Alyssa

Crockett
February 1, 2018
ED 449
Teaching/Learning Context
Rules/Expectations:
The rules and expectations for my mentor teacher’s class are posted on the
white board in the front of the classroom. There are about ten pictures of a cartoon
chameleon that represent the rules. The students know that each one is a rule to be
followed. A few of the rules are:
• If you want the teachers attention, you raise your hand.
• Wherever your eyes go your brain follows. (Eyes on teacher to learn the
most)
• Just because you think something doesn’t mean you say it. (Only say nice
things to your friends)
• Don’t tell whoppers. (No lying)
• Stay out of others bubbles.
What is really impressive to me is that for each picture the children know a
phrase that represents the rules. One my first day in the classroom they recited the
expectations to me after my introduction. This has really helped me when working
with the students to just have to say a short phrase and they know the rule they
need to follow.
In addition to those rules there are also a few things that I was able to pick up
on over the last few weeks. First, if they need to use the restroom they are allowed
to immediately able to go. They are still young and we don’t want to tell them they
have to wait if they are going to have an accident. If they end up going more than
twice in our short time together we pull them aside to see if they are alright. Most of
the time they are just fine and they don’t really need to go again and will go back to
doing their work.
If they are misbehaving then they will be given a warning. Now I wasn’t sure
what happens after the warning because they usually fall back in line. I did ask my
mentor teacher what happens if they don’t stop misbehaving and she said they go
into redirection. Redirection is when they are given a worksheet and have to go back
to their seats or to the reading table in order to sit alone. On the paper they have to
circle one of the chameleon rules that they didn’t follow. Once they are finished and
realize what they did wrong their teacher will call them up and they will tell her
what they did wrong and what they are going to do in order to fix their mistake.
Procedures:
I love how the procedures in my mentor teacher’s classroom make
everything run so smooth. There are no surprises when it comes to how the day will
go because it always the same and the students know what to expect at every part of
the day.
• When they first arrive they put out their pencil box and their take home
folder next to their nametag, which is moved daily. They will then go sit on
the kiva to be read to and do the morning routine.
• After the morning routine is done and the helpers are assigned they go put
their assigned letter under the type of drink they want to snack that day.
They then go to where their nametags are for the day and do the first lesson
of the day. If it is Monday they take out their homework that is completed
and put it in the completed tray. We then pass out their homework for this
week.
• When they are going from place to place they also have different movements
they do to get some extra movement in their day such as high knees.
• After lessons are done for the first part of the day we do snack. The quietest
table will get to sanitize their hands first and get their drinks. Once everyone
is back in their seats they go back to their tables for snack. Right after snack
the bell will ring for recess. The children will be excused to play outside. They
are allowed to take out sleds, shovels, and balls. If they are not returned then
they will not be allowed to take them back out for the next day.
• For the last hour we do centers. The groups are assigned and told which
center to start with. This is also a time where a few students are taken out to
do special classes for their IEP’s.
• Once everyone has had a chance at every center, it is time to clean up and get
ready to go home for the day. They get their folders and put away all their
assignments they did for the day.
• Once everything is picked up the line leaders line up first then the door
holders and the cabooses and then the rest of the class. We go out into the
hallway and put their folders into their backpacks and walk out to the buses
or wait for parents to pick up.
Schedule:
11:55 Arrive
12:00-12:15 Morning Routine
12:15-12:20 Calendar
12:20-12:30 Phonemic Awareness lesson
12:30-12:40 Handwriting
12:40-12:50 Sight Words
12:50- 1:05 Big book lesson
1:05- 1:20 Math lesson
1:20-1:30 Snack
1:30-1:45 Recess
1:45-2:30 Centers
2:30-2:45 Clean up / Buses
For the days that I am there we do the same things everyday. I know that
they go do specials on Tuesdays and Thursdays that affect their schedule but I have
not seen it.
Classroom Management:
Classroom management is very important to my mentor teacher. If the class
is not paying attention she knows that they cannot be learning. In order to get their
attention she will often say, “If you can hear me touch your nose…” and keep naming
body parts until the entire class is paying attention to her. She will also just say
“eyes” and the entire class will put their eyes on her.
In the very few times I have seen a student misbehave, my mentor or I will
talk with them privately. If it is in the middle of a lesson she will call out the student
and correct the misbehavior. This tends to get the misbehaving child to do what is
expected of them.
My favorite way that my mentor teacher has great classroom management is
by complementing a few students that are doing what is expected. I love to see the
joy on their faces and then how quickly everyone else wants to do what is expected
until the whole class is doing what the students that were complemented were
doing.
