Weekly Reflections

Week 1:

October 23rd

Throughout this week I have been observing what a Co-teaching classroom looks like in practice.
I was very excited to see how this classroom functioned with two teachers. My cooperating teachers are
a great team, and really work well together. They use multiple models of Co-teaching, depending on the
content area and the activity they are doing. They will do team teaching when teaching whole groups
and then break the groups apart based on need for small group instruction. When doing whole group
instruction, they will also sometimes follow the one teach one assist model to help aid students while
also teaching whole group. I appreciate how they use multiple models of Co-Teaching to help ensure
that all students are able to learn at their own pace. I have also seen how they are able to bounce ideas
off of each other and work together to give the students the best academic experience they can.

October 24th

After Specials, the whole class has a 45 min intervention period. During this time, the class with
be split into purposeful groups. This day, the groups were working on literacy skills. One group was
working on Fluency. Another group was working on comprehension skills. A third group was working in
partners, practicing fluency. They were doing cold and hot reads. They would read a passage, have their
partner time them, and then they would record all of their own data and graph their progress. Having
these small groups with directed goals allowed more one on one time, and allowed both teachers to
provide directed interventions for areas the students need to improve.

Week 2:

October 31st

Today I witnessed a math, spelling, and grammar test. I was surprised to see that any student
was allowed to have the math questions read to them. My Cooperating teacher explained that on the
PSSA’s, the students are allowed to have any question on the math or science section read to them if
they ask. Because of this she encourages that students to ask for the question to be read if needed, so
that they can better understand how to answer the question. While I do not believe teachers should be
teaching to the test, I do like this practice. I feel students should be used to being assessed the same
way as they will on the PSSA. With high stakes testing, students will feel less stressed if are used to how
the test works. They will also be able to perform at their best, because they will know they can have a
tricky or hard question read to them, and focus on finding the right answer instead of trying to read the
question correctly.

October 30th

In reading, the students were reading a story about Yosemite national park. The students were
grouped into two groups based on ability levels. I observed the enriched group, though both groups
read the same story and did a lot of the same activates. Throughout the time that this story was being
studied, the Ipads were used to build background knowledge and enrich. The students did a mini
research project on many of the topics discussed including old faith full, animals and sequoias. This was
great because it encouraged them to research further for understanding, and helps them to begin to
understand what credible sources are. Having more background knowledge and seeing picture will help
with comprehension because the students can connect the story and can read aesthetically.

Week: 3

Kindergarten

Kindergarten was extremely fast pace, and there is hardly ever a moment where they have any
down time. Even as the kids transition between activities or instruction, they are doing something. The
instruction was fast pace too, they didn’t spend more than five mins on an activity. One thing that was
really neat to see was watching the teacher instruct in ways that builds phonemic awareness. After
taking EEU 300, I was able to recognize the different developmental levels of phonemic awareness the
children had. Some of them were able to hear both the beginning and the ending sounds of words.
Some of the other children were only able to hear the beginning sounds of words. They also practice
word building, rhyming, and swapping out sounds. Finally, they focused on one letter sound, hard c, and
practice with many activities. They practiced with student’s names, objects, a video, hand writing and
worksheets. The teacher also practiced all of the words by over emphasizing letter sounds.

4Th Grade

I was able to observe a math lesson in a different 4th grade classroom. It was very different from
my class, which is a co-taught inclusive classroom. There was about 30 students in this classroom
compared to our 21 and only one teacher instead of two. The teacher, had great structure in her
classroom and the students knew what was expected of them. She also had yellow, red, and green cards
to help manage the side chatter. She said that her class has very few behavior issues, but the biggest
problem is how much they talk. They also did a lot of whole group instruction followed by independent
work. Once they were completed, they check the answers as a class and then practiced math talk by
pairing up and taking turn pretending to be the teacher. I was interesting to see how she was able to
complete all the same work and manage her classroom with just one teacher. While my classroom has
more students with IEPs and that is the reasoning for having two teachers in one room. However, there
are some benefits that come with having a co-taught room, the biggest one being that one teacher can
assist while the other teaches, or one teacher can pull a small intervention group, or even just make the
groups smaller.

Week 4:

November 10th

Something that I have consistently seen is how collaborative the work environment is in both
this school and this grade level. While this is not something that is a teaching strategy, I believe that it an
important factor in the student’s educational environment. Collaboration with other staff, teachers and
the administration mean that the students are receiving the most effective strategies, the most
important content, and the best materials to help them learn. It is also important to the teachers as
well. Even though teachers should always perform their best, it make it easier on them if they feel
supported, are able to share ideas and can have help with any problems. Not only do I see great
collaboration between my co-ops, but I see them collaborating in teams with the rest of the 4th grade.
They have team meetings every two weeks where they discuss where they are in the curriculum, how
the students are performing on grade wide assessments, what strategies are working in their classroom,
and what supports they need. All 4th grade teachers attend the meeting, along with administration,
making it a collaborative effort. Generally speaking, all the teachers are nothing but kind and friendly
with each other. They are frequently popping in and out of each other’s room, they eat lunch together,
and generally enjoy each other’s company. My Co-ops have expressed on several occasions how much
they enjoy working with their co-workers.

November 9th

In reading they practiced word building, which they do with every story. During this activity, the
students took words with similar root words and sored them. They then discussed the meaning of the
root words and the prefixes or suffixes. Finally, they take each root word and prefix and see if they can
think of any others words that have those prefixes and root words. It is neat to see word building in the
older grades. This skill is great because the students can be able to figuring out meanings of never
before seen words by breaking them apart and looking at the meanings of their roots and prefixes.

