• Background Information.

One of the items on the student teaching evaluation form

relates to ability to obtain background information. To help satisfy this item, please pick
two students each block and: 1) observe them carefully, 2) discuss their background with
your cooperating teacher and other professionals in the building, 3) ask permission to
view their permanent records 4) write a one-two page profile of each student indicating
how you might modify your teaching in light of their background. Do not list your name,
the name of the school (level only) or the name of the student (call them "A" and "B").
The sooner in the block this can be completed, the more impact it will have on your
teaching.

Student A - (4th grade)

1. Observations
a. (1/12) Student sits in a chair at the back of the classroom due to a medical
problem. During this lesson we reviewed the strings on the ukulele and played
our first song. At first she was attentive but lost attention a few minutes in, I
suspect when she started to struggle with the concept she gave up and sat with
her ukulele in her lap. It was at this point that I, also in a chair in the back of the
room, rolled over to her and asked if I could help. She gladly took the extra help,
and I realized she didn’t know the order of the strings, which I reviewed with her.
She could have not known the order of the strings because she is often absent,
due to her medical condition. When the class started to play altogether I played
next to her, providing her with the visual of my ukulele and the order of the strings
and notes in the song. She quickly caught up, and was able to follow the
remainder of class. She was very friendly, no behavioral issue at all, and seemed
to enjoy the remainder of class as she smiled at me and made a few jokes.
b. (2/9) Student walks in and has a chair set up for her next to an instrument. She
says hello and sits down. During the EEI beat keeping activity she sat silently,
watching her classmates. This might have been because she had a clipboard
and paper that she couldn’t put on the floor though. When given directions she
looks around to see what other students do, and the teacher sometimes provides
her another explanation of the directions, to which she follows. When the teacher
started giving longer directions, she looked to me (I was in the back of the room
near her) for further explanation. Although she looked for help, she knew what to
do after a moment of thinking. This lesson included passing papers around the
room in the same order each time. She was unsure of which way to pass, and a
student next to her helped guide her both the first and second times. I suspect
she generally knows what to do, but is not confident in her execution of the
activity. After 3 rounds of drawing and passing papers (we were doing a graphic
score activity) she knew what to do. Students had the option to play the score in
front of them on the instrument next to them, although this student, along with
most of the class, chose not to do this. This student chose a different color for
each graphic score which indicates she has some creativity once she’s
comfortable. The next part of the lesson was playing the orff instruments, to
which she needed extra assistance from the teacher to explain how and that with
 a graphic score there are no wrong answers. She played for a moment and then
put the mallets down and waited quietly. This is another example of her being
unsure and unconfident. When given “free play” time, she explored quietly and
slowly, until the teacher walked by, and then she stopped and waited for him to
leave. He gently said “go for it!” to which she continued.
2. Permanent Records
a. ELL & IEP
b. Applied for disability benefits 2017
c. Lives with Mother and Father
d. American Indian or Alaska Native and Hispanic/Latino
i. Spanish is main language
e. Cumulative Health Record stops at 3rd grade
f. Health: “shy”, received speech therapy and recommend screening for other
delays
g. Born in Indiana, both parents born in Mexico
h. Report Card: all glowing comments
i. A/B Student in recent years, used to have a lot of N (needs improvement)
in Kindergarten, “struggling in all academic areas and I am extremely
concerned with her lack of progress, understanding and communication”
i. In 2011 she went to a Summer Speech Language Program, assessed as meets
below expectations for almost all areas, hearing was fine
i. Needs a “warming up” period
ii. Met communication goals including commands
iii. “[Student A] presents with severe deficits in expressive language
characterized by limited use of verbalizations and gestures”.
j. IEP:
i. 3rd grade: cognitive abilities, verbal comprehension, fluid reasoning,
working memory extremely low according to Wechsler Intelligence Scale,
and her visual-spatial and long term memory were low range scores.
ii. “Clinically significant problems in learning and functional communication,
especially with an unknown adult”
iii. Requires individualized small group, extended time and multiple repeat
iv. Most of her IEP observations were supposed to take place last april-june
(covid happened)
v. Accommodations
1. Seat near teacher
2. Read aloud
3. Extra time
vi. Physical therapist: (2/2020)
1. AFOs did not work well for her, too heavy,
2. Trips due to ankle weakness
3. Has a wheelchair for fire drills, field trips and around school
4. Difficulty climbing stairs, uses elevator
5. Accommodations for PE
 6. Can't go from floor to standing without nearby chair
7. Fatigues easily, needs rest breaks
vii. Language proficiency: Beginning (entering, beginning, developing,
expanding, bridging) as of sept. 2020
1. ACCESS for ELLs Scores have significantly improved from 2016
2. Also says she's not literate in Spanish
3. Teaching Modifications for this student
a. Chair
b. Giving class time to work on ukulele on own
i. This time can be used for Student A to catch up on what she potentially
did not learn the week before.
c. Checking with student to see if they fell behind
d. Providing accommodations for future movement activities.
e. Reiterating directions
f. Providing time for students to ask one-on-one questions, and encouraging her to
ask if she has a question or concern.

