field experience details

7/30/2019 Field Experience Details

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Many student teachers go into their experiences with ideas, pedagogy, and a vision of what it would be like. Few however,

are allowed full rein and encouraged to truly stretch their legs and try the kind of teaching their heart desires. Mrs. Cannon

at Brookview Elementary allowed to do just that. As a fellow IUPUI teacher, she and I were on par pedagogically. Weable to teach powerful lessons and do some wonderful reflection together. Here is a sample of some of the things we were

able to do!

October 2012 to December 2012


2/9

Writer's Workshop was a time that all the students looked forward to. Through this

experience, my mentor teacher was able to model and train me on a very unique

style of writer's workshop that is based on both Katie Wood Ray and Lucy Calkins.

It includes:

Katie Wood Ray's: Immersion with mentor authors, Close Study, Writing

Under the Influence of the mentor authors

Lucy Calkins': Drafting, Revision, Peer Revision, Editing and Publishing.

**In the top picture you see Peer Reviewing with Adrien showing Monika her ideaon how to revise Monika's lead, they are trying it with different strategies: dialogue,

using onomatopoeia, starting with a cliff hanger, using imagery etc.

In the bottom picture you see more peer revision where Lake and Mario discuss how

Lake can incorporate more dialogue into his personal narrative.

Math has always been the hardest subject for me. However, during this

experience, I was able practice differentiating lessons, providing multiple access

points to the information, incorporate problem solving and find ways to makeproblems based in the real world.

Math lessons included: Fluency time, mini lesson (launch), explore time (guided

math groups), and a congress during which students would share their findingsand gained knowledge.

The students on the left were presented with a problem: How can I feed 17

people for Thanksgiving and spend the least amount of money. Signs wereposted with prices from different grocery stores. Students worked in groups to

solve this Thanksgiving Day fiasco. As you can see, the two teams are usingcompletely different strategies to achieve the same goal.


3/9

Reader's Workshop was for 90 each day and included: daily vocabulary practice,

CAFE reading strategy (Boushey & Moser, 2009) mini Lesson, Reading Standard

Lesson, Independent Reading time (or buddy reading), 2 rounds of small readinggroups, and one on one conferences. These 90 minutes were the hardest I worked

each day, and they were also the most rewarding. Reading Workshop is by far my

favorite time of the day!

Below, my students are engaged in their

"dinner" or chapter books. Although

they are close, they're each workingindependently. Practicing norms, and

expectations really paid off! The

atmosphere in the room completelychanges during this time. Students just

get down to reading!

Above, my small reading group isworking on two reading strategies:

using pictures and synthesizing.Students were given copied picturesfrom The Other Side by Jaqueline

Woodson and asked to put them in

order. Not only are students using thesereading strategies, but they're also:

forming opinions and supporting them

with evidence, thinking critically and

logically, and discussing a culturally

relevant topic.

Above, students are acting out a scene

from their favorite movie: DespicableMe. They made a text to text

connection to the movie and identified

the use of a hyperbole in the movie: "It'sso fluffy, I'm gonna die!"


4/9

Since 2012 was a Presidential Election year, I decided to venture into

an inquiry unity with my 4th graders. I created invitations in the way

of Katie Van Sluys to launch my unit. Invitations were on topicssuch as: The Campaign Trail, Taking Social Action, Voting, Federal

Laws, Governmental Structure, Political Parties, and Political Issues.From these broad topics, students narrowed their search pinpointed

something on which to become an expert. Students used multipleresource types such as: internet sites, videos, library books,

interviews of parents and other adults and more. Students comparedand shared found information and ended their unit by doing a

Transmediation Project. You'll find more information on these

invitations and transmediation below.

Teach Cross-Curricularly by integrating

Science and Social Studies into Reader'sand Writer's Workshop.

Use Daily 5 in my classroomUse the CAFE reading strategy structure

in Reader's Workshop.

Keep anecdotal notes in reading, math,

and writing.

Use data to drive my instructionCreate and execute substantive lessons.

Teach Common Core Standards.

Use a pacing guide

Use a standards based grading system

Administer DRAs, running records, and

Dibbles, M-Class assessments and miscue

analyses

conduct meaningful and substantive small

groups in Reading, Math and Writing.Reflect on my teaching and make changes

as needed.

What I can do now:


5/9

In Mrs. Gunderman's room I was able to see how the Daily 5

from Boushey and Moser can transform the Reader's workshop

into a bustling room of effective learning. Students on the right

are doing some of the various activities: independent reading;word work on the computer, and listening to books on tape.

On the right behind Lori on the computer, there are literacy

stations that are always the same activity, yet the content

continually changes. These stations include:

Illustrator Station (students write words for wordless

books)

Time Capsule (written conversations)

Building Words / Sentences

Story Structure

Who said that? (focuses on point of view)


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Leveled Books

Scholastic, Sunshine, Fountas & Pinnell, Lexile..... OH MY! This is what I learned:

there is no perfect leveling system and none of them translate well to the other. My

plan is to have a variety of books in my classroom library that vary in genre as well as

difficulty. Although leveled books may help, teaching a student how to pick a "justright" book for themselves, is what is most important.

