TPE A: Making Subject-Matter Comprehensible to Students

Week of September 1, 2014

This week marked not the start of seeing a full schedules worth of students each
day in the Learning Center but it was the start of seeing a limited number of students who
are requiring more help earlier on in the school year. This week was also my first time
being observed by my Dominican supervisor. I have been consistently working with two
third grade students on their reading skills. Activities have included things such as
decoding first grade level running record texts, sight word practice (first grade words),
and some writing. The lesson that I did with these two students was a sight word based
lesson and a continuation of the previous four lessons I had done with them. This lesson
met TPE A in that it was specifically differentiated to meet these two students individual
needs. Both these students struggle immensely with reading fluency, decoding, and
memory. We began by reiterating the set of sight words we have been working on for
approximately a week. I then asked the students to dictate a story utilizing their site
words as I wrote it down. Lastly, I had each student read the completed story aloud one
time each to reinforce their ability to recognize and read these sight words.
In regards to TPE A and making content comprehensible to students, this lesson
meets this standard in that provides specific pedagogical skills to students in order for
them to access language arts content. These students struggle to access reading across all
subject areas. Building their site word recognition and writing abilities on a foundational
basis will allow these two students to begin building up their reading skills in order to
access curriculum across all subject areas. This lesson also made content comprehensible
to students because it was a lesson following many well-scaffolded activities that

provided the students with plenty of practice. Lastly, this lesson will be one that I use as
a foundation to branch from when planning future instruction. Content will continue to
be made comprehensible on a foundational level while the students progress and build
upon their skills.
Week of September 8, 2014
During this week I was observed and evaluated for the second time thus far in my
supervised teaching experience. This lesson was done with two fourth-grade students
who both require intervention in math and reading. The lesson we worked through this
week was a lesson on American coins, their names, values, and ways that they relate to
one another. The students and I played a game called Race to 25c. It is a simple game
that requires that each player roll a die, place the appropriate number of coins delegated
by the die on their mat and attempt to reach 25c before the opposing player. During the
game, students are also asked to recognize when they can trade a few coins for one (ex: 5
pennies for 1 nickel, 3 nickels for 1 dime and 1 nickel). In order to be successful at this
game, students must have an understanding of coins.
In order to make content accessible and comprehensible to these two students, we
first discussed what each of the coins is called and how many cents each is worth. Next,
we went over the relationships between the coins and discussed the ways they can be
used to represent different values. To do this, I arranged different amounts using real
money and asked the girls to tell me how many cents were shown. I then asked them if
there were any ways to trade coins to have the same value, but using a lesser amount of
change. After this, we played the game together moving quite slowly and discussing

ways to trade, reasons why we trade coins, and adding up our amounts as we progressed
along. In the end, I ensured that both students reached 25c and won the game.
This lesson met the expectations of TPE A in that it was specifically adapted to
meet the learning needs of these two students. In addition, we moved at the necessary
pace to ensure that the girls understood exactly what they were doing. Lastly, the
lessons concepts and demands did not go above either of the students skill levelsensuring that both students were able to comprehend the content.

TPE B: Assessing Student Learning- How do you use the results of formal
and informal assessments to guide instruction?
Week of September 15, 2014
Assessment of student learning takes many forms- formal, informal, summative,
and formative. It can be done through writing, speaking, listening, or through a hands-on
display. Throughout my time in my special education placement, I have seen all of the
above forms of assessment. The conclusion following these observations is that you
cannot use just one or two forms of assessment. Particularly when working with students
of such various skill sets. During my time in the RSP room, I have used oral
assessments, written assessments, observational assessments (ex: student will play a
game and I watch/play and ask them to explain his or her thinking), and written
assessment. Assessments have been mostly formative, in order to continuously track
each students progress. A few summative assessments have been used in math in order
to ensure that students are keeping at a somewhat even pace with the general education
class. Our students are assessed on a daily basis in some form or another. I believe that
this is absolutely crucial to tracking students and guiding future instruction. Teaching

changes on a daily basis, as do kids moods, feelings, and levels of energy- consistent
assessment allows the teacher to adapt to these changes and ensure that they are guiding
instruction properly and in a way that meets students needs both on a long and short term
basis. We use assessment in order to guide our daily instruction and to anticipate longerterm future instruction.

