Galindo, Rosa

386: Final Teacher Work Sample

Spring 2015

Preston Middle School Overview

This spring semester I was assigned to Preston Middle School, a middle school that
houses grades sixth through eighth grade, for my middle school practicum. This school is
positioned in the South Eastern corner of Fort Collins is catered to a dominantly white uppermiddle class demographic, and was privileged enough to have modern amenities in each
classroom.
It was explained to me the Preston Middle School had a contract with SmartBoard
allowing each class to have at least one SmartBoard. This is a great amenity to the school since
students were allowed to engage with the board when appropriate, the entire purpose of a
SmartBoard. Some classrooms had several boards, for instance on my initial tour of the school, I
was led into a joint classroom where there were three SmartBoards. This sounds a bit lavish, but
in fact, I believe that it is such a wonderful opportunity for the students. For example, in Mr.
Walz's geography class I noticed students were able to create their maps on the board in
collaboration with their peers. Without this technology, teamwork would be limited. Further,
Preston also provided the students with Netbooks in each class. These netbooks were also
heavily used in Walz's class especially since he would ask the students to research various
aspects such as economies or popular religions of certain countries. These Netbooks allowed
student to find current information rather than researching information provided to them in a
book that can essentially limit their learning as it may not contain the most accurate and up-todate information.
Aside from the technological amenities at Preston, every student was assigned a locker,
where they were allowed to store their backpacks since it is against the rules to wear a back pack

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in the halls during school hours. If students needed to leave the classroom to retrieve an item
from their locker, then they were required to have their Puma Pass signed by the teacher,
allowing them to leave the classroom. The unique aspect of these passes is that a student can use
them whenever needed, but they are only provided with one pass that is good for a limited
amount of uses, and the same pass was to be used for all classes. I believe that these passes
enabled the students to self limit the use of the passes, which instills responsibility.
During my time at Preston, I was able to observe Mrs. Ibanez's Crafts and Creative
Vision classes and Mr. Walz's Geography class. Each subject was dramatically different than the
other when it comes to class room set-up, and s. For instance, Mr. Walz's class was set up in a
traditional sense as it had the SmartBoard and white boards at the front of the classroom, with the
majority of the desks facing forward. Even though the class was set up this way, the students
rarely sat facing forward. On any given day I would observe Mr. Walz begin the class by
discussing global current events and issues that he would tie into the day's lesson and assignment
objectives. This introduction, or hook, would last about fifteen to twenty minutes, then the
students would grab their materials and work on the assignments either in groups or individually,
up until that last ten minutes of class. At the end of class, once all the materials were put away
and everyone was back in their assigned seats, Mr. Walz remind the class of any upcoming duedates or school activities. Then, he would spend the remainder of the time doing trivia. The
students loved trivia since they could win a piece of candy.
Mrs. Ibanez's class was set up differently than Mr. Walz's class, physically and
instructionally. Upon entering Mrs. Ibanez's class, the SmartBoard and white boards were
positioned at the front of the room, but all the desks were grouped. This is because Mrs. Ibanez is
an art teacher and the tables were art tables that were most conducive to the projects when

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grouped together. For Crafts, rarely would Mrs. Ibanez start the class by talking at them, unless
they were starting a new project. At the beginning of a project, Mrs. Ibanez would give her
Crafts Class directions in steps. I noticed that she would briefly mention what the end result of
the project would be. Instead, she would break the project into parts and give instructions in
parts. Once the step was completed, the students would ask what came next and she would then
give them the next part. The reason behind this, I learned, is because this class was a GT class
and the students would become overwhelmed when given too many instructions at once. The
students could better understand what was expected from them when given sectionalized parts of
the project. Therefore, the students would come into class, take out their projects, then start
working right away; they'd receive further instruction as they completed the steps. The class
would spend the majority of the time working on their projects and when there were about fifteen
to ten minutes left, depending on the project materials used, Mrs. Ibanez would ask the students
to store their projects and clean their stations. The students were not allowed to leave until the
entire class was cleaned.
Even though both classes were set up differently and the instructional methods differed, I
noticed that the students enjoyed that they were hardly ever spoken to, and instead they were
able to control the pace of their learning. Also, I noticed that in both sets of classes the students
regardless of the amount of noise and chatter, the students were always on task and doing exactly
what was being asked of them.

