Classroom Information Sheet(Contextual Factors Organizer & Essay & Rubric) ~ Pg.

Contextual Factors Outline: The following is a planning guide that contains the critical components you will
need to prepare your contextual factors assignment. Use the assigned form in our Google Classroom.

You will prepare a one-two page written document (in paragraph form) which includes the following
information due to Task Stream 3/6.The completed Organizer and Essay should also be handed into our
Google Classroom by 3/6 at NOON. You should begin by providing the overall demographics of the district and
then the class demographics.

This website link will provide much of Part A. information and some of Part B: https://data.nysed.gov. You will
need to ask your mentor teacher about the other information

PART A: Demographics of School District

Where is the school located?
Total number of students
Ethnic/Racial breakdown of
students
Graduation rate
Faculty/Student ratio
809 Park St. #801, Ogdensburg, NY 13669
492
1/0% Black or African American, 0% Asian or Native Hawaiian or other
Pacific Islander, 483/98% White, 8/2% Multiracial
93.3% (6 year cohort) 66.7% according to a different website
1:12 average

PART B: Class Demographics

What grade level are you 3rd grade
assigned?
How many students are there 69 or 14%
in the entire grade level?
How are the students divided? grade level, age, mixed classroom (academic levels), when moving up
grades teachers will gather and talk about which students work well
together and who don’t so they can create classrooms
Number of years your mentor 30 years total, 12 years in 3rd grade. Yes there are other teachers involved
teacher has been teaching at in her classroom for Special Ed and Teachers Assistant (Mrs. Bertram), AIS
this grade level. Are there any Reading, AIS Math(Ms. Green), Resource class SPED (Ms. Irvin), and
other teachers involved? (i.e., Speech Pathologist (Ms. Mills)
team teaching, push-in,
special ed, etc.)
Total number of students in your assigned classroom
Female 6
Male 13
Other
What curriculum materials does your mentor teacher use for the following:
ELA read works, reading A-Z, Accelerated reader, Renaissance Place
Math Splashlearn math, Zearn, Reflex math, Renaissance Place
Social Studies Scholastic News
Science Mystery Science
Other
 Classroom Information Sheet(Contextual Factors Organizer & Essay & Rubric)-Pg. 2

What Assessments and Progress Monitoring Tools does your mentor teacher use?

Star reading and math, Kaeden reading assessment, Running Records, Great 9 module tests

What classroom management techniques does your mentor teacher use?

Lots of movement activities, candy, rewards, rhymes/songs, clapping, lights on/off,
Write out the schedule for your classroom below. Be sure to include the following:
Snack Breaks, Lunch, Recess, Specials, Student Pull-outs and Push-ins
I ATTACHED A PHOTO OF IT IN THE MONDAY SECTION
Monday

1:20 pm Daily AIS reading

Tuesday
11:00 am daily ARI math
Wednesday
Days 1,3, and 5 12:30 speech
Thursday
2:05pm daily resource room
Friday

PART C: Specific Student Supports

Students with IEPs/504 Plans
IEPs/504 Plans: Number of Students Supports, Accommodations,
Classifications Needs Modifications, Pertinent IEP Goals
Example:
Visual Processing
Speech/Language
Impairment and Academics
2 Close monitoring, large print text, window
card to isolate text
2 additional examples, extra repetition,
frequent checks for understanding,
language simplified, preferential seating,
material previewed/reviewed, test breaks
every 30 min

Classroom Information Sheet (Contextual Factors Organizer & Essay & Rubric)~Pg. 3

Students with Specific Language Needs

Language Needs Number of Students Supports, Accommodations,
Modifications
Example: 2 Pre-teach key words and phrases
English Language Learners through graphic organizers (e.g. word
with only a few words of cluster, manipulatives, visuals.
English Have students use pre-taught key
words and graphic organizers to
complete sentence starters.
Speech services 1 Goals: produce |r| sounds, produce
consonant blends, improve
comprehension by answering
questions after reading or listening to
short paragraphs and stories.
Repeat speech, help recall, frequent
checks for understanding

Students with Other Learning Needs

Other Language Needs Number of Students Supports, Accommodations,
Modifications
Example: 5 Leveled text, targeted guided reading,
Struggling Readers ongoing reading assessment (e.g.
running records, miscue analysis,
conferencing)
 Contextual Factors Essay Page

For my Block I student teaching, I have been assigned to Mrs. Powers’ 3rd grade at John F. Kennedy

Elementary School located at 809 Park St. #801, Ogdensburg, NY 13669. The school has roughly 492 students total

with 0% African American/Black, 0% Asian or Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 98% White, and 1%

multi-racial. From what I’ve seen, the school does not have many students of color or racial backgrounds, but my

mentor teacher does teach them about diversity. Even though the students may not be able to see racial/ethnic

diversity in front of them everyday, talking about it with students gives them more knowledge about differences in

people. The graduation rate is 93.3% (6 year cohort) or 66.7% according to a different website with a faculty to student

ratio of 1:12 on average.

