Courtney Barker

Final Report
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How have you seen assessment inform instruction? At Kennedy Elementary they really
have the system down. I have not worked at a school where so many assessments were
given. Every day the students were tested in one way or another on the computer and data
was documented. The teacher is able to access that data often and that is what she made
her lesson plans based on. Also when she gave us subjects to teach on she was taking that
from these results of the assessments the students were constantly taking.

List all the assessments you administered during this practicum. The assessments I
administered were the spelling inventory, a CBM, informal assessments in the form of a
work sheet. I also helped students work on Moby Max and Read Naturally, which have
assessments along the way.

What did each of those assessments tell you? (What was the purpose?) The spellings
inventory was able to tell me the areas the students were struggling in their spelling. It
broke it down from not only just right or wrong but what part of the word was right and
what was wrong. The CBM gave me information about the students reading fluency.
Moby Max and Read Naturally gave information on students reading skills and
comprehension.

What instructional methods did you see that you thought were effective? I really like how
involved the students were. They were constantly engaged in the lessons. There was
always a lot of coral reading going on to help all levels of students read fluently.

Tell about the progress of the students during your time. Was there progress? Why or
why not? To be honest I didnt see much progress with my students. I saw them grasp

concepts that I was teaching but I feel like it was the end of the year and they were all just
freshening up on the things they had learned that year. The teacher knew the students
very well and she had a lot of data on each child and their areas of weakness.
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What did you learn about assessments and their relationship to instruction? How do you
plan to use assessments in your future classroom? I was able to see that the two really go
hand in hand. Not only does assessment drive instruction but instruction drives
assessment. They should both constantly being happening throughout the day. You dont
just need for formal assessments but you should constantly be asking questions and
calling on students to see where they are at and if they are grasping the concepts.

Explain the student learning you saw happening (ah ha moments, the light bulb came on).
I didnt get to experience too many of these moments in this practicum. There was a lot
of review and the students already had grasped the concepts. I think the time I saw it was
when I was teaching about adjectives and I was able to apply it to their live and helped
them see just a little bit how they could use it. You could feel the energy in the room get a
bit more excited and more students were able to grasp the concept.

How have you improved as a teacher because of this experience? This experience first of
all helped me see that special education is the rout for me. I did enjoy teaching the class
though. I learned the more comfortable you are in front of the class the more the students
are able to focus and feel relaxed and able to ask questions. Also I learned how readings
and spelling need to be part of every subject and something you need to work on all the
time.

Do you feel your cooperative teacher(s) was an effective mentor? Do you have any
concerns or suggestions for future students in this experience? I really liked Miss.

Beesley and I thought she was very kind. I felt like she was so use to having students like
us in her classroom that it was a little route and not very authentic. It was good to get
some experience in this area though and it will help us know what is possible when we
have our own classrooms but I think it would have been a little more useful for me if I
was able to work with struggling readers and help them in the areas of weakness instead
of teaching the whole class.