Mary Margaret ONeal ECED 329 Long Cane Primary

Contextual Factors
Classroom Factors When you walk into Mrs. Stones room, you can tell it is set up directly for the students. This classroom has many areas for the students to work in as well as plenty of space for the room to feel open, but still have control and order over all the students. Students are the main focus of the classroom as everything is at a lower height for them including their alphabet and student jobs. Classroom Configuration Right inside the door are the students hooks and nap time cubbies that are sectioned off from the main parts of the classroom. In this classroom, there are 14 separate centers that the students are allowed to choose from. There are different creative arts centers such as the art center, the paper cutting center, and the puppet center where students can create their own plays. The practical life centers include the sand box which helps students practice using their fine motor skills, the house center and the doll house center where students can pretend to play dress up or school and idea that comes to mind. There are also center that relate to school subjects such as the science center, the writing center where students can practice writing their name on paper and with magnetic letters, an area where students can pretend to play school, and the library and reading bed where students can look at books that are related to the season or lesson that they are learning. There is also a block center where students can build many different things with blocks or Lincoln Logs. There are also two tables set aside for different manipulative sets that students can use to practice different skills such as making patterns, counting, and recalling puzzles. There are 8 tables available for the students to use during group activities, small groups, or when they are in their appropriate centers. These tables are very diverse and include one kidney shaped table for small group lessons, three normal child size school tables that are apart of different centers but utilized in every way, a child sized picnic table, a small wooden kitchen table, and then 2 two man tables that are a part of the iPad center and the science center. The classroom is very child-friendly because most of the decorations are made by the students and everything is made to be their size or at their height. The teachers desk is even on a lower table off to the side of the SMART board so that she can be on the same level as her students. One very useful thing that is different about Mrs. Stones classroom is that she made a stage to go underneath her SMART board so that students would be able to reach every part of the board even at their height. The classroom also has a bathroom and two sinks available for the students use and all

the shelves where they store their supplies is also on their level. The shelves used to store their nap mats and blanket crates as label so that each child knows exactly where to find their stuff. The class schedule is also posted so that it is easily seen and Mrs. Stone is very good about sticking to the schedule because she understands the importance that children need to have a structured schedule to go by.

Technology in the Classroom Technology in the classroom is very prevalent and accessible by the students. There is a center in the classroom with two iPads that can be used by the students throughout the day. There is also a set of iPads that can be used during small group lessons. Mrs. Stone makes good use of her SMART board and centers many of her activities and daily lessons around it so that she can get her students involved. There is also a computer station with two computers that are unable to be used right now because of missing pieces, but that is hoped to be fixed in the near future so that her students can use them during their center times. There is also a television in the classroom but it is never used because the SMART board can be utilized the same way as a television can. This technology in the classroom is also one of the main resources available because many of the lessons and sing-a-long songs come from different internet sources.

Student Grouping The way the groups are set up is by academic levels. The students in the same groups normally are on the same speed and can complete tasks at the same time. There are five separate groups with four students in each group. This way Mrs. Stone can efficiently help students who need more help or more time on an activity. This is also a great way to see if the class is ready for a new activity. Mrs. Stone will work with the group that has the least amount of trouble first so that she can see if the rest of the class will be able to do the activity. She knows that if her first group has trouble completing the activity, then she should not do the activity with the others.

Classroom Management and Schedule Classroom management is very well handled in Mrs. Stones classroom. Many times, she will talk to a student one on one the first time they act up and she handles each child differently based on their needs. She also has a time-out chair that she uses frequently for short period of times when students are disobedient. There are

times where Mrs. Stone gets loud with her students but she does it respectfully because she knows that her students will obey her and that they know she is serious. They have a color changing chart where students flip their color when they misbehave. After the first flip, Mrs. Stone rarely have to flip it again unless they are just having a bad day. She is very lenient during her lessons and allow her student to interact with the lessons. I think that this is a major reason why her students obey her outside of the classroom. She is not overly strict in the classroom to where the students have pent up energy that they feel needs to let loose while they arent in the classroom or doing lessons. This is also effective in her center times because she allows the students to make their own choices of what they want to do that day. I agree with the way Mrs. Stone conducts her classroom management because it is an effective way to handle a classroom. Even though textbox tell us certain ways we are suppose to handle situations, many times those ways are not possible or does not fit with the personality of the classroom.