TPE C: Engaging and supporting students in learning- making content

accessible, student engagement, developmentally appropriate teaching
practices, teaching English language learners.
Week of September 22, 2014
TPE C discusses the importance of TPEs A and B while emphasizing the need to
engage students in the content they are learning to access. In addition to engaging and
supporting students, TPE C also emphasizes using developmentally appropriate practices,
and ensuring the success of ELLs. As the TPEs build upon one another, I begin to truly
realize what a tall order teachers are required to fill. Throughout my student teaching in
the RSP room thus far, I have been able to observe and to help ensure all students needs
being met. In addition, I now am able to recognize the challenges that come with special
education and maintaining a level of excitement when helping our learners access
content. In regards to developmentally appropriate teaching practices, the special
education environment, I believe almost makes it easier to use more developmentally
based practices in that as education specialists, we are working to meet students at their
individual skill levels. In addition however, it is difficult on the other hand to use
developmentally appropriate teaching practices when the rest of the students in the
general education classroom are moving along more quickly than the students who come
down to the Learning Center.

Keeping content engaging is equally as difficult at times when utilizing

intervention-style tools to help provide extra support to students. At times, work can
become tedious due to using necessary intervention tools and programs that require
somewhat boring activities and tasks. Oftentimes, we will utilize games to help keep the
students engaged. However, we cannot play games all the time. So, much of keeping
content engaging comes down to having shorter lessons and maintaining a very positive
teacher attitude! Laughing helps as well!

TPE D: Planning Instruction and Designing Learning Experiences for

Students. Learning about students and instructional planning.
Week of September 29, 2014
Planning instruction in order to facilitate learning for all students will never be an
easy task. However, some of this challenge can be eliminated and become easier with
time and as teachers get to truly know their students preferences, personalities, needs,
and strengths. Understanding ones students means understanding how to base
instruction around students strengths while also planning appropriate challenges that
help to build stamina while ensuring that students still feel confident in their abilities to
face these challenges. In addition to planning the instruction (the content) of lessons, one
must consider the means by which students will be able to access this content. The
journeys and paths that are the best fit for each individual child that comes into the
classroom. Knowing ones students and putting in the extra work- however much that
might be- will aid the learning process and provide successful experiences for students.
Throughout my supervised teaching thus far, I have witnessed the planning and
delivering of instruction that is finely attuned to meet the individual students to whom it
is being presented. In the RSP setting, relationships between the teachers and the small

groups they work with have evolved and become quite strong at this point in the school
year. Personally, I have developed great relationships with all of my students. This has
led to my being able to understand what they need on a day-to-day basis, when to slow
down, when to speed up, and when to just take a day easy because theyre struggling or
tired. In addition, this knowledge of how my students tick so to speak has made things
such as management and holding students accountable much easier.

TPE E: Creating and Maintaining Effective Environments for Student

Learning.
- Instructional Time
- Social Environment
Week of October 6, 2014
Creating an effective environment for student learning is the foundation upon
positive educational experiences is built. In reality, this TPE should be moved to top of
the list in that it encompasses all that is necessary to promote learning and growth both
academically and socially in students. Establishing this environment is definitely
something that can be done in a somewhat efficient manner if one is wiling to take the
time to organize, plan, and remain patient. It is the idea of consistently maintaining this
environment that is increasingly difficult. As the year progresses and it is only October, I
am able to see where the difficulty in maintenance comes into play. The days begin to
drag as the workload becomes heavier; teachers and students begin to get tired. This is
when it is absolutely crucial to start putting in the effort to differentiate and implement
new creative ideas for lessons. In addition, this is when it is time to continue to
positively build relationships on a student-to-student basis and on a student to teacher
basis. This way, when corrections need to be made and when someone is having an off

day so to speak, things can be altered and corrected while still maintaining a level of
trust.

TPE F: Developing as a Professional Educator- Professional, legal, and

ethical obligations; Professional growth.
Week of October 13, 2014
Throughout my nine weeks in the RSP room, I have learned so much in regards to
professionalism in the education field. Simultaneously, I am at a point now where I find
myself worrying how exactly I am going to do this job if I am hired as an RSP teacher. I
am not nervous about the actual teaching part or about interacting with the kids- I am
200% confident in my ability to do this part. It is all of the paperwork and the amount of
things to do fit into such a short time frame that makes me anxious. As a first year
teacher in special education, my biggest question is will there be someone helping me
along the way so that I do not miss any details? In addition, since participating in many
SSTs, IEP Meetings, and other team meetings, I find myself making a goal to provide a
lighter and happier environment when it comes to my own classroom and these meetings.
While I understand how important it is to take the goals/IEP accommodations/education
of these kids, these meetings do not have to be so somber as the ones I have attended.
When I facilitate my own meetings, I will ensure that everyone is of the understanding
that we are here for our students and to come up with the best tools to make them
successful. Parents, administrators, and teachers in all departments should be able to
come together in a lighter fashion and to best figure out what is going to work for each
student. We need to be able to SMILE while we work together. I recognize that this is
going to be difficult, but I do think that it is doable.

