Lollis 1 Contextual Factors A.

Classroom Factors: Physical features: Walking into this third grade classroom you are automatically overwhelmed with South Carolina history. The first bulletin board to the right is designed with the state of South Carolina and its regions. To the left there are 21 cubbies mounted to the wall that are stuffed with text books, student folder, and boxes of manipulates with, of course, a photo of the state of SC. Walking through the classroom the walls are covered with posters made by the teacher. The posters consist of classroom rules, math word wall, and reading corner instructions. There are 3 groups of 4-6 students with 4 desks separated for partners and individuals. At the front of the room, the teachers computer sits on a tall table beside the smart board which is mounted on the front wall. Lying in the front of the room is a large multi-colored rug where the students sit a few times a day. There is a designated corner for reading. There are two small shelves filled with baskets of books and three bean bags sitting on the floor for the students to use. Across the back wall of the classroom there are four student computers and a printer provided by the school. In front of the computers the teacher has a table. This table doubles as the teacher desk, and a table for one on one, and small groups. Availability of technology: In the classroom there are four computers for the students use. The students use these computers occassionaly in the mornings during their math rotations. They are allowed to play math and ELA games on the computers. The smart board is used daily in the classroom. The teacher constantly plays videos and songs over the smart board. The teacher also hooks up her iPad to the smart board often to show power points. There are also several students who have Kindles, iPods, and tablets that they use to read

Lollis 2 on during the day. As long as the students stay on task while reading the teacher does not have a problem with this use of technology. Equipment: Along with the smart board, computers, and tablets there is also a dry erase board and chart paper. The teacher only writes homework on the white board, it has little to no use. She uses the chart paper a lot when teaching ELA lessons. The students have their own scissors and glue at their desk. They also have access to their own box of manipulates in their cubbies. Resources and the extent of parental involvement: There are a handful of parents in the classroom that are involved in PTO. The teacher stated that she asked for volunteers to come into class help out and, out of the whole year, she has had one response. There are however a few parents who will send items in with their children for certain events such as, ice cream parties. The teacher will send home a letter to parents with a list of the items that are needed and ask for parents to respond with what they can send and send the item in closer to time.

Grouping patterns: The students are grouped by behavior throughout the classroom. There are two groups of six and one group of four. There are 3 tables spaced out across the front of the room. These students are separated because of behavior. One student sits alone while the other two groups are allowed to sit in pairs. One student is completely isolated from all the students. He sits at a make-shift desk alone. This student is in extended resource and is only in the room for a small amount of time. Scheduling:

Lollis 3 The teachers schedule is strictly from the schools administration. For the first 15 minutes of the day the students eat breakfast, write down their homework, and begin their morning work. During this time they also do math rotations. There are normally four rotations that are interchangeable and one always consists of a group with the teacher. After rotations, students go to related arts for 50 minutes. When they students get back from their related arts, they do a reading mini lesson and independent reading and conferences for the next hour and a half. At 11:10 the students will do shared reading, language, and writing until lunch which begins at 12:25. The students go to recess immediately after lunch until 1:15. To end the day students will do 20 minutes of RTI and then finish with science/social studies until time for dismissal.

B. Student Characteristics Student # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Race/ ethnicity White White White White White White Black Black White Hispanic Hispanic White Black Black White White White Black Black Black White Gender Male Female Female Male Male Male Female Male Female Female Male Male Male Male Male Female Male Female Female Female Male Reading level 30 30 30 34 34 38 30 34 30 30 38 34 34 24 4 28 20 28 Math level 209 211 196 205 201 206 198 197 201 204 169 203 199 199 183 179 193 191 205 Special needs GATIS GATIS Extended resource Extended resource Extended resource GATIS Resource ESOL -

Lollis 4 Learning Styles: Several of the students in this classroom require ongoing teacher intervention/remediation. They are below level in reading and math and a few are unable to be tested. The teacher is hopeful for these students that as the year progresses they will become more independent in their work. Three students have and IEP and the teacher use accommodations as needed. The ESOL student receives oral tests and help with study guides; she also reduces the number of questions on tests. Interest: This group of students has a very wide range of interest. The girls interests are making bracelets, Hello Kitty, and playing on their iPods. The boys interests are playing video games and sports. All of the students seem to show a really strong interest in reading and hanging out with their friends. C. Instructional implications: When beginning to write lessons I will have to take a lot of things into consideration about my students. I will take my teachers advice when writing test for the ESOL students and even consider it for the students with an IEP, and read the test aloud and give fewer test questions. I would also consider giving the test or quiz in sections. I would give the students one question at a time, let them answer it, take away that question or cover it up, then give the student another question. This will allow the students to focus on one question at a time. When writing lessons I will have to accommodate for those students. This year I would like to try to tie in student interests into my lessons. I did not consider this in my previous clinical but I feel that the students would enjoy it.