ECED 329 Contextual Factors: *Classroom Factors Physical Features and Classroom Arrangement: In the class that I observe

there are twenty one students, one teacher, and one teachers aide. Outside on the classroom door, as you enter there are pictures of each child and labeled with their name. The wall says, Mrs. Driggers and Mrs. Kemzies Hard Workers. On the first day I visited, I immediately noticed the wall outside my appointed classroom had the students work displayed on it for all to see! This excited me because I knew that if it was displayed in the hallway then they would for sure have it displayed on the walls inside the room! The classroom is set up so that it is bright with colors and displays of the students work all over the walls! There are five group tables in all and four-five students at each table. The tables are different shapes. There are three rectangle tables, one circle table, and one trapezoid table. The students have small blue chairs to sit in that are low to the ground and just their size! On the back of each childs chair, there are individual cloth bags that hold the childs materials and journals. My cooperating teacher currently has the class sitting according to what level they are at academically. They start the year off sitting in assigned seats and as the year continues, they are rearranged based on performance level. The teacher arranges them like this so that it is easier to focus on who needs assistance during certain activities. The students sit at group tables and transition to rug time at certain times during the day. I have twenty-one students in my classroom, so it seems like it should make the room a bit crowded although it really does not. In addition to the group tables and meeting rug, there are numerous centers around the room. The centers are small but are utilized at center time during the day. The centers include: Everyday Life, Art, Reading/Listening, Science, Blocks, Computer, and Teacher Directed center. The centers are divided by bookshelves with materials inside each of them to use at the centers. There are seven short bookshelves in all. That does not include the tall cubby shelf that the students use to store finished work and take home folders in. The bookshelves are at the students levels and are about three feet tall so that they can reach the materials. The temperature of the room is quite comfortable and is around sixty-eight degrees and the noise level varies during the day. If the students are at the tables then the noise level stays low because that is when they are working on individual work and should not be communicating much with each other. Almost every time they go to the meeting rug, the noise level increases because they are usually singing or dancing. The only time they are quiet on rug time is during a read aloud or if they are watching a video. Otherwise they are very active and so the noise level increases! There is a restroom inside the classroom at the back wall. The restroom is used all throughout the day. The student must ask the teacher or teacher assistant to go to the restroom so that they are sure not to walk in on anyone else. There is a sink area right outside the restroom against the back wall. The sink is low and at student level so they do not make a mess with the water. There are bottles of germ-x and a box of tissue at every table in the room for the students and teachers to use as needed. There are also coat hangers right as you come inside the classroom for the children to

hang their jackets on. The hangers for book bags are underneath the smart board at the front of the room. Availability of Technology: The classroom has a smart board at the front of the room that is used on a regular basis for lessons during math time, calendar, and journals. The leader for the day gets to assist the teacher when she uses the smart board and during certain lessons she allows individuals to come up to help her. There are also two computers at the back of the classroom for center time and for students to work on Success Maker when they have centers. The computers are used throughout the day by all the students. The students take turns using them to do mini lessons on a website called, Brain Pop. They love getting on there because they think they are just playing games but it is really educational, so they get learning out of it as well! The class goes to the computer lab almost every day as well to practice math and reading on a program called, Success Maker. They get scored on how well they perform and if their score is a seventy percent or higher, the teacher gives them a treat. In the classroom there is a manual clock at the front of the room. There is also a digital clock hanging on the wall in the kitchen center for the students to reference to while in that section of the room. Equipment: There are sacks on the back of each student chair that holds the students supplies that they use daily. Each group table has book baskets on them that hold books or unfinished work for the students at that table to read or work on later if they finish anything early and need something to do. Inside the classrooms there are bookshelves to use to hold books, five group tables and chairs at each. In the art center there is an easel where the children can hang up a piece of paper and paint. In the kitchen center there is a mini kitchen wood table with two chairs at it for the students to use during center time. At the block center there is also a table and two chairs and at the literature center there is a mini couch with a few pillows on it for them to enjoy their reading. There are two trash cans in the classroom: one under the teachers desk and one at the bathroom door. Resources: There are resources for both the students and the teachers all over the classroom. For the students there are performance level books at almost every center and at each group table. The teacher also has what I call Big Books at the front of the room that she references as she teaches a new lesson. The big books are easier for students to see and follow along with. There are the two computers that they use on a daily bases as well. At the front of the room beside the smart board there is a dry erase board that the teacher uses when she needs to jot something down quickly. There is also a short dry erase board at the reading center for the students to use to write on. The teacher uses educational websites like, Brain Pop and Success Maker all the time as a resource to videos and educational online activities. When Mrs. Driggers plans her lessons she uses South Carolina Common Core Sate Standards for Kindergarten. She also uses a lot of singing to learn the alphabet and numbers in the morning time and refers to a few cds with learning songs on them.

