TWS 1 Contextual factors

Pinecrest Elementary

Pinecrest is a large school with many openings to the outside which I believe is a great idea,

because when the students have to go to different parts of the school they have to walk

outside and get a breath of fresh air. As soon as you walk into the front door at Pinecrest

you are stopped by another set of double doors that are always locked. That is for

everyone’s safety, and so that everyone who comes in the front doors has to go through the

office. After the office are the principal’s office and the guidance councilor’s office, along

with the teachers’ workroom in the very back. Once you go back out the glass doors into

the courtyard you will pass the cafeteria, and then enter through another set of glass doors.

When you enter into that set of doors you will be on the fourth grade hallway. At Pinecrest

each hallway is split up into four or five classrooms with only one grade being on a hallway.

Lastly, my favorite thing about Pinecrest is the theme of the school. The theme of the school

is under the sea, and everywhere you look there are anchors and decorations to go along

with the theme.

A. Classroom factors:

Physical features:

Mrs. McManus’ class first grade classroom at Pinecrest Elementary has many physical

features that make the classroom very welcoming, and learner friendly. As soon as you

walk into the classroom you will see the cubbies where the student will put their book bags

and anything else that they brought with them and do not need at their desk. As soon as

you pass the cubbies you will see a long table on the right wall that has shelves about it for

storage. That is where Mrs. McManus keeps all her supplies that she needs throughout the

year. On the table are the students worksheets laid out in order of how they will be done

that day, along with a box for the students to turn in their take home folders. At the end of

the table are two big desktop computers and a microwave and both are hardly ever used in

the class. As you keep going around the room and looking to the right you will see a

bathroom in which the students use as needed through out the day, since there is only one

official bathroom break and that is right after lunch. When you pass the bathroom there is a

kidney table that is used as both the small group reading table and as the teachers desk.

Beside the kidney table is the bookshelf. Each reading level is separated on the bookshelf,

and each book is in a white tub that is marked with its corresponding level. This is to help

the students know where to get their books from easier then looking through a whole self

with the books all mixed together. After the book self is the teachers easel and her rocking

chair and that is where she reads aloud to the whole class. In front of the rocking chair is

her carpet for the students to sit on during the group discussion time. After the reading

stations are passed you will be in the front of the room, which is nothing but a big white

board with a smart board that sits in the middle breaking up the white board into two

halves. On the top of the white board are the letters to the alphabet and a number line for

students to use throughout the day. Next to the white board is the teacher’s cart that holds

her computer and her document camera. Beside her cart is the last wall, which has a

cabinet for storage and a long counter top with a sink on it at the far end. Lastly, behind the

cubbies on your right you will see a big cubby that holds all the students math and social

studies books. That is the last part of the outside of the classroom, and the middle of the

classroom is where the students are grouped into four different groups around the smart

board.

Technology

The technology available to Mrs. McManus is very limited. In her classroom the only

technology that she has is the smart board, her laptop, and the two desktops in the back of

the classroom. The two desktops in the back of the classroom are hardly ever used

throughout the school day. So only the smart board is used with the students, except on

Thursdays when the student get to use the Ipads instead of going to related arts. Thursdays

are truly the only days the students get to interact with technology, because Mrs. McManus

rarely has the student do stuff on the smart board during her lessons.

Equipment

The equipment in the classroom is: a smart board, teacher cart with a laptop on top, sink,

cubbies, tables, desk, chairs, kidney table, white board, book shelves, microwave, desktop

computers, and a bathroom.

Resources

The Majority of resources that my teacher uses in the classroom come from the students’

textbooks. Very little is crafted by Mrs. McManus, and very seldom does Mrs. McManus

move away from the textbook to do a lesson she had created on that certain topic. The only

other resource Mrs. McManus uses in the classroom is YouTube, and she uses that to teach

the students educational songs that allow them to get up and dance with each songs. That

way they are learning about a subject while moving and having fun. Other then those two

sources nothing else is ever used in the classroom to help improve the learning

environment. However, many supplies can be found inside cubbies for students who do not

have the resources needed to be successful in school. These supplies are taken out on an as

needed basis and given to students that need them to be successful in school. Outside the

classroom the school has many more resources like the library, the teachers lounge that

has two printers and a paper cutter, principals, and guidance councilors. All these

resources come together to help make the school successful for all students who attend.