There are roughly 69 (14%) students total in the 3rd grade level and they are divided by grade level, age, mixed

classroom (academic levels), and is mostly self-contained. I talked to Mrs. Powers, my mentor teacher, and she

described to me that when students are moving up grades, teachers will gather and talk about which students work

well together and who don’t so they can create classrooms that flow well. I think that is an important step because if

students are put with other students in an unorganized way, it can disrupt the learning process, the flow of routines

and procedures, teachers may struggle with behavior management, etc. Mrs. Powers has been teaching for 30 years

total, 12 years in 3rd grade. There are other teachers involved in her classroom for Special Ed and Teachers Assistant

(Mrs. Bertram), AIS Reading, AIS Math(Ms. Green), Resource class SPED (Ms. Irvin), and Speech Pathologist (Ms. Mills).

Mrs. Bertram is there everyday and typically sits next to Kamryn so she can assist him. She’s a huge help and works

with her student’s IEP goals. Mrs. Griffith comes in with a student, Paisley, each morning for our 1st activity then both

of them leave once the activity is finished. AIS reading happens daily at 1:20 pm along with ARI math at 11:00 am.

Resource room is daily as well, at 2:05 pm. Ms. Mills will help the students with speech on days 1, 3, and 5 at 12:30

pm. With the help of all these teachers, students are able to learn in the best way for them. Even though students may

struggle, these teachers are able to modify and accommodate curriculum and method of delivery to meet their needs,

which helps the student succeed. In my classroom, we have a total of 19 students: 6 females and 13 males.

My mentor teacher uses many different resources and materials for the curriculum. For ELA she uses: read

works, reading A-Z, Accelerated reader, and Renaissance Place. I have seen the students do lots of independent

reading, many of them love to pull me aside and read to me. Independent reading is a great tool to improve their
fluency and comprehension. For math: Splash Learn math, Zearn, Reflex math, and Renaissance Place. After talking to

Mrs. Powers about the students and their math skills, many, if not most, are behind. For a simple multiplication

worksheet, Mrs. Powers says it should take them 2 minutes to do it, but actually takes almost 9 minutes. I definitely

want to create a math lesson that is in their zone of proximal development (ZPD). That way it’s just challenging

enough for them, and I can still scaffold as they work independently or in groups. For social studies, Mrs. Powers says

she has a textbook that she can use, but because it’s extremely outdated, she uses Scholastic News instead. I think

that this is a great alternative because it provides up to date information and current events for the students and they

have comprehension questions throughout it so students can check for their understanding. Mystery Science is used

for the science curriculum, but I have yet to see that in action.

Assessments are used to help monitor student progress. Both formative and summative assessments are used;

formative assessments check for understanding and summative assessments test what students know at that

moment. Some assessments used are: Star reading and math, IRA, Kaeden reading assessment, Running Records, and

Great 9 module tests. Many of these assessments are conducted to see what level the students are at. Once teachers

know what level a student is at, then they can use that information to assign them work that is within their ability.

Many of the students in my class have different reading levels, and so when it comes to independent reading, many of

them have their own book bin filled with books that cater to their reading level. Mrs. Powers uses a variety of

management tactics to get the students to quiet down such as: clapping, shushing them or putting her finger to her

mouth, saying “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 way too chatty,” saying “this is not a visit with my friends time,” etc. I would like to use

these tactics as well because I witnessed that the students are able to redirect their attention back to her and leave

behind their distractions.

 Contextual Essay Rubric

Essay Grading Rubric EDUC 308 Student Name:

Criteria Unsatisfactory Developing Accomplished Exemplary Total

District 0-34 points 35-39 points 40-44 points 45-50 points /40
Information
District information lacks District information lacks District information has District information has all
many of the required some of the required required information and required information with
information. The information information. District contains no no misinformation. The
given contains information contains misinformation.All essay contains contextual
misinformation. some misinformation required information is in explanations, inferences,
and minimally essay. and examples.
incomplete.
Classroom 0-11oints 12-17 points 18-22 points 23-30 points /40
Information
District information lacks District information lacks District information has District information has all
many of the required some of the required required information and required information with
information. The information information. District contains no no misinformation. The
given contains information contains misinformation.All essay contains contextual
misinformation. some misinformation required information is in explanations, inferences,
and minimally essay. and examples.
incomplete.
Writing 0-13 points 14-15 points 16-17 points 18-20 points /20
Quality
Poor writing style lacking in Average and/or casual Above average writing Well written and clearly
standard English, clarity, writing style that is style and logically organized using standard
language used, and/or sometimes unclear organized using standard English, characterized by
frequent errors in grammar, and/or with some errors English with minor errors elements of a strong writing
punctuation, usage, and in grammar, punctuation, in grammar, punctuation, style and basically free from
spelling tat makes it difficult usage, and spelling. The usage, and spelling. The grammar, punctuation,
to understand the information errors that affect the information is presented usage, and spelling errors.
presented. . Essay needs a reader from in a manner that allows The essay is written in a
considerable amount of work. understanding the the reader to understand creative, sophisticated way
information presented. information presented. that leads the reader to
Essay needs some work. have context with how the
district information
connects with the classroom
information.
Late Deduct 11 points-overall Deduct 6-10 points Deduct 1-5 points 0 points deducted
/Incomplete failing ~
work Journal reflection is submitted Journal reflection is Journal reflection is Journal reflection is
2 or more days after the submitted 1 day after the submitted within 1 day submitted on or before
deadline. deadline. (24 hours) after the deadline.
deadline.
TOTAL POINTS (sum of 4 Criteria) /100
Comments: