week 3

For the week 3 in my class, I will be sharing a research on a second grade classroom. The second grade literacy block is early in the morning because due to state laws, children are required 90 minutes of literacy instruction in the morning. My host teacher has approximately 17 students in her classroom where there are two students with learning disabilities and one slower learner. As I observed her literacy instruction, I began to think more so of the students I wanted to include into my small group for my implementation during week four. As I continue, I will discuss factors relating to my researching and collaboration examples with my host teacher. I will discuss the small group more in detail, my host teacher’s views on standards and accountability, and a brief reflection from my observations on assessment strategies this week.

            As I observed the classroom environment and collaborated with my host teacher this week, I began thinking about the small group I wanted to work with for week four. My host teacher and I decided that it would be a great idea to work with the three students in the class that are slower readers. The reason we chose this group is because we thought this will allow me the chance to see how these students at their level try formulating words and how they relate sentences with pictures and memory. “Observation can be a powerful assessment tool” (Gunning, 2004, p.18). The other students are faster readers and do not have too many problems reading, therefore, it is harder for these students to keep up the pace with the others and seem to get off task easier. The lower achieving students I will be working with are Jordan, Gabriel, and Tikira. Jordan has developmental delay issues and has trouble following directions, but has been put on new medicine that seems to be working very well. Gabriel had eye cancer so his eye was removed and now he is learning new skills with one eye. Tikira came from a different school system where curriculum is different, however was still struggling in her former school. These three students are ranked at Tier 3 on the computer literacy program they are required to work with which is the lowest level and below grade level.

            Everyone has their own views on standards and accountability. My host teacher is about to retire and has her own way of working with standards and curriculum. My host teacher believes that standards are a good way to guide teacher’s instruction. Striving to help each child  master the objectives has always been her goal but thinks that teachers should use their own unique and personal touch in order to help each child learn and understand in literacy. After all, teachers are the ones that see the child every day and know how they learn and the best way for them to learn. Redirecting lesson plans and instruction is sometimes difficult, but necessary in certain cases in order for all students to succeed in literacy and to pass state exams. She believes that accountability in a literacy program is reached and students succeed when a student’s environment and cultural aspects are accepted and relate to learning. “Teachers and parents must work together to help children strengthen and preserve their home language and culture while acquiring skills needed to participate in the shared culture of the school” (NAEYC/IRA, 1998). I believe that she demonstrated this in her classroom effectively as I observed. She was very clear at teaching the objectives from the standard and created a comfortable learning environment for all students. She had reading and writing centers that students participated in and seemed to enjoy.

            After observing the classroom, I gathered brief information on how my host teacher instructed literacy, different ways she challenged the students, and assessment strategies. “Teaching literacy is an art as well as a science” (Gunning, 2004, p.13). She incorporated technology with a software program and clickers that the students used to answer multiple choice answers about stories they had read and spelling games. This was a great assessment tool that motivated and engaged the students. Other assessment tools I observed were writing creative stories, reading spelling words out loud, writing spelling words a certain number of times, reading out loud, and working worksheets with grammatical errors, missing words, and misspelled words. She had a reading center that the students could go to as an option of reading out of their book independently, with a partner, or choosing a book or magazine to read quietly.

            Although my observations were very brief as I focused more on my group this week, I believe that this is going to be an exciting and compelling observation and implementation. “The IRA and NAEYC believe that early childhood teachers need to understand the developmental continuum of reading and writing and be skilled in a variety of strategies to assess and support individual children’s development and learning across the continuum” (NAEYC/IRA, 1998). I believe that my host teacher demonstrated points of this belief and I believe that I will see much more in the following weeks. I discuss the small group I plan to work with in detail, my host teacher’s views on standards and accountability, and a brief reflection from my observations on assessment strategies this week. I look forward to a great field experience and observation where much needed knowledge will be understood in order to further my career as a professional educator in literacy and development.

References

Gunning, T. G. (2004). Creating literacy instruction for all children in grades pre-K to 4.   Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

NAEYC/IRA. (1998). Learning to read and write: Developmentally appropriate practices for       young children [Electronic version]. © National Association for the Education of Young    Children. Used by permission.