Final Reflection

The Coursework:

I have really loved all of the courses I have taken so far for this Master's program. I still have five more classes to complete, but I am confident that I will enjoy them just as much and learn just as much from them. Even though these classes are not all required for licensure in secondary education, I believe they would be incredibly useful and helpful for regular education teachers to participate in as well.

Processes for Obtaining Licensure:

I know I am not yet ready to take the Praxis exam, but I am excited that the time is getting closer. I know that I will be ready when the time comes though. I believe these courses will be helpful to me in the licensure process and into the future of my teaching career.

Experiences working with ESL students:

All my experiences working with ESL students has been exciting, fun and very rewarding. I have learned so much and I continue to learn so much from my courses and from the students. My fieldwork experiences has been so helpful and educational.

Application of the Wiki and Blog:

I really like keeping the blog although I do not always have time to transfer my notes right away. In fact, there are several observations that I conducted where I took notes during the observation and reflected on them both during and after, but I have yet to post the observation notes because I just have not had time. I plan to add them next week when I have time again.

I absolutely love my Wiki. I know that it will be very helpful to me in my future teaching career as well. I love that I can post lessons and graphic organizers that I have created. There is a lot more that can be done with a Wiki than a Blog.

Finally, all the lessons and activities I have created over the six courses that I have taken will be so helpful and useful to me in the future. I am excited about the future lessons and activities I will create in my next five classes and on my own as an ESL educator.

Advice for future ESL students:

- Always be empathetic and patient.
- Sometimes it is hard when the students just shut down. Keep persisting and keep making sure that they know you care about them and you are there to help them whenever they need it.
- It is ok if you have to leave them to work on their own. You can not force a student to allow you to help them.
- Continue to remind students that they can take their time.
- Try your best to give them opportunities to build their confidence in reading, writing, speaking and listening.
(These words of advice go for working with all students.)

Literature Circle Implementation on 12/2/11

I created a literature circle unit plan that included three separate texts and should be implemented over the course of 3 to 4 weeks. This activity was implemented at a different school with a different group of ELLs. Because of time constraints I was only able to implement the initial lesson which introduced the students to the activity of a literature circle and completed most of the first selected text which was the easiest of the three. Below is an explanation of the unit and my reflections on the activity.

Overview of Second Language Learners:

The ESL group was a mix of three fourth graders – two male and one female – and two sixth graders – one male and one female. All of the students have the same L1: Spanish. They are all of Mexican decent and have been in Mississippi for varying amounts of time; all have been here for at least two years. One of the fourth graders, Student R, is above reading level and loves to read. The other two fourth graders, Student M and Student J, are at a third to fourth grade reading level. The two sixth graders, Student H and Student C, are below grade level in reading and writing. They are at a third to fourth grade reading level.

Literature Selections:

I decided to choose books that carried similar themes. Each book concerns the themes of identity, differences, going to new places/journeys and dreams. The first and third books carry the dreams theme more heavily than the second selection. Also, I made sure to choose books that were not too long, so they would not become frustrated or discouraged. For the second selection, I will only have the students read certain chapters that I feel fit the themes more closely and that I feel have more discussion points. The books are listed below in order of use and in order from easiest to most challenging.

1. Sis, P. (1991). Follow the Dream: The Story of Christopher Columbus. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf Inc.
2. Cisneros, S. (1984). The House on Mango Street. New York, NY: Vintage Books.
3. Ryan, P. M. & Sis, P. (2010). The Dreamer. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.


My overall impressions of implementation.

I really enjoyed the activity and I believe the students did as well. Because this activity was new to the students and they had not discussed imagery much before this lesson, we were not able to complete the whole book. It did take a little while for them to get the hang of the different jobs of Literary Luminary, Vocabulary Enrichers and Discussion Directors. I did have to use several of the questions that I had developed to start the discussions off and at first the students did not really want to speak up. They quickly began to become engaged in the story though. Having them use Dictionary.com when they could not figure out the definition of a vocabulary word from context clues also added some time. I have promised to finish the last section with them on Monday. I really enjoyed planning and implementing the literature circle though. I enjoyed the students' answers and engagement with the text.

Student reactions to the Literature.

The students really enjoyed the text (Follow the Dream. They were excited that they had some previous knowledge of who Christopher Columbus was and they really liked the illustrations and theme of fulfilling one's dreams. Also, I think they enjoyed the idea of the journey and discovery.

Student reactions to the discussions.

The students were a little hesitant to discuss much at first, but they began talk more as we moved through the text. They really enjoyed discussing dreams and talking about the pictures and imagery in the story.

Appropriateness of the Literature Circle Technique for second language learners.

I believe this activity can be very useful for second language learners. However, this activity is harder to implement with the very new learners of English and those with very low proficiency in speaking, listening, reading and writing. Also, the students must feel comfortable enough to take on the separate jobs involved. I had to pair up four of my students because their reading proficiency and confidence levels were lower. As long as the teacher is keeping those factors in mind, the literature circle can be successful and fun.

Possible changes to lesson.

I would definitely spend more time practicing the roles with the students, mainly the Discussion Director role. Also, I would spend more time giving examples of imagery at the beginning of the lesson. I had them listen to me read a passage from the second book and draw what they imagined as they listened to the description. Next time I will have them practice a few more times before really starting the stories. I might even use some poetry to help with this and ask them to write a few sentences describing something using imagery and share their examples.

Suggestions for other ESL teachers.

I would suggest having the students practice the different roles several times before having them hold the literature circle on their own. I would also suggest pairing students up if there are some with very low proficiency in English. Finally, I would suggest taking your time and not being afraid to have the students go back and re-read. Sometimes I let time rush me during the year because there is so much we are suppose to cover with the students.

Reflections on Ethnographic Narrative Conducted on 11/03/11

My Overall Impressions of this Observation

I believe I learned the most and gained the most insight about Student E in this observation. Being able to observe and interview her aloud me to make some connections and understand why she may be struggling in certain areas better. I also feel the interview has helped me see her school experience from her perspective a lot better.


What I learned as a result of the fieldwork.

First of all I have learned a lot about Student E. through this interview I was able to gain more insight into her experiences in school and out of school. I was told that she is performing on a third grade level in many of her classes and is testing at a 3rd/4th grade level in reading. She has been struggling a lot in school as of late. Through observations and tutoring I have noticed that she seems to become frustrated when the class goes too fast so she shuts down. She also tries to speed through assigned individual work. She tells me that she is scared to raise her hand and answer questions so she does not participate a lot in class. I believe some of the information gathered in this interview will be helpful to her teachers this year and in the future.

Student E’s picture (see attached document) depicts a simple scene of her and her best friend standing near her house. She expressed that she could not draw very well and I feel that this is an example of her feeling like she is not successful in very many areas. In my opinion she can draw just fine but does not try to incorporate much detail because she is afraid to fail. When I asked her about her picture we discussed her best friend who has recently moved. This is very sad for her. I do not think she has many others that she feels comfortable with or considers good friends. I made this connection partly because of her timidity and her fear of being the center of attention in class. I was happy to find out that her friend does get to come and stay with her and visit on occasion. I was also interested to find out her favorite colors. She was very eager to share with me. It is interesting that all of her favorite colors, except for yellow, are on the American flag. I did wonder if this was of any significance, but we did not have the time to explore this. Instead, I asked her to tell me more about her best friend in the picture. She explained that she used to go to the mall, talk and play with her best friend. She also explained that her and her best friend would play with her brothers. This prompted me to ask her if her friend had a brother and she said yes. I then asked her to tell me about her family. She and her immediate family moved here from Mexico. She does have an aunt that lives here as well, but the rest of her extended family is still in Mexico. She is the oldest child in the family. She speaks English with her brothers but Spanish with her parents. This leads me to wonder if her parents can speak English and if this has been a factor in her lower proficiency. When asked who her favorite family member was, she explained that it was her mother. So, she must spend a lot of time with her mother. She described her mother as short, pretty, nice and funny. She also explained that her mother helps with their homework and takes them out when they are bored. When she spends time with her mother she is watching TV, playing with her brothers, helping to clean the house or talking. This indicates to me that she is not a lazy person and she does want to make others happy and proud of her. I noticed that other than the cleaning, all the things she mentioned are exactly the same things she expressed she enjoys doing when she is at home, especially playing with her brothers. She does not seem to like to spend much time alone. She really enjoys spending time with all her family members, except her father does not seem to be very present in her free time. This discussion of what she likes to do with her family members really connects with her favorite holiday. She really loves Thanksgiving because of all the good food and time spent with her immediate family. She also expressed enjoyment when they go to visit her aunt that also lives in Hattiesburg. Finally, she did not have too much to say about school and I was surprised to find out that she has been at this school since Kindergarten. This leads me to wonder why she is still performing at a third grade level when she has been in this school from the beginning. It is possible that her low performance could also be connected with a lack of preschool.

Through this interview and the several times I have observed, tutored and interacted with Student E, I have learned a lot about her and I feel that I can understand her education experiences. She is eager to share information about herself and her family. She seemed to really enjoy our discussion and was very happy to have someone to talk to. She may be somewhat lonely because talking and having someone to talk to seems to be a theme throughout the interview. She also seems that she may be lonely at school. She tends to spend a lot of time with her mother and her brothers, but she cannot spend time with them at school. She stays within her peer group for the most part. I know that she does see her ELL teacher during activity time on Tuesday and Thursdays, but she is the only ELL student in 6th grade, so she is alone with the teacher during that time and her brothers have separate activity times so they see the ELL teacher separately from her. I believe it would be beneficial for her to have peers with her in the ELL class or to be with the 5th grade ELL students. Another issue that presented itself to me through this interview is that she is eager to work and help, yet she easily gives up or speeds through school work. So, many of her teachers feel that she is not trying very hard in school, yet she does try to please and work hard outside of school. Another theme that presented itself was TV. It seems that watching TV is something that is done quite often outside of school. I wonder, since her parents do not seem to speak much English with her, if they watch strictly, or mostly, Spanish television. If this is the case, then English is not very present in her household when the family is together or when she is with her parents, only when she is alone with her brothers. It may be helpful to her, her brothers, and her parents if they tried English television or putting on English subtitles. Also, I wonder if television is used as an escape and if it impedes on her homework and study time. It was indicated to me by a couple of her teachers that she does not seem to study much for class or tests. This may be an issue, along with the others I have mentioned, that should be brought up in meetings with the parents. Finally, I found it very interesting that Student E has been here since she was about 3 or 4 and she did not attend preschool. I believe, since her parents are not English speakers and she spent all of her time with her parents until beginning school at the age of 5, that this may have affected her English proficiency in a very negative way. This is definitely something that her teachers should be aware of and should have been aware of since she first began school.

I have also learned some things about the ESL student's experience in general. I was surprised to learn that a lot of the ESL students are bullied in this school district. I learned a lot about this from the ESL coordinator and the ESL teacher I have been working with as well as from many of the ESL students while teaching a unit on bullying. I also understand now how difficult it is for all of these students no matter what proficiency they are in English. Many of the regular classes move very quickly and it is easy for these students to shut down when they feel overwhelmed, embarrassed, shy, scared, etcetera. It is very important that teachers pay special attention to the participation level of the ESL students during class. It is also important not to single these students. They already feel like they are more conspicuous because they must have tutors in classes or meet with the ESL teacher instead of going to their activity time. It is a fine line to walk making sure that they get all the extra help they need while trying not to single them out too much.

The value of case study research and analysis in terms of classroom practice.

Case study research, action research and ethnography are all very useful to classroom practice. Observing and interviewing students can help teachers understand the different learning styles and the multiple intelligences of students. Teachers may also learn what classroom practice might may ESL students, or any group of students, more comfortable or uncomfortable in class. From this study in particular I learned that it is important to pay attention to the amount of participation of ESL students in the regular classroom. I also found that it is important to consider the speed in which the class in conducted and much more.

The value of the ethnographic narrative.

The ethnographic narrative can give a lot of insight into specific learning strengths and weaknesses for a particular student. For example, I learned that this particular student does not spend much time socially with her peers in or out of school. Her best friend has moved and was of Mexican decent as well. She and her brothers do speak English often, but neither of her parents speak English. So, she speaks Spanish to her parents and may not get much practice speaking English outside of school. She also does not speak up much in class and she does not read often. She tends to make excuses for not reading or taking an AR test. This may be having an effect on her English proficiency. She is fairly proficient in speaking and listening, although she does get frustrated when the class is moving very fast and she seems to wander or shut down and just start guessing. Her reading and writing, I was told by her ESL teacher, are on a third grade level. So, from her ethnographic narrative, I can understand better that it might be important to speak with her parents about having her read more often and maybe speak to them in English and Spanish. This may help her and her parents in learning English.


The usefulness of this information.

Future teachers can now understand what strategies may help to encourage and help Student E perform better in class and feel less pressured:
Student E would benefit greatly if the class moved at a slower pace and the teacher insisted on the students taking about 30 seconds to think about their answers before she called on anyone or had the whole class answer. In first introducing a new topic and practicing that skill, Student E would benefit if she was given one problem to work on at a time. She seems to be overwhelmed when given several problems to do and she begins to speed through and eventually guess random numbers. Student E would also benefit from having a tutor with her in every math class as well as seeing a tutor outside of school at least once a week. She would also benefit greatly if she was required to carry a dictionary with her to all her classes and there was a reward system set in place for her if she has the dictionary and uses the dictionary to help herself in reading materials for all content areas.

Thoughts About Action Research

Over the course of this semester I designed and implemented an Action Research Project. My Action Research Project concerned the use of Media and Popular Culture in the ESL classroom:

Problem or Issue –
When teaching students who are learning a new language it is usually the case that listening and speaking skills in the new language develop first. This means that they end up being below grade level in their reading and writing skills if they come in at an older age such as the sixth grade level. There is also the issue of keeping the students motivated and engaged in learning their new language while also gaining new knowledge in the different content areas and making real world and personal connections with the subject matter. Therefore, this action research project deals with the following overall question: How might incorporating the use of computers, audio and video, including popular culture such as shows and music for children and pre-teens, into the curriculum and classroom environment of elementary ELL students help them in making real world and personal connections with the subject matter, enhance student literacy including grammar, enhance student comprehension, and motivate and engage students to learn their new language?


Plan of Action –
To determine whether using different medias as well as popular culture in the curriculum would be beneficial to ELL students, I planned to find and incorporate different types of media into the lessons three days a week for four straight weeks. The feedback gathered from student interviews, student observations, class discussions, questionnaires and possible quizzes will help me to understand how using the multiple medias and popular culture alongside text will keep students engaged, enhance their literacy skills and help them make both real world and personal connections with the subject matter.
Some of the types of media and popular culture I used are as follows:
• Dictionary.com
• Music from the Disney Channel and other popular television shows
• Video clips from news programs
• Video clips from government websites such as stopbullying.gov and others
• Video clips from Schoolhouse Rock and Sesame Street
• Video clips from You tube and clips from popular children’s movies when applicable to the subject matter


Section 1: Thoughts about action research - in general - as a tool to improve practice.

I fully believe action research is a useful tool for teachers. I believe it can be very helpful in improving and updating our teaching methods and the curriculum. It is, of course, important that our research does not interfere with student learning and that the research is always done in the best interest of the students. I really enjoyed my action research project and I feel that I learned a lot about how to use and when to use mass media and popular culture in the classroom. I also learned that using mass media and popular culture can be very beneficial to both ESL and English speaking students.

Section 2: Ideas generated as a result of my project.

From my observations I found that the students were very motivated to learn about the topics and read more about the topics after viewing the video clips. They were able to make connections between the videos and readings. They were also very engaged and excited. The discussions and interviews with the students gave evidence of the connections they made between the reading and video as well as the real world and personal connections they made. The journal entries at the end of class also gave a lot of data to support this. The students were given specific questions about the topics as well as the question of how the video helped them in the class when they were given time to write in their journals. This constituted as the questionnaire.

I found that using video that had text as well was also very helpful. I think that using video to ignite interest and engagement in students is very helpful in helping to motivate them to read more about topic. I believe that using the video with text is very helpful for ESL students because they are stimulated through the auditory and visual senses. They can see and here the words as well as see the actions related to the words.

I also found that music and song are very helpful for ESL students to develop vocabulary and help them to remember new vocabulary and grammar rules. The School House Rock clips seemed to be readily enjoyed by all the students and they could even remember some of the songs just after a couple viewings.

I found that using video as a way of introducing topics and lessons was the most motivating and really helped to build some background knowledge for the students so that they can make more connections to the texts and content of the lessons.

I believe using popular culture in the lessons can help students to connect topics to their personal lives outside of school which helps them to see the value in the content.

Section 3: Suggestions to other ESL professionals based on your findings.

I do suggest that video, music and song are used in the ESL classroom. Of course they should not replace text, they should just supplement it. Mass media and popular culture are excellent tools for motivating and engaging students. Video clips are best when they also include text and when used as a form of introduction for a lesson. Songs and music are great ways of helping students to remember vocabulary and grammar rules. I also suggest using songs to help teach different literary elements such as rhyme, onomatopoeia, etcetera. Finally, I do suggest referencing popular culture and mass media when appropriately connected to the content or skill being used to help students connect to the content and lessons.

Classroom Observation #3 (First observation of an all ELL class): Tuesday, September 27th

This is my first observation of the ELL teacher and a fully ELL class. The class I observed included 3 second grade students. Students C and B are girls. Student A is a boy.

Note: The italicized writings are my reflections and the regular writings are my observations.

12:20 – Mrs. M brings her three second grade ELL students to her office in the back of the library. She asks each student to say hi and introduce themselves to me.

They are all adorable. I can easily tell that Student A is very active and loves to talk. Student B is very quiet and timid. She speaks English well but she is hesitant. Student C is very well spoken and does not seem shy at all.

12:22 – Once Mrs. M gets all the students seated, Student A burps really loadly. Mrs. M makes a point to ask him what he should say after that happens and then she explains that he should not do that in public. She asks all the students why he should not do that. Student C answers that it is not polite. Student A answers back in Spanish.

I really like that she teaches them manners as well. She is stern, but very nice. Student C is quiet and polite, but she is talkative and seems to be the first to raise a hand. It seems that student A is a proficient English speaker, but he uses Spanish when he is excited or agitated.

I want to note that Mrs. A has several visuals on the walls. Some is student work and some are small charts. I really like this. I believe having the student work and other visuals really helps the students.

AT THIS POINT I WAS NO LONGER ABLE TO KEEP TRACK OF THE TIME.

- Mrs. M conducts a review of the last class. “Do you remember what color you were?” Each student says their color and Mrs. M gives them the post-it notes in that color. She has to correct Student A’s behavior because he gets out of his chair.

Student A has a lot of energy.

- The post-it notes have words written on them. There are two charts, along with other visuals, on the wall. The charts each have two words at the top. The first has Fly and Go. The second has See and Too. Mrs. M asks each student to put their words back on the chart like they did in the previous class. She also has the students say the words as they put up their post-its. Student A puts the words Pie and Try under Fly, the word So under Go, the word See under We and the word Zoo under Too. Student C puts the words Fly and Try under Fly and the words The and Sea under We. Student B puts the word So under Go and the words He, The and Sea under We. Mrs. M goes over the words in each column and draws their attention to the last letter in each word. She has them say the last letters aloud. Then, she asks them to look at the words See and Sea. She asks if they remember the song they sang in the last class. She encourages them to sing the song with her. The students sing along and get up to do the hand movements. They sing, “A Sailor went to sea, sea, sea to see what he could see, see, see. But all that he could see, see, see was the bottom of the deep blue sea, sea, sea.” Next, Mrs. M discusses the differences between the two words and the fact that they rhyme. She mentions that they are synonyms.

I really like that she has the students do things where they are able to get up out of their chairs. The room is rather small, so this keeps the students from getting as restless. Also, the students are using more than just one of their senses. Instead they are using their visual, textile and audio senses. They must physically put the word in the right place; they get to see what the word looks like in comparison to other words that sound the same; also, they get to hear the word and say the word as they stick it on the chart. This would be considered active learning and will definitely help the students internalize the words and the fact that they rhyme. The song is great as well. This will help the students remember that these two words sound similar but mean different things. The song may even help them pay attention to context clues when they hear the words being used. I am not sure if she has discussed context clues with them yet, but I do know that the words for See and Sea in Spanish do not sound so similar, so the students are not used to this. In Spanish the word See is Ver and the word Sea is Mar. These words are very different, so context clues are not necessary when you are listening to someone use these words. I believe the song will be very helpful for them in remembering the differences but that they also sound the same.

- Mrs. M has to correct Student A’s behavior again. He has gotten up from his chair without asking permission. She asks him to stay in his seat and says, “if I have to call your name again, I will have to call your mom. Your mom is very busy. She has to work and does not have time to come here.” Student A proceeds to talk about his mom getting a new boss. They way he explains it at first sounds like she had gotten fired, but he is able to clarify that her old boss was fired, not her. Mrs. M explains, “she is doing her work and so should you.”

I like the way Mrs. M explains that he should be doing his work just like his mother. I think that puts both a personal and a real world connection on the issue. The student realizes that everyone has work, even adults like his mom. So, misbehaving and not completely your work will waste the time of his mom, his teacher, the other students and him.

- Mrs. M shows the students a picture of a penguin. She points to the penguin and asks, “what is this?” Student A answers, “A penguin.”
- Mrs. M passes out post-it notes and asks, “who can spell penguin?” The students write the word on their post-its secretly.
- Mrs. M says, “remember, what do you do if you aren’t sure?” Student C answers, “sound it out.” Student C and Student B finish first.
- Mrs. M explains that it is fine if they aren’t sure or don’t get it perfect, as long as they try.
- The students compare spellings and Student C says it is ok if they aren’t right because they tried their hardest.

I think this is a great lesson for the students. They should be rewarded for trying their hardest. Also, if they did not get it right when they tried on their own, they will remember how to spell it after seeing where they went wrong. Usually, information will stick better if you made an attempt at something and were then corrected. If you do not bother trying, there is no prior knowledge to connect with. If you try and get it wrong, you have created knowledge of the wrong way to do something and the knowledge of the right way to do it will connect with that previous incorrect knowledge. It builds upon itself and helps you to learn more quickly. This is a great strategy.

- Student A is out of his seat again. Student B also gets out of her seat. Mrs. M corrects both students and then commends students C for being in her seat like she is supposed to be. Mrs. M gives Student C a sticker as a reward for staying in her seat.

This is a great lesson for the other two. They see Student C being rewarded for positive behavior. Hopefully, they will begin to correct themselves because they want to be rewarded, not reprimanded. So, instead of severely punishing the two who are misbehaving, she rewards the one that is behaving. This is definitely positive reinforcement.

- Mrs. M explains that they will watch something on the computer, so they should pay attention. She asks them if they remember the movie “Happy Feet.” They say yes. She shows them a clip of the new “Happy Feet” movie: “Happy Feet 2.”

This is a great way to bring out prior knowledge as well as get their attention so they may make connections as the lesson progresses. This is the “Set” for the lesson: it grabs their attention, connects to previous knowledge and gives them something to connect new knowledge to if they did not have previous knowledge of the movie or penguins in general. Now they also have a visual.


- Mrs. M asks, “do you know anything about Penguins?” Mrs. M asks Student B. She says, “they eat fish.” Mrs. M asks Student C. She says, “they have webbed feet and a big family.” Mrs. M asks Student A. He says, “I a penguin science book. The fur keeps them warm.” Mrs. M misheard him at first and thought that he said the FATHER keeps them warm. She repeats, “the father keeps them warm?” Student A says, “no.” Then, he corrects her in Spanish. She apologizes for hearing wrong and repeats, “The fur keeps them war.” Student C says, “the father lays eggs.” Mrs. M asks her to hold that thought. She explains that they will read about penguins.

I really like that she has the students share their previous knowledge with her and each other. This gets the students more invested in the topic, more engaged in the lesson and more motivated to see if they were correct and learn more about the topic. This is wonderful.

It is interesting that Student A corrected Mrs. M in Spanish. He may have felt that she would not understand him if he said it in English again. He seems to resort to his native language when he is worried about being misunderstood or about getting in trouble. He is very excitable. He may resort to his native language when he gets excited as well. It is great that she is a native Spanish speaker as well and is able to understand when they resort to Spanish to explain themselves. She does a great job of sticking with English, though. I am impressed.

- Mrs. M asks them to listen to the word again. She says, “Penguin.” She asks, “what is the first letter?” They all say, “P.” She goes through sounding out the word. The students say the letters. They are stumped at the letter “u:” it has a “w” sound in this word. Student B has a “w” in her spelling. Mrs. M explains, there is a “w” sounds, but it is not a “w.” Mrs. M shows them the correct spelling and has them make corrections on their post-it.

Having the students sound out the word is a great technique. She is very careful to explain that sometimes letters can make different sounds than what we expect. Having the students rewrite the word so that it is correct but keeping it on the same paper as the incorrect spelling is a great technique as well. Now, they have a visual of what the word sounds like to them and of how the word is actually spelled. They can learn a lot from this little post-it. They can see what sound the “gui” combination can make as well as the difference between the way the word sounds and looks.

- Student A burps again and says excuse me. Mrs. M explains that he “will have to learn to hold on to that and not do it in front of people.” Student A responds in Spanish.

I believe his response in Spanish is because he is agitated/worried since he is being reprimanded again.

- Mrs. M explains to the students that they will get to go see the movie “Happy Feet 2” when it comes out in November.

The students seem very excited. This is a great incentive for them to pay attention and be on their best behavior. This is a great culmination to a unit on Penguins. The students are able to learn about them and then go see a movie about them. Hopefully, after seeing the movie, she will have them discuss anything they saw in the movie that is not accurate compared to what they learned.

- Mrs. M passes out a paper that has information on penguins. Mrs. M asks Student C to read the first paragraph. Student C reads the first paragraph very clearly and very well. She reads very slowly, but she does not mess up. Mrs. M asks the students if there are any words they did not know. The students look through the paragraph and circle a couple words.
- Mrs. M asks the students, “what are feathers?” Student B answers, “they help the birds fly.”
- Mrs. M asks, “what is a bill?” Student A responds, “a bird?” Student C responds, “part of their arms and hands?” Student B responds, “to help them fly?”
- Mrs. M writes down the word on a post-it and puts it on the wall. She explains, “this is one of the words we need to find out more about.”

I really like that she makes this a whole class effort, including herself in the task. I also really like that she has the students pick out the words they are having the most trouble with and she also includes some words that she thinks some may be having difficulty with but are just too shy to say. She also is very good about having the students share their own knowledge with each other. For the most part the students talk more than she does, which is great. She never talks more than 50%, so the students play an active role in their own learning and in the teaching aspects as well. Once she introduces the topic, she lets them direct the lesson more. She focuses on things that they point out they are having difficulty with. Wonderful!

- Mrs. M asks, “what are flippers?” Student A answers, “helps them swim.”
- Mrs. M ask, “can you point at the flippers?” (There is a picture of a penguin at the top of the page.) All the students point at the penguin’s feet.
- Mrs. M asks, “do humans have flippers?” The students all say, “No.”
- Mrs. M explains that there are different types of flippers. She looks up images on the computer using Google. She shows them pictures of scuba flippers for people and pictures of flippers on animals. She points to the scuba flippers and asks, “have you seen these in movies or on TV?” Student B says, “on a movie.”

It is great that she is able to help them make connections. She uses visuals a lot, which is wonderful. Also, she is careful to make sure they know that there are two kinds of flippers. She is very thorough. She does everything she can think of to limit confusion for them. English is said to be one of the hardest languages to learn. It can be very confusing.

- Mrs. M asks Student A to read the second paragraph. He reads clearly and correctly. She stops him midway to ask what time of the year the paragraph is talking about. Student A answers, “winter.”
- Mrs. M asks the students to tell her about winter. They say it is cold and there is snow.
- Student B is asked to read the rest of the second paragraph. She reads slowly with some trouble on the words “heard” and “voice,” as well as the titles “Mr.” and “Mrs.” Student C helps Student B with the words.
- Mrs. M asks, “and what’s a voice?” Student B answers, “it’s when you talk.”
- Mrs. M writes “Mr.” and “Mrs.” on separate post-its and asks how to say each. Students A and C say them out loud.

