FEAP PORTFOLIO

(INQUIRY TO STUDENT LEARNING)

FEAP 1.
Instructional Design and Lesson Planning. Applying concepts from human development
and learning theories, the effective educator consistently:
a. Aligns instruction with state-adopted standards at the appropriate level of rigor;
As an educator it is important that with every lesson that is taught each lesson must be connected
to a state standard. When completing my lesson plan one of the first things I do is find a standard
that my lesson can align with or in some cases I would create a lesson centered on the standard. I
try to find as much standards my lesson can connect to because satisfying more than one
standard within a lesson is a big time saver. In the artifact below I display the standards that I
used in one of my lesson.

b. Sequences lessons and concepts to ensure coherence and required prior knowledge;
Whenever I teach a lesson I make it my duty to connect the lesson to something that the students
learned previously. During math I give the students warm up question within the first five
minutes of class. Typically the warm up question allows me to assess whether or not the students
have learned or understand the foundational concepts needed to begin our lesson. In the image
below, during one of my lessons I listed that the student would complete a warm up prior to
beginning that days lesson.

c. Designs instruction for students to achieve mastery;

It is always my intention that for every lesson plan that I design the end goal would be that each
student reaches a level of mastery. One teaching method that I like to use when teaching my
math students is gradual release. During the gradual release process students first watch and
listen to me as I try and solve the problem. This moment is very important because if students are

not watching or listening they will not know how to solve the problems when it is time for them
to show their understanding. After the first stage I move on to the We Do. It is at this stage that I
work with the students as they attempt to solve the problem themselves. Prior to doing the we do
the students would have written down the step by step process I took the solve the problem. After
the we do I move on to the You Do. The you do allows me to check student understanding.

d. Selects appropriate formative assessments to monitor learning

During all my lesson I try to do a form a formative assessment. The way that I chose to assess the
students may vary. There are times when I give the students a H.O.T question to answer to
answer. At times the H.O.T is used to test the students understanding of the material, other times
it is used to get the students thinking. The questions might be a higher order thinking question so
that I can challenge the students.

e. uses variety of data, independently and in collaboration with colleagues, to evaluate

student learning outcomes, adjust planning and continuously improve the effectiveness of
lessons.
During planning I discussed with my colleagues areas in which I felt my students were
struggling in during math. My colleagues shared data from previous years of areas student tend
to struggle with my multiplying with decimals. Based on reviewing the data we decided that I
would be beneficial to give the students a pre-assessment on their multiplying skills and
reviewing multiplication of whole numbers prior to introducing multiplication of decimals.

f. Develops learning experiences that require students to demonstrate a variety of

applicable skills and competencies
FEAP 2:
The Learning Environment. To maintain a student-centered learning environment that is
safe, organized, equitable, flexible, inclusive, and collaborative, the effective educator
consistently:
a. Organizes, allocates, and manages the resources of time, space, and attention;
As an educator it is important that time, space, and attention is well managed so that time is not
wasted. In the hyperlink provided http://jessecastilmateachingportfolio.weebly.com/blog-four I
explain how I manage the space in the classroom. The images in the blog shows just how
spacious our classroom is. Students relocate to different parts of the classroom throughout the
day. In one of the image I gather the children on the carpet to share with them or morning
meeting. Time is of the essence as an educator so it is important to quickly get students moving
to the next lesson. To get the attention of the students I use the HANDS AND EYES
VARIATION. An image is provided below to further examine the technique.

b. Manages individual and class behaviors through a well-planned management system

Blog six explains what type of discipline I find myself using in the classroom more often than
not http jessecastilmateachingportfolio.weebly.com/blog-://six. I have included the scoreboard
that I use in the classroom as well. When the students are all on task and follow directions
quickly they get a smiley face but when they are off task the get a sad face. Smiley faces are
referred to as smiley points and sad faces are referred to as frowny points. Blog eight goes into
detail on how we manage time in the classroom
http://jessecastilmateachingportfolio.weebly.com/blog-8

(Final Internship Artifact Below)

One thing that I have been using this semester for classroom management is Give Me Five.
When a student or a teacher needs the attention of the class they simply put their five fingers in
the air and say Give Me Five. Once the students hear this phrase, everyone stops what they are
doing and put their five fingers in the air and give the teacher or student their undivided
attention. Once the message is delivered students can resume back to what they are doing.

c. Conveys high expectations to all students

Students are expected to be on their best behavior even when there teacher is not around. Our
class works hard to get the Golden Spatula. The golden spatula is awarded to the class who gets
the most stars within a given time period. Classes earn stars when they exhibit good behavior in
the lunchroom. Students are reminded each day before they leave for lunch to be on their very
best behavior. Our class havent won it yet! The picture below is of the golden spatula our class
is trying to win.

d. Respects students cultural linguistic and family background

Cultural respect is very important; it is especially important when teaching students that come
from a different culture then your own. I welcome students culture into the classroom each time
I conduct a morning meeting. During our daily morning meeting two students are randomly
chosen to share anything of their choice. Often times the students share something that they did
with their family. Recently a student shared what he ate for thanksgiving. It was quite interesting
to hear Thanksgiving foods that his family find traditional. I have incorporated a link that
discusses or morning meetings.
http://jessecastilmateachingportfolio.weebly.com/blog-four
e. Models clear, acceptable oral and written communication skills
One of my biggest challenges being in kindergarten was making sure that I gave the students
explicit instructions and made sure that my commination with the students was clear at all times.
In the video I tell the students there has been some changes to our classroom schedule. I made

sure to annunciate and speak at a slow pace so that all students were able to understand the
information I tried to deliver. Video can only be seen with hyperlink. This video is not public.
https://youtu.be/jAVnOKk7qxc
f. Maintains a climate of openness, inquiry, fairness and support
I want my students to feel that they all have a chance to succeed. Because I am in kindergarten
there is a number of students who struggle with their fine motor skills. Through observation I
noticed that it was really causing them to be less engage during lessons. I let those students know
that I would be working with them in the morning to help to improve the motor skills. Each
morning the students morning the students focused on one number or letter until I felt they were
successful in writing that number of letter. Offering those students support truly helped them to
improve their fine motor skills! This inquiry is further discussed in the link provided.
http://jessecastilmateachingportfolio.weebly.com/blog-4-initial-wondering
g. Integrates current information and communication technologies
Integration of current information and communication technologies is great for students,
especially for students for our struggling students. Using different forms of communication
technology helps to support the students. In the image provided we have our students on IStation. I Station is a communication technology that helps to assess the students. It also
provides the students with questions. The program verbalizes the questions and the directions for
the students.

h. Adapts the learning environment to accommodate the differing needs and diversity of
students
As teachers we know that a students learn differently from one another. To make sure that all
students have an equal opportunity to learn I make sure to accommodate to the needs of my
student. Each time I create a lesson plan I think about the students that will need some
accommodations made. In the image below I show an example of the accommodations I make
for some of my students.
Accommodations (If
needed)
(What students need specific
accommodation? List
individual students (initials),

E.J-He has poor motor skills ability so I will have his boxes cut out
lesson so that he will not have to worry about struggling to cut of

R.S-She is an ELL student so I will make sure I have her work with
student to assist her in completing the assignments.

and then explain the

accommodation(s) you will
implement for these unique
learners.)

D.A-Donis has a hard time staying on task when she is given the
carpet with her
Classmate. When it is time to work independently I will have Don
the carpet
So that she can get her work done.

i. Utilizes current and emerging assistive technologies that enable students to participate in
high-quality communication interactions and achieve their educational goals.
One form of technology that Ive used with my students to make sure that they achieve their
educational goal is word spacers. Some of my students struggles with appropriately spacing out
their words when writing. When the students use their word spacers the writing is more legible.
The word spacer was created using a large Popsicle sticks. Each student keeps one in their pencil
case and takes it out when they feel they need to use it.

(Final Internship Artifact Below)

In the image below the students have writing walls up. These writing walls are used by the
students during testing. Each student received a writing wall prior to receiving their test. These
writing walls serve many purposes. It allows students to keep their eyes on their own paper and it
limits the amount of distractions around them. As I walked around the classroom during testing it
was as if each student was in a cubicle of their own.

FEAP 3: Instructional Delivery and Facilitation. The effective educator consistently utilizes
a deep and comprehensive knowledge of the subject taught to:
a. Deliver engaging and challenging lessons

Within the lesson displayed above the students were presented with a challenging and engaging
lesson. The students had been learn about plant and animal adaptation and now it was time for
the students to become an animal called Beezles and they were to go out into their environment
and retrieve their food. The Beezles food was a plant called Bubs. Bubs had adapted to their
environment over the years so finding the bubs was a bit of a challenge for the Beezles. Students
quickly learned what happened when animals were unable to adapt to their environment.
b. Deepen and enrich students understanding through content area literacy strategies,
verbalization of thought, and application of the subject matter;
During reading RTI I had students explain to me their understanding of poetry and with that
understanding I had the students create a poem of their choice. The next day I discussed what
figurative language was and how it is used within poems. Students learned about the different
elements of figurative language: alliteration, simile, metaphors and personification. Students read
a poem that contain those elements and they had to identify them. Using their new found
knowledge on figurative language I had the students revisit their poem and incorporate the usage
of personification, similes, alliteration, metaphors and see how the use of personification helped
to make their poem more meaningful. This pictures below displays the poem used to help
strengthen students understanding of figurative language.

c. Identify gaps in students subject matter knowledge;

Gaps were identified when students explained to me what they felt poetry was. The discussion
that we had helped me to understand what the students knew and understood about poetry. Based
off of their understanding I was able to get an understanding I knew I would have to revisit what
metaphors, similes, personification and alliteration was.

d. Modify instruction to preconceptions or misconceptions;

During an LTI I noticed that many students responded saying that sand dissolved in water. To
clear up this misconception I showed students a video of a beach. Before showing students the
video I asked the class does sand dissolved. As I guessed most students said yes. I then asked
them to view the twenty second clip and answer the question again. Does sand dissolve? All
students said no and that supported their reasoning by stating that if sand dissolved there would
be no sand at the beach.

e. Relate and integrate the subject matter with other disciplines and life experiences;
This week I had the pleasure of doing a lesson on peer pressure. Student learned good decision
making strategies that can help them when they are in a situation where they feel they are being
pressured by their peers. Students also learned how to identify positive and negative peer
pressure. The artifact below shows a portion the lesson plan.

f. Employ higher-order questioning techniques;

Hot questions are used daily within everyday lessons. One time in particular that I used a HOT
question was after a lesson on animal adaption. Students were asked to spend the last five
minutes of class answering the following question: When the environment changes, why do
some plants and animals survive and reproduce while others die out? Student had to take all the
information that they learned thus far and try to answer this question.

(4a) analyzes and applies data from multiple assessments to diagnose students learning
needs
During Rti I wanted to assess students ability to use figurative language so I gave them a preassessment. Within their pre-assessment students were asked to write a poem using figurative
language. After students completed this assignment I noticed that the students used figurative

language poorly in the writing. In another assessment I asked students to explain to me what
figurative language was and through that assessment I realized that students lacked the
understanding of figurative language. After teaching the students about the different types of
figurative languages I had them revisit their pre-assessed poem and asked them to include
different types of figurative language to help strengthen the poem. The following assessments
include pre-assessment, formative, and summative.

(4b) designs
and aligns
formative &
summative
assessment
that match
learning
objectives
and lead to mastery
The objective for this lesson was to teach students about figurative language and as you can see
both the formative and summative assessment assesses students ability to identify different
forms of figurative language and use it within their writing!

(4c) uses a variety of assessment tools to monitor student progress, achievement, and
learning gains
Student data was monitored in several ways. I monitored students data within the gradebook. It
is in the gradebook where I was able to track students gains and track their progress.

(4d) modifies assessments and testing conditions

Testing conditions were often modified for Julius because he does have an I.E.P. During testing
Julius is allowed to move to the guided reading table so that he does not get distracted from the
other students as they complete their test. Julius also is given extended time when taking a test.
Within my lesson plan you can see how I modify the testing conditions for Julius.

(4e) shares the importance of outcomes of student assessment data with the students and
the students parent/caregiver(s)
Over the course of the semester I had the pleasure of working with a struggling student during
my inquiry. After my tutoring session with student I would discuss the student progress with the
parent. As the student began to show some areas of improvement, his attendance began to affect
his ability to improve. Each time I ended a tutoring session with the mother I would update her
with her sons grade and explain to her that his attendance is has affected his ability to pass his
test because he is never he to learn the material. The artifact below shows the area in which I
would meet with the students parent to discuss his progress every Friday when she came to pick
him up after tutoring.
** no artifact available