Week 5:

November 14th

This week the students started a project in science that incorporates STEM, writing, and inquiry
based learning. The students were told that they were going to create a flash light and given the
materials. They were not told how to create it. The students used their knowledge of circuits and the
advantages of the different varieties of circuits to create a purpose for their flashlight. They then
designed and created a flashlight. They were paired based on mix ability level and the pairs worked
together to create their flashlight. They then had to explain how to create a flashlight and filled in
guided notes to explain the mechanics as to how it work. Finally, they wrote a story, incorporating how
they will use their flashlights and shared them with the class. This project incorporated multiple teaching
strategies including inquiry, peer tutoring, integrating different content areas, and performance based
assessment. It required the students to know, apply, comprehend, analyze and synthesize they
information they have learned to complete this project.

November 15th

I’ve seen a lot of differentiation for students with IEP or student who just struggle in certain
subjects. Today I saw an example of how instruction is differentiated to enrich those students who finish
work early and grasp concepts quickly. While one group was working on completing their reading test,
the advanced group sat with my cooperating teacher to play a game called 24. This game requires a firm
understanding of math facts and operations, along with good problem solving skills, reasoning skills, and
ability to recognize patterns. This is a challenging game for these students and helps them improve their
logical reasoning. It is important that all students are being challenged in an appropriate way and
enrichment allows this to happen in a classroom with a wide range of ability levels.
Week 6:

November 20

In writing the students learned about persuasive writing through the use of mentor texts. They
first were introduces to the topic learning about claims, reasons, evidence, and making an argument.
They then look at mentor texts as a whole class, looking to find the all the components of persuasive
writing. After practicing as a whole class, they were broken up into groups and worked together to read
the text and identified all the components that should be in persuasive writing. They worked together
to read through two texts. Finally at the end, they discussed that one of the sample texts was a non-
example because it was an informative piece so there can’t be an arguments. Having both examples and
non-examples really helps the students understand how they should or should not write their
persuasive pieces.

November 21st

With Thanksgiving approaching, the history of Thanksgiving was incorporated into many
different content areas. It was incorporated mostly into reading, writing and of course social studies.
During the Social Studies block, the students were taken on a virtual tour of the Mayflower and shown
what the first Thanksgiving was like. They were shown how the pilgrims lived, how the Native Americans
lived, and what was eaten. It was very realistic, and relatable and allowed the children to visualize what
it might have been like to live back then and experience the first Thanksgiving. As a teacher, I think it is
important to try to incorporate holidays, culture and other teachable moments that aren’t in the
curriculum but still important to include in instruction. I also appreciate how my teachers found
engaging experiences to help the students visualize and relate to events that happened so long ago.

Week 7:

November 28th

During the afternoon, the students have an ELA block that last for 2 hours. During this block, the
students learn spelling, grammar, and Reading. The skills taught in each of these lessons overlap one
another. For example, the spelling words always go with the reading story that they are reading, and
grammar sentences are lines from the story, or are focused around the theme of the story. This week in
particular has the students learning about plural nouns in both spelling a grammar. I think this is
important because there are many skills in ELA that students need to master the English language. It is
important to connect these skills across other areas, even extended to content areas like science, math
and social studies, whenever possible. As a teacher I want to make sure skills in independent content
areas and being connected and applied in other areas to ensure that my students are reading deeper
levels of thinking and truly master all of the skills they learn.

November 30th

During free time or if a student finishes early, they are encouraged to go on to their Ipads and
practice skills they have learned. This was surprising at first because almost every class I have been in to
observe has had students read silently when finished. I was originally, unsure with the students always
using their ipads since I know that children should be reading as much as possible to improve literacy
skills. However, after observing this for so many weeks, I have come to appreciate the practice. The
students are either given a choice, or told to use an app related to the block that we are in. Many of the
apps are related to the curriculum as well. This allows students to practice important skills and continue
to enrich those students who are done their work early. It is also beneficial because the students are
motivated to use the apps because they are fun and engaging. This system works well for a classroom
like mine where students are all on different levels and finish at different times. It allows for time to
work with students who may still need assistant, but not waste learning time for students who have
already completed the work.

Week 8:

December 6th

I was walking around during a writing activity read what the students had written up to that
point. I know that my students are on very different levels, especially in writing. I also have a lot of
students who have trouble spelling. However, when I went to read one girl’s paper, I noticed that her
spelling was way off. After reading a few sentences, I realized that there was a pattern to her spelling.
She would leave out vowels in the middle of almost every word. So “sound” is ‘snd”. I thought this was
interesting because I have learned all about the developmental stages of writing and didn’t think I would
see students who are still in consonants represents words phase is my grade. On the other end of the
spectrum, I have children who are amazing writers and can write better than I can. Regardless, this a
good insight of the wide range of abilities my students may have, and how to support all learners.

December 8th

Throughout the semester, I have developed great relationship with all of my students. I believe I
have been able to accomplish this because I have tried to do what my co-ops do. I know there are
students that are a pain and really get under their skin, but they try not to ever let it show. Even if they
show irritation, they always are back with that student less than two minutes later, helping them with
something else and showing them kindness and compassion. It is easy to tell that all the students like my
co-ops and feel that my co-ops value their presence in the classroom and want them to succeed. It
amazes me how much the students love to volunteer to do thigs. My co-ops with never tell a student
that he, or she is wrong, only that they “disagree” with their answer. They will also take a student’s
answer, and try to form in in a way that would be a correct answer or ask for others to add on to the
first student’s thoughts. When they teach, they know which students will know the answers, and which
can read the fastest, but they make time to pick/call on students who may struggle and take the time to
prompt them toward the correct response. I believe that because they make each child feel valued and
important, the students feel comfortable taking the risk of answering wrong, and feel like they are
intelligent enough to participate in discussions.