I love the environment that Mrs. M creates. The students help each other when they see each other struggling and they are very reassuring towards each other. I do also love Mrs. M’s use of post-it notes and the fact that she stops frequently to check for understanding and help students practice words they have trouble with.

- Mrs. M has Student B re-read the section. As Student B is reading she begins to read more quickly since she has read the section once already. She skips a slight pause at a period. Mrs. M stops her briefly to ask, “what do we do when we see a period?” Student B asks, “keep going?” Mrs. M says, “stop.” Mrs. M nods for Student B to finish reading the paragraph.

Mrs. M does not miss a mistake. She is careful to stop the students and have them think about their mistakes or what they are having trouble with. This is great. She incorporates all skills in her lessons: reading, writing, speaking and listening.

- Mrs. M has Student C read some of the next paragraph. Mrs. M reviews pausing after periods. She points out where they should pause and models it with the section Student C has read.

I am so glad that she models this. It is very important for them to have a good grasp of punctuation.

- Next, Mrs. M asks another comprehension questions that ties in with the comment Student C made earlier about the father laying the eggs. Mrs. M asks, “ok, now who lays the egg?” Student C answers, “the mom.”
- Mrs. M asks Student B to re-read the part about the egg. Student B reads the part slowly and carefully. Student C says, “I was wrong.” Mrs. M explains that it is ok and that she just did not have the right information.
- Mrs. M asks Student A to read. Student A asks where they are at. Mrs. M says, “you should not have to ask. You should be following.” Mrs. M points to where he should start from. Student A reads about the dad keeping the egg warm.
- Mrs. M points out that both parents help.

I love that she was able to acknowledge that Student C was wrong, but still point out that she was right in a way because the father does help. This way Student C doesn’t feel alienated or lose confidence.

- Mrs. M asks Student C to read.
- Mrs. M stops Student C and explains that Student B was right about the fish. Student B responds in Spanish. Mrs. M replies to her, “that’s good; you can learn a lot from movies.

I am assuming that Student B explained in Spanish that she had seen penguins eating fish in a movie. I believe she reverted to Spanish because she was excited and did not take the time to think about how to explain where she got the information in English.

- Mrs. M asks Student A to read again. He does well.
- Mrs. M asks Student B to read again. She has a bit of trouble with a few words. Student A and Student C help her out with the words.
- Mrs. M asks Student C to read. Mrs. M stops her after she reads the word “Surprise!” Student C read the word with feeling. Mrs. M explains that she really liked her intonation.
- Student A jumps in and finishes the story.
- Mrs. M asks, “where do you think the mother is?” The students make a prediction that she is looking for food.

Now that they have made a prediction they are more invested in reading more about the penguins and learning more about them. Great way to keep them engaged.

- Mrs. M: “Before we go! Can you find any words in the reading that we can put in one of our groups?”
- Student C: “Feet.” Mrs. M has the students say the words feet then fly. She has them do the same with each word: feet, go; feet, we; feet, too. After each one she asks, “do they rhyme?” When they say “we,” she points out that there is no “t” sound.
- Student B points out the word “fly.” Mrs. M points out that they already have that word.
- Student B speaks in Spanish. Mrs. M replies, “yes, we are going to stop now, but first we need to find out what “bill” means.

Mrs. M has done a great job tying everything in together. She came right back to their charts. I like that she had the students look for words that rhyme. I did not like that they have such a short time together. Having to pick the students up and take them back does take away a bit of their time. The lesson went really well though regardless. Also, they can pick back up where they left off in their next meeting.

I am assuming Student B was pointing out that it was almost time to go and that they still needed to get their books. Mrs. M had told them they could return their library books and get new ones, but it does not seem like they will have the time.

- Mrs. M asks, “Does anyone like computers?” All the students say, “yes.”
- Mrs. M shows then Dictionary.com and asks the students to spell the word “bill.” She asks Student A to click the “search” button.
- Mrs. M has them all gather around the computer and explains that they can also listen to the word they want to know about. She lets them listen to the word and repeat it. Mrs. M goes through all the definitions to help them decide which is the one they need. Mrs. M has Student A read the definition they decided on after they discuss the definitions.
- Mrs. M writes down the website for each of the students and explains to them that they can ask their teachers to use the computer when they need to find out what a word means.

This is a great resource for the students. I definitely think technology is a great asset to ELLs and ELL teachers. This also puts the students in charge of their own learning. They have this option and this resource, they just need to choose to use it.

- Mrs. M has the students write their names on their post-its from earlier when they spelled penguin.
- Before they leave Mrs. M gives each one a sticker. Studetn B receives a sticker with a 100 on it. Student C receives a sticker with a 100 and an A+ on it. Student A receives a sticker with a happy face on it. Mrs. M explains that maybe next time he will get a 100 if he stays in his seat.

Again, Mrs. M is great with the positive reinforcement. She does not completely leave Student A out of the rewards, but she does not give him the same reward as the other two and she is careful to explain that he can receive the same reward if he behaves. This is great. I do believe some of this works a lot better with younger students, though. Last year I taught 11th and 12th graders. If I gave a reward to one or a few, the others would either not care or they would complain and complain. I would explain why they did not receive the same reward, but they just did not care. Some would just get mad. I had several students steal candy for themselves because they did not get one. Of course, I know I still need to work on my classroom management, but I am still a new teacher and that comes with experience.

- Mrs. M explains to the students that they do not have enough time to look for new books, but she will make sure they do next time they meet.
- Mrs. M explains to me that the students read and take AR tests. She explains that she has been encouraging her students to read at least one per week and take a test. Student A only made a 50% on his last one, so the librarian wants him to try again. She also explains that Student B has not been reading and taking tests. She keeps conveniently forgetting her books. Student C, on the other hand, will read two or three a week. She really loves to read.

I can tell that Student C is the most proficient in English. Student A would be about in the middle while Student B is the least proficient, and for good reason since she has only been here for a year. Student A seems to have trouble keeping his attention on things. He has a lot of energy. This may contribute to his lower score on the AR test over his book. Student B is probably putting off taking her test because her confidence levels are lower and her reading proficiency is lower.

1:13 - Mrs. M takes the students back to their class.

Classroom Observation #2: Friday, Sept. 23th

I want to apologize for not posting in a while. Things have been very busy. I make sure to write all my observations and reflections on paper first and then I type them up. So, this is from a couple weeks ago.

NOTE: The italicized entries are the notemaking portion of the observation. These are my reflections on what I observed.

10:21 am – As the students enter the room, Dr. C reminds them of the rules and asks the assigned helpers not to pass out the workbooks. She explains that they will be doing an activity in class today. She had a student from the previous class waiting to speak to her.

10:23 – Dr. C asks for the extra credit work she had assigned. The assignment was to find something in a magazine or newspaper that had a percentage on it. They receive an extra 5 points on their test if they did this. Student E does not have her extra credit. Most of the other students do have their extra credit.

I wonder if she did not do the assignment because it required reading in English. Although, I doubt Dr. C specified that the advertisement had to be from an English language magazine. From what her teacher has told Mrs. M, Student E has been having some trouble in her math class. It would be in her best interest to do any extra credit offered.

10:25 – Dr. C has a student move from a table in the very front to another desk. She needs the table for papers. She has another student move around the room to collect the extra credit.

I am assuming that the student sitting at the very front table was there because he has been acting up in class or not paying attention. The table is directly in front of the board and right next to Dr. C’s stool. This is a very good way to keep the student focused and attentive. It is a fitting punishment for being disruptive in class or not being attentive. Also, it makes sure that the student does not lose instruction time by being sent to the office or detention.

10:26 – Dr. C asks, “What do you know about percentages? Describe a percent …” No one, including Student E, attempts an answer.

10:28 - Dr. C puts an amount on the board: $27.99. She asks the class how to find the amount with 25% off. A student attempts an answer saying that you would subtract. Dr. C writes the student’s name and answer on the board.

I like that she gives visual examples.

10:29 – Another student agrees with subtracting. Dr. C writes this student’s name and answer on the board as well. Then, Dr. C calls on a student who has their head down. The student stumbles on their words then decides to agree with the first two students. Dr. C writes this on the board.

Dr. C seems to have created a classroom environment where she encourages the students to take risks and they feel comfortable enough to take a risk and attempt to answer even though they have not yet learned about percents.

10:30 – Dr. C asks the class what $27.99 would be if we took away the dollar sign. The whole class answers that it would be a decimal. Student E participates in answering with the class.

10:30-10:32 – Dr. C repeats the earlier question of how to find 25% of 27.99 and gives several students a chance to answer.

10:32 – Dr. C: “I didn’t expect you all to know this. Why?” The class answers: “because this is our first time doing it.” Dr. C: “I haven’t taught you this yet, but does it hurt to try?” The class answers: “No.”

I really like that she encourages her students to try things even if they aren’t sure how to do it or have never been taught how to do something. A lot of learning has to do with trying something new, making a mistake, and correcting that mistake. Going through that process really helps new skills and information to ‘stick’ with you.

10:33 – Dr. C passes out index cards and explains that all the guesses she has put on the board were wrong, but that is ok because she hasn’t taught them about percentages yet.