Parental Involvement: Overall, the school as a whole tries to get parents involved all the time with what they are doing! They have a PTO that meets once a month to talk about what is going on in the school and what can they do to better anything. They also raise money for the school by doing fundraisers for the kids. The school holds a Family Read NIght where all students and their families are invited to the school to read together and have a fun filled night. They just started a new program called the FBI Bag. This orange bag gets sent home with every student at least once a week. The bag has a journal and a book or two inside of it. The child is supposed to take it home and read it to their parents or have their parents read it to them. After they read the book they write a reaction to the book in the journal and they bring it back to school the next day. After they have had that bag, another child gets to take it home the next day. This gets the parent involved with reading with their child at home. Of course not all the parents take the advantage of doing so, but they send it home in high hopes that they will take up the opportunity! My cooperating teacher does numerous things on a weekly basis to get the parents involved with what their child is doing in school. She sends home a homework folder each week. Inside the folder there are a few things for the child to do at home for home work during the week. The parent is supposed to sign off on a sheet that is inside that folder stating that they have seen the childs folder and helped them with their homework each day. Each month she also sends a monthly newsletter home with every student so that the parents can see what will be happening during that next month. It usually has important dates listed on it so the parents can come and get involved. One of the things that I saw happen that I loved was when my teacher called a few of the students parents after school to update them on their child. Some of the calls were just to say how well their child was doing in the classroom and others was to inform the parent on if the child was having difficulty with anything. If the child was having difficulties, she would give tips to the parent on what they could work with their child on more at home. I thought this was the best parental involvement you could possibly have, especially when the teacher cares enough to call and talk to parents one on one! Classroom Rules: The class has a behavior chart that has four faces on it; blue smile, green straight, yellow squiggly, and a red frowny face. There are small clothespin clips with each students name written on them clipped to the first face (blue smile face). They begin the day on that face and if the teacher has to call them down they have to move their clip. This shows them what behavior they have had for that day. If the class goes somewhere outside of the room, the teacher takes a clipboard with her to mark down any misbehaviors. If the child has to go to the restroom, they simply hold up two fingers and that lets the teacher know they need to go. Once, they are advised by the teacher to go ahead they proceed to the restroom. When the students line up for lunch they line up by lunch choice. If choice one was a bbq sandwich then the choice one students get in the front of the line, followed by second choice and so forth. In the lunch room, if the bottle of germ-x is sitting on top of the napkin dispenser then they are to eat quietly.

There are two posters above the entrance door inside the classroom. One says, Classroom Rules and the other says, Rules for Good Listening. I have listed what is written under each sign. Classroom Rules: 1. Listen Carefully. 2. Follow Directions. 3. Work quietly. Do not disturb others. 4. Respect others. Be kind with your words and actions. 5. Respect school and personal property. 6. Work and play safely. Rules for Good Listening: 1. Eyes are watching 2. Ears are listening 3. Lips are closed 4. Hands are still 5. Feet are quiet

Routines and Grouping Patterns: As already stated above, the bathroom routine is to hold up two fingers until you are advised to go to the restroom. The main door to the entrance of the school stays locked during the day. The only time it is unlocked is in the mornings to allow students to enter the building but the Principal stands at the door. Each individual classroom also stays locked at all times. The only person allowed to open the doors is the teachers and teachers aide. If the principal comes to the door and the teacher can see him from where he/she is standing, they are still not allowed to let a student open the door. They must be the one to open it each and every time.

Daily Schedule: 7:10-7:45 Eat Breakfast 7:45-8:15 Morning Work/Morning TV News 8:15-8:30 Morning Meeting/Work 8:30-9:00 Calendar, Journals, Pockets 9:00-9:30 Open Court 9:30-10:00 ELA, Shared Reading, Science, Social Studies 10:05-10:35 Computer Lab

10:35-11:05 Math 11:10-11:40 Lunch/Restroom 11:45-12:45 (Complete math lesson if needed), Small Group Instruction/Teacher Directed Centers 12:45-1:15 Recess 1:20-2:10 Related Arts 2:10 Pick up for Dismissal

Student Characteristics: 5 Year Old Kindergarten Long Cane Primary (Abbeville) Spring 2012 Description No. of Children Age Five Years Old Six Years Old African American Latino White Special Needs/ IEP Female 12 5 7 6 NONE 6 Male 9 2 7 4 5 Total 21 7 14 10 11