Building a Community with Theme

As you can see in picture, and these pages about this experience, a Dr. Seusstheme was used. This was a deliberate strategy and proved to be very effective.

Students were proud to be in the Dr. Seuss room and be called little whos of

Gunderville. (my mentor teacher's name is Mrs. Gunderman). I've decided to usethis idea of a theme in my own classroom. I would like to connect it to a cross-

curricular backward design.

Intrinsic Reward System and Atmosphere

Before school started, I made a behavior clip chart at the request of my mentor teacher. At first I was

unsure pedagogically where I stood about this clip chart business. However, like so many things in life, it

is how you use the chart that makes all the difference. From day one, we used the chart as a record ofGOOD behavior. Rarely, if ever, did someone's clip go down, and if they did I made it a point for them to

move back up before the day was over. For privacy's sake, clips had their classroom number on it; and thechart was kept in the back corner of the room. If students reached a certain level, they could stamp their

hand with a paw print (school logo). On the right, you'll see that the trend soon became a stamp on the

forehead :) Students were proud and would often brag that they were "sensational" that day, or

"outstanding" or whatever vocabulary word we were working on that week that was a synonym. Studentswould snap for each other if they moved up; and would set classroom goals for so many people being on

the top color. This positive, intrinsic twist on the clip chart made all the difference. The atmosphere was

supportive, encouraging, positive, safe, and fun.


7/9

Daniel Webster Family Academy IPS #346 5th Grade: This field experience had three distinctcomponents: math, reading, and science

. Math: Upon the teacher's request, I worked with my focus student on fractions. I began by doing an

assessment of what he already knew about fractions. In doing this I found that he knew quite a lot about

them such as: that the denominator is on the bottom, the numerator is on the top; that they're worth less than

1; he had number sense for 1/2, 1/4, and 3/4; and he could multiply them. With this assessment, I decidedthe next step would be to work on gaining sense of the value of uncommon fractions by focusing on the

relationship of the numerator to the denominator. By using manipulatives such as fraction circles and

pattern blocks, my student was able to gain a concrete and conceptual understanding of how to determine thevalue of a fraction.

Reading: This field experience was, by far, the most meaningful to me as a reading teacher. Here is anoverview of all the things my focus student and I achieved:

Burke Interview

Reading Inventory

Chose books at his instructional level for our sessions and a chapter book at his independent level.

Reading conferences on his chapter book, during which he would summarize his reading, discuss with me

his reading response in his reading journal, listen to his reading of 1 page, and quickly work on anappropriate reading strategy.

Record reading of a trade book and do a reading response of his choice.

Completed a Miscue Analysis, which is very similar to a DRA.

Retrospective Miscue Analysis, during which we discussed his assessment and made goals for him to

work toward as a strategic reader.


8/9

Science: This field experience was a experience I won't soon forget. During Science sessions, a groupof five 5th graders and I dove into the exploration of force and motion with an inquiry-based format.

Pedagogically I am a strong believer in this style of teaching. Realistically, however, I know it will takeexperience to be an effective teacher with this method. Although I struggled the most with this field

experience, it was perhaps the most rewarding and enlightening. The following is an overview of our

time together:

Created a parking lot on which students kept track of questions and plans.

Students drove the inquiry with their questions. (example: one student wanted to know which

would bounce more on a trampoline: an elephant or a basketball)

Guided Research: Used library books, experiments and the internet to refine hypotheses,

confirm findings, and seek new questions.

Students found conceptual understandings for concepts such as: gravity, mass, friction, velocity,

momentum, inertia, and air resistance.

Students were able to identify factors that would interfere with a falling objects velocity.

Students found an experiment in a trade book that explored parachutes. Together they created a

hypotheses on what would make the same object fall faster or slower. They generated a list of

items they would need in order to test their theory, created a control group, tested it, re-tested it,and came to conclusions.


9/9

Daniel Webster Family Academy IPS #346 Kindergarten Study: This fieldexperience focused on Math and Language Literacy for Kindergartners. During this field experience, I

found the true meaning of being strengths-based in my assessments of children's work. Instead of focusingon all the things a kindergartener couldn't yet do, or did not yet know, I focused on what they could do.

After every session with my kindergarten partner, I would use the audio recording of the session and make a

T-chart with three column headings: student work evidence; my interpretation; next step. Through this useof taking anecdotal notes, I was able to really pin-point what my students knew and let that drive the

planning for the next lesson I had with them. This was my first experience with anecdotal notation and

using data to drive my instruction. These two things are central parts to how I assess students in every

subject; and how I use that assessments to drive my instruction.

Ernie Pyle IPS School #90 Field Work: This field experience was unique in that it primarilyfocused on inclusive practices in the classroom. During this experience, I observed a 6th grade classroomthrough the lens of Universal Design for Learning. I evaluated the use of: multiple means of representation,

multiple means of action and expression, multiple means of engagement, classroom climate, inclusive

instruction, inclusive materials and tools, and inclusive assessment. This experience was eye opening andallowed for me to consider how I can differentiate my own classroom and make it inclusive for all learners.

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