I really like that she continues to let them know that it is ok to make mistakes, especially if you have never been taught something. This is a nice confidence builder.

10:34 – Dr. C writes on the screen: “To take a percentage off, change the percent to a decimal value, multiply the decimal value by the regular price, take that amount and subtract it from the regular price.” She makes sure to say all this aloud while she is writing it on the screen. She also makes sure to say ‘comma’ when there needs to be on in the sentence. She asks the students to copy this down on their index cards. All the students, including Student E, copy down the instructions.

I like that she reads aloud what she is writing. I am sure this helps Student E to understand the instructions, as well as helping all the students pay attention to what they are writing. As an English teacher, I am so happy that she pays attention to grammar and punctuation and makes a point to use correct grammar and punctuation when she writes on the board. I also like that she is using the note cards. I love using note cards as checks for understanding. I think having the students write the directions down on a separate note card will help them remember.

10:37 – Dr. C has the students put their note cards aside so that they may finish the activity for the day. She explains that she will show them all the steps a bit later.

10:38 – Dr. C holds up a bottle of water and asks what percentage of water she would have if the bottle was full. The students answer, 100%! Student E is participating.

I like that she uses visual aids. I also like that she encourages the entire class to participate. I definitely believe these activities help Student E. She really participates and comes out of her shell when she is able to be vocal and listen. It seems her major issues are with reading and individual work. This is probably partly due to lack of confidence with her reading and writing skills. She is not testing proficient at reading and writing, but she is testing proficient at speaking and listening.

10:39 – Dr. C: If I drink half, what do I have? Students: 50%! Student E participates.

10:40 – Dr. C uses the percentage of materials used to make shirts as an example scenario for the students. The students try to look at their own tags. Dr. C is very upbeat and playful with the students. She jokes with them.

Dr. C creates a happy atmosphere for the students. They seem comfortable and eager to participate. Still, she is strict about her behavioral rules.

10:41 - She pairs up the students and has them look at the tags on each other’s shirts to find out what they are made of. As the students call out the percentage of materials, Dr. C writes them down on the board. She calls on several pairs to call out their percentages. She has paired girls with girls and boys with boys.

I like that she has the students moving around, even if it is just to stand up and look at each other’s tags. They still move and do not get restless sitting in their desks.

10:44 – Dr. C has Student E and another students look at each other’s tags. Student E blushes and smiles. She speaks softly when she calls out the percentages on her partner’s tag, but she does participate.

I do not think her timidity has to do with her language skills here. I believe she is just a bit shy naturally. Also, she is considered new still because most of these students have been together in classes since kindergarten.

10:45 – Dr. C explains that they are now going to do an activity. She tells the students that they will work in groups. She moves some students around and forms the groups then she passes out an envelope to each group. (The envelopes jingle.) She reminds the students that they can do work from the textbook or workbook if they are not going to stay quiet and pay attention.

It is very smart of her to choose the groups herself instead of letting the students choose their own groups. Especially at this age, they will only choose to work with their friends because they want to socialize. She also does a very good job of reminding the students how they are expected to behave. She doesn’t seem to lose her temper and I believe she is consistent so the students know she is serious.

10:48 – As the students move, some trip over bags. Dr. C: “If ya’ll would have hung these backpacks up when you entered the class, they wouldn’t be all over the place.” The students hang up their bags.

10:49 – Dr. C: “In your envelope you should have 100 pennies. First, I want you to count your pennies to make sure there are 100.” Dr. C moves around the room reminding the students that they can’t be over or under. A few students give her extra pennies and a few ask for 1 or 2 more.

I like that she moves around the room a lot. She puts herself in the class. This definitely helps her to catch those who are not on task.

10:50 - A student tells her they need more pennies. Dr. C corrects his grammar. She tells the students they have 2 more minutes to check their pennies.

I love that she corrects grammar. As an English teacher, I know how important it is for students to hear good grammar and use good grammar in all subject areas as well as outside of school. This helps students internalize good grammar.

10:52 – Dr. C: “If you have 100 pennies, how much do you have?” Students: “$1.”

I would consider this a way of linking previous knowledge to the new information they are about to learn. Wonderful!

10:53 – Dr. C asks the students to put their pennies in groups of 10. Student E participates and seems comfortable with her group. Dr. C gives the class 2 minutes to do this; she times them.

I like that she gives time limits. This keeps the students on task and limits the amount of time that is wasted.

10:54 – Dr. C stops walking around the room to help a group. She announces 1 minute left.

10:55 – some groups raise their hands to say they are done. One group realizes they miscounted in the beginning and need two more pennies. Dr. C brings them their pennies.

10:56 – Dr. C: “How many groups of 10 did you make?” Students: “10!” Dr. C: “If I say give me 1 group of 10, what percentage do I take?” Students: “10%!”

I really think being able to see the amounts in physical form, i.e. pennies, really helps the students understand. This is great. They are really engaged as well because they are working with money, something they ask their parents for all the time.

10:57 – Dr. C: “Now, put your pennies into groups of 25.” She gives them 2 minutes.

10:58 - She creates a bit of competition by pointing out the fast group who is almost done. She also walks around and banters with the students.

A little healthy competition is good.

10:59 – Dr. C: “How many groups of 25 do you have?” Students: “4!” Dr. C: “What percentage is 1 group of 25?” Students: “25%”

This is just great. Now the students can see that 1/4th of a dollar is 25%. They have already gone over fractions, so this is connecting previous knowledge with new knowledge. Very well done.

She gives the students 30 seconds to put the pennies into two groups of 50. She walks around a bit. Then, she asks how many groups they have and what percentage one group is. The students answer correctly.

11:00 – Dr. C announces they will start another activity. She passes out a worksheet with a graph on one side and questions on the other. She asks the students to write their names on the paper. All group members’ names should be on the paper. She asks them to turn to the side with the graph. Then, she asks the students to put their pennies in groups by the year on the penny. Once that is done they must put the pennies on the graph in the appropriate place. They have about 15 minutes to do this.

This is an interesting way to group the pennies. This also shows the students that numbers are everywhere and math is not just good for money.

11:01 – Dr. C explains to the students that they should put the pennies in groups on their desks first, then put them on the graph. She walks around monitoring the class and speaking with groups. The students are active and engaged. Student E is fully participating with her group. Student E and the boy in their group are looking at the pennies and calling out the years. Then, they hand the pennies to the other girl in the group and she puts them in groups by year.

Student E seems to be comfortable with numbers. This is what makes me think she has more trouble with word problems and directions. This has to be the reason she is not doing very well in this class.

Other groups divide the task and work more quietly, but most are excitedly talking and working together.

I like that there is commotion. The students are still on task, but they are excited and communicating with each other. This is great for all students, especially an ELL student. This is a great opportunity to practice speaking and listening. Also, since they are working with money, there is a great real world connection. There is a purpose.

11:08 – Dr. C: “Everybody! Stop for a second and look up here.” She looks at a specific group: “You better stop talking or you will do it wrong. Most of you are separating by 1900s and 2000s, but you still have to separate by individual years and put them in order.” She writes years on the board as examples.

She is very honest and stern, but she still shows that she cares. She does not want them to do it wrong and they know this.

11:09 – The students get back to work and Dr. C continues to monitor and walk around the room. I can hear students deciding different ways to organize their pennies. Student: “Or, or we could work backwards.”

This is evidence that the students are really thinking about the activity.

11:10 – Student E is preoccupied with an itch on her elbow. She is distracting her group members with this issue. Dr. C stands by the group quietly until they get back on task.

She does not even have to say anything to the group. They see her and her stern look, then they get back to work.

11:11 – back on task.

11:12 - Student E’s hand goes up. They are having trouble seeing the year on one of the pennies. She won’t let the boy try. Dr. C comes by. The boy tries to read the year – he was very insistent that he could – but he cannot see it either. Dr. C changes out the penny for them.

11:14 – A couple groups have to start over. They did not pay attention earlier.

11:15 – Some of the students are seeing who has found the earliest penny. Student E’s group has a 1955 and another group has a penny from the 1920s.

It is great that they are so excited about this.

11:16 – The groups are back on task, but Student E is messing with her elbow again.

11:17 – Another teacher brings Dr. C some paperwork and inquires what the groups are doing. She makes a joke that she is older than one of the pennies. Some students ask me if I am older than the penny. I say no. They try to guess my age. Student E guesses correctly. I tell them to get back on task. They turn their attention back to the pennies.

I do hate that it is so hard to observe and not affect the observation. I think I did pretty well keeping them on task and removing myself from the situation.

11:20 – Dr. C moves around to check each groups work so far.

11:21 – Dr. C allows a student to go to the bathroom.

I am glad she allows students to use the restroom. I feel like they can not concentrate if they need to use the bathroom. I know that some students will go to the bathroom just to leave class, but it is easy to spot those after a while. Also, the bathroom is not far down the hall, so Dr. C has a good idea of how long they should take and is able to look down the hall to check if she needs to.

11:22 – Dr. C: “Once your pennies are in order on your paper, I will tell you what to do next.”

I think giving the instructions in parts is helpful. This makes sure that the students work at about the same pace and do not get confused or jump ahead and make careless mistakes. This also makes sure that the students do not fall behind.

11:23 – A student from the previous class comes in to get a folder she left in her desk. The students keep working. The only student to stop working is the one that must get up from the desk so that the folder is accessible.

I believe this is a sign that the students are very interested in the activity.

11:24 – One group has finished. Dr. C tells them to take each penny off the paper one at a time and write the year of the penny in the square they have taken it from. Dr. C: “Use pencil in case you mess up and have to erase.” Dr. C goes to help another group.

