where each student is treated fairly and respectfully.

I feel that I have set up my classroom in a way that facilitates student engagement. Students work together and independently during Centers time. I have modeled fairness and respect to demonstrate the caring community that I expect. We have discussed I-messages when talking to someone you might disagree with. We have reviewed this several times.

Throughout this year I have had to strengthen my classroom community in several ways. We have had class meetings when behaviors were affecting our caring classroom community. I upheld the use of I-messages to reinforce what I have been teaching since the beginning of the school year. Class incentives have become much more complex than the Class Dojo points I began with. Now these points turn into “punches” in order to earn a “coupon” or students’ choice reward. Table tallies have been used to support the emphasis on group work. I have noticed students developing leadership skills without me directly teaching them. Several students in the room have either taken a job like holding the door, cleaning up the floor, or organizing the bookshelf upon themselves. Most of my students work individually or together during activities so I would say I am maturing beginning practice.

2.2 Creating physical or virtual learning environments that promote student learning, reflect diversity, and encourage constructive and productive interactions among students.

Thus far I have ensured my classroom seating supports individual and group interactions. I am working toward structuring student interaction during discussion time. Because the use of data is new to me I am excited to begin utilizing it for structured groups for center time as well as Universal Access time.

As the end of the year approaches I believe I have come a far way in this standard. Discussion time has been the focus of a lot of my observations with my school’s principal and I have learned a lot about the district expectations. Professional development days have given me so many tools I have used this year. PROF has been my main focus. Assigning students partners was the simple part; it took time to get them used to having a restricted amount of time to share thoughts. I spent weeks practicing this and now a majority of students are able to share when and with whom they are supposed to. During instruction I have been able to use my SmartBoard technology and half way through the year my Elmo document camera! This was an enormous blessing to my Math and ELA instruction.

8 Teaching close reading and measurement were difficult concepts for my students but being able to model for the entire class made lessons that much smoother. Academic vocabulary was another component of this standard I felt I practiced a lot. Words were displayed on the whiteboard and reviewed each day at the start of a lesson. Students were able to stay actively engaged with the use of gestures and educational songs/clips from the internet. I believe I, the teacher, maintain the climate of caring, fairness, and respect while also responding to inappropriate behavior in a fair and equitable pattern. Therefore I believe I am maturing beginning practice.

2.3 Establishing and maintaining learning environments that are physically, intellectually, and emotionally safe

I began this school year valuing my students’ ideas and responses when we made out classroom rules. This was created and signed as a class, taking into consideration the ideas of everyone. I believe this established a great start to our emotional safety in the room. Through this activity I modeled how to agree and disagree with ideas. Some students are unable to work with others collaboratively because of each other’s differences.

This year I have been very consistent with recognizing my students’ contributions and achievements. Class Dojo has allowed me to do just this on a very regular basis. I have introduced mays during instruction to recognize contributions and achievements. When I student volunteers to contribute to discussion I will often have myself and the class give the student 1 clap as a form of positive reinforcement. The students’ faces light up when they get recognized and it gives them even more motivation to continue participating. Students have been self-monitoring their reading levels each trimester. It has taken a lot of time to organize and plan how I wanted them to do this but it has created several bookworms in my classroom. When we reassess and a student’s score increases they are recognized and congratulated by all. These scores have also helped me plan my flexible groups based on their strengths, needs, and readiness. Students that have struggled in the past with working collaboratively have been given new roles that play on their strengths. They have also developed student autonomy through my lesson inquiry. Discussed more in depth later on, my lesson inquiry played on student choice and readiness to facilitate independence and responsibility. I still have room to improve this in my classroom so I believe I am maturing beginning practice.

9 2.4 Creating a rigorous learning environment with high expectations and appropriate support for all students

I do have my classroom objectives and most procedures/ rules/ expectations posted around the room at all times. I refer back to standards and objectives during my lessons. I have kept my materials in a cupboard and take them out when they are needed for an activity.

Throughout the year I began leaving materials out for students to take as needed. This has created some messes but has at the same time developed the leadership skills of some students who have started to taken on the responsibility of reminding others of the importance of cleaning up after ourselves. I have started using an “exit ticket” system to assess students in different ways. I use other methods but this method allows me to take a glance at my students as a whole and as individuals to make decisions about my future instruction. I have developed a routine for my daily/weekly planning. This has allowed me to strengthen my transition times because I am organized and no longer unsure of what is going on in the schedule next. I believe I am maturing beginning practice.

2.5 Developing, communicating, and maintaining high standards for individual and group behavior

I feel I have modeled for students’ appropriate and expected behavior. I am working to uphold my students to these expectations consistently. I have started to maintain these standards by having students reattempt a failed positive behavior. To encourage parent- teacher communication I have asked parents to write me a letter about their child. It was wonderful to hear the strengths of these students through the eyes of their parents. Class Dojo has also allowed parents to become involved in my classroom daily.

This year has focused so much on this element. My reward system has developed so much this past year and I am finally happy were it is at. I think had a began the year with my current system I would have had an easier time setting my expectations and engaging those students who do not have intrinsic motivation to stay on task in the classroom. This year I have had to deal with some major consequences for my students. Staying consistent with parents and the principal has made this more effective in the long run. Next year I hope to begin the year inviting more communication (positive included) so these problems do not arise quickly. The use of transition phrases and signals were used very frequently in my classroom all year. At times they did not work as well so I will continue to keep things interesting and unexpected. Again, my behavior system now would have helped establish this better in the start of the year. I feel that I am developing beginning practice because they sometimes work moderately well and there is a small part of instructional time lost.

2.6 Employing classroom routines, procedures, norms, and supports for positive behavior to

I have included students in the development of our procedures and routines and post classroom objectives and learning goals. At this point in time transitions are working toward seamless. During centers time some

This was again a major component of my lesson inquiry. I knew students in my class struggled to get their work done because it was not developmentally appropriate for them. Through my lesson inquiry I have given them the support they needed in order to adapt to our routines and

10 ensure a climate in which all students can learn

students do not have enough time to finish. I will begin considering if they are developmentally able to complete the activities.

procedures. This lesson inquiry also helped me to develop a pretty solid daily routine that was not always consistent at the beginning of the year. Maintaining this routine has become easier and students have even started to remind me of what is coming up next. Class Dojo and my reward system has supported our routines and transition time so much. Halfway through the year several students were having a very difficult time staying involved and now they have turned that around and are involving others in on task behavior. Students are aware of what clean up time sounds and looks like. Students are able to complete activities in an appropriate amount of time because they are aware of how much time (visual timer on the board) and have accepted their responsibility to learn.

2.7 Using instructional time to optimize learning

I have been following the pacing guide developed by the district. Our grade level has struggled some to stay up to pace in math because of the lack of resources. This is also a result of my students not being ready for the next topic. I have had to slow down to an appropriate pace for my different learners.

Fast paces learners have been a focus this year for me. I struggled at first to balance my time between them and the lower achieving students in my class. Developing my Universal Access time has given me time to pay close attention to what these students need. I have found that most of them need an extra challenge to keep them engaged and on task. They thrive when they are given more tasks and are extremely motivated to learn. Through my observations from the principal I have had the opportunity to fine-tune my check for understanding. This has resulted in greater planning and responsibility for my students. They are continually engaged in the lesson and actively participating.

11 Self-filmed Video Review

In this observed lesson I focused on engaging students during English Language Arts

center time. This was achieved with thorough explanation of expectations and a variety of

resources for students to review and demonstrate knowledge of the routine independently.

In the start of the lesson I directed students attention to their “Center Time Schedule”

and demonstrated how they should conduct themselves while I worked in a small group. I

believe I did a nice job of first modeling for the students how to follow the Center Time

routine, and then utilizing guided practice in my lesson with student and teacher input.

Students were participating by raising their hands and providing the class with examples

and non-examples of the appropriate behavior. This demonstrated to me that my students

were engaged in the lesson.

I was able to check for understanding with a think-pair-share. I chose to test their

problem solving skills by giving a hypothetical situation that the students might run into

during Center Time. The majority of students were discussing the routine and providing

insight into their individual solutions. This tested their knowledge of my expectations and

ability to demonstrate responsibility in the learning environment.

After thorough explanation of my expectations and several guided examples, students

were ready to begin. I chose a gradual release into center time, dismissing students who

were showing participation and patience first. This transition time was structured and

ensured that students were aware this time was part of the routine we discussed. I

recognized those students’ achievements and successes in following routine by awarding

them ClassDojo points. This continued throughout the lesson and into small group time.

While I was away from the group I was able to stay connected and uphold my expectations

12 by having students award points themselves when I witness a good choice. The students

were cognizant I was aware of their activity even though I was busy with other students.

During my small group time I struggled at first with time management. I soon

realized I would need to add more students to my group in order to accomplish everything I

had in my plans. I was very flexible and knew if I wanted to keep my students on schedule I

had to adapt mine. The activity suited well for this adjustment and there were no problems.

