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thuynguyennational-blog · 6 years ago

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Phonics Toolbox

Toolbox link: https://padlet.com/leavamom/sugndq68hvju

Phonics

ELA COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS

In order to be an effective educator, it is critical that we are aware of the state standards that the students are required to master. I have included this resource because it is important to have and refer to. As educators, we cannot effectively teach our students and set them up for success if we do not know ourselves the skills that they should master. By having access to, and knowing, the state standards, we can plan effective lessons and know when and where we can assist the students that need extra resources.

ZOO PHONICS

This phonics video is called Zoo Phonics. With each letter of the ABC’s there is an animal that represents the letter. Zoo Phonics is all about sound and symbol representation and uses body movements to help the students remember what the letter sound is. This is a kinesthetic learning approach and I feel that it helps all students learn by doing. Once the students get all the Zoo Phonics down, they will be on their way to be a great reader and will have phonological awareness.

Phonics in Song

PHONICS SONG 2

This phonics song works through each letter of the alphabet while also naming the letter sounds. I searched for phonics sounds that presented correct sounds. Having taught ESL, I have noticed that a lot of students were naming the letter sounds with an extra sound at the end, such as for the letter ‘m’ the sound would be presented as /m/-/uh/ instead of the proper /m/. I believe that students should be presented with resources that will set them up for success. If students were to learn the letter ‘m’ as /m/-/uh/, it would be difficult for them to properly blend it such as in /m/-/a/-/t/-mat. Phonics Song 2 is appropriate for different learners because it includes audial learning by listening to the song, and it is good for visual learners because the video includes pictures that coordinate with each letter and sound.

JACK HARTMANN YOUTUBE CHANNEL

As a substitute teacher, I have come to learn the effectiveness and versatility of Jack Hartmann’s work. He is a proponent of movement in learning, so a lot of his videos encourage the students to get up and move while they sing the songs, whether it be walking in place, jumping up and down, or dancing. In a technological world where a lot of people sit stationary on an electronic device, I believe that it is important to incorporate movement into learning to promote a healthy lifestyle. Jack Hartmann’s videos are versatile and can accommodate different learners because he provides the audial learning in his songs as well as the physical element for students who tend to move around a lot or are fidgety.

VOWEL PHONIC SONG

This video is singing the vowels slow and then fast to the tune of BINGO. This video helps the students recognize the tune of the song and sounding out the vowels. This will help students learn how to pronounce the vowels in the correct way and identify them. I believe by having a familiar tune to introduce the vowels to the students will help them memorize what the vowels are. This song would be appropriate for visual and audial learners because the letters of the alphabet and corresponding animals with those letters are displayed on the screen while it is being sung to the tune of BINGO. This song would work for students of different grade levels because for this specific video, the song only sings the letters of the alphabet but for other grades, you can modify it to blends or digraphs which makes it a little harder.

THE VOWEL SONG: LONG AND SHORT VOWEL SOUNDS

I chose The Vowel Song: Long and Short Vowel Sounds because it not only reinforces which letters are vowels, but it also helps students to understand that each vowel has two sounds. I also chose this song because it has a catchy tune that I believe would capture the interest of students. Because of the catchy tune, this song would be a good song to get the students moving and have a dance party while they sing it. The song is slightly fast-paced so it may be difficult for new English Learners to catch on to the words and song, but I like that there is a lot of repetition, such as “/a/-/a/-/a/-/a/-/a/-apple.” The repetition will help English Learners practice and learn the sounds better.

WHEN 2 VOWELS GO WALKING

I chose When 2 Vowels Go Walking because it helps reinforce the long vowel sounds by teaching students that when two vowels are presented together, the first one says its name, which is also the long vowel sound. The song has a catchy tune that would capture students’ attention. I also like that there were examples of different vowel pairs, such as in “toe,” “pie,” and “boat.” I believe that this song would be beneficial for students of different English knowledge levels. It would help native speakers understand that when they see two vowels together, they say the first letter’s name. It will help English learners learn the long vowel sound by identifying when they recognize two vowels together.

Digraphs + Prefixes + Suffixes

PREFIX & SUFFIX SONG

I chose this YouTube video because it explains what a prefix and suffix is by singing and it displays the words and pictures in the video, which helps the students understand the word and keeps them engaged visually and auditorily. I think this teaches prefixes and suffixes in a fun way and children can learn and advance in this activity because you can always change the easier prefixes and suffixes to ones that are a little more advanced. This will help students learn more of what prefix and suffix means so that even if they do not know a word, they may be able to guess what the word means. This would not work very well for the upper grade children unless they are below average and need additional help in this area.

MATCHING PENCILS

I chose this activity because I think it is a fun way to teach kids. This activity incorporates UDL into teaching because every child learns differently so this will help students that are visual and hands on learners. This activity helps the students be able to see the spelling of the words because sometimes children have heard some words but do not know how they are spelled. This activity will help students visually see the words in front of them while being a hands-on activity. This activity can be done in the classroom or at home with parents and this will help the students register the spelling of the word with the phonic sound of the word. I think this activity is appropriate for other grade levels by switching up the words. For a higher-grade level, you would choose more advanced words that fit into the grade level you are trying to teach.

BLENDS AND DIGRAPHS

This chart is helpful for students that are learning the sounds made by blends or digraphs. You can turn the chart into a board game if you record sounds of blends of words and make a chart of pictures and or words that have the same sounds. Then you can play the sound and have the child listen closely to the sound and have them pick the corresponding pictures and words that have the same sound as the one they just heard. I picked this because teachers can use this in the classroom and parents can use this at home with their children as well. If learning involves a game, children will most likely be more engaged. I feel that this activity helps children successful meet the target area of learning blending sounds and digraphs because it not only makes them listen to the sound, but they also must think about what other objects, animals or items have the same sound. It helps the children learn to think more deeply. This activity will work best with students who are visual, auditory and hands on learners. I do not think this activity will work for the upper grade levels because it is about learning blends and digraphs, however; I think it would work for upper grade levels but with a different content.

ROLL A WORD PHONICS DRY ERASE ACTIVITY

I chose this activity because it helps students see and write what they can come up with and roll a real word or roll a nonsense word. Both ways, it lets the students blend and write out the words. Coming up with a real word will let them see and sound out a word and with a nonsense word, it will keep the activity entertaining and keep the students engaged. Also, by writing out the word; it will help their fine motor skills and allow them to practice their handwriting skills. This activity will work for children of different grade levels based on the level of difficulty of the words and will work for visual and more hands-on learners since they will be rolling and writing words down.

PHONICS MINI BOOKS

These free mini books to download help students learn new consonant digraphs with coloring the pictures that go with the digraph. Also, the students can trace the letters as they occur in the mini book. With each mini book, the students will learn the five most common digraphs which are: ch, ph, sh, th, and wh. These mini books would work with kindergarten through second grade students.

DIGRAPHS

This video particularly appealed to me because it is a fun and educational video for young children to learn letter sounds. Even as an adult, I found it fun and it drew me in the first time that I saw it. I also let my five-year-old niece watch it and I heard her singing parts of the song later in the day. Jack Hartmann really knows how to make learning fun. This video specifically is about digraphs and the sounds it makes. He also gives many examples of words that has the sounds of the letters that he is presenting. Jack Hartmann’s channel, not just this video is very educational, and I would definitely recommend his channel to anyone with young children and you can always play his videos in the car if you have a longer car ride and want to keep the kids busy. That way they are learning and not just watching a random video to kill time. I do think that this video and Jack Hartmann’s other videos will help students learn digraphs because if they forget what sound two letters make, they can think about this video and sing or replay it in their head. This will help them remember what sound the letters make and what words have those sounds. This video will be appropriate for visual and auditory learners because you can hear Jack Hartmann singing the song and he also displays it on the screen. I think this video will work for multiple grade levels depending on where they are academically. I am sure you can tweak the sounds or letters and change up the words for the upper grade level students.

Word Work

WORD WORK

This Reading Mama provides a lot of great phonics and reading resources. She is a homeschooling mom that creates her resources based on the curriculum that she is teaching her own children. I liked her ideas on Word Work activities because she includes a variety of options such as “Write words in a fancy way” or a simple activity such as “Spell words with magnetic letters.” The activities she has listed are adaptable and can be adjusted for students of various grade levels. For example, we can ask younger students to write their fancy words by dotting them and ask older students to write their fancy words in cursive. Our younger students can spell CVC words using magnetic letters, whereas older students can spell sight words or vocabulary words. Her Word Work ideas are generic and adaptable.

FIRST GRADE LEARNING GLUED SOUNDS-AM, AN, AND -ALL

I picked this program because it offers worksheets and activities that will help students learn glued sounds such as -am, -an, and -all at an extremely low price. I think this will help new teachers get an idea of some of the worksheets or activities that they can use or use as a reference when they are making their own. I will be a new teacher one day, so I think this is a useful resource to get new teachers going. This will help students learn how to sound out words that end in -am, -an or -all and that most words with the same ending will rhyme. I think this will work on multiple grade levels based on the words. The lower grade levels can have much easier words such as can-van or call-wall. The upper grade levels could have more challenging words to work on.

WORD PLAY

I chose this program because it is a differentiated word study curriculum. It comes in a digital format and it works for first, second and third grade. This program offers nine weeks of instructions based on phonics, spelling, and word families through games, worksheets and poems. It also comes with a comprehensive teacher guide, lesson plans and is a great resource for teachers. The only downside is that it is not free, but the price is not expensive. This program will help students become more successful in the target areas of phonics because it focuses on phonics and spelling. It uses a wide variety of ways to teach the content such as word cards, games, poems, worksheets, sound boards, and pocket chart pieces; so, I believe this will address many different learners.

Literacy

DIARY OF A NOT SO WIMPY TEACHER

Diary of a Not So Wimpy Teacher originally caught my attention when I was scrolling through Instagram one day. The blog name caught my eye because at the time my fourth grader had found interest in the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” book series. As I began to read her biography, I felt an educational connection to her because her philosophy matched mine. I am a strong believer that students learn better when they are active and moving; so, does she. I believe that learning should be fun and a big dance party; she does she. I believe that it is our job as educators to differentiate our teaching to accommodate each individual student and meet their needs; so, does she. I find her resources for differentiated learning useful and beneficial for each student, regardless of their knowledge or skill level.

TIPS TO HELP STRUGGLING READERS

I had chosen to include tips on helping struggling readers because I have witnessed the frustration in students’ faces when they are trying to read but aren’t as fluent as they hope to be. It is our job as educators to be able to read the signs that our students are struggling, whether it be visual cues or from data collected, and know how to help them through it. This blog post includes a lot of different activities to build reading and phonological skills. Included in this blog post is also a lot of tips that would help even the fluent readers. A tip I particularly enjoyed was “Build confidence.” Even the most fluent readers may not be confident in their skills and we should reinforce their skill and raise their confidence so that they enjoy reading and don’t feel that it’s just a task that they need to complete.

PHONICS CLIP CARDS

I chose this because it is reusable, and it helps learners work on fine motor muscles that is important for writing while learning phonics. The best part of this is that it offers more than one hundred clip cards for free! These clip cards can be used by teachers as well as parents at home if their child needs extra practice or support. These cards will have a picture with the word of what the picture is with some of the letters missing. The child is to pick the missing letters from the choices on the right side of the picture and then use a clothes pin to clip the missing letters. You can also make this an independent activity by marking the correct answer on the back of the card with either a star or happy face, so that the child can self-check their answers. They can use this on their own time and at their convenience. This activity is appropriate for children of all ages; all you must do is change the level of difficulty of the words. These clip cards will help learners that are more visual and hands on because they get to decide which letters are missing on the card and pick the correct answer.

TEACHING GUIDE

I picked this teaching guide because it is a good resource for teachers to use as a guide. It talks about the process of explicit and systematic phonics teaching. This guide also offers a list of websites for additional information and support which teachers will find useful if they want to learn more about how to teach phonics. This guide simply offers a lot of information on how to teach phonics; therefore, I believe this is useful for all teachers especially new teachers to have. This guide will be helpful in helping teachers teach their students to learn the information so that they can reach their grade curriculum and not fall behind. I believe this guide will work for different grade levels but some of the content or instructions maybe need to be modified to better meet the needs of the students in different grade levels.

