Contextual Factors Jasmine King 1

Classroom Factors Physical Features Mrs. Culbreath has a small but warm and cozy room. There are a total of three desks in the room for the teacher and assistant. One desk is used for small grouping and the other two are the teacher and student teachers personal use. The children sit in the traditional wooden desk and plastic blue chairs. The classroom has a Smart Board and four computers that give the children a chance to work with technology. When the children do activities on the Smart Board, they have to sit on a colorful rug with thirty square. The teacher also uses the colors on the rug as a strategy to dismiss the children. As you enter the classroom, you will see two sets of cubbies where the children put their belongings. In the other sections of the room are used for storing books, manipulative, and school supplies. The classroom does not have different centers for each subject. The classroom also has a bathroom built in the classroom to keep the children from having to use the restroom in the hallway. Availability of Technology The children in this generation need to get acquainted with using technology to perform daily task. They will have to learn how to function on a daily basis using technology because that is what their future will consist of. The classroom has four computers in the back of the classroom for the children to play educational games. The students are starting to learn that they can use games on the computer to help them stretch out the letter sounds. Majority of the children cannot read on a first grade level so they are allowed to get on the computer to work on phonic. When Mrs. Culbreath or I teach lessons on the Smart board we like to involve the children by letting them use it as well. It is important that all of the children get a chance to learn how to use computers, and the different software they will have use during their educational career. If some of the kids do not get a chance to get on the computer in the classroom they get the chance to work on phonics, counting, addition, and subtraction in computer lab. The students are sent to computer lab every Wednesdays for fifty minutes to work on math or reading. Equipment In order to run a classroom properly you have to have proper equipment to model and guide the children during instruction. The classroom is equipped with a Smart board, document cam, laptop, math manipulatives, four desktop computers, and etc. Mrs. Culbreath did a great job of making sure the children have all the resources needed for every activity planned. The Smart board and document cam is the main piece of equipment that is used on a regular basis. These forms of equipment are used to model activities for the children, class discussions, and educational games. Majority of the time Mrs. Culbreath and I use math manipulatives to teach math instead of using only technology equipment. We will project the math workbook page onto the Smart board but we believe manipulatives help the children learn better. When the children

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can see the math concept being applied they are more likely to grasp the concept. The laptop and document cam helps the teachers project things onto the Smart board. The laptop allows the teacher to display videos, complete morning work, and play educational games. The document cam is used to model writing activities and other activities that cannot be pulled up on the laptop. Most of the children get a chance to use the desktop computers in the back of the room to improve the skills they already have. One of the main purposes for the desktop computers is to help the children sharpen their skills using an engaging approach. The games are very intriguing for the children and provide substantial about of educational use. Extent of parental involvement The teachers communicate with the parents on the daily basis through comments on homework, newsletters, emails, and phone calls. The parents like to be involved with knowing how well the children are doing and upcoming school events. When the school hosts events for the parents to attend I can be sure that over eighty percent of the parents will be there to support their children. Mrs. Culbreath and I like to keep the parents involved in the academic and social progress of the children. We obtain this goal by writing on their behavior sheets daily, sending graded papers home, and sending home completed class work. The parents are asked to initial their behavior sheet every day to ensure the parents are notified of their childs behavior at school. Every week the teachers will send home reading logs, asking the parent to initial the paper after they have heard their child read for fifteen minutes. This allows the parents to see the childs growth in reading over time. It also provides bonding time as family. Over time all the children, teachers, and parents have formed a little community within the school. Resources An educator must find resources that will compliment the instructional strategies he or she plans on using. Most of the teachers rely on the internet, text books, or other educators. Mrs. Culbreath has been teaching for many years and she relies on her experience, internet, and interest of the children. She uses internet sites created by teachers and personal creativity. During team planning the other teachers kind of rely on my teacher for her ideas and experience, but the other teachers do provide great ideas for Mrs. Culbreath and me. Mrs. Culbreath realized the new program needed some revising to fit the need of the children, and she used her experience to revise the reading workshop. She does not like relying on textbooks to teach children. Mrs. Culbreath will use the textbooks as a guide to teach the children. Classroom rules and routines Mrs. Culbreaths classroom has five consistent rules the children must follow. The rules are follow directions quickly, raise your hand for permission to speak, raise your hand for permission to leave your seat, make smart choice, and make your dear teachers happy. When the children come into the classroom in the morning they know they need to unpack their

