TWS 1: Contextual Factors

My 5th grade classroom is setup like a typical classroom (no unique factors). The desks are in several different rows with 4-6 desks per row. There are a few desks that are not beside any others and that is where my cooperating teacher seats her troubling students. Mrs. Lewis has a guided reading table in the back of the classroom. Students also have their own cubbies to put their items. Then, Mrs. Lewis has a tall case that has small openings that she uses to return work to students. Each student has a number so she labels their cubbies by their number. My class normally goes to the school science lab to complete science experiments. However, if they are doing a simple activity/reading/vocabulary terms they just stay in the classroom. Mrs. Lewis classroom has four computers in the back for students to use. They take reading tests daily on these computers based on Accelerated Reading books and use them occasionally as a resource for projects. In February, the students completed a project about African American poets. For this project, they found information about their poets on the computers. Mrs. Lewis has a laptop at the front of the classroom that works with her Smartboard. She uses the Smartboard for almost every lesson she teaches. Mrs. Lewis has a small classroom library for students use. My teacher is very rigid in the aspect of classroom management. Students do not have much freedom to move around the classroom or work in groups. She is quick to let them know when they are not completely on task. While this can be a good thing, for inquiry based science, it somewhat creates a problem. Students are not allowed many opportunities to explore, discover, or work with others.

The students in my class are 10-11 years old. There are 15 African American students, 7 white students, and 2 Hispanic students. It is a male heavy class with 9 girls out of 24. There are 2 GATAS students (1 male/1 female), 2 ESOL, no special needs children, and 5-7 students who have to be pulled out for extra help with writing. During math time, Mrs. Gilliam comes in and pulls 5 students to the back table to receive extra help during math. Mrs. Lewis 2 ESOL students are fluent English speaker so I have not had to make any accommodation so far for them. Mrs. Lewis informed me that one student just moved here from Honduras only 4 years ago. I would have never known because of how fluent he is in English. From what I have seen, the class as a whole is at a low-moderate achievement level, with the exception of 3-4 students. The majority of students are on grade level for reading or slightly below. Their achievement level for writing is below their reading achievement. I have noticed several behavioral and attitude issues with students that prevents them from achieving as highly as they should. I believe that some students are missing some of the prior math knowledge that they should have. This alters how quickly I am able to teach math and science, since science involves a large amount of math. There is one student who is above grade level on all subjects. He appears to be bored in class most of the time because he is above where the rest of the students are. I want to find ways to challenge him during class to keep him engaged. Because of how my class is use to learning (strict, little group work experience), I will have to demonstrate excellent classroom management. Group work is something I will have to introduce slowly or I will lose control. I have several students who show little interest in content and display poor attitude. For these students, I will have to try harder to interest them in what we are doing and learning. I have noticed that some students are truly

striving to put forth their best effort, but I know they are lacking the encouragement and help from home. Over the course of my time in Mrs. Lewis classroom, I have noticed one student in particular whose test scores have been increasing, based on what I have graded. Mrs. Lewis did share with me that she has already signed the retention papers for one student. She said that most students have good attitudes, but they are already one grade level behind, so they have a harder time keeping up. This information is very helpful to me. The cultural and family backgrounds of the students can determine what kind of books I read, the type of outside of class assignments I give, and my expectations for homework. I have to realize that I cannot lower expectations for students who have little home involvement, but I can make accommodations. Schedule 7:35-8:00 - news and breakfast 8:00-8:50 activity (art, PE, music, library, computer lab) 9:00-10:00 math 10:00-10:15 guided reading 10:15-10:50 writing 10:50-11:10 shared reading 11:10-12:10 science/ social studies 12:15-1:10 lunch/ recess 1:10-1:25 vocabulary 1:25-2:15 guided reading 2:15-2:30 read aloud/ GAP 2:30-2:40 agendas/ dismissal