Overall, the students stayed engaged with their responsibility and assignments

throughout the lesson. We continued to work on routine and practice using resources like

each other, the pocket chart with the schedule, and written reminders.

13 Special Education Referral Process

14 Sample Lesson Plan

PLAN

Tit le of Activity & Source of Strategy For This Lesson: “Guided reading” and “Al l About… Books” from 50 Literacy Strategies Step by Step 4 th Edit ion Tompkins, Gail E. "Shared Reading." 50 Literacy Strategies: Step by Step. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Pages 48 & 1. Print. Qual itative Spel l ing Checkl ist Common Core ELA Standard: RL.2.1 Key Ideas and Details- Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. Student Learning Objective: Given prompting, the student will ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in Polar Bears Past Bedtime written by Mary Pope Osborne by asking or answering at least 3 questions to develop or correct her understanding. Key Vocabulary: polar bear, arctic , tundra, parka, ig loo, snow bank, mush Academic Language: guided reading, accuracy, f luency, decoding, e laborate Materials , Resources & Technology:

• Polar Bears Past Bedtime by Mary Pope Osborne • Polar bears and the Arctic: a nonfiction companion to polar bears past bedtime by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie

Pope Boyce

ENGAGE

1 . Guided Reading Allotted Time: 35 minutes Procedures:

• Opening: “Hi! Today I brought a book for you to read called Polar Bears Past Bedtime written by Mary Pope Osborne and illustrated by Sal Murdocca. Mary Pope Osborne is a famous author that has written many children’s books that I loved to read when I was learning how to become a better reader. Have you every heard of Mary Pope Osborne or Magic Tree House books before? [Student responds] The book I have brought for you today has an interesting cover. What do you see? [Student responds] Where do you think this book may be set? [Student responds] Why? [Student responds] Can you flip through the pages quickly and tell me what illustrations you see? [Student flips through and responds] What can you tell about this story from seeing the illustration? [Student responds] What questions do you have about what the story may be about or the people in these illustrations? [Student responds] These are some great questions that we will soon find out the answer to by reading. Today we are going to work on reading accurately, or without many mistakes. I would like you to begin reading and whenever you come to a difficult word or sentence I would like you to pause and ask me for help.”

• Teacher Model ing: “If I were to look at the first page and didn’t know the word arctic I wouldn’t skip the word and continue reading. I would first try to sound out the word myself, and then if I were still unable to

15 continue, I would ask a friend or teacher to assist me. When I have figured out the word I will reread the sentence to make sure I understand what is happening in my book.”

• Guided Practice: “We discussed this last week, what are some of the other ways we could use to figure out a tricky word? [Student responds] Are there any illustrations on the page that could help us decide what a tricky word may be? [Student responds] How can these illustrations help us? [Student responds] Keep these different strategies in mind when reading. When we think of strategies to help us read it will help us avoid getting stuck.”

• Independent Practice: [Student reads book] [Student asks questions when the strategies discussed do not help to decode the word, phrase, or sentence] [Student asks for help]“What strategies have you tried to figure out this tricky word?” [Student responds]

• Closure of Lesson: “What did you like or dislike about this book? [Student responds] What part of the reading was your favorite? [Student responds] What confused you when reading? [Student responds] Maybe we can look back in the book to see if we missed any important details that can answer your question. [Student looks back for the answer to their question] Now that we have cleared up any confusing parts of the story, what were Jack and Annie trying to become? [Student responds] Where did Morgan send Jack and Annie to solve the last riddle? [Student responds] What did they hear coming toward the tree house? [Student responds] Why do you think the seal hunter gave Jack and Annie the warm clothes? [Student responds] I wonder if the clothes helped them stay warm enough? [Student responds] Why do they honor the polar bear? [Student responds] What do you think my happen in the rest of the story? [Student responds] What questions do you have about the situations Jack and Annie may find themselves in? [Student responds] We will find time tomorrow or in our independent reading time.”

ASSESS

Formal or Informal—Assessment(s) a l igned to standard & objective:

• Informal: As the student completes the activity I will collet data to determine whether or not the student is able to ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how when prompted, to demonstrate understanding of key details in Polar Bears Past Bedtime written by Mary Pope Osborne in order to deepen or correct their understanding of the text.

o The student did/ did not demonstrate understanding of key details from the text. REFLECT

• What worked in this lesson for your student and why & what didn’t work in this lesson for your student and why

• How successful was the activity in terms of furthering your student’s learning about this objective? (for assessments, what data did you get from this lesson—reading levels , etc .)?