11:25 – Dr. C: “Ok guys, listen up. We’re going to stop right here. Put your pennies in the envelope. Write your names on the envelope. That way on Monday you will get your same envelope.”

She is very careful and clear about all her directions. This should minimize mistakes and confusion.

11:26 – Dr. C: “I’m going to take up your cards. On Monday you will get them back.”

She apparently has more she wants them to do with the cards. Either she has more she wants them to add or she wants them to have the cards for reference. Probably both. Taking up the cards ensures that everyone will have their card in class on Monday. It is very easy for students to lose things.

11:28 – The students move the desks back into order and Dr. C calls a row at a time for the students to bring up their stuff and leave the class. She gives everyone hand sanitizer and explains that the pennies come from all over and may be dirty. All the students line up in the hall.

This is a good health lesson.

11:30 – I thanked Dr. C and left.

Classroom Observation #1: Tuesday, Sept. 13th

I waited to post this observation because I felt that it would be nice for the two teachers that I observed to see my observation notes before I posted them. For this observation I was allowed to observe the ELL teacher administering the reading and writing portion of the ACCESS test to a Kindergarten student who is an ELL and then I was allowed to observe a sixth grade student in the ELL program in her regular ed. Math class. It was a great experience. The notes are broken up into Notetaking and Notemaking. I could not insert columns, so I had to put the Notetaking first and the corresponding Notemaking (my reflections) after each section. My reflections are in bold and my notetaking is not.

9: 30 am – I arrived at Grace Christian to meet with Mrs. Martinez, the ELL teacher for the school. I had to go to the front office to sign in and wait for her to meet me there. The office area has a large desk which takes up most of the space. The waiting area, however, has enough space for several people. There are a lot of chairs and plants. The secretary had me sign in while she called Mrs. Martinez to the office.

The front office had a very home-like feeling. It was almost like a home office with a waiting room. The chairs in the waiting room were very comfy. Also, I liked that the waiting room was almost partitioned off. Sometimes when you are in a waiting room just staring at the lady behind the desk, it gets a little uncomfortable. In this case the people waiting have a little privacy.

9:32 am –Mrs. Martinez met me in the office. She led me out some doors into a small courtyard area. We entered the first door on the right which was the library. The library was not very big, but was filled with books and colorful posters. There were a few round tables in the center and the librarian’s desk in the back. Mrs. Martinez’s office is behind the librarian’s desk. We went into the office and she explained that she was going to be administering the reading and writing part of the ACCESS test to her kindergartners individually. She explains that I will observe her administering the ACCESS to Student J2 and then she has scheduled me to observe another ELL student, a sixth grader, in her regular ed. Math class with Dr. C. The student, Student E, has been struggling in the class and Mrs. Martinez felt that it might help to have an extra set of eyes observing her. Martinez explained that she thought this would be a nice substitute for an observation of her teaching a group of ELL students since she is still testing and has not begun teaching yet. (She mentioned her hopes of finished testing by the end of this week.)

I really like that her office is in the library. She has easy access to a lot of resources and libraries are always so nice and happy.

9:35 am – Mrs. Martinez left the office to get Student J2. While she was gone I caught up on my notes.

9:37 am – Mrs. Martinez returned with the student and explained that I could not take notes during the testing. She also explained that Student J2, who is in kindergarten, had already taken the Listening and Speaking part of the test. I put my notes away and observed the test.

I agree that I should not take notes while he is testing. I may make him nervous and this is a very private time.

9:38 am – Mrs. Martinez explained to the student that he would be taking the reading and writing portion of the test and that all she wanted was for him to do his best. She also asked him some specifics about his family. She made a personal connection.

I love that she shows the students she really cares about them, both in and out of school. I am sure the students feel more relaxed because of this.

9:40 am – 10:00 am – TESTING
(Mrs. Martinez made sure to speak very slowly and clearly during the whole test. She also made sure to give encouragement often.)

I really like the positive reinforcement and her patience. She gives a lot of praise. The student really seems to like her as well.

10:00 am – After the test Mrs. Martinez looked for her stickers but could not find them so she promised J2 that he would get 2 stickers the next time she saw him. Then, she took student J2 back to class. I got my notes out so I would be prepared when she returned.

The student seems proficient in his listening and speaking. He spoke very well and followed oral directions well. He seems a little shy though. It was sweet.

10:02 am – Mrs. Martinez came back to her office and we discussed J2’s proficiency. He had some trouble with the reading section and a bit more trouble with the writing. She explained to me that he had scored exceptional on his listening and speaking sections, so they will focus on reading and writing a bit more in his LSP. We discussed using the test to identify the Can Dos and using those for the LSP. We also briefly discussed the test.

Mrs. Martinez explained that the skills are usually acquired in that order: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
I did notice during the writing test that he did not seem to try to hard when he was not sure. His confidence may be a little low. If he had sounded out the words, he may have been able to write more. As of now he stops at the first letter. It is also important to remember, though, that he is still learning to read and write period. He is in kindergarten.

(I do not feel comfortable describing the test because of the more confidential nature. However, I do want to address one question I had for Mrs. Martinez. During the reading section there was a point where Student J2 had made a mistake. At this point she stopped the test even though they had not finished it. During the writing test there was one point where the student made small mistake but the test was not stopped. A section later the student was really struggling and the testing was stopped. I asked her how she made the decision to stop the test and why. She explained that the test itself is set up that way. There are sections that instruct the test administrator to stop the test if a student scores below a certain number.

I do not know the exact reasons for stopping the test like this, but I believe stopping the test when the student begins to have troubles is good. This way the student will not become overly frustrated or depressed or anxious. Also, it can be inferred that the student will continue to have trouble in later sections of the test as the test becomes harder. It seems that the test is set up to progress from easy to hard.

10: 05 am – Next, we discussed Mrs. Martinez’s schedule. She works at both GC Elementary and Hawkins Elementary. She is at GC on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She goes to Hawkins on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. She only has 15 ELL students at GC and she has 25 ELL students at Hawkins. Also, the daily schedule at GC makes it easier for her to see all her students both days she is at the school. Once she is finished with all the testing she will begin having classes. She pulls small groups during the activity time at the school. At Grace Christian each grade level has a separate activity time, so she can see all the ELL students in their separate grade level groups. At Hawkins it is harder because the activity times are shared by two grade levels at a time. For example, the 6th and 4th grades have the same activity time. However, the ELL students she has in the 6th are at a different level of proficiency than those in the 4th. So, she must take turns with the grade levels.

I can see how it must be hard to make sure she works with the students enough but not take away all their activity time. If they lost most of their activity time, then her sessions with them would seem more like a punishment. This really stresses her because she is working so hard to make sure they each get the time and attention they need, but she does not want them to miss all of their activity time. She wishes Hawkins would work out an activity schedule more like Grace Christian. Really, I think they should have an ELL teacher for each school, but I understand that the schools are smaller and the number of ELLs is not too high.

During this time I made sure to really look at her room. She has been moved several times at this school so her office is not fully decorated at the moment. She has decided not to put up all her posters because she is afraid she may move again. However, her room is still very colorful. She has a bunch of games that she uses with the students. She has stickers and books everywhere along with her files, a small desk with a computer and a small, round table in the center of the office. Even though the office is a bit smaller, she is still able to utilize the library when she meets with her grade level groups if there are more than one or two.

I really like her office. It is a bit cluttered, but it is also very inviting.

I loved using games with my students to help them with their grammar. I believe games are a good way to teach certain things because the students almost do not even realize they are learning and they internalize more because they are having fun.

I love that she has access to the library.

10:22 am – Mrs. Martinez took me to a sixth grade Math class so I could observe the teacher and the ELL student in that class. This is her only 6th grade ELL student. She has been struggling in her Math class. As we walked out of the library we entered a small courtyard. There were some doors that led to classrooms, a lot of plants, colorful poles and flowers. We came to a set of double doors that led into a hallway. There were classrooms in the hallway. All of the doors were decorated by the home room classes. There were colorful posters and the school rules up on the walls. There were even rules for being in the hallway.

I love that the students get to walk outside to get to the library, the office and some of the other classrooms. I think getting that time outside boosts the mood. I know that the sun gives us Vitamin D and that boosts our mood, so I believe it is good to get some sunshine even for a few minutes at a time.
The hallway rules are great and I love that the students stay in lines on the edges of the hallway.

10:28 am – The math teacher escorted her class out into the hallway and let some go to the restroom. She monitored them as they waited in line and all the other classes came out and got in their lines. Then, the classes were allowed to move, in their single file lines, to their next classroom.

There was a lot less chaos than there probably would have been if they were just let out to run through the halls on their own. I do not think this should be necessary for the older grades, but in an elementary school, this helps to keep the students on time and safe.

I watched the teachers pass around cookie sheets with colorful tape and magnets on them. Mrs. Martinez explained that these were used to keep track of student behavior. Each student had a magnet and each color represented different behavior. The student’s magnet was moved to show how they had behaved in class. This way the teacher in the next class knows how the student’s day had been going and can make judgment calls for disciplinary action or reward if necessary. The teacher also has an idea of what to expect from the students or might be able to pin point causes of bad behavior, etc.

GREAT IDEA!!! I love that it is a visual way of keeping track of student behavior and the students can see that they are being monitored. I also love that each teacher knows how the child has been doing and can be prepared for any issues. Also, a student who acts out in one class and then acts out in another class will not slip through the cracks because all the teachers communicate about the students. What’s even more, the teachers can collectively see if there is a big problem that needs to be addressed with a student.