Parental Involvement

In Mrs. McManus’ class parental involvement is very limited. As of right now in the school

year the only parents that have been involved in the class were the ones that has come to

the parent teachers conferences, and open house. However, that does not mean that Mrs.

McManus does not talk to the parents on a regular bases. The way she talks to the parents

on a regular bases is through notes she writes them in the students’ folders that they take

home every day. Once or twice a week she will write each student’s parents/guardians a

note letting them know how their student is doing in school. Then the parents have a

option to write back to the teacher in the space provided or can just sign the folder like

normal saying that they have seen the note.

Classroom Rules

Mrs. McManus and her class came up with five rules that everyone should follow through

out the year. Along with the five rules they made hand motions to go along with them to

help each student remember the rules better. Also, Mrs. McManus’ class went even further

past just rules and made up a mission statement that they read and follow daily.

The five rules:

1. Respect others, respect yourself, and respect your school.

2. Follow directions quickly, and do your best work.

3. Raise your hand to speak or stand.

4. Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself.

5. Be safe, be kind, and be honest.

Mission Statement: We the leaders in room 204 promise to treat each other with kindness

and respect. We will work hard together to meet our goals. We are a family and we will

take care of each other at school.

Both rules and mission statement are said every day in the class to help the students

remember how they should act each day.

Routines

Each morning the students enter Pinecrest they follow a routine, and the routine in which

they follow stays the same almost every day to allow the students to feel comfortable

because they know what will happen at different times of the day. When the students are

dropped off at school they walk to where their classroom is located and sit outside the

hallway quietly reading a book. At 7:30 Mrs. McManus goes outside the classroom and

allows each of the students to come in. As they come in she is standing at the door

welcoming them. After they are welcomed they go and pick their lunch for the day. Next,

they unpack their bags, and put their homework folder in the assigned ben. After the

homework folder is put up if a student has an assigned morning job they start on their job,

if they do not have an assigned morning job they begin on their morning work. At 8:00 the

Pinecrest news comes on and after the news is the class morning meeting. In their morning

meeting Mrs. McManus goes over what is going to happen that day, the calendar, weather,

and one row on the carpet shares something interesting to the class. After that time the

assigned schedule is followed for the rest of the day. Until the students are ready to be

dismissed, they then all line up in the hallways and the teachers escort each student to their

assigned location for pick up.

Grouping

The classroom is set up into three groups of six and one group of five for a total of four

different seating groups. The groups are set up so that there is either a slower learner or an

ESOL student who is struggling sitting beside a student who learns very quickly. It is set up

like that so that the quicker learners are there to help the slower learners out when they

start to fall behind in the lesson. Also, the students are grouped with a reading partner who

is on their same level, so that they can read to each other and help each other build up their

reading skills. During reading time each group will meet up at their assigned location, and

read to each other for 10 minutes every day.

Schedule Activity TimeMorning work 7:50-8:05Morning meeting 8:05-8:20Math 8:20-8:50Science/social studies 8:55-9:25Related arts-Monday: Library-Tuesday: P.E.-Wednesday: Art-Thursday: Computer/ Ipads-Friday: Music

9:30-10:15

Shared/ interactive reading

10:20-10:35

Word study 10:35-10:55Lunch 11:15-11:45Restroom break 11:45-12:00Recess 12:00-12:30Reading workshop 12:30-1:35Writing workshop 1:35-2:15Pack up 2:12-2:30Leave 2:30