I have learned the facts regarding legal obligations when it comes to Special Education.
This part is mostly self-explanatory and relies upon using good judgment. I have come to
realize how important it is to always make sure, year after year, that you are in your
career for the right reasons and because you genuinely want to be. This is an ethical
obligation to the field of teaching.
Kindergarten Placement
Week 1: TPE A: Making subject matter comprehensible to students
The very first thing I learned about kindergarten, besides the fact that it is a very
unique and wonderful grade level, is that these young students are far more capable than
people tend to give them credit for. Moving into kindergarten, I realized that the
expectations I had of my students set up their levels of achievement. This is particularly
relevant to making subject matter comprehensible. If I provide students with an easier
(kindergarten level) explanation, that is the level that their comprehension starts and
ends with. Making subject matter comprehensible is not just about providing different
sources of information by means of different learning modalities and differentiating
instruction for all learners. It is also about challenging students appropriately and
pushing them to strive towards deeper thinking.
During my short time in kindergarten thus far, I have noticed that this is
something my directing teacher does really, really well! This is something I want to take
notice of and adopt into my own practice as well. In regards to making content
comprehensible, that is where differentiation and teaching to the different learning
modalities comes into play. In my kindergarten classroom this is done on a constant
basis. Students are given a ton of manipulatives, visual, and auditory tools during each

lesson. Additionally, they are constantly participating in hands-on projects and being
active in and outside of the classroom. Overall, most every student in this class is
thriving on a consistent basis and comprehending all that is taught to them each day.
TPE B: Assessing Student Learning
Assessment in this classroom is mostly informal and both summative as well as
formative. The students are assessed through observations, notes, and direct
conversations with them about their learning. The students have taken part in two more
formal setting assessments: the first was a number book in which they were asked to
display numbers 1-9 in four separate ways (dots, tally marks, pictures, etc.). The second
assessment was a conclusion to a unit on pushes and pulls, which I helped to implement
into this classroom. The students completed a mini-book in which they circled answers
in CLOZE style sentences.
The most important thing that I have learned about assessment overall is the
importance of offering different options to students. Students are taught through the
different modalities of learning, so, they should also be assessed using different methods
as well. Allowing students choices when it comes to asking them to demonstrate their
learning provides them with the opportunity to work to their strengths while also helping
to build confidence. That is not to say that students should be able to choose how they
demonstrate knowledge every single time they are assessed. Students should also be
exposed to different formatting for assessments. For example, as the grades progress, the
teacher should expose students to different types of assessment questions such as multiple
choice questions and other forms of questions that might be seen on a standardized test.
While it is frowned upon to teach to the test it does not mean that we should not teach

what is on the tests or make sure that our students are very well prepared for these formal
assessments.
TPE C: Engaging and supporting students in learning.
Engaging students and reaching them on an individual learning level is crucial in
every grade level. As the grades progress, it becomes more difficult to support student
learning as content becomes more difficult. In the primary grades, content is based upon
foundational skills, so engagement tends to be the bigger challenge. The most important
thing that I have learned throughout my student teaching in both kindergarten as well as
the Learning Center, is that understanding students ages and stages of development is
crucial to keeping them engaged. Understanding where students are coming from as well
as personal details about their needs and interests helps teachers to make content
accessible, maintain engagement, and practice developmentally appropriate teaching
practices on a more personal level. This understanding also helps when it comes to
planning appropriate supports for students particularly those with special needs, English
Language Learners, students who are considered low for the class and those who are
high level learners in the classroom. A wide breadth of sensory tools, manipulatives,
fidgets, accommodated instruction, pre-teaching and other tools are useful in regards to
providing this support.
TPE D: Planning instruction and designing learning experiences for students
During this second piece of my supervised teaching experience, I have learned so
much in regards to designing learning experiences for students. Perhaps the most crucial
thing that I have learned, and that I absolutely need to remember, is: if you are a teacher,
and you are doing a good job, the classroom should never be boring. Planning instruction

can be tedious, especially given the fact that there are so many standards, tests, and
requirements to meet. However, designing learning experiences for our students does not
have to be uniform nor does it have to become cyclical. It does require a lot of work put
forth to continually design new and engaging instruction, however it is most certainly
worth it. The unit that was in motion when I started full-time in kindergarten was on
pushes and pulls and the ways objects move. The unit spanned for about four weeks and
I was lucky enough to be able to not only plan certain parts but also to implement many
of my ideas.
The unit contained many teaching strategies that met the needs of every type of
student. Additionally, after most every lesson that discussed a new concept, the kids
were able to participate in a hands-on activity in order to bring abstract concepts to a
more concrete, individual understanding. Project-based learning is a huge part of the
CCSS initiative. Regardless of standards however, this is an excellent and effective
means of implementing instruction in the classroom and it is something that should be
done wherever possible. This is certainly something I will remember throughout my
teaching career.