Race/Ethnicity

NONE

There are a total of twenty-one students in my classroom. This number consists of twelve female and nine male. Five of the females are five years old and seven females are six years old. There are two male five year olds and the rest of the male are six years of age. This means that there are seven total five year olds in my class and fourteen six year olds. The race in the class is pretty much divided equally. There are ten African American and eleven white students. There are six females in both the African American category and the white category. There are four African American

males and five white males in the class. I have no children with an IEP or any special needs. Achievement/Developmental Levels: Long Cane Primary received an Excellent rating on their school report card this year. The school has recently converted to the Common Core curriculum and standards for the entire school to use. They were issued brand new individual student report cards that rate the student on performance level and how well they are doing in reading and math. My teacher said that the report cards they previously used were more reader friendly and that other teachers felt the same way about it. The newer report card goes more in depth about everything and is harder for the parent to read and understand. The students do not take any tests to be admitted or accepted into the 5K program at Long Cane and they do not take any exit testing out of 5K either. They used to use a test the school had made but they no longer use that either. Interests: The children in my class love songs, educational videos, coloring, and anything that requires the use of the smart board! With them being so young and their generation entering the technology age, anything that involves technology they are amazed with! I have noticed that if you can involve coloring into your activities then they like that as well because they can express themselves on an individual level. At recess the girls love to swing and the boys love to run around and play chase or either pretend the jungle gym is a pirate ship and play pirates. Their imaginations are constantly working out on the playground! Learning Styles: The majority of the children in my class are kinesthetic or visual learners. If they can see what they need to do, then they hop right on it and get it done. If you show them how to do it and let them use a manipulative to make things they tend to work faster and enjoy it at the same time. I feel like the children in the class learn best when the lights are all the way on versus having them dimmed. I have a few children in my class that are not put to bed at decent times and so they tend to be more tired than others at school in the morning. In this case it is important to keep the lights on bright and to keep their attention as much as possible. Many of the students are eager to learn new things and they are always asking questions and wanting answers. If you read a book I find it best to ask and answer questions while you read the book so that you may answer most of their questions during the lesson rather than wait and they forget what they wanted to ask later. With books as well as activity sheets, my teacher always tries to incorporate color. If something is bright and colorful the children in our classroom tends to like it better than a blank white piece of paper that screams boring. Prior Learning: About 45% of the class had prior learning before coming to 5K at Long Cane Primary. They either attended a Head Start program or the 4K program here at Long Cane. The others have had no prior learning, other than any learning the parents may have helped them with. I have three repeaters in my classroom that are repeating the 5K program

for a second year. Two of the three were only held back because the parents did not feel that they were mature enough to move on to first grade. *Instructional Implications Contextual Characteristics of Classroom: I feel like the environment that my students are in help their learning tremendously. The walls display the alphabet, number line, and the popcorn words they have completed so far this year. Anytime they need assistance with spelling something, if they cannot sound it out, they refer to the walls. I think this is also inspirational because of the simple fact that the teacher display their classwork all over the walls inside and outside in the hallway. The students love having their work displayed because it makes them feel a sense of accomplishment! Implications for instructional planning and assessment: While thinking about how to discipline the students I feel like you should take into consideration the personality of that student and their background. I do feel that there should be a set of classroom rules, but I also feel that this could be adjusted according to the situation and the child. All children need discipline, but some of your students you will find do not get this discipline at home. I have noticed this with a few students in the class. I find that the teachers tend to be more harsh towards them, but in a nice tone and way. They understand that those children need to be addressed more than the others. When these students act up the teacher knows how to deal with each child on an individual basis. There is one male in the class who cries every single time he gets in trouble. The teacher does not make it any easier on him if he begins to cry because she knows thats his way of trying to fix things. Instead she explains to him why he moved his clip and he accepts the fact he was wrong and stops crying after he sees the teacher ignores his crying. I feel that Mrs. Driggers does an excellent job of controlling the students behavior and I plan on using her techniques while in the classroom. In my classroom there are no Hispanics. Since we have no children that need assistance in understanding what the teacher is saying, it is a bit easier to communicate throughout the classroom.

Any factors that influence how you plan and teach your lessons and what do your students bring to the lessons: I feel that I am lucky to be in a classroom full of eager learners each and every day. I do not have any children in the room with an IEP or any special needs. One female student wears eye glasses, but it is not listed under the special needs category. I will have her sit closer to the front when reading material or having them look at things on the board. This ensures me that she not only has the assistance of her glasses, but she is also sitting up close with the text. I believe that each and every child in your classroom deserves to be considered when it comes to planning out a lesson plan. I plan on taking into consideration what each child likes to do. For example if we do a coloring activity and the students enjoy it, I will implement coloring into future activities to make it more enjoyable. It is important to understand that each child is different and

all children have their preference of learning styles. I will plan my lessons so that I can try to hit each learning style during the lesson. I could do a lesson where I use the smart board to write things down or display something for the visual learners. I could do hands on activities at the end of the lesson for the kinesthetic learners, and I could have them repeat directions or problems back to me for the auditory learners.