Climate:
I feel the classroom climate overall is really loving, happy, and
straightforward. The students really respect their teacher and it shows when she is
teaching and they listen and follow the rules. My mentor teacher is very enthusiastic
when she is teaching and doesn’t have a hard time keeping their attention because it
is so lively and enjoyable.
I notice that because my mentor has set up such a great rapport with her
students that she also is able to have those harder conversations without losing
their respect. She is able to correct mistakes or call out misbehavior but still has the
love in the end because of the respect that they have for her.
Students:
1. Gracey: She is a student that is really good at following the directions. She is a
great example to the other students in listening and following along. She is
friendly to everyone and has many friends.
2. Graham: He is a very quiet student. He doesn’t talk much but he is really good
about raising his hand when he does have something to say. Even though he
is pretty quiet many of the other students really like to sit by him when they
get a chance.
3. Kache L: He is such a sweet tenderhearted boy. He is a best friend with
Beckham and that can sometimes get the two in trouble. He is so kind though
and I can tell he feels really bad when I have to ask the two of them to refocus
on the lesson.
4. Katelynn: She is so quiet but so nice. She will help out wherever she needs to
be and loves helping her neighbor. She can be really quiet though when
asked to answer something.
5. Braxton: He is someone who loves to be called on. He raises his hand for
everything and waits patiently for his chance to give an answer.
6. Tamina: She sometimes needs a little help following along in the lessons. She
in some ways is a bit ahead of the rest of the class and therefore gets bored
and her attention wanders.
7. Brynlee: She gets along with everyone. She loves to help me and when I was
new she would help me remember everyone’s names. She is a bit behind
when it comes to what we are learning but my mentor informed me that she
has come a very long way and made significant progress.
8. Jaida: She is such a nice girl but has a severe speech issue. My mentor teacher
has told me that her home life is very strange and difficult and her parents
can be very hard to please. They have specific things that we have to do or
they get upset. My mentor has instructed me to leave handling any of her
issues to my mentor.
9. Calvin: He is very smart. He can answer every question and participates so
well. He is also friendly and has many friends.
10. Jaxon w: He is a bit harder. He has and IEP and he goes to full day
kindergarten. My mentor says that because of this it is just too much for him
and he is giving up trying. He doesn’t try to follow along and drags behind the
rest of the class on most everything we do.
11. Brikelle: She is so smart. She knows all the sight words, letters and their
sounds, and is very good at math. Even though she is far ahead of most she
doesn’t act out and is very sweet.
12. Jackson F: He is a very bright boy. He is very engaged with the lessons, is a
good listener, and provides good examples to the class.
13. Faith: She is a little hard to follow along with the class. My mentor said at the
beginning of the year she would have to repeatedly give her instructions in
order for her to follow through. Although she still doesn’t always follow
instructions the first time she has gotten much better. She just does things at
a very slow pace.
14. Kach H: He is very tenderhearted. He is always raising his hand to be called
on and sometimes he gets upset when he doesn’t get called on enough and he
 needs to be reminded the proper way to get called on sometimes. He is so
sweet though and very bright.
15. Ethan: He is good student. Follows instruction and is really bright. He has a
lot of friends and is a good example.
16. Beckham: He is very sweet but isn’t confident in himself. He often asks for
help before trying to do things on his own. When I do go over to help he
really does it on his own he just wants reassurance that he is doing it correct.
17. Jakoby: She is so sweet. She knows all the answers and wants to share them
all the time. She needs to get reminded of the raising hand rule often because
she will shout out the answers.
18. Lacey: She is our little Down syndrome girl that is so sweet! She has an aid
with her always to help her through the day. She is doing very well with the
information but can get off task easily. She is also a follower and when
someone does something they aren’t supposed to she will follow their
incorrect example and needs help getting back on track.
19. Adalyn: She is very sweet but can boss people around sometimes. She likes to
be in control at her table, which can cause little arguments with her
classmates.
20. Damian: He can be very shy. When I was knew to the class he wouldn’t say
anything. Now that he knows me he has opened up again in the classroom
and will raise his hand in class and is pretty good and getting the right
answers.
School:
Central Elementary is so sweet and welcoming. The front desk secretary is so
nice and helps out so much. She is always willing to help where she can. The other
teachers have been very nice with a welcoming smile every time I meet someone
new. I can feel the sense of camaraderie between teachers in the building. The
teachers seem to know all the students names in the building, which I’m sure, makes
them feel special.
The kindergarten classrooms are at the very end of a long hallway that is nice
and out of the way. There aren’t any distractions down there and the students don’t
have to get mixed up in upper grades, which can get a little hectic.
It is located in the small town of sugar city, which is a small town just fifteen
minutes away.