KEEPING UP WITH MRS. HARRIS

I had originally come across Keeping Up with Mrs. Harris’ Teachers Pay Teachers store when I was searching for different ELA activities for my students. I liked the organization that she had to her activities and resources. As I looked into her biography, I learned that she holds a Master’s degree in Elementary Literacy and Reading. That helped build my confidence in the effectiveness of her resources because this subject is what she specializes in. Her resources are adaptable to students who are beginners and older students as well.

Apps + Games

ABCMOUSE

ABCmouse is an educational website that expands on the student’s reading, language, math, science, social studies, and arts skills with animated activities and games. This website is good for all students because all the lessons they learn, they are motivated by ABCmouse’s tickets and reward system. Throughout the lessons the students are learning through animations, games, books, puzzles, art and songs. Also, this website offers a progress tracker, so the parents can see the progress their child is making by their academic level and curriculum subject. This website works for students who are in preschool all the way past the second grade.

STARFALL

Starfall is another great educational website that will help students who need different UDL methods in learning like students that have learning difficulties, special needs and/or English Language Learners. This website offers the students to play, explore and feel intrinsically motivated. This website is also an app that the students can download at home as well and do some independent work. I think Starfall would be great for the classroom because it covers Common Core State Standards and can be individualized for the student, which will help them become more fluent in the target areas.

TEACH YOUR MONSTER TO READ

I included Teach Your Monster to Read because it is an app that my own children enjoy playing. The monsters that are in the game captured their interest because they are silly and fun to interact with. The game also accommodates various skill levels from beginners learning phonics sounds to children who are reading complete sentences but need more practice. I am a fan of this app because it helps my 5-year-old learn to identify the letters of the alphabet and it also gives my daughter sentences that she can read to practice and improve her fluency. It helps various age groups.

LEARNING LETTER SOUNDS

I chose this game because it will make learning more fun for young children. The child must listen to the sound and then choose which picture, out of the four, matches the sound that they are making. I feel that this will help children learn what sound each letter makes as well as help them link it to an animal or item. This game will keep the children engaged and works well for students who learn best visually, are auditory learners and for children that are hands on. However, I do not think it will work for more advanced or upper grade children because it only teaches sounds, so it is more for younger grade level children.

LALILO

Lalilo is an app that is created for teachers by teachers. It is versatile because it can be accessed on a table, iPad, or on a computer. This app piqued my interest because nobody knows more about the areas that different students struggle in than teachers do. I chose to include this app because it allows the opportunity for individualized learning. Teachers can personalize the exercises to each individual student and it also provides data on their progress. As educators, data is critical; it gives a snapshot of what level our students are in and help us determine the plan of action to help them improve. Due to the fact that exercises can be personalized, it is appropriate for different grades or skill levels.

PHONICS APPS

This website shows different phonic apps that the students can use through an iPad or Chromebook. With the different types of phonic apps the students can learn phonics in an entertaining way. Through these apps, the student is learning phonics without realizing that they are learning in their own way and at their own pace. One of my favorite apps that I have seen students use is the app called Alphabet Sounds Word Study. It has helped the students recognize the beginning, middle and end sounds of words. Overall, I feel these apps are great UDL methods for all students especially the ones that have a difficult time learning in a big group setting.

KIZ PHONICS GAME ONLINE

This game teaches students online and develops their skills in areas such as reviewing short vowels, consonants, blends, and digraphs. There are different levels in the game and with each level the students pass; they would go on to the next level to learn a new and/or develop a new phonic skill. I like this game website because I feel it challenges the student to improve and do better with each level they pass. This website also offers hard copies of the program that you can purchase separately. These games will help the children be successful with the variety of phonic games they can play and it will keep them entertained, while not knowing that they are learning.

Learning Phonics to Teach Phonics

INTERVENTION STRATEGIES FOR STRUGGLING READERS

I chose this because it is a more personalized way to focus on the needs of the struggling reader. It helps you find patterns in a struggling reader and will allow you to focus primarily on that skill deficit. Cindy Kanuch, who is a reading specialist presents tips on how to work on the skill deficit efficiently and effectively which will save time and could help students improve in as little as one to two weeks! This is such a good resource for teachers to help the students they have that are struggling. I believe this will help different learners and students from different grade levels because the goal of this strategy is to find out the area or areas that the student is struggling in and focusing on them one at a time. The way we identify which areas the students are struggling in may need to be adjusted according to the student’s grade level, but this should be adaptable for various learners and grade levels. This resource will help teachers give the students the extra help they need in order to fully understand what they are struggling in; which in turn will of course help the students become more successfully in the target area.

PHONICS REFERENCE GUIDE

I picked this reference guide because I thought it was a good guide to help students learn when there is a short vowel sound and when there is a long vowel sound. I specifically like this because after the reference they give you some examples of what they are talking about. This guide is a good guide for students who need some additional help with phonemes, and for children; incorporating learning into a game form is an excellent way to keeps them distracted from thinking they are learning. With this guide, students will become more successful in learning about phonics, blends and digraphs because this guide provides extra support for those who are struggling. This guide can be used by both parents and teachers which I think is an important part of my decision in choosing this guide. I believe parents need to play an important role in their child’s education and it makes a big difference when they do. I believe this will work for all different grade levels and different kinds of learners because this is a guide with ideas on how to approach phonics, blends and digraphs. This guide will help generate many other activities that parents, or teachers can come up with to meet the needs of their learners. You can come up with charts, worksheets, a board game, a play or videos for students that prefer those.

20 PHONIC ANCHOR CHARTS

I chose this website because it shares twenty different phonic anchor charts. With each anchor chart, the students can learn and gain confidence in understanding phonics and blend. Anchor charts help students get engaged in the lesson that the teacher is teaching and gets them involved in participating in the classroom. Also, the students can reference to the anchor charts once teacher hang it up in the class for the students to see. This helps the students because they can access the anchor chart independently and can refer to it if they needed to. In addition, Anchor charts are appropriate for multiple ages in the classroom.

PHONICS PLAYDOUGH

With this fun activity, students can identity each letter in the word while playing with playdough. With each letter the student sounds out the word while squishing the playdough ball below each letter. This activity can be done in small groups or by yourself. Also, this activity lets the students show the teacher how they can be responsible with the playdough and demonstrate to the teacher and other students how they can follow the activity directions and read words by sounding them out. This phonics playdough activity can be useful in Kindergarten all the way to second grade where the student could add in blending the words.