Student B - (kindergarten)
4. Observations
a. (1/14) This student walked in and grabbed a cushion and sat down until the
teacher came back into the classroom from the hallway. At this point he stood up
and started non-stop talking, as well as moving consistently, while remaining in
his box. He continuously went upside down, while staring at me, which I assume
was because I was new, and he was looking for a reaction. Everytime he did
something he was not supposed to he would look at me, although I often
pretended I didn't see anything, and was following the teacher’s instructions.
When it was my time to teach during the warm up process the student began by
following instructions, followed by falling to the floor and saying he was mad at
me. I ignored this behavior and within two minutes he stood back up and
continued the warm up. During the vocal warm up I joked with the kids that they
were doing well with the “roller coaster” exercise, in which I trace a roller coaster
design with my finger as the students sing up and down. Some students
responded that the exercise was easy, and the student requested that I take my
finger away and stop tracing. This is a “wind-forward” that the entire class was
ready for, and the student wanted to challenge himself and others. He intently
followed the rest of my activity. Later in the lesson he exclaimed that he didn't
know the rhyme being sung, and fell to the floor. The teacher asked him to just
do the movements, which he agreed and started participating once again.
b. (1/21) Student B is excited walking into class today, talking loud and more than
the other students. During our EEI exercise he went back and forth between
laying and standing, and bouncing to the music. When the teacher asked about
the song he had many answers and did not raise his hand. He liked the song and
asked to play it again, and all his comments thus far in class are positive. He also
 told the teacher that he has a fidget spinner, in case “he needs a break during
class”. During warm ups he moved around and was not focused, although he
had intermittent moments of engagement. To combat this I mostly ignored him,
and praised him when he did engage. I did hear the teacher discussing with
Student B that he was correctly using his fidget spinner to relax. For the next
game, a movement game, the student was engaged throughout. Next came a
guessing game of 2 rhymes, which he guessed correctly despite the predicted
difficulty. The options were swaying or marching, of which the student was able
to correctly guess each time. From this point to the end of class he was well
behaved.
5. Educational background- In the beginning of the year he was placed in a class with
another behavioral student. When he first entered PreK at this school he was quiet,
followed directions and was respectful. Since meeting and observing the actions of the
other student, Student B has made a habit of saying “no” when asked to do something,
and his behavior has drastically changed to become distracting. The teacher told me he
responds to a firm attitude, although the teacher tries not to use this firmness too often.
6. Permanent Records
a. White
b. Lives with Mom and Step Father, Father not legal guardian
i. Grandparents are emergency contacts
c. English
d. No medical problems
i. Including emotional, problem solving, fine and gross motor
e. Report Card: All Ss, 2 Ps
i. “We will also continue to work on learning the classroom rules and
expectations and following the consistently”
7. Teaching Modifications for this student
a. This student would benefit from self-winding activities, where the activity can be
harder if the student desires.
i. This can also include improvisation activities, where I think he would
enjoy doing his own thing
b. He focused better during the movement activities, and moved during the
non-movement activities. I would make a movement for every activity that’s
options for students
c. He clearly knows the expectations of the classroom, and is able to follow them,
but prefers not to. For this reason I would have a discussion with him about
respect, but also how I can make the class more enjoyable for him
i. An example of this is “what is your favorite parts of the class” or “what are
some good aspects of the class” - these I will incorporate more often
d. He worked really well when the teacher provided him with a “if you stay
concentrated I will ____”. This is something I can incorporate as well.