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Contextual Factors Education 429 Channa Griham

Classroom Factors Physical Features When you first walk into Mrs. Larsens third grade classroom, the mood of the environment is very pleasant. The classroom walls are appealing to the eye and would keep anyone who walked in interested. When you look around the classroom you are able to see many resources that are there to help the students succeed. There are word walls, timelines, and posters on how to be a great writer. The first thing you would see when you walk in this classroom is a mural created of the state of South Carolina. On this display, there are various battles and information that pertains to the social studies standard on South Carolina History. Below this mural you will find the table where the cooperating teacher keeps her laptop and resources that she uses during her lessons. Next to this area you will find the SmartBoard. The SmartBoard is used daily to help teach the lessons. Every lesson is projected onto the SmartBoard so that students are able to see the presentations. Students are allowed to be interactive during these lessons and participate in small activities. Above the SmartBoard you can find a character trait word wall that was created by the class as they were introduced to the words. Students often refer to the character traits wall during their reading discussions. Next to all of this you will find the cooperating teachers table. For the teachers work area, she has an IPAD to use as a resource when she is assessing the childrens scores and work.

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She keeps all of her records and her files next to her desk where she can easily get to them for reference. For her work purpose, she has a round table where she does all of her work. In this little corner, all of her resources are on a shelf and all of her lesson plans are organized in folders. Whenever she needs any of her resources, she is able to easily find them because they are all organized on the book shelf. You can tell that her space is organized to make her day go by easier. When you first walk in you will also notice that the desks are arranged in a different way. In many elementary classes you will find the desks in groups. When you walk into this classroom you will notice that the desks are arranged into three rows. The rows are straight across the room in the center directly in front of the SmartBoard. When observing the class, I have come to understand why the desks are arranged this way. Some of the students in the class are not able to sit by others without causing a disturbance. I believe the reason why the students are seated like this is so that they will have to sit forward and the teacher can see everyone at all times. The students who are the most talkative sit in front next to the teacher. These students are the ones who are constantly reminded to complete their work and to quiet down. Another interesting seating arrangement is that the teacher places all of the ESOL students and Spanish speaking students together. There are two ESOL students in my classroom. These two students are placed next to other Hispanic students who are on higher levels. This accommodates the ESOL students by having someone who can help them with their work and someone to comfort them when they are struggling. These students tend to work well with each other and they work together regularly. Another interesting seating arrangement is that many of the students are seated next to students who have similar academic abilities. Students who are on the same reading and math levels sit around each other so that they can work together to complete

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assignments. I find this very beneficial for the students so that they have help and support from others who have the same learning ability. When you first walk in on the left you will find the students cubbies that they use to store their books and supplies. Each student has a cubby where they can keep all of their school books and their extra supplies. Each cubby is labeled by numbers which correspond to numbers that the students were given at the beginning of the year. Located next to the cubbies is a square table. This is where guided reading will be taken place and where we will be working with groups on projects or assignments. In the back of the room, you will find bookshelves that are hung up on the wall. In these book shelves there are books for the students to read that are on different topics. Students are allowed to read these books whenever it pertains to what they are learning for that day. You can also find teaching resources on these shelves. You can find the teacher editions of all of the subjects that are taught in that classroom. You can also find resources that the cooperating teacher uses for guided reading lessons and shared reading lessons. These shelves are very organized and are easy to navigate through when you are looking for a text. Technology Technology is very much incorporated into the classroom. For every lesson, the SmartBoard is used to teach the lessons. The SmartBoard is a fun and interactive way for the students to get involved with the lesson. The teacher allows the students to come up to the board and work out problems that are part of the lesson. The children love to get a chance to come to the board and work out the problems. The SmartBoard is a great way to engage students in their learning and keeps the students wanting to participate more during lessons. In the back of the