FUN WAY TO TEACH PHONICS

This video makes learning sounds of each letter more fun because it will seem like they are just watching a short video, but they are learning the sounds of individual letters then the sounds of two letters put together to form words. The letters are moving around so children will need to pay attention and follow along. I think this will only work for younger children because of the way it is set up. The characters in the video would be more appealing to the younger grade levels. I chose this video because it will not make it seem like they are learning, but simply watching a video. If the information is presented repeatedly, then it will work its way into long term memory and the children will remember the sounds more, which will also lead to them learning how to sound out words that they do not know.

DOUBLE “EE” EEL

This activity is great for the students because they can make a fun eel while learning about the double “ee”. The students can enjoy putting together and playing with the double “ee” eel while learning all at the same time. When the students work on this activity, they are learning about the letter sound relationship about the long and short “ee”. Making a craft with your students while still teaching them about phonics keeps them engaged and interested. It helps keep the class involved and helps the students work on their communication skills while talking about double “ee” words. This activity could be adaptable to the upper grade levels because you can just replace the words to more difficult words that are appropriate for the grade level.

HOW TO TEACH PHONICS TO FIRST GRADERS-FOR PARENTS

I specifically picked this because parents need ideas on how to help their child learn as well, not just teachers. Also, this is a guide for parents that gives them ideas on what they can do with their child and it recommends that parents talk to their child’s teacher so that they can all work together to meet the needs of the child. If parents are unsure of something, they can always ask the teacher to see what they think or what they recommend that you do with your child at home. Tablets and smartphones are useful tools in education; however, it should be used correctly and for ideal periods of time. Some parents use it to distract their child by allowing them to play games, etc. but they are not games that are teaching their child anything. This is when they are being used incorrectly. This will help students become more successful in the areas of phonics because if parents are doing this at home also, then the child is getting twice as much exposure to the content and they will be able to pick up things more quickly and learn more. I think this is appropriate for different learners because it offers different ideas and activities you can do with your child and you can adjust it according to your child’s needs. Also, for students in a higher-grade level, most books and apps will have different grade levels that you can choose from, so this will work with many different grade levels.

Using Resources

We included a resource section because it is important to know how to utilize technology in our classroom. With the growing technological advancements, it is important for us to teach our students how to maximize their resources to benefit their learning.

GOOGLE FOR EDUCATION

Google provides a vast range of resources to use. I am particularly fond of Google tools such as Docs, Slides, Sheets and other tools similar to Microsoft Office because it allows our students to collaborate on their work. They can edit their documents in real-time and work together on assignments without necessarily sitting right next to each other. We can teach them how to collaborate on their work from home if necessary. The Google Teacher Center also provides training for educators to show them how to maximize Google tools to maximize teaching and learning in the classroom.

CALIFORNIA TEACHERS ASSOCIATION

One of the Teacher Performance Expectations (TPEs) is to continually learn and develop as an educator. The California Teachers Associations provides different opportunities for professional development whether it be reading an editorial on Language & Literacy or attending workshops to learn how to implement differentiated reading strategies. It is also a great resource to connect with other teachers, not just your grade team at your school.

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thuynguyennational-blog · 7 years ago

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Field Work Observation

I chose my field observation assignment because it represents TPE 4.7 which states that a teacher “plan instruction that promotes a range of communication strategies and activity modes between teacher and student and among students that encourage student participation in learning” and TPE 4.8 which states “using digital tools and learning technologies across learning environments as appropriate to create new content and provide personalized and integrated technology-rich lessons to engage students in learning, promote digital literacy, and offer students multiple means to demonstrate their learning.” I learned many different strategies and ways to implement UDL into my lesson planning and how to incorporate technology into the lesson to prepare students to be 21st century learners. I know I will continue to learn many more strategies that I will use in my own classroom as well.

Field Work Observation

Thuy Nguyen

ITL 608: Design and Process of Teaching

January 17, 2019

Professor Serdyukov

National University

Abstract

This paper is based on an observation that the author witnessed of a 5th grade math lesson. In the lesson, she was able to see that Mr. Page implemented the stages of the Learning Map and the six elements. The author also discussed multiple ways that Mr. Page was able to keep his students engaged and busy. The goal of this observation was to be able to see how teachers create and implement their lesson plans.

Introduction

On January 17, 2019 I conducted an observation of Mr. Joseph Page’s 5th grade class. The purpose of this observation is to sit in on a full and complete period of instruction while looking to identify evidence of teacher planning, lesson structure, the implementation of the Learning Map and the six elements. It was also to observe the use of UDL and the lesson’s effectiveness.

Observation

On the morning of the observation, I got to Mr. Page’s class early before class started, just to get settled in and not distract his students as they come into the classroom. I’ve learned from some of my observations, that they get curious as to why another person is coming in and sitting in on their classroom, and that could be a distraction. Prior to the kids coming in, Mr. Page told me that he has a lot of students who are on the lower level in math and needs practice with their proficiency of basic math skills. He would be teaching his students how to solve numerical expressions today.

Before starting off his class, Mr. Page stated the objectives of the lesson, he had it up on the board for all his students to see and read along. He wanted his students to know exactly what is expected of them. Then he started them off with some multiplication warm up exercises. Mr. Page had assigned students with a partner and they were to share a Chromebook and use a program called Peardeck. As Mr. Page instructed his lesson, he had it projected up on the board so that the students can see, and he was annotating in a table as they went along. Mr. Page stopped frequently to ask questions and check for understanding. As Mr. Page was teaching, he never stayed in one spot, he would roam around the classroom and engaged students with proximity and contact.

I noticed a lot of pair sharing in Mr. Page’s lesson because whenever he poses a question for his students, he would first have them think to themselves what the answer would be. After a short period of time, he would then have them turn to their assigned partner and discuss their what they thought the correct answer was. As his students were pair-sharing, he would walk around the classroom and listen in on what his students were saying and would ask them to dig deeper and justify their answers. He wanted to know how they reached their answers. To call the class back to order, Mr. Page used a simple hand signal that all his students seem to understand. They quickly quiet down and were ready for their next instructions. Mr. Page then pulled out a handful of popsicle sticks with the student’s name on them to randomly select a student to answer. The selected student would then stand up and answer in complete sentences. Mr. Page used positive reinforcements for correct answers.