• Evaluate the qual ity of your efforts to use academic language to further your student’s learning?

• How wil l you plan future l i teracy lessons based on what you have learned about your student after completing this lesson?

16 Inquiry

FOCUS OF THE INQUIRY

Area of focus

CSTP e lements addressed

Focus quest ion for th is inquiry

Antic ipated , measurab le outcomes for student learning at the end of th is

lesson ser ies

Standard 2: Creating and Maintaining Effective Environments for Student Learning

CSTP 2.2 Creating physical or

virtual learning environments that promote student learning, reflect diversity, and encourage constructive and productive interactions among students.

CSTP 2.4 Creating a rigorous

learning environment with high expectations and appropriate support for all students.

CSTP 2.5 Developing,

communicating, and maintaining high standards for individual and group behavior.

CSTP 2.6 Employing classroom

routines, procedures, norms, and supports for positive behavior to ensure a climate in which all students can learn.

CSTP 2.7 Using instructional

time to optimize learning.

How do I ensure I use instructional time effectively and that my students are engaged and benefiting from the learning activities?

100% of my students will independently complete developmentally appropriate work without distracting themselves or others by completing at least 4 out of 6 spelling activities (3 for students of special populations, English learners, etc.)

17 ACTION PLAN

Approximate date of

research

RESEARCH

APPLICATION RESULTS

Fall 2013

Phonics and Word Study course taken

at Miami University

In this course I was able to become familiar with the five stages of developmental word knowledge discussed in Words Their Way (Bear, 2012). I

was also given the opportunity to practice administering/completing the feature guide for the primary and elementary spelling inventory. I plan to apply my knowledge of how to increase student success and engagement in spelling by individualizing the spelling patterns focused on

each week after administering a research supported spelling inventory to help guide my instructional focus. This will ensure that my students are benefiting from the activities I

provide them with because it is within their Zone of Proximal Development. I hope by doing this,

engagement will increase because the work will no longer be too easy or too difficult for some, which

has created boredom and frustration.

My teaching was impacted when using Words Their Way in my classroom greatly. Knowing that my

students were completing work that was appropriate and necessary for them reaching grade level helped guide my instruction. I could see where my students were at and what I needed to do to get them where

they need to be. The impact this had on my instruction has made the high expectations I have for my students clearer and has optimized my students’ learning. Now 100% of my students are working on developmentally

appropriate work.

January 2016 Online

Research

While researching online I found many helpful attention grabbers. I have about 5 that I use daily but have noticed my students get bored of them

and so have I. Adding a larger variety of attention grabbers will keep my students on their toes. I hope to use these when the noise volume

gets slightly out of hand or students need directions repeated because some are off task and not following the routine established. In addition

to this I have found wonderful resources for motivation. Students motivation at this age is

This classroom coupon system has tremendously impacted my students’ motivation. My classroom has

been focused on positive behavior before, but the students love working toward their own individual

reward. I have seen the greatest impact in some of my more off task students. When they are reminded of

how close they are to reaching their goal they immediately demonstrate correct behavior and for the most part continue this behavior even after they have received a punch. I use this not only during my lesson series but throughout the entire day. Students earn 1

18 intrinsic but for some overwhelmingly extrinsic.

Before I did not have a lot of extrinsic motivation supporting my students. Rather than giving

students things I have found a coupon system could benefit my students. Within this lesson

series I am going to establish a classroom coupon system. I have found a system that uses punch cards. Once the student earns 20 punches they are allowed to choose 1 coupon from the book.

These can range from “extra computer time” to “eat lunch with the teacher”. I think this will help my students stay motivated and I am excited to try it. It can become very costly when teachers

are constantly giving student materialistic things. This is why I am happy to try giving students

these types of rewards that don’t require extra materials, money, or time.

punch for every 2 ClassDojo points they earn throughout the day. Many students have earned not only 1 but 2 or 3 coupons already. The end of the day is a very talkative

and hectic time. Because students get their punches for the most part at the end of the day before dismissal, the off task behavior is minimalized. During the time of my

lesson series they are earning ClassDojo points that go toward their punch

card. It took some time to put together

the coupon book and

introduce it to the

students but it has been paying off every since. This has showed me that

the students know what correct behavior is as I established with our routine in my lesson series. I know they are capable of demonstrating it. Negative behavior

has gone from an average of 7% a day to 0%. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t negative behavior, but I

have recognized more good behavior.

January 2016 Talked to a colleague

I spoke with a colleague to discuss how to manage instructional group rotations during the week.

