Contextual Factors Education 329 Channa Griham Classroom Factors When you first walk into the classroom,

the environment is very pleasant. The Second Grade classroom is full of color, resources and decorations that would make anyone feel welcomed. When you first walk into the classroom, you will see the front of the room which contains many different things. The first thing you would see is the SmartBoard. The SmartBoard is located in the center of the white board, in which the teacher uses to write the daily agenda on. Also, next to the SmartBoard, is where the teacher has her calendar and her word wall that the students refer to everyday. The students and the teacher start out every morning by doing the calendar and checking the weather for the day. There is a nice rug in the front of the board where the students gather every day to engage in their learning process. There are two little stools that the teacher has placed onto the carpet where here Helpers for the day get to sit. When the children are on the carpet, the teacher expects each child to sit at least arms length from each other so that there will be no temptation for the children to mess with one another. When the children are dismissed from the rug, they are called by tables to quietly walk back to their desk. The desks are arranged in an interesting way. There are four groups of desk that contain six single desks in each group. Four of the desks in the group are facing each other. So students see each other face to face. My cooperating teacher has had to make some arrangements because of behavior so some of the children in the group have to face the front of the classroom. These children are the ones that do not work well with others, or who have problems with engaging in side conversations. The grouping of the students is based on the personality, the level of mastery, and by the amount of guidance they need while learning. One aspect of grouping that the teacher took into consideration was the fact that the class has four ESL students. The teacher placed two children who are ESL learners together in two different groups. This accommodates the students needs and comfort to have other students who are similar in the same group together. Another thing that is done to help with order in the classroom is that each group is assigned with each of their own colors. These colors are used to call out the students when they need to line up or when they need to return to their seats from the rug. There is also a deaf child who is in this second grade class. Because of this childs disability, his desk is right next to the teachers desk. This is the best for him because during class he has to have a speaker sit on his desktop, so the positioning is important. This student is still with the other children, but he is just closer to the teachers area. For the teachers work area, she has a laptop that she uses to project the lessons onto the SmartBoard and she has an IPAD to use as a resource when she is assessing the childrens scores

and work. She keeps all of her records and her files next to her desk where she can easily get to them for reference. For her work purpose, she has a round table where she does all of her work. She also uses this table for her group work that she has for the students every day. This is where she works with the students during math as a guided lesson. Also, she uses this table to have private conferences with the students. If there is a problem that needs to be addressed, she will pull the student to the table and quietly discuss it with them. Around the room, there are various posters and charts that are there for reference for the students. Many of the charts have to deal with concepts that the students have already learned and are based on what they will need to recall in their future lessons. Many of the charts were made by the teacher and is a neat way to display previously learned information. Also around the room there are word walls. A word wall is used to categorize words under the letter in the alphabet that they begin with. The word wall will be added to as the year goes on and is there for the students to reference for the words that they may not remember easily. Another aspect that is displayed on the wall is the school motto. The motto of the school is to shine. The cooperating teacher reminds each and every child to follow this motto each and every day. If a child is caught being good or following the motto, they are given Sunny money for their good behavior. After receiving enough sunny money, they can cash them in for certain prizes that are offered by the school. This reward system is neat and it makes the students want to strive to do their best while they are at school. Technology is very much incorporated into the classroom. For every lesson, the SmartBoard is used to teach the lessons. The SmartBoard is a fun and interactive way for the students to get involved with the lesson. The teacher allows the students to come up to the board and work out problems that are part of the lesson. The children love to get a chance to come to the board and work out the problems. The SmartBoard is a great way to engage students in their learning and keeps the students wanting to participate more during lessons. In the back of the room, there are also computers that the students are allowed to use. These computers are used for educational games and other assignments that the teacher may assign them. They are set towards the back of the room so that they will not be a distraction for the students while they are working. The computers are facing the wall, so the students will only be focused on their activities that they are to complete on the computer. The computers also contain testing software that was recently added to the systems. Students can take practice tests on these computers and the teacher is able to use these results to keep up with the students progress in her classroom. Parental involvement is seen everywhere in the classroom. There are parents of children who are on committees that run each party that the class will have. Many parents are good about making sure that the students have the things that they need for classroom functions. There are also many parents who are good with making sure that they check and keep up with their childs take home folders. Many parents are available by phone and are always willing to collaborate with the teacher when they are asked. Also, if there are students who need to have parent