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belongings, make a lunch choice, eat breakfast, start their morning work, and use the restroom. If the children are coming back from special area or recess the students know they need to come into the room quietly, and have a seat that their desk. Most of the children know the daily routine but some still have trouble with learning the schedule. Grouping patterns The students in the classroom are not in any set group for guided reading right now. Mrs. Culbreath and I like to do a whole group lessons and independent work for reading and math. When we use grouping in lessons the pattern goes as followed: whole group, small grouping, and then independent work. When the children are placed in small groups it mainly organized by sitting arrangement. Mrs. Culbreath and I arranged the childrens seating arrangement by their developmental level. The lower learners sit at table one, average learners sit at table two, and the higher learners sit at table three. This set up makes things earlier for the teacher when she is modeling and pulling groups. The teacher will know which area of the room she needs to spend most of her time when she is monitoring the students progress. Scheduling In the classroom the children will do their morning routine, go over morning work, and do a writers workshop activity until it is time to go to special area. After special area, the teacher will allow the children to use the bathroom before returning to the classroom. Once the children return to the classroom, the educator will do readers workshop. Readers workshop normally includes a shared reading mini lesson and then dismisses the children to independent reading. At 10:58 a.m., the teacher will start lining the children up for lunch by the lunch choices they have chosen for that particular day. After lunch, the children will go use the bathroom again before returning to the room to review phonics. Around 12:10 p.m. the students will start lining up for recess. Another restroom and water break occurs right after recess to prepare the children for the end of the day activities. A math lesson will be given right after the children return from recess and restrooms. A science or social studies lesson will immediately follow the math lesson on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On Thursday and Fridays, the teacher will teach a grammar lesson after the math lesson. Finally it is time to pack up for dismissal. The children are dismissed between 2:30-2:35 p.m. The table below has broken down the daily schedule in Mrs. Culbreaths first grade classroom. 7:30-8:00 a.m.: Morning routine (unpack, breakfast, lunch count, attendance, and restroom) 8:00-8:15 a.m.: Go over morning work 8:20-8:50 a.m.: Writing Workshop 8:55-9:45 a.m.: Special Area ( Monday-Art, Tuesday-Library, Wednesday-Computer Lab, Thursday-Music, and Friday- P.E) 11:30-11:40 a.m.: Restroom break

11:45-12:10 p.m.: Phonics 12:10-12:30 p.m.: Recess 12:30-12:40 p.m.: Restroom and Water break

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9:50-10:00 a.m.: Restrooms and Water 10:00-10:30 a.m.: Shared Reading 10:30-10:55 a.m.: Independent Reading 11:03-11:30 a.m.: Lunch

12:45-1:30 p.m.: Math 1:30-2:15 p.m.: Science 2:15-2:30 p.m.: Prepare for Dismissal 2:35 p.m.: Dismissing Car Riders and Bus Riders

Classroom Arrangement As you walk into Mrs. Culbreaths classroom you will see the students cubbies, two of the teachers desk, and supply cabinets to the left side of the room. In the front of the room lie another computer desk, the Smart board, a colorful rug, and bulletin board to complete the calendar activities. Under the bulletin board is a book shelf where all the books are books are placed into small baskets. To the right of the book shelf are file cabinets, a book shelf for big books, a white rolling easel, two windows, and a storage bin filled with books. In the center of the room are the students desk and chairs. The desks are arranged in two rows like table. The teachers put the desk together to form three sets of tables. The lower learners (table 1) are positioned near the teachers desk. Table two (average learners) are in the center of the classroom. And table three (higher learners) are near the windows and book shelves on the right side of the room. In the back room in a bathroom, shelves, four computers, math manipulates, school supplies funded by the teacher, a small refrigerator, and microwave for the teachers use only. On the book shelves are chapter books for the higher readers, pictures of Mrs. Culbreaths family, and more school/party supplies. Student Characteristics Mrs. Culbreath has a total of twenty six students in her classroom. There are a total of fifteen girls and nine boys. The children come from very diverse family backgrounds. Ten of the children are Hispanic, eight are Caucasian, seven are African American, and one is Bi-racial. A majority of the students live in the house with both parents. Most of the parents have received at least a high school diploma. All of the parents stress the importance of education to their children and show great concern in their academic progress. Eight of the students are pulled out of the classroom for special services. Four of the students are taken out of the classroom for reading recovery, two students are seen by the ESOL teacher, one student goes speech therapy, and one goes to resource. The chart below displays all the information mentioned in this section. Number of students Race/Ethnicity African American Bi-racial Caucasian Hispanic Girls 15 6 1 4 4 Boys 11 1 4 6 Total 26 7 8 10

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Special Services Reading Recovery ESOL Speech Therapy Resource

1 1 1 1

3 1 0 0 Instructional Implications

4 2 1 1

When a teacher as a great amount of lower learners and a few average and higher learners he or she has to think of creative ways to get all the children where they need to be developmentally. All of the children have at least one year of educational background prior to entering the classroom. All of the Hispanic children come from homes where only one parent speaks English, but only half of these children do not struggle with a language barrier. These children can speak some English but half struggle harder than the rest of them. This informs me that I will have work harder to guide these children during lessons, because I know they will now be able to receive help at home. When I start teaching my lessons I will have to accommodate the children who struggle with speech, reading, and language barriers. I understand that I will have scaffolded the children before I expect them to achieve my lesson objective. These children have lots of potential to achieve the highest expectations.