Throughout the lesson, Mr. Page would have his students work on practice examples using the Peardeck program on their Chromebook. He would then display the student’s answer on the board, and they would discuss as a class why the answer was correct or what needs to be fixed. He would then randomly select a student using the popsicle sticks and have that student explain to the class how they reached their answers so that the other students can understand their train of thought. He also had students explain how the steps to reaching the answer of other students could be improved. During the lesson, I was able to see that Mr. Page was promoting and pushing for academic discourse. He wanted to keep his students engaged in the learning process. Mr. Page also reminded his students to always speak in complete sentences and to use proper academic language.

Next, it was time for individual practice so Mr. Page allowed his students to work on the assigned practice problems using notes that he had them take earlier. They could quietly work with their neighbor to support their learning if needed. During this time, I noticed that Mr. Page pulled a small group of struggling students to the round table in the back of the classroom where he began small group instruction. Mr. Page made sure that he periodically got up from the small group and made a round around the classroom to check and make sure that the rest of the students understood and was staying on task. They continued this until recess and after recess, Mr. Page again called the class to order with a simple hand gesture. He then displayed one final problem up on the board. He explained to his students that this is the last problem and it is also their exit ticket. They were to solve the problem on a big sticky note and as they exit the room to go home, they would post their sticky note on a big poster near the door for him to review and go over later.

After observing this class, it was clear to me that Mr. Page knew and had plan out his lesson well. He implemented the learning and teaching stages when he had his students first do some warm up exercises for his students. This was just to get the students started. I like this strategy because he first introduced the topic with a warm up to start picking his students mind and then he presented them with more problems to work on. Mr. Page’s expectations of his students were stated at the beginning of the lesson. The Target stage was implemented through partner and individual work. Mr. Page constantly walked around the class to ask questions and to check for his student’s understanding. I saw the AIM stages being implemented through pair-share as well as his checking for understanding and having his students explain their train of thought. I think this is a great UDL method to teach his students different ways to reach the correct answer. We know that building flexibility into learning environments is essential for student engagement and success; the Guidelines help us apply that concept in specific situations and for specific reasons. (Meyer, Rose & Gordon, 2014). Students learn differently, so not one method will work for all students. This lets his students learn different strategies on how to solve numerical expressions.

Having his students answer in complete sentences is like beating two birds with one stone. He is having them learn the content he is teaching, as well as learning language composition. I think the lesson structure was very well thought out, with technology being used to engage the students. However, I understand that the use of using popsicle sticks is to randomly select students, but I am thinking of students that are shy and do not like speaking in front of the class. I wonder if this method is useful because some students are not comfortable to share their thoughts on how to solve the problem if they were selected.

Debriefing/Analysis

I could not ask Mr. Page to see his learning plan because he did mention previously that he does not do write out lesson plans anymore. He has done so many in that past that he doesn’t feel that it is necessary for him since he usually takes what has worked for him in the past and see how it would work with the content, he wants to teach his students. He usually thinks of a plan in his head with different options of how to teach the content, and he goes to class and teach it and adjust it accordingly as he goes. I do not agree with this technique. I find this to be extremely difficult to do for myself because I like to write everything down. I like to be in control and know exactly what I am going to do. I find myself looking up directions on how to get somewhere when I have been there plenty of time. I like something to look back at to double check that I am not missing anything. That is why I know I would prefer to write some form of a lesson plan. So, I think writing a lesson plan is extremely beneficial because you can add to it as you go and write your thoughts and opinion of each lesson plan and what can be improved based on the overall outcome of the student’s responses. “As reflective teachers we can modify this lesson for future learners depending on which aspects we consider a success and which we believe necessitate modification” (Burden & Byrd, 2016). You also put whether the lesson plan was able to meet the objectives and goals that you had set for the lesson and if not, what you can change to improve it. Even if I can remember the lesson myself, I would like to have a “hard copy” in case I forget anything, I can look back at it. I understand that with more experience, you may not write such detailed lesson plans and I myself probably won’t, but I would still have some form of paper lesson plan where I can write down the main objectives, lesson plans etc., for future reference. They will not be as detailed as ones that are usually required.

The goal of the lesson was to get the students ready to begin algebra. He wanted to introduce the students to start to understand numerical expressions which will lead to the next chapters in the book of the first steps of algebra. The objectives are for his students to understand the order of operations and simple numerical expression. Mr. Page believes that he did meet his goals and objectives because throughout the lesson, he was constantly checking to make sure his students understood the concepts. He was able to assess and see if the students understood the content through multiple mean of assessment. The students that didn’t, he took them to the back table for a smaller group instruction.

Another thing that Mr. Page did with his class that I really like was pair-sharing and having students explained the steps that they took to reach the answer. This shows flexibility in himself as a teacher for allowing students to do this and in his students as well. His students will learn how to be more flexible with how they can reach the correct answer. There is always more than one way to get the correct answer. I would have like to implement this into my classroom instruction as well. I would have liked to see cooperative learning in this lesson, but Mr. Page did not use that method in this lesson. I believed it would have worked if the students were grouped in smaller groups with different academic abilities to help each other.

This observation has allowed me to see that there are plenty of ways to keep students engaged. Mr. Page used multiple strategies to keep his students busy and engaged in the lesson. From having them work in partners, to classroom discussion and then randomly selected students explaining how they were able to solve the problem. This helps the other students see that there is more than one way to solve the problem. Also, they might realize that there is an easier way to solve the problem than the way that they used. Meyer, Rose & Gordon (2014) mentioned that teachers are expected to teach students to become better thinkers. I think this is smart to incorporate into a lesson because you as the teacher are not the only one teaching, the students are teaching each other also. I was able to see Mr. Page use technology in a meaningful way as he mentioned before in our interview. He uses it to enhance his teaching and to make his lessons run smoothly. He will not use technology if students are just going to be distracted with it.

One thing that I am unsure of that Mr. Page did was pulling the small group of students that were struggling to the back table. I know that they will benefit from small group instruction, but that singles them out from other students and I’m just wondering if that affects their self-esteem and self-efficacy at all which would then affect their performance in the class. If I was one of the students, I think I might question why I am having to be working in a small group when the other students are working individually. This method has its pros and cons. Students can receive more attention and therefore; learn the concepts better but then I think it could affect them mentally. What I would do differently is also have students do extra practice problems at home and maybe see if their parents are able to help their child with some of the problems at home. Or if there is an after school tutor program, I would suggest that to the parents of the struggling students.