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386: Final Teacher Work Sample

Spring 2015

Case Study:
Miss L. S.
During my time at Preston, I was able to form relationships with the students. Often
times students would stop me in the halls simply to say hello or ask about my weekend. Of all of
the students that I grew to know, one in particular made a lasting impression: Miss L. S.. Miss
L.S. is the youngest of three children. She has an older brother who is 21 years old, and a sister
who is 19 years old. I know this student because she is a seventh grader in Mr. Walz's
Geography class and she was always very kind to me. If she saw me outside of the classroom she
would stop and have a conversation with me, or ask about my experiences at Colorado State; I
too was able to ask her a bit about herself and her school experiences.
She revealed to me that her favorite class is mathematics. She loves her math class the
most because although she doesn't feel that math is her strong suit, her teacher makes the subject
very enjoyable. According to Miss L.S., she can ask her teacher anything and her questions will
not only be welcomed, but thoroughly answered, and because of this she believes that her skills
have dramatically progressed throughout the year. Miss L. S. stated that of all her classes, she
feels that her math teacher is the easiest with whom to get along because the teacher has
established such a warm and comfortable environment in the class that the students can approach
the teacher with any question or concern and know that they are in a trustful environment. She
says that she is able to view her teacher as a friend as well as a teacher.
Outside of the classroom, Miss L.S. is involved in school leadership, sports and music.
For leadership, she is given the opportunity to learn about the United Nations and discuss how to
become better leaders. She is able to apply what she learns to planning events and working with

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peers who have differing opinions. Miss L. S. also enjoys her leadership class because she is able
to meet new people. She also enjoys choir because she loves singing and many of her friends are
in that class with her, but more than anything, she loves soccer. She plays center-defense on her
soccer team and is in the school choir. She is devoted to improving her skills and becoming a
stronger teammate. She gets frustrated when a play doesnt go to plan or when she makes a
mistake, but regardless of how she performs in a game, she still enjoys it.
When this student is neither on the soccer field, or in school, she enjoys hanging out with
her friends creating skits. These skits are sometimes serious, but they are mostly silly
improvisational acts that she and her friends compose and perform in front of each other. One of
the most memorable skits that she's done with her friends was one called Pregnant Yoga Ladies.
She and her friends pretended to be in a yoga class but were unable to do the poses because of
their large bellies, made by stuffing pillows into their shirts. For Miss L. S., laughter is very
important because it relieves stress and simply makes her feel great about herself. She believes it
is important to be unique and confident and perhaps that is the reason behind her goal of
becoming a middle school councilor. She hopes to stay in the Fort Collins area and someday
have a family.
I was able to ask Miss L. S. about what she enjoys least about school and what she would
change, and not to my surprise, she expressed how she strongly dislikes standardize testing. She
wishes that she didn't have to spend hours during the school year taking these exams because she
says they are very boring and unenjoyable.
Throughout the semester I was able to observe Miss L. S. and her friends during class and
at first, it would seem that she and her friends were taking the time in class given to them to do

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assignments to chat about movies, songs, and middle school drama instead of working on the
assignments. But as I got to spend time with Miss L. S., I noticed that even though she and her
friends were talking and singing songs, she was actually working on the assignments. Before I
started practicum, I believed in the misconception that students who were "on-task" were quiet
and either worked independently or in pairs. But after observing Miss L. S. and her friends, I've
learned that just because there is noise and chatter, even if it's off topic, doesn't mean that the
students are not doing what is asked of them. I now know that there are different types of
students, some students prefer to work independently and work in silence, but others dislike the
silence and feel more motivated to complete work when there is background noise. If there is
something that Miss L. S. has taught me, it is that a teacher should recognize these preferences
and give their class the opportunities to study and learn in their own way, whether it be working
independently on a computer or collaboratively with books.

