Field Experience Form Context for Learning Description of School and Students

About the School Where You Are Observing or doing Field Experience

School Name and City: St. Ann School, Lansing, Illinois

Type of School: Elementary school, Middle School, High School, or Other: Elementary

Setting: Urban, Suburban, or Rural: Suburban

Write your responses to the three questions below in paragraph form.

1.    List any special features of the school or classroom setting (e.g., themed magnet, classroom aide, bilingual, co-taught with a special education teacher, pull-out program).

A reading specialist from the local public school visits once a week for 30-minutes to work with two students in my class who have 504s.  St Ann is a private school that is struggling financially – there is no librarian, resource teacher, counselor or school nurse on staff available.   

 

2.    Describe any district, school, or cooperating teacher requirements or expectations that affects the planning or delivery of instruction, such as required curricula, pacing plan, use of specific instructional strategies, or standardized tests.

The Archdiocese of Chicago oversees the academic instruction at St. Ann School, and given the financial challenges of the school, the Archdiocese is very invested in monitoring the overall performance of the school, and specifically, the daily delivery of education at the school.  This year the Archdiocese has implemented Schoolwide Workshop for reading, writing and grammar and Eureka Math for math instruction.  

3.    For special education only: List any educators with specialized expertise in the school/district (e.g., specific disabilities, subject-specific pedagogy, English language development, speech therapists).

None.

About the Students in this Class [Give a brief or one word response]

1.    Estimated percentage of students eligible for free/reduced lunch: 80%

2.    Grade level(s): 4

3.    Number of

a.    students in the class: 19

b.    males: 9 boys

females: 10 girls

c.    English language learners: 0

d.    students identified as gifted and talented: 0

e.    students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) or 504 plans:  2+recommendation for another student

4.    Complete the chart below to summarize required accommodations or modifications for students receiving special education services and/or students who are gifted and talented as they will affect instruction. As needed, consult with your cooperating teacher to complete the chart. The first row has been completed in italics as an example. Use as many rows as you need.

Special Education Category	Number of Students	Accommodations, Modifications, and/or Pertinent IEP Goals
Example: Learning Disability	Example: 4	Example: Close monitoring, follow up, and Resource Room
Dyslexia	1	provide additional verbal directions for assignments, read test questions and allow for verbal assessment, modified spelling tests, no penalty for spelling in other subjects, extra time for reading comprehension activities and testing, assistance with establishing guidelines for pacing for reading assignments
Auditory Processing Disorder	1	Modified spelling tests, provide additional written directions for assignments, allows extra time for assignments, extra text books and copies of all work sent home in advance
TBD – under observation	1	Modified spelling tests, provide additional verbal directions for assignments, provide primary-level lined paper for completing assignments

About the Class You Observed

1.    How much time is devoted each day to instruction in the classroom? Describe the class periods (if applicable)? Choose a content area of your specialty or major. How much time is devoted to teaching that subject?

With the implementation of the Schoolwide Workshop program, I teach Reading and Writing Workshop for 755 minutes each week in blocks of approximately 105 and 50 minutes four days a week and 45 and 90 minutes on Wednesdays.  Sadly, this allows only 30 minutes daily for science instruction, my specialty, and that is currently under review and may be cut.  The daily Math block is 60 minutes.   

The class day is seven hours long with a 40-minute lunch/recess break and a 40-minute period for weekly specials that meet once a week including, art, Spanish, music, gym and computers.    

2.    Is there any ability grouping or tracking? If so, please describe how it affects your class.

There is no official “tracking,” but I am well-aware of the abilities of each student and take these into consideration when grouping students.  For example, currently, in students’ book club groupings, I assembled groups according to reading level.  For other group work, I sometimes cluster a struggling student with an advanced student who can assist the struggler.   

3.    Identify any textbook or instructional program you primarily use for instruction. If a textbook, please provide the title, publisher, and date of publication.

For reading, writing and grammar we use Schoolwide.  For Spelling we use Words Their Way and Eureka Math for math.  For Social Studies, using IL state standards as my guide, I provide a variety of supplemental activities and materials I have collected on my own as the textbook is nearly 15 years old.  The science textbooks are also older than the students, and I have been designing a program based on the NGSS.      

4.    List other resources (e.g., SMARTBoard, manipulatives, online resources) used for instruction in this class.

Students utilize Chromebooks in a 1:1 learning environment, and they utilize their Chromebooks in every subject.  We also have a SMARTBoard in our classroom, a moderate library of 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th grade-level books, and many manipulatives and games of various subject. We have a table in the back of the room called “Collaboration Station” where group work or conferences can take place.  We also utilize many anchor charts to assist with our learning.   

5. What do you know about what your students know, what can they do, and what are they learning to do? What do you know about your students’ everyday experiences, cultural backgrounds and practices, and interests?

My class consists of students from diverse backgrounds: 42%  African-American, 42% Hispanic and 16% Caucasian.  The majority of my students come from families of lower socio-economic status, and they are attending the school on scholarship.  Many have parents who are immigrants, and some have family members who are undocumented.

According to results of standardized testing conducted earlier in the school year, 100% of my students are below the benchmark for reading, science and math.  As a school, we are focusing on improving reading scores, so this is my primary focus.       

6. Describe one teaching event. What best practices in teaching were used?

During the recent mid-term elections, I pulled together a mini-civics lesson for my students using an online resource and a vocabulary worksheet.  My students were struggling comprehending basic terms such as citizen, election, democracy, etc.  After accessing their prior knowledge, most didn’t seem to have even heard of these terms before our lesson let alone understand them.   I interjected an unplanned activity in which students acted out voting on the snack of the day.  I then compared elements from this example to the US election system, and students immediate made the connection.  After the impromptu acting example, every student could pronounce and define every term as well as explain the significance of our voting process in the US.  Being creative and calling an audible sometimes can lead to great teaching events!