conferences due to behavior or problems they are having in the classroom, most parents are open to coming in to have a conference with the teacher. Every day the students follow a strict routine. Only changes that are made to the routine is if something comes up where the teacher has to leave early, or there is something that is going on in the school. Every morning the students come in, eat breakfast and begin to work on their morning work. After the students have completed their morning work, they go over the calendar as a class and then they begin their math lesson for the day. At nine oclock each day, the students begin with reading workshop and then end the workshop with a read aloud. After they have completed this they leave the classroom for an hour and go to the special areas which are Media Center, Music, PE, Art or Computer lab. After students return from these activities, they begin their small reading groups. After small reading groups are completed, the students participate in their word study. There is then lunch and then the students get the chance to go to recess. After everyone comes back in from recess, they then have writing workshop. After writing workshop and to end the day, the students will work on Social studies or Science. Each topic is alternated every couple of weeks, so it just depends on what week it is to know which one they will be completing that day. After this is completed, the students begin to pack up to go home for the day. Also on Fridays, writing workshop is replaced with Brain Boosters which allows the students to participate in activities that make them think. This daily routine is very accurate but is subject to change do to certain things coming up. During the week of immersion, I was able to obtain some very important information about the students MAP scores. During immersion week I attended a RTI meeting with the second grade teachers and with the assistant principal of the school. During this meeting the teachers were presented with their MAP testing results for that year. After reviewing the scores with my cooperating teacher, I was able to see where all of the students had problems with the test. Many of the students were below the average of what they should have scored. The main section that had the lowest score was the math portion of the test. There were a few students who made it pass the average, but many students had a lot of improving to do. The MAP testing officials gave the teachers information on how many points each individual student needs to improve by the next test. It was surprising to see how many students needed to improve by 10 points or more in order to show improvement in the subject. This is a significant number for the students to have to improve by in such little time. In order for the students to improve, the teacher is going to have to modify the time that she allows on each subject that is included on the MAP test. When looking at the results, I was not surprised to see some of the students who did not make the average requirement. Many of the students who scored lower are the ones who need more help in the classroom during instructional time. Their scores on the test reflected the scores they make on similar subjects in the classroom. There were students who scored high, that I was not surprised about. These students are the ones who score high on assessments in class and are also the ones who are in the top percentile of the class. The number that was set for them

to improve by was lower because they reached the average mark needed to considered as passing the minimum. Student Characteristics This second grade class has twenty-two students in the class. There are 13 boys in the class and there are 9 girls. In the class, there are 8 Caucasian, 9 African-American, 4 Hispanic and one child who is of Indian descent. From my observations and discussions with the teacher, many of these students are from lower class homes. There are a few children who take medication for ADHD and other problems they may have. There are 4 students who are considered ESL in the class. These students receive extra help on assignments that may be harder to understand. All but one of these students is almost on level and has trouble with writing and reading concepts. After reviewing these students test and work samples, they need more help than many of the other students in the class. Two out four of the students are pretty fluent with English, but there are two who will still need assistance in improving their English. One of the students just returned from living in Texas and his English was not being practiced much while he was there. These students are great students in the classroom and I see improvement in their work. There are two students in my class that have individual IEPs. In my class, there is a student who is deaf. In order to accommodate this student, the teacher has to wear a microphone around her neck that is connected to a loud speaker that sits on the students desk. Each day, a resource teacher comes in the class and takes the student outside the classroom to help him with all of his work that has already been completed. During his time out, the teacher also works with his student on his reading and writing. When the student returns back to the classroom, the resource teacher stays with him during the math instruction and then leaves for the day. Being deaf is a big factor for this student. This student barely talks and needs assistance in just about anything that he does. Everywhere this student goes, he has to take his speaker with him so that he can hear. In the class, we also have a student who is in special education but is being included into the regular classroom. First thing in the morning this student leaves to go work with the special education teacher. When he returns to class, while the other students are engaged in shared reading, this student goes to the computers to play educational games until the other students have completed their activities. When doing classroom activities, this student receives extra help so that he can complete his assignments. When reviewing scores of both of these students, they seem to be behind the average level they should be on. This is understandable, being that each student has their own IEP plan to accommodate their needs. In some areas, these students show great progress, but in others they need more help to improve. By looking at the overall scores of the students in the class, there seem to be many students who are on grade level. There are a few students who are below grade level, and most of those students are either ESL students or students who have individual IEPs. There are also a few students who are above grade level. Many of these students scored high on certain subjects

and showed improvement from previous tests that were administered. The teacher uses this information to assess what the student already knows and what they need to be taught in the future. There are many ways that the teacher organizes reading to accommodate the children. The books in the class are separated and labeled by the difficulty of the text. Each student is assigned a color bin, which contains books on their level that they are allowed to choose from. Many of the children in the class are on reading level 16, which is second grade level. There are a few students who exceed this level and get the chance to choose higher level books. The students with the IEPs and the four students, who are ESL students, are on level 16 with the others in their class. The teacher assess the students by walking around during reading time and having little conferences with the students to see if they read with fluency, and to see if they are able to explain the book to her. If students show their mastery of these skills during the conference, they have a chance to move up to more challenging books. Instructional Implications There are many contextual characteristics of the students that have implications for instructional planning and assessment. There are many accommodations that need to be made when you have students who are ESL students. One thing to take in consideration would be the students understanding of the concepts and the language that it is written in. These students will need extra help and possibly outside resource to help them improve their skills. If an outside resource is brought in, the teacher and the outsider should collaborate and form a plan that will help the child progress as the year goes by. These students scored in the lower range on reading and math when assessed on their skill levels. Because of these scores, the teacher makes sure she gives these students extra help and resources that can improve their scores. The students with IEPs would also be included in these accommodations and resources that would help them to improve their learning and scores. The teacher must also take in consideration the diversity of her classroom. There are going to be many needs of students that need to be met. For the students who have behavior problems, problems following instructions and following routines, they are going to need extra guidance to make sure they are kept on task. By giving the students the responsibility of making sure that they complete their tasks and display the proper behaviors, will help them improve their behaviors. When planning lessons, the teacher needs to take into account the mastery levels of each individual child. The lessons need to be planned where each child is able to obtain the important information that is being taught and what they are expected to master. For the student who is hearing impaired, he will need more lessons that are visually taught and hands on so he can be able to learn the concepts. This student is also accommodated by having the outside resource come in and help him complete his work. This instructor comes in every morning to work with him and to help him understand what is being taught. All of these accommodations correspond with the students Individual Education Plan.