Mrs. Stone and Ms. Boldens K4- Schedule 2012-2013 7:45- Students are welcomed into the classroom to pick lunch choice and unpack. 7:50- Students do morning work 8:00- Morning News/ Announcements 8:10- Begin Morning Lesson (Calendar/Weekly Skills/Book of the Week) 8:35- Students go to Learning Centers. Small Groups ( Different Daily) Morning Learning Centers 8:50- Conclude Small Groups- These students will then go to Learning Centers 9:55- Begin Cleaning Centers and Go to Learning Carpet 10:00- Short Lesson, Story, Review, or Activity Sheet 10:25- Morning Recess/ Exercise Video when Raining 10:55- Come inside from Recess 11:00- Lesson Activity- Short Lesson or Work Activity 11:15- Bathroom/Wash Hands and Line Up for Lunch 11:30 Lunch in the Cafeteria

12:00- Return to Classroom/Lesson/Read Story/ Journaling 12:30-Bathroom, Get Mats, and Begin Rest Time 1:30- Afternoon Learning Centers 2:00- Begin Packing for Dismissal 2:10- Clean up Centers/Afternoon Review 2:15- Car Riders will go to the gym and Bus riders will go to their correct table in the Cafeteria

Student Characteristics This class is on similar academic levels so that there are equal groups for the students to work in. There are twenty students in the class; nine girls and eleven boys. The age range in the class is four and five year olds and there are eleven 4 year olds and nine 5 year olds. This allows for the class to be closely balanced so that the older students can possibly help the younger students. The ethnicity in the class is diverse with a mix of African Americans, Caucasians, and a Vietnamese student and the ratio is 13:6:1. It is nice to see everyone in the class playing with each other and getting along for the most part. IEP/Resources There are different special needs that are prevalent in the classroom. There is one child with glasses and one child with double hearing aids. My teacher shared with me that there are four students with active IEPs; three students attend speech therapy classes and one child has an IEP for speech therapy as well as being in the Resource classroom half of the day. In addition to these four students, there are six other students in an active intervention course where they attend speech therapy classes but do not have an active IEP for their disability. These six students most likely will have an IEP by March when the intervention period is complete.

Dial 4 Entrance Test The test that these students take is the Dial 4 test which determines who will be accepted to the program. The acceptance to the program was explained to me that students with the lowest scores and who were eligible for free or reduced lunch are the first to get into the program and the other students are placed on a waiting list. Each 4K

classroom in this program holds 20 students at a time. If a class loses a student in the middle of the year, most likely there will be another student to fill that spot by the end of the week.

Class Statistics Age: 4 Year Olds 5 Year Olds Ethnicity: Caucasian African American Vietnamese Special Needs: Glasses Hearing Aids IEP Active Intervention Resource & Speech Therapy

Male 7 4 4 6 1 1 1 3 4 1

Female 4 5 2 7 0 0 0 0 2 0

Total 11 9 6 13 1 1 1 3 6 1

Developmental Stages The developmental stages of the students seems to be on key with a normal four or five year old child. There are a few students that are still immature and will grown out of their baby stage. My teacher says that they have made wonderful improvements since the beginning of the year and that they are only getting better each week. These students show an interest in learning as well as wanting to mind others. About 75% of the students in the class know all the letters in the alphabet as well as being able to count to 20 even though they may not be able to recognize each of those numbers on paper. There was only a handful of students who knew how to spell their names at the beginning of the there and now every student knows how to spell their first name and a few also know how to spell their last names. This class also has very good manners when they are in the lunch room or in the hall way. Many times, they have received a cooperation chain link to hang in their class because of good behavior. It is exciting to see this four year old class sitting nicely eating lunch while the 5K class at the next table were acting very wild.