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Spring 2015

Assessment Reflection
When it comes to assessment, I've learned that it is no longer what it used to be when I
was in middle school. As a middle school student, I remember I would have teachers lecture
about a topic, and the next day they'd review the previous lecture, briefly, then they'd continue on
this way until they reached the end of the unit. Religiously, at the end of the unit, a test, quiz or
paper was administered, and then the next day the teacher would start with the next unit.
Everyone would eventually get their results back, but if someone did poorly, there was never the
option to retake the test or rewrite the paper. This, however, is not the case at Preston.
At Preston, I've learned that the teachers allow their students to retake an assessment quiz
if they did poorly, as well as even turn in assignments after the projected due date. Once in Mr.
Walz's class I helped enter grades into Grade Book and talk to students about their standing
grades. It took me by surprise that some of the students were not concerned about their test
scores or missing assignments. Some told me they would retake the test or turn in assignments
later. When asked if they could still turn in missing assignments or retake the exam I told them
yes, as I was told to do so. But it surprised me how there is now a culture in the classrooms for
students to not be worried about their grades because they are planning on retaking a test or
planning on turning in assignments that are long past due. I was unfamiliar with the lax rules
about assessments and assignments since I grew up without the second chances. If I failed to turn
in an assignment, I'd receive a zero, or if I did poorly on a test, then I knew I had to do better on
the next one so as to not let my overall grade suffer.
After spending a semester at Preston, I now understand that assessments should not be
based on a student's understanding about a topic on one given day. I now realize that assessment

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is more about the end result, if it takes a student longer to understand or learn the material, then
they should be given the opportunity to take the assessment again to prove that they do
understand the material. As far as late assignments are concerned, I am still undetermined how I
feel about it. I do understand that a few days past due is acceptable, but I struggle with the idea
of allowing students to turn in materials from weeks before.

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386: Final Teacher Work Sample

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Narrative of Experiences
When I first started the semester at Preston for Practicum, I was a bit weary of being in a
middle school classroom as I had been at the school the semester before for EDUC 340:
Recitation, and the experience I had in the classroom was not comforting, to say the least. But,
this semester's experiences was unlike my previous one, I actually enjoyed being in a middle
school. I believe a lot of it has to do with the amount of interaction I was able to have with the
students as well as how classrooms were managed by their teachers.
Mrs. Ibanez, my cooperating teacher for Creative Vision, taught GT students and had
such an impressive set of management tools that she practiced in her classroom. For instance, I
noticed that every time she wanted to deliver important instructions on a new assignment or an
upcoming event, such as a field trip, she would gather the students to the front of the class and
use what I call the Talking Ball. Mrs. Ibanez would stand in front of the SmartBoard and ask the
class to bring their stools with them to sit as closely to her as possible. Once they were gathered
around her, she would hold up a tennis ball and re-explain to the class that the only person
allowed to talk was the person holding the ball. At this point she would explain the assignment or
activity. The students had to raise their hands every time the wanted to speak, at which point she
would toss them ball allowing them to voice their concerns. I believe that this method worked
well with her students because Mrs. Ibanez was not exempt from the rules, if she wanted to
speak or respond to the question, she would have to raise her hand and wait until the student
tossed her the ball. I found this technique to be quite refreshing and extremely admirable since
she essentially is communicating to her class that the everyone demands the same level of
respect and are all held to the same expectations. Not once did this system fail Mrs. Ibanez; it

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was well executed each time she used it. I believe that by watching how Mrs. Ibanez managed
her class, I feel more confident In my abilities to manage a classroom.
When I first started the program, I was very concerned with how I would someday
manage a class. I was very uncertain of how to execute it or what techniques to use, but now, I
no longer believe that classroom management is as intimidating as I originally made it out to be.
But I do think that it is still think that I need to improve on executing behavioral management
issues. For instance, I know that I struggle with students who see me more as a friend then a
teacher, and when I try to tell them to behave themselves, they test me. I fear that I am a too
good at establishing a friendship with the students that at times impedes on my authority as a
teacher. I think this was made most obvious for me when I was presenting one of my "lectures."
In the middle of my presentation a group of girls were disruptively playing with their
phones and sliding them down a stack of binders, I politely asked them to stop, but shortly
thereafter they started up again. I asked them about three times to stop, but I think that I was too
kind and friendly. Either I was not stern enough with them when I asked them to put their phones
away, or they didn't think that I would become mad because I was always really nice and
friendly with them during class. Either way, I think that I am good at establishing relationships
with the students, but I think that I still need to work on refining my classroom management
techniques. Overall, I had a great experience, and no longer am intimidated by middle school.