I asked Mr. Page what his favorite instructional methods and strategies were, and he told me that he uses pair-share and group work a lot. He likes his students working with each other because they can learn from each other and that helps with their social skills as well. Mr. Page uses scaffolding as a way for his students to learn and interact with each other. I think another thing Mr. Page could have done for this lesson is to have his students show step by step how they reach their answer by doing something fun, like maybe a short skit, something the students find fun and can relate to because it will help them remember the steps.

Mr. Page said he could improve his lesson plan based on what his students put on the sticky notes. He must go through and see how many of them got the answers right and the ones that had the wrong answers; he would need to see what part they did wrong and why that could have happen to see what he needs to adjust in his instruction so that the students would not make the same mistake. This method seems to me to be time consuming. I am not sure if many teachers are willing to put in a lot of extra time to go through and figure out what why the students took the wrong steps. Also, it would have to be done the same day because then Mr. Page would not be able to go over it with his students the next day when it is still fresh in their mind. He would have to do a mini-lesson to refresh their minds and then discuss why some students had the wrong answer. I just don’t know how effect this technique is in the end because it seems to take up so much time.

Mr. Page was satisfied with his student’s work in the lesson because he was able to keep them engaged and had them participated throughout the lesson. He mentioned that a lot of elementary school teachers use popsicle sticks to randomly select students. I think this is a good method, to avoid the same students answering all the questions. What I would do differently occasionally is offer the students an incentive. Like if they answer questions and participate in class discussions, then they will gain extra time to do something they like. For example, they can gain an extra fifteen minutes of computer time if they actively participated. I think this will motivate more students to participate so that you don’t always have to use popsicle sticks to randomly select students.

Mr. Page’s 5th grade class consist of mainly English Language Learners, specifically Hispanics, a few Asians and Middle Eastern students. He did not have any special need students, but he mentioned that he had maybe three students who are at a higher academic level than his other students. Mr. Page knows he must modify some of his original lesson plans because sometimes it just takes his students longer to grasp the concept and at times, he finds himself throwing in a Spanish word here and there so that his students will understand better. “For you and your students to be successful, you may need to make adjustments in instructional and management practices to meet the needs of different groups in your class” (Burden & Byrd, 2016). He was concern about one of his students was having trouble understanding and was not grasping the concepts of the lesson and when he pulled her into the small group instruction, she still was having trouble. He knew he had to change his teaching method and instead of continuing to repeat himself, he needed to approach and present it in a different way. He then broke down the key parts that she didn’t understand and broke down the instructions into smaller parts. This seem to help her a lot more.

The management technique that Mr. Page thought was most instrumental was to always be fair, firm and consistent. He uses positive reinforcements and has open, honest communications with his students. He also personally uses a monetary system for keeping his students in line with a positive note. He constantly praises his students and try to never be negative because if the students think you care about them, they will want to work for you. I think this monetary system could be effective as a management technique but not so much as a positive reinforcement technique because then students are only doing well because they know they will be getting something in return. This would not be an effective means to teaching because gifted students will not find the lesson challenging enough if they are only doing well to get something in return. This then leads to those students not actually learning.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I was able to see Mr. Page teach his class how to solve numerical expressions. His class seem to be very well-behaved, but it is possible that they noticed that I was in the classroom watching them and wanted to be on their best behaviors. They seem to understand Mr. Page’s hand gesture, and what he expects them to do. I was able to see Mr. Page implement his lesson plans with multiple strategies on how to reach the correct answer. I know that Mr. Page is an experienced teacher and I hope to be able to manage my class as well as he does in the future.

References

Burden, P. & Byrd, D. (2016). Methods for Effective Teaching. Boston: Allyn and

Bacon.

Meyer, A., Rose, D.H., & Gordon, D. (2014) Universal design for learning: Theory and

practice, Wakefield MA: CAST

California Teaching Performance Expectations [PDF]. (2013, March). Commission on

Teaching Credentialing.

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thuynguyennational-blog · 7 years ago

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This assignment demonstrates:

*TPE 2: Creating and Maintaining Effective Environments for Student Learning

Element 6: Establishing and maintain clear expectations for positive classroom behavior and for student-to-student and student-to-teacher interactions by communicating classroom routines, procedures, and norms to students and families.

* TPE 4: Planning Instruction and Designing Learning Experiences for all Students

Element 4: Plan, design, implement and monitor instruction, making effective use of instructional time to maximize learning opportunities and provide access to the curriculum for all students by removing barriers and providing access through instructional strategies that includes: -appropriate use of instructional technology, including assistive technology; apply principles of UDL and MTSS; use of developmentally, linguistically, and culturally appropriate learning activities, instructional materials, and resources for all students, including the full range of English learners; appropriate modifications for students with disabilities in the general education classroom; opportunities for students to support each other in learning; and use of community resources and services as applicable.

This assignment has helped me gain insight into how managing my future classroom would be like and what I can do to maintain order inside the classroom with rules and procedures starting at the beginning of the school year. With more experience, I know I will learn as I go what strategies will work with my students and learn to adjust my lesson plans as I go. I have learned that I must be flexible in order to meet the needs of my students and to continue to grow in my career as an educator.

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thuynguyennational-blog · 7 years ago

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Family Involvement Brochure

I decided to put this assignment into my showcase because I am not very good at making visuals using different programs; so this actually took a really long time for me to complete. I know it looks simple, but I learned a lot in the process and was happy with the results.

TPE 1: Engaging and Supporting all Students in Learning

Element 2: Maintain ongoing communication with students and families, including the use of technology to communicate with and support students and families, and to communicate achievement expectations and student progress.

Element 8: Monitor student learning and adjust instruction while teaching so that students continue to be actively engaged in learning.

TPE 6: Developing as a Professional Educator

Element 4: Demonstrate how and when to involve other adults and to communicate effectively with peers and colleagues, families, and members of the larger school community to support teacher and student learning.