10:31 am – I met Dr. C, the math teacher, and found a seat off to the side, near the back. I made sure to sit where I could observe Student E, the ELL in the class. Student E is the only Mexican student in the class. All other students are African American.

This must be very isolating at times.

10:32 am – There were a few students who automatically went to the back of the room to get the workbooks and passed them out to the class. Dr. C did not have to remind anyone of their job. The rest of the students went to their desks and got out their notebooks. During this time Dr. C did a last check of the hallway as well as her role sheet. The students passing out notebooks also passed back the boardwork from the previous class.

It is great that the school year started only 4-5 weeks ago and the students are at a point where they know what is expected of them and their duties in the classroom. It is also very helpful to the teacher. It can be hard to get everything that needs to be done at the beginning of class done and not waste too much time. I was surprised that they did not have boardwork/bellwork already up on the board to be working on, but this could be because it is a test day.

10:35 am – Dr. C announced the objectives for the day: Go over boardwork and take vocabulary test. The students each have a little basket on their desk that should have a pen and a pencil in it. They must check their work with a pen. Dr. C reminded the class to use a pen when going over the boardwork and making corrections.

I am sure they do not always end up back in the basket, but this is a good way to ensure that the students have the necessary supplies.
Also, having them check with a pen minimizes changing answers.

Dr. C used a tablet that was connected to her laptop by a wireless connection. She showed the students a simple way to compare fractions. She spent some time on this because many of the students had had difficulty with this question. After giving the students an example, they proceeded through the rest of the answers. Dr. C went over each question and had the class answer as a group. Student E seemed to participate in the activity.
When they were done Dr. C had the students pass up their papers. Next, she passed out the test and asked the students to clear their desks and hang their bags on the back of their chairs. Student E was wringing her hands. Dr. C to the class: “Go ahead and put your heading on your paper.” Dr. C explained to the class that many of them had been losing points because they leave information out of their heading.

I am very glad she makes use of the technology available. I really liked using this technology when I was teaching last year. It was very helpful: it took less time than writing on the board, you do not have to turn your back to the students, you can move around the room to monitor the students, and they really like to use it as well. I would reward student’s by letting them use the tablet to write answers or add to what was on the pull down screen. I know there are graphic organizer templates in the software as well, which is great. I was a bit surprised that she did not move around the room much at all; however, the classroom is pretty small and the students have been ‘whipped into shape’ enough for her not to really need to.

She is very smart in the way she keeps her room from being cluttered and she keeps the students’ attention on their own desks.
She is teaching them structure and consistency. I love it. It is always easier if you learn early.

10:33 am – Dr. C to the class: “Once you write your heading, and you are sure you wrote your whole heading, you may begin.”

10:35 am – Student E has been staring at paper and keeps moving to write but stops herself. All other students are writing.

10:36 am – Student E writes down an answer then erases it.

I wonder if she is second guessing. Also, I have not seen her look through the whole test. It is a better test taking strategy to look through your test and answer the ones you are sure of. Then, you should go back and answer the ones that you think you know and finally, go back and answer the ones you really are not sure of. Also, this test has a word bank – it is a vocabulary test – so this strategy is very helpful.

10: 37 am – Student E writes down an answer and erases it again. It looks like she has answered a few. Her hand has been on her forehead most of the time.

I wonder if she is having confidence problems. She does seem a little stressed or worried.

Dr. C. is organizing some papers and monitoring the class.

10:39 am – Student E begins to answer questions a bit faster. I see other students flipping their paper over to look at other side. They are moving back and forth between the two sides. Student E has not flipped her paper over once.

Maybe she is gaining confidence.

I see that she keeps having to erase. This is probably due to the wording of some of these definitions. There are probably some that are similar and she is realizing that she used the answer to a later question already. LOOK OVER THE TEST FIRST.

10:41 am – Student E puts down her pencil, wrings her hands, looks around, picks up her pencil, taps it on the paper and then erases another answer.

10:43 am – Student E rubs her eyes. Her hand is back on her forehead.

She seems nervous and tense. I wonder if she has some testing anxiety. I know it must be hard to be taking tests in a language that you are not completely proficient in a content area like math especially. I wonder how she does with just numbers? I plan to ask if she is better with numbers than word problems and vocabulary.

Dr. C has leaned out of the room to discuss an issue with another teacher. The class stays quiet. Everyone is working diligently. Every once in a while there is a bit of movement, some sighs and a student or two will quickly scan the room then go back t their work.

Wow. The students know what they are supposed to be doing. It is wonderful that the teacher can turn her back on them and still trust them to do what they are suppose to do.

10:45 am – Student E pulls out a mechanical pencil to use.

Killing time? Trying to distract herself?

10:47 am – The class stirs a bit. Dr. C to the class: “If you are finished, you should check and re-check.”

GREAT ADVICE!

10:48 am – another teacher walked in loudly and made a comment about there being a bad smell. The teacher briefly discusses something with Dr. C.

I do not feel it was very fair to be so distracting. It was obvious they were testing.


10: 51 am – The teacher leaves the room.

10:57 am – Several students have finished. They look over their work or stare into space.

11:00 am – Dr. C to the class: “Who’s finished?” Some are done; they raise their hands. A few are checking over their work and some are still working, including Student E.

11:02 am – Student E puts her pencil down and watches another teacher and a police officer talk in the hallway.

11:03 am – A student raises their hand and waits quietly until Dr. C addresses him.

They know the rules and procedures.

11:05 am – Dr. C sees student and prompts them to ask their question. They respond that they are finished and Dr. C tells the student to check over their answers once more. Student E is still looking up every few seconds.

Maybe she has some trouble concentrating.

11:06 am –Student E has put her pencil down and is twisting her hair as she stares at the paper.

Definitely anxiety.

11:07 am – Student E plays with a strand of hair and her headband which she has taken off.

Wasting time.

11:08 am – Student E takes up her pencil and looks back at her paper. She still has not turned her paper over once and she keeps having to erase her answers. She has had to go back and change a couple answers.

This is probably because she has used a word for a similar definition and then found the correct definition and has to make the change. OR She could be second guessing herself.


11:10 am – Most of the students are done. Many of them are checking their answers. Dr. C to the class: “If you are finished, pass your paper up. If you are not finished, keep right on working.” Student E has gotten to the back of her paper. (There are 6 students plus Student E still working.)

11:11 am – Dr. C to class: “If you are finished, take out your book….” Dr. C tells the students to turn to page 298 and complete the review what you know section.

I think I would have explained this to the students at the beginning of class and had the assignment written on the board. That way I would not disturb students still testing. I would just go around the room and take up the tests of students who are done then point at the board.


11:12 am – Another student finishes test.

11:13 am – Dr. C stepped out of the class for a brief moment. A couple students started to whisper and another student has their hand raised. Dr. C catches the students whispering and warns that they will receive -20 points off their test if they do not stop.

They stopped immediately. She seems nice but stern and she sticks to her guns it seems like. I like this. Consistency is key.


11:14 am – Dr. C acknowledges the student with their hand raised then steps back out. All the students are finished except for 4, including Student E.

11:15 am – Student E is done. Dr. C tells students that have just finished to put their tests on her stool and work on the review in the textbook.

11:17 am – A student asks if they should write down the questions along with the answers in their notebooks. Dr. C replies, “Just answers.”

11:18 am – Student E has taken her time to get out the textbook, which stays under their desks, and her notebook. She finally turns to a clean page and begins heading her paper.

11:19 am – Dr. C is back in room. Student E seems to be working hard.

She seems a little more focused on this work than she did during the test.

11:20 am – Another woman enters the room and sits in the back at a empty student desk. She is carrying a clipboard with paper and a pencil.

She may be there to observe a specific student in the next class or even observe Dr. C.


11:21 am – Dr. C asks, “Does anyone still have their test out?” Two students raise their hands.

11:22 am – Dr. C has some students pass back papers (previous student work). She explains to the class that they will be receiving some work back and they must keep the papers on their desks. She explains that she is coming around with a letter and she wants them to staple the letter to the front of the stack of papers.

She is very clear in her instructions. Student E follows verbal instructions very well.


11:23 am – A lot of students are walking around.

11:24 am – Dr. C passes out the letter: “Take one and pass it back.”
Student E follows the oral instructions correctly.
Student E appears to be reading the letter. It has two paragraphs.

I wonder if she comprehends everything in the letter.


11:26 am – Student E puts the letter down and listens to Dr. C’s directions: Put the letter on top, staple the stack of papers as you leave class, turn in both your workbook and notebook today.

11:27 am – The student helpers take up the workbooks and notebooks. Dr. C: “First row, come and line up.” She explains to the class that they will get an extra 5 points on their test if they bring back the papers tomorrow with their parent’s signature. Dr. C continues to call them by row and staple their papers as they leave the room. The students line up in the hallway. Dr. C also makes sure to thank the students for waiting patiently to be called.


I like that she is giving an incentive to the students to show their previous work to their parents. I like that she is involving the parents. I wonder how often she does this. This is probably the middle of the 9 week period. I am sure progress reports will come out soon. She will probably do this for every progress report and report card if possible. Great!

I love that she acknowledges the good behavior of the students even though it is expected behavior.

11:30 am – I got up and thanked Dr. C. She invited me to come back when she is teaching a whole lesson.

I definitely want to come back.

Observation #1

Hey everyone!