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room, there are also computers that the students are allowed to use. These computers are used for educational games and other assignments that the teacher may assign them. Some new software that the students are using is called Dream Box. Students are able to go to the computers and work on their math skills with this fun and interactive game. Also, students work on these computers to work on their keyboarding skills. Students practice on their keyboarding skills to help them prepare for the PASS test which is administered on the computer. The computers are set towards the back of the room so that they will not be a distraction for the students while they are working. The computers are facing the back wall, so the students will only be focused on their activities that they are to complete on the computer. The computers also contain testing software that was recently added to the systems. Students can take practice tests on these computers and the teacher is able to use these results to keep up with the students progress in her classroom. Parental Involvement Parental involvement is very much encouraged in the classroom. The teacher makes sure that she is available for parents whenever they need her. She makes sure every parent in the classroom has her email address and has her updated contact information. If she sees needs to have conferences with parents she makes sure that she makes contact so that they can hold a conference to solve the issues. My cooperating teacher has mentioned that many parents will check in with her to see how their child is doing and to see their progress in the class. Parents will send notes in by their children to make contact with the teacher when they have a question or concern. Many parents are open to come in for conferences whenever there is need to have one.

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Class Routine Every morning the students follow a strict routine. When students first come into the classroom in the morning they begin to work on their morning work. The teacher has all of the morning assignments listed on the board for the students to work on. Students will turn in their homework during this time and they also eat breakfast. When the students are done with their morning work, they go over it together as a class. When they finish going over their morning work, they begin their social studies lesson for the day. The next thing they work on is their PASS writing. Students are given a prompt and are expected to create a response just like they would on the actual test. During this time my cooperating teacher and I walk around to help the students if they need it. After writing comes reading and then math. When we finish with our math lesson for the day, students go to lunch at 11:40 and then they head outside for recess. When students come back in, they begin to work on their science lesson. At the end of the day the students go to activity except on Thursday when they go at the beginning of the day. Students are then dismissed for the day from which ever related arts they are in. Student Characteristics Overview of Student Demographics

Student Demographics
Total Number of Students Total Caucasian Students Total African-American Students Total Latino/Hispanic Students 23 8 9 6

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Total Asian/Pacific Island Students Total Other Race Students (if any) Total Male Students Total Female Students

0 0 11 12

Special Services Count How many students receive Speech Services How many students receive ESOL Services How many students are in Resource How many students are pulled out for Reading Interventions How many students are pulled out for Math Interventions How many students receive Gifted and Talented Services Any other special services which are not mentioned 1 2 0 2-ESOL Students 3 1 6-After School Program

Student Test Scores Count Number of Students on grade-level in English Language Arts Number of students above grade-level in English Language Arts Number of students below grade-level in English Language Arts Number of students on grade-level in Reading Number of students above grade-level in Reading 12 5 6 12 5

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Number of students below grade-level in Reading Number of students on grade-level in Mathematics Number of students above grade-level in Mathematics Number of students below grade-level in Mathematics

6 8 9 6

Tier Break-Down Number of students who are Tier I Number of students who are Tier II Number of students who are Tier III 18 5 0

In this third grade class, there are many diverse students. Many of the students who are in this classroom meet requirements for grade level. However, there are five students who are in Tier II. Out of these students 2 are ESOL students and the other three are African American students. All of these students receive pull out instruction from other teachers and me. The ESOL students are pulled out for ELA, one of the other students is pulled out for speech and math, while the last two are pulled out only for math. When working with small groups, I work on math and also on guided reading strategies. Both of my ESOL students come from a non-English speaking home, so their English is not well. So communication skills with these two students are being worked on. There are no written IEPs in my classroom this semester. MAP Reading and Math In the winter, students in my classroom participated in the MAP testing. When analyzing the results of the students test, I realized some very interesting things. One interesting thing I

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noticed in the scores is that fact that 7 out of my 23 students did not met the goal to pass the mathematics portion of the test. While in the classroom, I have noticed that almost all of my students are on level in math. Many of the students are good at math and are able to solve the basics problems they are given. Also, when looking at the grades received over the year, all of the students are keeping either a B average or an A average. When looking closer at the students who did not meet requirements, 3 of them are students who are pulled out for reading and math. The highest of the class scored a 218 and the lowest of the class scored a 182. When looking at the results of the students who did not score on grade level, you can see that the scores are not far from meeting the expectations. Reading was also an aspect that was graded during the MAP test. When analyzing this portion of the test, I see that many students had more problems with this section. A lot of the students in the class were not able to meet the test goal. Again, the students who are pulled out for extra help in reading did not reach their goal. These set of results did not surprise me because a lot of these students are not on grade reading level. The same group of students who did not meet their goal is the same students who are pulled into my guided reading group to work on comprehension. A lot of these students had trouble in vocabulary and foundational skills. Vocabulary is the key to comprehension so these results do not really surprise me and this is why my main focus is for them to comprehend what they are reading and for them being able to retell what they have read. Accommodations When planning for my lessons, I will have to make sure that I make accommodations to benefit my students. There are three students in my classroom who are struggling in reading and