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thuynguyennational-blog · 7 years ago

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Special Education Field Experience

Thuy Nguyen

ITL 604: Learners and Learning 1

Field Work Special Education Teacher Interview and Observation

November 17, 2018

Dr. Marilyn Koeller

For my field experience, I had the pleasure of observing Mrs. Barbara Greedy’s first to third grade Special Education class at Guinn Elementary. Mrs. Greedy is an Education Specialist. Mrs. Greedy has been teaching for five years and she actually went to National University as well. She is currently taking some administration classes at Cal State Fullerton. She teaches a SDC moderate to severe special education class which means some students are non-verbal and some are still in diapers. Mrs. Greedy did mention that she teaches a moderate to severe class but I had no idea that that meant some students do not speak at all and some are in diapers. I was immediately surprised when I walked into her class after checking in at the school’s office. I knew I was observing a special education class so I thought I was prepared but this was not what I had expected. I looked around and noticed that this is an extremely small class with only boys. Only one boy was Vietnamese and the other five were Hispanics. Their names are Axel, Alan, Nathan, Kenny, Angel and Adrian. Even though Mrs. Greedy only has six students, they are classified as moderate to severe so she at all times has at least two aides. Another thing that I noticed was that the kids kept looking at me, probably because I was a visitor that they had never seen before and they are curious as to why I am there.

Mrs. Greedy has six students this year between the ages of six to nine years old. She has three non-verbal kids and three kids in diapers. The three nonverbal kids do not speak at all and the other three are in diapers, and can only speak a little bit. They only know and understand a few words. I learn that just because the kids are non-verbal, it does not mean they are quiet. They make a lot of noises and this is probably because they cannot speak to let you know what they want. The morning of the observation, Mrs. Greedy actually asked me to come earlier than 9 which was the scheduled time of my observation because she had an unexpected event going on that day and they were to walk around the school at 8:30 in the morning. I got there at 8:15 in the morning and was told we were going to take a walk around the school where different stations were labeled and there were rules that we were to read to the students and made sure they understand. We would stop at each station and there would be a set of rules listed on the wall. For example, the drinking fountain station mentions to respect others, keep your hands to yourself, wait for your turn, and if the floor is wet, let someone know, etc. There were basic set of rules that the kids should follow when they are at that station. It was P.B.I.S. week which stands for Positive Behavior Integrated System. They are trying to teach their students positive behaviors. One of the teachers at Guinn Elementary had set up all the stations for the students and teachers to walk by and read the rules and learn how they are supposed to behave at each station.

After that we went into the library for about 30 minutes. The librarian read The Three Bears to the kids and they would then get to look around and pick out a book to borrow. Their library cards were laid out on one side of the desk and they were to go there and pick up their card once they decided on a book. Then they would get in line and hand the librarian their card and book and they would get checked out. I noticed that the aides brought bags with them and in the bags, they had diapers for the kids and books in case they had to wait and that would give the kids something to do while they wait. The kids do not sit still when they have to wait; they tend to wander off and appear to not listen when you are talking to them. I know that they are not doing this on purpose but it just appears that way. Kenny has Down syndrome and on this particular day he seems to like to flip the bags of a book for everyone or just take all the books. As the aide was handing out books for each students to pick he would come up and grab them all then take it and sit down and flip through the pages. Inside the library, he tried to flip the pages when the librarian was holding the book up for the other students to see as she read to them.

It was lunch time after we left the library and return to the classroom for the kids to put the books away. I held Alan’s hand and walked with him to the lunch line. However, it took a really long time to get there because Alan had a letter block with him and he kept putting it in between his legs and tried to walk with it so every time that it fell, we would have to stop for him to put it back in between his legs and continue walking. We finally made it to the lunch line but Alan would not pick anything to put on his tray to eat. I proceeded to just pick a taco, pear and some milk for him. Mrs. Greedy said it was okay to just pick his lunch for him because he would not pick them himself. I sat with the aides and kids and helped them eat because most of them had to be fed; otherwise they would just sit there and make noises instead of eating. Alan finished his lunch and then ran off to go play with other children on the playground. I noticed that the kids from this Special Education class do not really play with other kids. I think they are not use to having so many kids around them that most of the recess or time they have on the playground, they would spend sitting in a corner or off to the side. I mentioned this to one of the aides named Patty and she agreed with me that it is most likely because they are not use to having so many kids around. I asked her if any of the kids had to take medication during the day and she said this year none of the kids had to take any medications but last year they had one student that did and at specific hours of the day one of the aides would take the student to the office and either the nurse or one of the office administer would give the medication to the student. The nurse is not there every day so when there is no nurse present, then the office administrator would give the medication.

After lunch, we went back into the classroom and the kids watched some interactive video where people were singing a turkey song on YouTube. I assume, it was become thanksgiving is coming up and also, I believe she did this to help relax the kids a little bit after they have been outside playing on the playground. Although most of them did not really play, they just sat in the corner. Kenny loved to stay on the swings and have someone push him. A sweet girl that he did not even know was pushing him for a long time. Patty told me that his parents must have recently taken him to the park lately because before he would not like anyone pushing him on the swings. He would just sit on it but once someone starts to push him, he would get off because he did not like it.

It was really obvious that Mrs. Greedy had a reward system with her kids and the reward was definitely snacks. These six kids seem to love having snacks. She did not let him have a lot but they definitely enjoyed them when she gave it to them for behaving. She had told them that if they behaved when we were walking around and at the library that they would get to pick a snack. She had goldfishes, gummy bears, chips and a few others. For the most part, I think her kids were pretty good so they did all receive a little treat. This is called is a form of reinforcement for their good behaviors. This is very similar to self-reinforcement mentioned in the IRIS Module (The IRIS center, 2004) where you reward yourself for achieving a goal whereas here they are being rewarded by their teacher. This reward system seems to work for these children because they get so excited for their snacks. According to Mrs. Greedy, one of the most important legal mandates a general education teacher should be aware of regarding services for students with special needs is that you must follow each student’s IEPs and accommodations exactly because it is a legal document and requirement. Whatever is mentioned in their IEPs, you must account for and have some form of document or proof that you are implementing it in their daily lessons. She also said that it cannot be wishy washy either, and you must do it exactly how it is set in the IEPs and to make sure you schedule enough time for yourself to be able to complete what you need to for that day. As Spring mentioned, students with special needs could participate equally in schools with other students only if they received some form of special help. IEPs are now a standard part of education programs for children with disabilities. (Spring, 2018). As a General Education teacher, even if you feel that what is on the student’s IEP is not necessary, you must do it anyways. You can address it at the annual meeting to see if the IEPs needs to be change but before it is change you must make sure that you do what the IEPs says. In order for anything to be changed and for you to be safe not to do what you thought was unnecessary, it must be agreed upon and signed off by the parents and other staffs involved in the IEPs. The requirement that a parent sign the IEP is designed to ensure parental awareness of and approval of what the school proposes to do for the child. A parent might hold the school accountable if the child does not receive the promised services. (Slavin, 2018). I believe Mrs. Greedy’s class is a part of a self-contained special education program because it seems like the only time these children have contact with other kids from the General Education class is during lunch or recess which they seem to rather be sitting in the corner alone for the most part anyways. (Slavin, 2018).

