B

Block

RACHEL MCCRUM

Folio

PRACTICUM EXPERIENCES

CONTACT
219-929-7714

ED308: Reading and Language Arts

1. Central Elementary School: 4th Grade
2. Central Elementary: Enrichment

rmccrum@butler.edu
824 West Hampton Drive
Indianapolis, Indiana 46208

ED317: Teaching Social Studies

1. Benjamin Harrison Home
2. Indiana State Museum

ED414: Teaching Mathematics Middle Childhood

1. Central Elementary, third grade

EDUCATION

ED418: Teaching Science

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
MAJOR

Mild Intervention & Spanish Minor

Butler University College of Education
2014-2017

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION &

MARKETING MAJOR

Spanish Minor
Indiana University College of Education
Indiana University Kelley School of Business
2013-2014

PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
CONFIDENCE IN TEACHING SOCIAL STUDIES

Block B Classes
ED308: Reading and Language Arts

ED317: Teaching Social Studies

ED414: Teaching Mathematics
Middle Childhood
ED418: Teaching Science

Indianapolis Childrens Museum (2 visits)

Kitchen Science (at Butler)
Butler Lab School
Project Wild (Eagle Creek Ornithology Center at Eagle Creek Park)
Integrating fall themes (pumpkin carving) into science and social
studies (at Butler)

Understand the importance of primary resources in teaching social studies

o Providing opportunities for students to learn through a different
perspective. For example, a student learning about Early
Immigrants to America would be able to experience passage
through Ellis Island through roleplay.
o Providing artifacts and visuals help students to make the learning
more realistic and to make connections to their own life
Understand response techniques to student inquiries regarding disasters or
controversial current events
o Responding to students in an unbiased, sensitive, and overall
appropriate professional manner
o Creating a safe space for students to discuss feelings, ideas and
opinions
o Communicating to students that each individuals beliefs and
opinions are unique and to be respected
Recognize that not all students have equal opportunities for extracurricular
opportunities and learning experiences
o Finding creative ways to transform and create unique learning
experiences for the participation of all students
o Understanding the background of each individual is a must

ACCOMPLISHMENTS CONTINUED

CONFIDENCE IN TEACHING MATHEMATICS

Understand the importance of integrating other subjects into content

o Increasing the effectiveness of each lesson by incorporating more
than one area (i.e. incorporating reading fluency and
comprehension into make and use a table problems
o Integrating other topics into content allows the teacher to sneak
in topics that are swept under the rug (especially those sacrificed
for standardized testing!)
o
Accurately gauge the amount of content and materials required for each
lesson
o Finding the balance for the amount of content needed and
diminishing the fear of completing the planned content too early
o Getting to know the work pace of each student allows for a more
accurate analysis of content management
Balance lesson planning: time management
o Cutting down on time spent planning for lessons
o Experiencing trial-and-error in regards to the quality of the lesson
based on time spent planning
o Focusing on student needs and goals in order to become more
efficient
o Taking advantage of the resources given instead of creating
entirely new materials
Understand the importance of knowing your student and catering to their
needs and interests
o Knowing each students individual interests, learning needs and
goals allows for the most engaging, efficient, and effective lesson
o Fostering a positive connection with each student increases his or
her desire to be in school, resulting for more motivation and
passion to learn

CONFIDENCE IN TEACHING SCIENCE

Understanding the diminishing priority of science content taught in schools

o Adjusting to tight time frames by fitting in science mini lessons, if
time does not allow for the full lesson
o Implementing quick hit lessons to sneak in extra content
o Integrating science into other subjects to meet more than one
standard and give students a broader range of experiences
Hooking students emotionally so that they become passionate and
confident in their scientific abilities
o Planning engaging lessons
o Teaching through creative avenues instead of solely using the
textbook
o Encouraging students to pursue their interests in science
Planning lessons with these interests in mind
o Celebrating student achievements in science

Understanding the planning process for field trips

o Utilizing resources in the community
o Going to the extra mile to make trips affordable
Researching different resources to get the most bang
for your buck
Applying for grants to support field trips
Understanding the different types of field trips
Pros/cons of touring the whole museum
Pros/cons of focusing on one or two exhibits
Understanding the importance of parent communication
o Demonstrating transparency in all aspects of communication
o Providing clear, frequent, and consistent methods of
communication
o Encouraging parent involvement and finding creative ways to
involve all willing parents
o Recognizing and accepting responsibility for mistakes made

CONFIDENCE IN TEACHING LANGUAGE ARTS

Understanding the importance of student reading
o Gateway to all other learning
o Directly related to writing
o Crucial for brain development
o Necessary for success in society
o Fuels passion
o Increases confidence
Planning for diverse needs
o Knowing each student and their individual needs
o Setting goals to achieve success
o Adjusting lesson plan to include all diverse learners
o Providing supplemental resources to assist each diverse need
Implementing Book Clubs into the classroom
o Finding mentors like Leslie Blauman to model exceptional
execution of book clubs
o Opening up the teachers brain to model to students
appropriate thought processes for reading (similar to Dr.
Corpuss ED308 read alouds)
o Providing and planning for structured meetings
o Demonstrating appropriate guidance
Scaffolding conversations with students
Knowing when to step in and ask guiding questions and
when to sit back and let the conversation flow
PEDAGOGICAL SKILLS & TEACHING STRATEGIES

Think-Pair-Share:
o Children think about a prompted question or topic, then pair with
another student to collaborate and communicate their thoughts.
Finally, they share these thoughts with other groups or the class
as a whole.
Readers Theatre:
o Characters in a piece of literature are acted out by students
through use of vocal expression, body language, and emotion.