I was supposed to have my first classroom observation last Friday. However, this was not possible due to re-testing of students and some updates to the WIDA provisions. Instead, I was able to meet with my mentor, do some research myself and observe some of the meeting she was having with the new High School ELL teacher they just hired and a couple of the Elementary ELL teachers. Here is what I observed:

NOTETAKING:

8:00 AM - The secretary, Susan, brought me to Dr. Harsh's office. One of the elementary ELL teachers was already there. Dr. Harsh spend about 30 minutes making calls to find out if anyone was actually teaching so that I could observe. No one was going to be teaching a full class. A couple of teachers were helping parents with issues or having parent meetings. She asked all the teachers to come to her office at some point in the day if they had time. Dr. Harsh also made some calls about student F. She kept saying, "[Student F] is in trouble."
8:35 AM - I was taken into an empty office and given access to a computer so I could read up on WIDA and look over the school Report Cards. A couple more teachers arrived between 8:40 and 9:15. They were discussing the Student Evaluation Plans.
9:20 AM - Dr. Harsh asked Susan to track down all information on Student F taht she could. Susan found that Student F had not been tested and that he had been in and out of the school system. Dr. Harsh discussed the issue with her teachers and what they were going to do to rectify the situation.
- While they were discussing this issue I looked over the WIDA website and read a brieg of the Can Dos and the History and Development of WIDA.
10:30 AM - The newly hired ELL teacher for the High School arrived to meet everyone who could make the meeting.
10:40 AM - Dr. Harsh and the ELL teachers who were present spent some time catching the new teacher up on what they had been discussing: Student F (who is in the High School), the SEP's and how testing was going.
- I continued reading everything I could on the WIDA site. I found out that there is reasearch being conducted on allignment of standards:
* Goals - to analyze the relationship between ELP standards and assessments and to analyze the relationship between ELP standards and academic content standards.
* The approach is based on Dr. Gary Cook's 2006 adaption of Dr. Norman Webb's alignment methodology: to look at whether the content matches between tests and standards and to look at the extent to which tests and standards reflect the linguistic/cognitive complexity and breadth of a set of standards.
10:55 AM - The discussion in the meeting has turned back to Student F. There are many factors they must consider, not just language proficiency and school attendance. He has had problems with Marijuana in the past. They discussed whether this issue has affected his attendence. They also reviewed his grades in all his classes. (They discussed the student's history and family life and did a breif comparative analysis of his academic record. There may be a correlation between his lack of attendance and substance abuse and his academic performance.
- While they discussed the student, I found a great example of mixed methods research while reading about the research done to develope the WIDA Can Dos. I was very interested because I am taking FOED 6610 right now as well and we are doing a lot of reading and discussion on mixed method analysis, as well as qualitative vs. quantitative analysis and Human Subject Research.
11:00 AM - The discussion in the meeting moves on to the WIDA provisions and some changes that have been made that they must incorporate into their practices and framework. While discussing the provisions and changes, the conversation did turn back to student F at one point and then the ELL teachers gave a re-cap of last Tuesday's meeting (See my first blog post) for the new teacher.
- While this was going on I continued to educate myself on WIDA. I read the document discussing the guiding principals of language development. This was mainly a reminder for me because these guiding principals have been discussed in the previous classes I have taken for the ESL Master's Program. Next, I read about the SLA (Spanish Language Arts) standards: research supports the notion that students benefit when they have foundational literacy skills in their first language and when schools incorporate their primary language and culture into the classroom. They support planning curriculum for bilinguals and two-way immersion. This too has been discussed in my previous classes. Then, I read about ACCESS. This is a test that is given annually. The test items are written from the model performance indicators of WIDA's five proficiency standards and forms which are divided into grade level clusters. Within each grade level cluster ACCESS consists of three forms (or tiers): beginning, intermediate, and advance. They cover the four areas of language learning: speaking, reading, writing and listening.
- Throughout the meeting Susan was called on to investigate a few student backgrounds, retrieve documents and remind Dr. Harsh of issues that must be discussed or whether certain things had been done.
11:25 AM - A lady came in to pick up tests to distribute to the schools. I am not sure what tests these were though. It is important to remember that Dr. Harsh is also the testing coordinator for the district.
- I continued to read about the purpose and use of the ACCESS test. The test exceeds the requirements of NCLB (No Child Left Behind). It gives resyults that inform educators whether a student is proficient enought to participate in content area classes without support and on state academic content tests without accomodations. It gives information to the districts about the success of their programs. It identifies ELP levels of students with respect to WIDA. Finally, it gives information to educators on how to enhance instruction and learning for ELLs.
11:30 AM - Dr. Harsh re-enters the meeting.
- I read about the test development cycle for ACCESS. They have just put into use (March 2010) an alternative ACCESS test for ELLs with cognitive disabilities.
- I also read about the W-APT which is the WIDA ACCESS Placement Test for incoming ELL students.
11:35 AM - Susan recieved a call about a returning ELL student and pulled his records.
11:39 AM - Susan recieved another call about a returning students, an ELL students, and pulled his test scores for the teacher.
11:45 AM - I finished reading everything on the WIDA site and went to get coffee.
- Dr Harsh was discussing the imortance of the scores, Can Do descriptors, etc., as well as teacher support for the students and parents.
- They discussed the importance of positive verbal interactions and making personal connections.
- The teachers were discussing their previous experiences and giving examples of positive personal interactions and connections: achknowledge everyone and students will have a positive reaction.
- The discussed another student, student G. He has been a great student but his mom is worried he might drop out. The mother had previously contacted one of the teachers, Sandra, because he did not want to go to school and was always giving excuses. They have not heard from the mother this year yet. His older brother dropped out and went back to Mexico. They are considering him 'at risk.' He has been moved to the High school but is still showing up as an 8th grader. So, Susan was called in and asked to make the adjustments to his record. She is asked to change his grade level then re-print the High School list with all the notes.
- They then discussed another student, student J. He was moved from the 7th grade to the 8th grade last year and is now in the 9th. Dr. Harsh wants to know what test he was given and does not beleive he was tested at all.
12:00 PM - They got back to discussing the WIDA provisions. They discussed the number of years of additional support and regular checks each student is given after becoming proficient and being placed in the regular content area classes full time.
(4-5 years depending on student)
12:05 PM - They then discussed scheduling the individual student conferences to go over scores, goals and course of action. They also discussed making student contracts for improvements and using the mathamatical data for make goals realistic. One of the teachers explained what she did in her student meetings last year: had students decide on goal for improvement and draw a line to show it visually on their report. She also talked about the rewards that are in place for the regular education students who scored high on their MCT 2 (state test): They get to go to a pizza place called Gattytown. Dr. Harsh asked, "Are our students included?" (We must keep in mind that the ELL students must take the state tests as well.) The teacher said that she was pretty sure they were included. The teacher also explained that she wanted to do something special for the students in the lower grades who had improved on their major tests.
12:10 PM - They discussed hot to use some money they have in the budget that must be used by a certain date. They want to do something for the parents like provide a breakfast or lunch for a meet and greet. They do not want to hold formal meetings yet and they want the parents to be able to meet as well. They think it would be nice for the parents to come eat with their childre, meet the teachers and meet each other. They plan to poll the parents to see what times they can come to the school.
- Susan was called in again to make copies.
12:15 PM - Dr. Harsh asked if there were "any other hot topics to discuss." A teacher suggested that they look at page 15 of the WIDA provisions and discuss the influences on academic success.
12:17 PM - They briefly discussed the Newcommer program.
12:18 PM - Susan asked for a thumb drive from the High School teacher with student information so she could make some changes.
12:19 PM - The discussion went back to the WIDA provisions and W-APT. WIDA says that the placement test does not necessarily mean there has been progress.
- pg. 37 of the provisions - Alternative ACCESS for ELLs. There was some confusion on the dates. Someone had confused the month of the ACCESS test with the month of the alternative ACCESS test and had told some of the other teachers the wrong dates.
- Dr. Harsh: "There is another students I want to talk about but" she needs to talk with another teacher first.
12:20 PM - They discussed ordering the test materials, which Dr. Harsh will handle on her own. A teacher mentions the coding for the native language and ethnicity on the testing sheet. They could not find the key for the identification codes for the two questions. They did find out that it was not necessary to fill out that information on the test, though. Dr. Harsh explained that they just sent that information to her.
12:25 PM - They discussed the scaffolding academic language. Sandra explained the workshop that she and the other teachers attended. (The session was mainly used to explain to teachers who were new to the program.) Harshe asked if she and a couple other ELL teachers would like to discuss the scaffolding and other information with groups of Regular Education teachers. She said it might be good to do on an early release day and that one or two of the ELL teachers could go to each school in the district and go over what they did in the workshop. Sandra explained that at the workshop they were put into grade level groups and an ELL teacher was assigned to each group. They discussed activities, etc. Sandra really liked the way it was organized and said that the regular education teachers at the workshop had really positive reactions.
12:30 PM - I had finished doing my research so I sat outside the room they were using for their meeting from about 12:00 until they asked me to come in. I met the new ELL teacher for the High School and they I talked to Dr. Harsh and Sandra about observing at Grace Christian Elementary school - the school Sandra works at mainly. Sandra is going to try to schedule me to observe a sixth grader ELL student she has during a regular math class. The student has been struggling. She said that I do not have to just observe. I may be able to assist the student as well. I exchanged numbers with Sandra and we left.

It was a very interesting and informative meeting and observation. I can't wait until Tuesday.