Classroom arrangement

B. Student Characteristics

Main topic Description Female Male TotalNumber of

students12 11 23

Age Six years old 3 1 4Seven years old 8 8 16Nine years old 1 2 3

Race/ Ethnicity

Caucasian 3 4 7

African- American 6 4 10Bi-racial 1 0 1Hispanic 2 2 4Korean 0 1 1

Special Education

Goes to Resource 3 4 7

IEP 0 2 2ADD 1 2 3ESOL 2 3 5

Second time in first grade

1 1 2

Skill levels at the beginning

of the school in reading

Below first grade 2 3 5

On first grade 5 5 10Above first grade 5 3 8

Skill levels at the beginning

of the school in math

Below first grade 1 3 4

On first grade 7 5 12Above first grade 4 3 7

LanguageEnglish as the first

language10 8

Spanish as the first language

2 2 4

Korean as the first language

0 1 1

Learning styles Visual 4 1 5Kinesthetic 6 7 13

Auditory 2 3 5

Interest Football 0 5 5Basketball 1 3 4

Gymnastics 5 0 5No sports 6 3 9

Arts interest Drawing 3 2 5

Map test scores:

StudentReading scores(Average 159)

Math scores(Average 160)

1 158 1672 139 1283 147 1534 162 1655 170 1706 160 1527 153 1468 136 1269 162 175

10 156 15611 167 17312 143 Has not taken yet13 149 14814 151 15315 152 Has not taken yet16 154 14317 163 16218 146 15319 168 17820 148 13721 155 15622 177 18123 167 167

C. Instructional Implications

The information provided above is important to me for when I write my lesson plans

for Mrs. McManus’ class, because it shows me how my students learn best so that I can

teach in a way they learn best. It also shows me, who started the school year behind, and

might need some extra help and who started on target or above target. By me seeing how

each student learns the best, and by seeing which students need help in which areas it

always me to zoom in my lessons so that I can teach them so that everyone learns to their

highest potential. This means for my lessons I need to make sure I have activities that are

specifically for visual, kinesthetic, and auditory learners. That means during each of my

lessons I will have to do different types of activities to meet these learning styles, so that

each student can achieve to their highest level. Since the majority of the class is kinesthetic

I will make sure my main point in the lesson is done with activities that are hands on and

activities that require movement. I will also make sure I teach to the other types of learners

before I give them the final assessment so that each child has an equal opportunity to learn.

Some instructional implications that I will have to make to each of my lessons has to

deal with the two students who have an IEP for speech, the five students that are ESOL, and

the students who are ADD or ADHD that have a hard time focusing. Both students that have

an IEP are pulled out for most of the morning to work on their speech and reading, so for

many of my lessons their will be no accommodations for those students, because my

lessons will be taught in the morning when they are pulled out due to the scheduling of

activities. Accommodations that will need to be made for the ESOL students will be taking a

few of them aside that can not read, and work with them one on one with their reading and

with any reading that is required during a lesson. If someone is not their to help at least

two of them read they will never figure out what the instructions are saying and what they

are suppose to be doing. This accommodation will need to be made for every lesson,

because each lesson will have instructions and words that are written on them.

Accommodations will also be made for math, since my ESOL students have a hard time

reading they are also having a hard time understand the flow of a number sentence and

word problems. So every ESOL student and other students who are behind in math, will be

pulled aside a few times a week to work with math manipulative to help them better

understand how to read the math equations and word problems. The last accommodations

that need to be made are for the students who have ADD or ADHD. These students need to

constantly be moving so I need to make sure my lessons have plenty of movement in them

so that each of these students can focus for a short period of time, and then be allowed to

move around. This will help me keep each students focus throughout the whole lesson, and

that will allow each student to learn to the highest level of achievement possible. For the

early finishers in the class their will always be a brain booster for them to do on the back of

their paper that has to do with the subject they are working on. Also early finishers for

most assignments are allowed to go around and help the students who are struggling. This

will help the early finisher understand the lesson better by explaining it to a peer, and it

can also help the peer to hear it taught a different way then the teacher have taught it. That

way each student is hearing it twice, and that can help each person master his or her skills.

For the slower finisher they will have to complete their assignments during reading

workshop. They will not be allowed during their free station to color, play on the

computers, or use the Ipads until their assignments are all complete. These are many of the

accommodations that are already used in the classroom, and I need to follow those

accommodations for both early and late finishers so that each student feels comfortable

and already knows the routine and what to do if they are done early or do not finish their

work on time.