This was very insightful because there is so much to get done in one week and it is not easily

scheduled. We discussed that not every student must be on that same timetable. It is ok to have

some students taking a spelling test on Monday or Tuesday rather than everyone on Friday, or

getting a new list on Thursday, etc. This allows for different instructional groups to be working

on separate lists while still accomplishing the goal of learning the spelling features, and in the long

run moving up in spelling stages. I plan to incorporate this when developing my instructional groups. This rotation is the foundation for this lesson series. We also discussed how it is ok to

be flexible and move around students as they master the spelling features. Reviewing students spelling stage is something I will continue to check

in on to make sure they continue to be appropriately placed for instruction. In addition

to weekly spelling tests I will also give review tests to check for retention.

I went ahead and split up spelling stages across the week. This routine was difficult to see when I first

began but I continued and tried to see the end result. It took a lot of time and explanation to the students to

understand this routine but I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked. I strive to be a flexible teacher as much as I can and was having some trouble doing this when setting up the routine. All students were able to learn after this routine/norms were established at the beginning and during the series. I also structured the

week to include different sorts

between students. This encouraged

productive interaction. During this time students

were asked to work together,

sometimes giving constructive

comments. I modeled this several times for students, which helped create the learning environment that could

encourage all students learning.

19

RESULTS

% or # STUDENTS

22 # of students who took the Entry-Leve l Assessment

.04% % of students who met or exceeded profic iency for the Entry-Leve l Assessment

1 # of Focus Students who met or exceeded profic iency for the Entry-Leve l Assessment

22 # of students who took the Summative Assessment

77% % of students who met or exceeded profic iency for the Summative Assessment

17 # of Focus Students who met or exceeded profic iency for the Summative Assessment

REFLECTION

The impact on my instructional practices and student achievement

As a result of the inquiry process and the CTP/self assessment results, 77% of my students have met or exceeded my goal in the summative assessment. This has increased more than 76% since the entry-level assessment. My instructional practices have focused on positive behavior a tremendous amount. This lesson series has increased and modified how I use Class Dojo. This was not something I intended on developing but happened on its own. My students have begun inputting their own data on Class Dojo under my direction. This has created a little bit more excitement and motivation to earn points. During the week in February when I gave the entry-level assessment my students overall had 93% positive behavior. During the week of the summative assessment positive behavior was overall 99% for all students.

20 What I learned about student development, instructional practice, academic content , and/or myself as a teacher

Throughout this inquiry process I have learned that student development is better achieved when at the students’ appropriate level. Several of my students had difficulty staying motivated during the entry-level assessment because they did not feel confident in their ability. This then translated in their ability to follow routine directions. My instructional practice was impacted while discovering this. I knew I had to challenge my students in a variety of ways that best suited them. I demonstrated my high expectations in several ways to reach all of my students. This seemed to make it much easier for the classroom to work together. My focus on academic content in spelling in order to achieve success in routine and responsibility has taught me that they two must always balance each other. I cannot expect my students to perform at the level of my high expectations unless I set them up for success. Knowing the strengths and struggles of each individual will be my main priority when looking at problems my classroom has in following routine.

APPLICATION

How I wi l l apply new learning to my future practice

Based on this lesson series I have gained very helpful new learning. This has shown me that I am capable of developing a routine that my students are able to follow and grow from. The routine is the foundation for the rest of the classroom and without this foundation my students learning cannot reach its full potential. I felt that before this lesson series I knew the importance of it but after this lesson series I see how much I was lacking before. It was clear to me that my routine needed more development but how to do that was uncertain. Now I have the confidence to organize my classroom in the way that fits my teaching style and students learning style best. In the future I will spend more time in the beginning setting a clear routine that is reviewed and demonstrated for students throughout the introduction. I will continue to use examples and non-examples with showing correct behavior. I will give students opportunity to have a choice in their learning, whether that is in content or environment. In addition to learning the importance of a strong foundation, I see how vital flexibility is. The schedule I developed for this routine took a lot of time and has a lot of missing parts. It was very easy to get discouraged and want to trash the whole thing. Rather than giving up and thinking it’ll be better next year I learned how to change things as I go throughout the school year and make it better then. This was something I struggled with a lot and had great support from other new teachers that were thinking the same thing. This is something I will take to my future practice because things change every year and what worked one year may not work the next, I need to be aware of this flux and adapt to when the time comes. This lesson series has opened my eyes to who I am as a teacher and how I am continually developing.

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“Chi ldren must be taught how to think, not what to think.” –Margaret Mead