Students work primarily in small groups, or may choose to

participate as a whole class.
Roll Call Review:
o At the end of a lesson, each student is called upon to share one
important concept from the lesson. No concept can be repeated,
so students must listen to the thoughts shared by peers before
them.
Good Angel/ Bad Angel:
o When reading as a whole class, this can be used when the main
character in the book encounters internal conflict or has to make
a decision. The teacher selects one student to be the main
character and stand at the front of the class. Then, one table of
students is chosen to take on the role of good angels, another
table becoming the bad angels. Alternating between good and
bad, each student comes up next to the main characters
shoulder and tells the student why they should or shouldnt do the
right thing. At the end, the student playing the main character
shares what they would do, and then predicts what choice they
think the main character in the book is about to make.
Read Alouds:
o Teacher reads a short mentor text to students, providing
opportunities for them to engage, share thoughts, make
predictions, understand multiple character perspectives, reflect,
make connections, and more.
Book Clubs:
o Students that are reading the same piece of literature form their
own small group, or book club. During these weekly meetings,
the children discuss the main ideas, thoughts, surprising
moments, and predictions of that weeks reading. The teacher will
provide appropriate guidance for each group.
Mini Lessons:
o Children are taught a short lesson (about 10 minutes) that
focuses on a necessary strategy, concept, behavior, or procedure.
The students then practice the teaching point following the
lesson.
Quick-Hit Lessons:
o The teacher shares a short impromptu lesson with students
during the in-between times, to provide additional knowledge.
For example, as students are waiting outside in line for recess,
point out a young tree and an old tree nearby. Then ask them
about the life cycle of trees. The teacher then gives a quick
overview of the life cycle and answers any questions.

REFERENCES

Blauman, Leslie. The Inside Guide to the Reading-Writing Classroom. Heinemann.

2011. ISBN-13: 978-0-325-02831-6.
I love Leslie Blauman! She will forever be an important teaching mentor
for me. When reading this book, I fell in love with her teaching strategies,
organization, parent communication methods, and assessment tools. I
also loved that she goes the extra mile to get students excited and
engaged from the very first day, and makes a conscious effort to continue
that same momentum throughout the course of the year. She is not only
engaging, but also efficient and effective, communicating to her readers
that there is enough time to get everything done if one spends the time to
strategize on the content and time allotted for each lesson!
Corpus & Giddings. Planning and Managing Effective Reading Instruction Across
the Content Areas. Scholastic Press. 2010. ISBN-13: 978-0-545-07480- 3
I really appreciated that this book was co-written by one of the professors
teaching Block B, because I felt that the readings aligned perfectly to the
ideas Dr. Corpus was communicating to us in class! Along with many
other aspects, this book was significant to me in that it helped to
reinforce the immense benefit and crucial need for frequent reading time.
After reading this book, I will always keep reading (especially
uninterrupted individual reading) a priority, even when the stress of
standardized testing manipulates its way into cutting out time for
important learning concepts!
Davis & Hill. The No-Nonsense Guide to Teaching Writing. Heinemann. ISBN 9780-325-00521-8 / 0-325-00521-4 / 2003 / 272pp
This text is invaluable to me, as not only does it provide abundant writing
strategies and resources, but it also models and carries each reader
through the entire writing process! It included components to the writing
process that I would not have even considered at first. I am appreciative
to have such an explicit guide and reference to go back to, and know that
it will become a beat-up, dog-eared, and saturated in highlighter marks
by the end of my teaching career!
Freeman, David and Freeman, Y. Essential Linguistics, Second Edition.
Heinemann. 2014. ISBN-13: 978-0325050935
This text was a handy reference to me during my fourth grade non-fiction
teaching sessions at Central Elementary. With one of my students being
an ENL learner, this gave me helpful information as to how language is
transferred from one to another. It was such a powerful experience to be
able to see my student transferring his knowledge of prefixes, roots, and
suffixes from Spanish to English, and to be able to understand how he
was doing it (with Freeman and Freemans help)!
Picture-Perfect Science Lessons Annsberry, K. and Morgan, E.: Using Children's
Books To Guide Inquiry
I really found this book to be useful and one that I will be able to directly
utilize in my future classroom. My favorite part is that the book
incorporates reading through exciting childrens books into each science
lesson! This allows me to be able to be more engaging, effective, and
effective in my teaching, which is crucial with the increasing amount of
class time spent on standardized test preparation. Students will be able
to practice more than one subject area in each lesson.

EXPERTISE
Project Management
Price Negotiation
Team Player
Training and Development
Customer Service
Your Skills Here

REFERENCES