Whitney Mae Brown 1 Teacher Work Sample Contextual Factors Classroom Factors Pinecrest Elementary is located in Greenwood, SC.

Pinecrest is public school apart of District 50 in Greenwood County. The mission of Pinecrest Elementary School is to provide quality and engaging educational opportunities where all students learn and grow in a positive, respectful environment. Students may attend the grades of Pre-K to 5th grade. Students are required to show a birth certificate, SC Certificate of Immunization records, social security card and proof of residence to enroll into school at Pinecrest. Pinecrest has a school improvement council conducted of the principal, elected parents, community partners and teachers. The council helps set school goals, school renewal plan, and school budget decisions. The school is over saw by the local school board of Greenwood County. Physical Features / Classroom Arrangement The classroom is located on the 3rd grade hallway. Each child is assigned to an individual desk. The desks are arranged in three groups. Each group is arranged based on how well the students interact with the other students in their group. There is one student whose desks are independently arranged alone due to past behavior situations. When students enter into the classroom, they are to follow the guidelines from the SMARTboard. The first guideline is for the students to unpack all of their belongings and place their book bags on the wall. Then the students are to make their lunch choice. Each student is assigned to a Popsicle stick with his or her name on it. There are three cups that include the options of choice one, choice two and choice three. The first two choices depend on the lunch menu for the day. The menu is displayed every morning for the children to be able to decide. Choice three is when a child brings his/her own lunch. Availability of Technology The students have availability to the SMARTboard during lessons. The teacher uses the SMARTboard in all subjects and allows the students to participate using the SMARTboard. The students also have three computers available for use. This includes typing a paper, taking an Accelerated Reader test and other computer applications. The computers are only to be used for educational purposes. The students attend the computer lab once a week. They learn many different skills including typing and an online program, Odyssey. Equipment The classroom has a laptop used to help the teacher use the SMARTboard. There are also four computers for students access. The teacher has a crescent table used during guided reading and small groups. The teacher also has an IPAD used to keep up with assessments, grades and other needed information. Learning Environment The students have a very relaxed and independent environment. The teacher allows the students to work at their own pace with some needed guidance. During instructional time, the teacher keeps the class very engaged with hands on activities and a hyper mood is set. For example, lately the class has been writing paragraphs.

We have come up with some funny topics. Every day this week, a couple students have been allowed to share their work. After they finish reading their paragraphs the students applaud with one clap at the same time. This kids love this and it keeps the students focused on the activity. Resources Many resources have been already explained above but one additional resource is the childrens reading baskets located in the classroom library. Each child has the freedom to exchange books during independent reading time. If the student has read all of the books in their level or has exceeded past the books in the classroom, they may check books out in the school library. Parent Involvement All of the students take home a weekly report about their progress and behavior. The students also are assigned homework Monday through Thursday night. The student is required to write down their assignments and receive either a note or smiley face in their agendas informing the parent on how the day went. Parents receive a weekly newsletter informing them on the activities of the week. If necessary, the teacher does send home notes to the parent that has information that is needs to be shared between teachers and parent. Parents also receive the classroom rules and are asked to review with the students to prepare for school and problems that may happen. The school sends home a monthly calendar, lunch menu and weekly announcements when needed. Classroom Rules and Routines/ Scheduling Every morning the students enter in quietly, hang up their jackets and books bags, make their lunch selection, sit down at own desk and begin morning assignment. When lining up for activities, the teacher calls the students to line up by table. The students are expected to line up quietly and respectively. Students may go to the restroom during assigned times unless it is an emergency. The class established the classroom rules and consequences. The students are to follow a positive classroom and school management guidelines of the PBIS matrix. The PBIS matrix is displayed in the classroom. Positive behavior is rewarded with Pinecrest Pride Paws. Each student is encouraged to receive a set amount to attend a school wide celebration one a month. The consequences for not following the guidelines are 1. Students are warned and reminded of the classroom rules. 2. Privileges are taken away if the student continues to choose to misbehave. 3. The student is removed from the room and/or situation. Grouping Patterns Each student is grouped and assigned seating but their ability to work together and behave correctly amongst their peers. The small groups are students grouped together by their similarities in reading levels and/or IEPs. The second group are in Tier IIb are together during guided reading. The other students are grouped together during guided reading by their individual reading levels and past test results.

Whitney Mae Brown 3 Teacher Work Sample Student Characteristics 3rd Grade Class Pinecrest Elementary School Fall 2013 Description Female Male Nos. of children 12 12 Age Eight years old Nine years old African American Hispanic Caucasian Japanese Chinese 10 2 4 2 5 1 0 2 6 Auditory Visual Kinesthetic 3 4 3 8 4 5 2 4 0 1 5 1 1 6 7

Total 24 18 6 24 9 4 9 1 1 24 7 7 4 10 10 24

Race/ethnicity

Special Needs/IEP GATAS Learning Styles

The class size is a total of twenty-four students including twelve males and twelve females. There are eighteen eight-year-old students including ten females and eight males. There are six nine-year-old students including two females and four males. The class has nine African American students including four females and five males. There are four Hispanic students including two males and two females. There is one Japanese female student and one Chinese male student. There is a total nine Caucasian students including five females and four males. There are a total of twelve students receiving special resources. Two male students receive speech/language therapy twice a week. Three male students participate in pull out resources for math and reading which is apart of an Inclusion model. Four students participate in a RTI (Response to Intervention) group for math and reading. Two female students receive ESOL resource. Twelve of the twenty-four students live with both parents. Eight students live with their mother only. One student lives with his father. Two students live with their mother and stepfather. One student lives with his adoptive family. One student lives in an emergency housing center with legal state guardians.

This class of students participated in MAP this past month. In the Reading results, fifteen students scored not met, three students scored met requirements, and six students scored exemplary. In the Math results, fourteen students scored not met, five scored met requirements and five scored exemplary. Instructional Implications Every student in the classroom must be involved in every lesson. The students need to feel the importance of their education and growth of knowledge. The teacher is in charge of making sure that the students feel this value. All students need structure inside the classroom. This also involves giving the students direct instructions and directions with all assignments. The teacher gives simple but high expectations for all students even those with learning disabilities. The students follow the rules and know the consequences that follow when breaking a rule. Since I have entered the classroom, I have learned a lot about each child. I have learned who to group together and who do not work well with each other. I have learned the different learning types and how to adjust my lesson plans to fit each child. I know I have very class who love to be engaged in hands on activities. When writing lesson plans, I need to make sure there is some way for them to move and become involved in the lesson. I have a couple students who are struggling with expressing his/her thoughts and emotions due to some extreme factors of their home life. I have learned one of the best ways to provide an outlet to these students is through writing activities. These students find can become lost in a simple worksheet that does not allow themselves to express their struggles in life. I also have learned the importance of a teachers relationship with her students. She has to have effective communication with the students to express her instructions, expectations and guidance. The teacher needs to know how to grab each students attention when teaching. Each lesson should be formatted to the best possible way to educate each student.