I was really interested in how and what kind of assessments they use in the process of early screening and/or identification of the students, but Mrs. Greedy didn’t really have an answer for me because she said most of the students are referred to her, so she is not involved in any of the testing or assessments. I did do some research on my own and found out that if a child has listening and speaking problems then you should have their hearing checked by an audiologist because they can be having listening and speaking problems because if they cannot hear well and nothing is coming in through hearing, then nothing is coming out of his mouth through speaking either. There is obviously a connection between hearing and speaking which really makes sense because a young child learns when they hear others talk a lot and they tend to repeat what they hear. Authentic Assessment is considered the best practice for use in early childhood intervention. It refers to the systemic recording of developmental observations overtime about the naturally occurring behaviors and functional competencies of young children in daily routines by familiar and knowledgeable caregivers in the child’s life. Authentic Assessment is the alternative to conventional psychometric testing in early childhood intervention. (Bagnato & Ho, 2006, p. 7) Basically, this assessment still takes time to observe the child and is not something that would help you identify whether the child needs to be in Special Education or not in a short period of time.

During my observation the UDL that I noticed that Mrs. Greedy and the other Special Education teachers and aides used was the use of sight words. They had a ring of cards with words on them and a picture of what that word was. For example, the card that had the words stand up with have a picture of students standing or the line up card would have a picture of students lining up in a single file straight line. These sight word cards are to help these special education students understand what they are asking them to do. I noticed that sometimes the aides would ask one of the students to do something a few times, but they would show no reaction to what is being asked of them. The aides or teacher would then look through their stack of sight words and show the students the card. They then seem to understand what they are being asked to do.

UDL is a Universal Design for Learning so there is a lot of ways you can implement this into teaching. Mrs. Greedy had the students sit at their desk while she played a short video on YouTube of people singing and dancing to a song about Thanksgiving. They were singing about turkey and having fun with family, etc. Her students seem to enjoy this a lot and they were sitting still and watching and singing. It is obvious that this was not the first time that she had played this video. At the time of my observation, I did not know that this is a form of UDL. I know that Mrs. Greedy did talk a lot about the schedule. They do the same thing everyday around the same time. This child is used to that, so she cannot change anything because it might affect the kids more than you think. Mrs. Greedy doesn’t have much collaboration with other Special Education teachers because her school only has two Special Education classes. They do discuss here and there what UDL that they each use in their lessons, but the ages are different, so they tend to use whichever they think best accommodates their students and help them learn better. I did notice that when we took the kids just right outside of the classroom for a short break, the other Special Education teacher came out of her classroom and asked what we were doing with the students. At this time, we were just giving the students some time to ride the bikes around, draw on the ground with chalk or they could blow bubbles. I think this was just Mrs. Greedy’s way of giving the kids a break but still allowing them to interact with each other. Another UDL that I noticed was that each student has a chart off to the side with their names on it and then there where sight words with directions or assignments that they were to do. I am not sure if they were put in specific order but once the student is done with that assignment, then they would come up and move the card over to the other side of the chart to indicate that they are done with it. This allows the students to complete it at their own pace and there is a visual of what else they needed to do for the rest of the day. It is a way to teach time management as well, which will become extremely useful in their adult life.

While I was there, one interesting thing that happened was Mrs. Greedy had a visitor that came in to observe her as well. She was an advocate for one the kids there because his parents wanted to see how their child is in class and what was being taught. Even though this visitor sat in the far corner to not disrupt the class and Mrs. Greedy stuck to her normal lesson plans, it seems like the visitor was looking for something more. The visitor stayed for about 20 to 30 minutes and then left with the principal that had escorted her there. After she left, Mrs. Greedy was talking about how the visitor seem to be looking for something more because the child that she was sent to come and observe was on the computer doing his normal daily computer lesson with Mr. Einstein. He loves his computer time and had been asking Mrs. Greedy multiple times to go on the computer and play Mr. Einstein. She told him that they have a schedule and routine and he know when he can go on the computer and he only get fifteen minutes on there. Mrs. Greedy was not going to change her lesson plans and break their routine because there was a visitor in her classroom to observe one of her students. She said her students have been on this routine for a while now and she is not going to change it because then the kids will get confused and this could affect their learning. These children behaviors are also not like a normal child. They could be okay one moment and then they could be banging their head against the wall the next. I did experience this during my observation.

My observation was scheduled on a Wednesday, so it was a shorter day for the students. I stay the whole time and was there for about six hours. I was able to see the students first thing in the morning and then by noon I could tell that their energy has died down and they did not want to do anything anymore. Mrs. Greedy said it was a good thing that I stay all day because I was able to see the shift in their energy level and that it is extremely difficult to keep them engaged after noon. What I took out of this observation was that to be a Special Education teacher, you must have so much patience and be able to constantly repeat yourself. I think there are also much more legal issues involved in Special Education as well. I just know that it takes a lot for someone to want to become a Special Education teacher and truly enjoys being around these kids. This observation was extremely beneficial to me because I was able to see just how much different a Special Education class is to a General Education class.

References

1. The IRIS Center. (2004). Classroom assessment (part 1): An introduction to monitoring academic achievement in the classroom. Retrieved from https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/gpm/

2. Slavin, Robert E. (2018). Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice. New York: Pearson

3. Bagnato, S. J. (2005). The authentic alternative for assessment in early intervention: An emerging evidence-based practice. Journal of Early Intervention, 28, 17–22.

4. Spring, J. (2018) American Education. New York: Routledge Publishers

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