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Spring 2015

Extra Curricular Activity

For my required extra curricular activity, I served as a chaperone for Mrs. Ibanez's
Creative Vision class field trip. She took her class to the Discovery Museum in northern Fort
Collins for about three hours. The morning of the trip, I helped Mrs. Ibanez take attendance as
the majority of the students piled onto the bus, a select few rode with their parents whom were
also chaperoning the trip. Once we arrived at the Discovery Museum, we were given instructions
as to where the students shall leave their packed lunches and the general rules of the museum.
Almost immediately all the students dispersed through the halls and were free to explore all that
was available to them. Half way through the trip everyone was rounded up for lunch. Afterwards,
everyone headed upstairs to watch an Imax movie called Divinci's Dream to Fly, a thirty minute
video about the history of flight. At the end of the video, everyone grabbed their bags and
boarded onto the buses once again. Because it took us slightly longer than expected to return to
campus , we barely arrived in time for students to catch their buses home.
This trip was designed by Mrs. Ibanez with the intent of having her students explore how
their passions and interests can be developed and expanded upon with a bit more creativity. What
I noticed, however, is that the field trip served as an outlet where the students can run around and
release their energy. All the students had a great time; they all interacted with the hands-on
exhibits and enjoyed being able to get wild, for lack of a better word. The most popular exhibit
was the music section where the students were able to play with unconventional instruments as
loudly as possible and create as many crazy sounds they could at one given time. The Imax
movie was also pretty popular among the students since many of them had never seen a movie in
a dome. The students enjoyed how they were able to experience a sense of flight as the camera
played optical allusions with the dome.

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Since I was there as a chaperone, I was surprised that my supervision wasn't as needed as
I anticipated. Because the museum is designed for kids to play and be loud, there wasn't much
chaperoning that needed to be done. All I really did was make sure the students weren't running
or being disrespectful to other people at the museum. Overall, I feel that this field trip was a great
experience since I was able to see first-hand what kinds of activities and interests the students
enjoyed the most, and what all that goes into leading a field trip. Mrs. Ibanez did a wonderful job
at not becoming stressed or overwhelmed with the seemingly increasing chaos that the kids were
stirring up, instead, she stayed calm the entire trip and communicated all the directions and rules
to her students every time the students were collected either on the bus, or in the lunch rooms.
Although I didn't partake in any of the organization or coordinating that had to be done prior to
field trip day, I did however get to help Mrs. Ibanez double and triple check permission slips and
payment records. Overall, I believe the trip went smoothly and that the kids had a wonderful
time.

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Teacher: Ms. Galindo

Content Area: Intro to Spanish
Title: Spanish Articles: La Concordancia de Artculos

Date: 5/11/15
Grade Level: 7
Lesson #: 1 of 1

____________________________________________________________________________
____
Content Standard(s) addressed by this flipped lesson:
Novice- Low:
Standard 4. Comparisons to Develop Insight into the Nature of Language and Culture

Demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the

language studied and their own
Recognize some simple structures in the target language that differ from their own

Essential questions:
1. How does knowledge of another language enhance people's understanding of the
essentials of language in general?
2. What does can noun genders express about the differences between English and
Spanish; what does this say about language and cultures?

Spanish Articles Lecture

Materials needed:
PowerPoint Presentation, pencils and paper for exercises
What content do students need to know before class to successfully engage in the inclass activity?
In order for the students to construct simple phrases using articles and nouns, the students will
need to know the rules and exceptions of using masculine and feminine articles in order to
correctly correlate the articles with nouns, keeping in mind noun genders. The students must
know at least ten nouns in order to partake in this lesson.
What method will you use to deliver your lecture?
I will use a PowerPoint presentation with an audio recording, as well as animation, to explain
how to properly use masculine and feminine articles. I will explain the general rules of masculine
and femininity as well as a few exceptions to those rules. In addition to identifying and
correlating noun gender with their correct articles, I will make comparisons with English articles
to further enhance the students understanding of the existing language differences.

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386: Final Teacher Work Sample

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Evidence Outcomes: (Lesson Objectives)

Every student will be able to:

The student will be able to clearly identify the correct gender of nouns on a given list with
80%accuracy.
The student will be able to clearly identify the correct gender of articles on a given a list
with100% accuracy.
The student will be able to clearly explain two exceptions to the rules of femininity and
masculinity, as well as list at least eight of ten nouns that are the exception to the rules.
The student will be able to properly assign the corresponding articles to a list of ten
nouns with90% accuracy

How will you check for understanding: What questions will you ask students to check for
understanding?
To ensure that the students understood the lecture, I will ask that they pair up with a partner to
discuss what they learned about how to identify noun genders. I will also ask that they explain to
each other the exceptions of the rules to gender, and that they create a list of nouns that are the
exception to the rules of gender.