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math. One of the main problems these students are having in class is with comprehension. These students have shown to be below reading level when they were tested. Two of these students are considered ESOL and one is of African-American descent. The reason these students are not comprehending text is due to the fact that they have difficulty reading. When planning my lessons, I am going to have to make sure that I limit the amount of independent reading I give to these students. If given too much content to read, the students may not be able comprehend the text or benefit from my lesson. I will also need to make sure that I implement cooperative learning into my lessons this semester. I have observed that many of my struggling students work better when they have someone else working with them. If by incorporating cooperative learning into my lessons will help my struggling students, then I believe that it is a necessary addition. Student Interest After analyzing my students interest survey I realized that a lot of my boys have a common interest in sports. When planning my lessons and my activities I can cater to the students interest by incorporating sports into the concepts. Another common thing I found about my students is that most of them have pets. I can get the students interest and engage them by using animals in my lessons, read stories that include animals or even create math activities that deal with animals. Instructional Implications Overview When evaluating the contextual factors for this third grade classroom, there are many factors that will influence my instruction throughout the semester. Some of the main factors that I see posing difficulties are the number of ESOL students in my classroom and the high volume

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of diversity among my students. When taking these two contextual factors into account, I will have to make necessary modifications to my instruction to help these students succeed in the classroom. ESOL Students There are many contextual characteristics of the students that have implications for instructional planning and assessments. There are many accommodations that need to be made when you have students who are ESOL students. One thing to take in consideration would be the students understanding of the concepts and the language that it is written in. These students will need extra help and possibly outside resource to help them improve their skills. If an outside resource is brought in, the teacher and the outsider should collaborate and form a plan that will help the child progress as the year goes by. These students scored in the lower range on reading and math when assessed on their skill levels. Because of these scores, I will need to make sure that I give these students extra help and resources that can improve their scores. Some of the strategies that will help benefit the ESOL students in my classroom are to implement cooperative learning. Studies show that students of the Hispanic background like working with others that have similar characteristics. When planning my lessons, I will make sure that I implement cooperative learning to help my students succeed in my lesson. I will place my ESOL students together to work as a team, or with others whom they feel comfortable working with. If I can give my ESOL students a feeling of safety and comfort in my classroom, then they are more likely to succeed at what they attempt. Another study shows that students of different cultural backgrounds tend to be more visual learners. In order to help my students, I will make sure that I model the strategies that I feel will benefit them for the rest of their school career. By modeling

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the students will be able to see how something should be done, and how they can properly use it when they are learning. Diversity in the Classroom As a teacher I must also take in consideration the diversity of the classroom. There are going to be many needs of students that need to be met. For the students who have behavior problems, problems following instructions and following routines, they are going to need extra guidance to make sure they are kept on task. By giving the students the responsibility of making sure that they complete their tasks and display the proper behavior, will help them improve their behaviors. When planning lessons, I will need to take into account the mastery levels of each individual child. The lessons need to be planned where each child is able to obtain the important information that is being taught and what they are expected to master. I will also need to keep in mind the language barrier that is there for my students who are ESOL. This language barrier can cause them to be less successful in the classroom, so I need to make sure that I do anything possible to help them succeed. Another strategy that I will implement in my classroom to help diversity is the idea of cooperative learning. Studies have shown that students of different backgrounds tend to work better with others when completing tasks. In a study, African American males tend to support their peers and also have a collaborative approach to learning. There is a high number of African American students in my classroom in which this strategy will benefit. By making sure I give these students the opportunity to work with others, I will be addressing their strengths of learning. I will make sure to incorporate cooperative learning into my classroom as much as possible this semester to benefit the diverse students in my classroom. All of these accommodations correspond with the students specific needs for them to be successful in my classroom this semester.