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Standards Toolbox
Standard
3.3 Develop and utilize a variety of formal and
informal assessments, including rubrics

5.1 Create a learning environment characterized

by acceptable student behavior, efficient use of
time, and disciplined acquisition of knowledge,
skills, and understanding

5.3 Apply appropriate intervention strategies

and practices to ensure a successful learning
environment

Strategy/Tool, Description & Benefits

1: In Mrs. Ibanez's Creative Vision class, she
would assess the students' Future Vision/Passion
Projects by the clarity and effort of presentation
delivery as well as their enthusiasm and interest
in their projects throughout the semester while
they worked on the projects.
2: Mrs. Ibanez would assess her Crafts students
by their completion of Artist Statements. She
asked that with every project turned in, the
students complete an artist statement that is
essentially a map of their thought process for
their piece: what they pictured their piece to look
like, what problems they had making their vision
come to life, if they're satisfied the end result,
and if they had to start over, why and what they
did differently.
1:At the beginning of Walz's class, he would state
what activities and assignments the students
should work on and what should follow once they
complete the initial task- this allows the students
to work at their own pace.
2:Aside from stating what needed to be
completed that class period, Walz would have
written down on his chalkboard what activities
were expected to be completed for the entire
unit on the board, that way students knew what
past of future assignments they needed to
complete.
1: In Mr.Walz's class, when there were students
being extremely disruptive in class, or if there
was a conflict between students, he would pull
them aside, take them out into the hallway and
speak to them about the issue. This would ensure
that there would not be further disruption of
learning to the rest of the class.
2: At the beginning of Mrs. Ibanez's Creative
Vision class, she would do a Word Puzzle, or
wuzzle, just to get students thinking "out of the
box," but at times the class would be too noisy
and disruptive to the students who were trying to
raise their hands and give their answers to the
puzzles. When this would happen, she would
send all the students out into the hall and ask
them to come in silently. She would do this as

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many times as needed until the entire class

would be quiet so they could do the wuzzles and
listen to her instructions for the day.

6.1 Employ a range of teaching techniques to

match the intellectual, emotional, and social
level of each student, and choose alternative
teaching strategies to achieve different
curricular purposes

6.2 Design and/or modify standards-based

instruction in response to diagnosed student
needs, including the needs of exceptional
learners and English Language Learners

6.3 Utilize understanding of educational

disabilities and giftedness and their effects on
student learning in order to individualize
instruction

1: Strong Voice: I can use strong voice and utilize

"Quiet Power" to make sure the class does not
get overwhelmed with the instructions for
lengthy assignments.
2:When Mrs. Ibanez needed to communicate
important information to her Crafts class, she
would practice what Teach Like a Champion calls
"Square up/Stand still" to nonverbally
communicate to her class that the information is
important and demand her undivided attention.
1:a teacher can incorporate cooperative learning
such as peer editing in a class with ELL's so that
these students can learn by examining each
other's writing. This helps these students to
learn new structures and words through
exposure and becoming familiar with writing
mechanics in the English language
2:Mrs. Ibanez's Creative Vision class essentially is
designed for students to pursue their interests
and create a presentation about it. This directly
addresses designing and modifying standardsbased instruction for these GT students since the
class is designed for the students to pursue their
interests while meeting the goals of using critical
thinking skills and delivering a presentation to the
class. In this class, students are asked to either
present to their peers or create a video of them
performing their interest, but they must give an
introduction to their video before playing it.
These projects range from students composing
their own music for their preferred musical
instrument, directing self-written plays, creating
comedic skits, constructing hover crafts,
designing video games using Scratch or similar
programs., and creating collages of doubleexposure film pictures.
1: Mrs. Ibanez would not give her Crafts class the
entire layout or procedure for the art projects.
Instead, she would break down the project into
parts and give the initial step to the entire class,
once completed, she would explain the next step
with students who were ready to move on to the

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7.1 Apply technology to the delivery of

instruction

Spring 2015

next portion. She would do this because some of

her GT students would otherwise become too
overwhelmed with the projects if she gave them
instructions all at once
2:Mr.Walzallowed his students to work at their
own pace either in groups, pairs or individually so
that the students could control the pace at which
they work and come to understand the material
1:Walzwould ask his students to use their
Netbooks to access World Book so they could
find information on the regions studied
2:At times Mrs. Ibanez would ask the students in
her Crafts class to research images on their
Netbooks for their art project so they can
develop an idea of what to do for their craft

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Field Notes

Spring 2015

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Spring 2015

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Spring 2015

Galindo, Rosa
386: Final Teacher Work Sample

Spring 2015