Reflection on my Practicum Experience

  What have been the pros and what have been the cons of spending time in the classrooms you've been assigned?


The pros of spending time in the 5th grade classroom this semester have been the interaction that I have had with all the students and getting to know them better. I also really like my practicum teacher and he is very helpful and encouraging in the classroom.  Also, this practicum is different than my general education practicum last semester with Ms. Borunda in 3rd grade because the first couple of days of practicum , my partner and I jumped right into helping teach a center and help out the students instead of sitting and observing all day long. Math was never my subject in school but I have learned how to teach math and how to teach it in a way that is easy to understand for students as well. However, the cons of being in this classroom is that I have only seen my practicum teacher teach math and with different classes and have only seen him teach ELA a couple of times. The only time that I have seen science was when my partner and I taught our science lesson with the other science teacher with our students. 

Student to Student Interactions in the Classroom

My practicum teacher uses student to student interaction very regularly in the classroom and focuses a lot on doing centers for math and cooperative learning. The classroom is set up with 4 people in each group around the room so no one is ever working alone. Whenever he does centers, he incorporates them teaching each other and the teacher helping out in each one. Also, he makes sure that there are different students from different academic levels in each group so that not all the struggling students are together and lost. The instructional ideas that I have seen in my practicum classroom that I will use in my own is using cooperative and group learning so that students learn how to work together and build off each other's ideas instead of me constantly lecturing in the front of the classroom. I want to focus more on helping them out and guiding them but have the students mainly learn how to be independent learners. I also want to have tables of 4 or so which will give each person a partner and more ideas and different perspectives for problems for students to go off on. 

Dealing with Disruptions in the Classroom

How does your Mentor Teacher deal with disruptions to the learning process from students?  Would you use this method in your future classroom? Why or why not?

My mentor teacher gets the class to come back together by saying " Class, Class" and then they say : " Yes, Yes" and he does that when he wants to tell them something or move on. If not he waits for them to be quiet and stands there staring at them and eventually they take the hint that they should stop what they are doing and pay attention to the teacher. Otherwise, he doesn't do so much when there is disruptions in the class but besides the class being talkative there has not been too much.  I have seen the say a chant and repeat back and forth approach and I might use that approach but wouldn't use the same sayings but something that is more fun and exciting to get the students attention. I would also make sure to position myself in the classroom so that I could walk around and make sure everyone was on task and not causing any disruptions to the class. 

Independent Reading in the Classroom

How does your Mentor Teacher support and encourage independent reading in the classroom?  What unique ideas have you seen that you will carry into your classroom?

First thing in the morning, the students go to their classroom teacher and then immediately head to two specials for the day. I am not usually here during this time because I get to practicum at 10:00 am when they are back in the classroom but when I am at the school earlier, I have seen the students at their library special before they start the main lessons for the day. When I have observed the students in the library, they get to check out books and read and take Accelerated reading tests as well to keep their word count up. The students also visit the librarians turtle when they are there as well and enjoy seeing the turtle and having free time to read and relax. On the other hand, this is the only time that I see the students independently reading because I only see math for the whole day. They are only with Mr. Borunda, the 5th grade teacher for Math and ELA and science and other subjects with different 5th grade teachers. As of unique ideas seen with independently reading, I have not seen anything different that Mr. Borunda has done since I am only there for the Math block but I do like that they are able to have library in the morning which is a great way to start off the day before students dive right into their core classes. I think it is important to set aside class time and a portion of the day for students to be able to read independently to help students gain new vocabulary and enhance their knowledge by learning about a new story or a new concept. This is something that i would want to incorporate into my teaching style when I become an Elementary Special Education Teacher. 

Responsibility in the Classroom

In regards to responsibility in the classroom, my teacher makes sure that students have their work with them everyday and does not let them off the hook if they do not come to class prepared. For example, this week is Parent Teacher Conferences and my mentor teacher today talked to the students today about when they go to their conference to be honest with their parents about not completing an assignment on time and why. I really liked that he talked to the 5th graders today and talked to them like adults and taught them how to own up to their mistakes which is an important thing to do in life and the real world. Also, the teacher in class guides the students with the lesson but mainly focuses on the students using each other to figure out and solve various problems in the classroom.

Student Appreciation in the Classroom

My mentor teacher shows that he appreciates student's interests in the classroom by giving them points when they come to class prepared and are on task. He also shows that he is interested in their opinions and interests with a map that he has on his wall that shows the different colleges that students are thinking about going too and their colleges logos are also seen on their desks as well. Also, last week when I was in his class for practicum, the students were randomly picked to pick videos related to Social Studies and one of the students who was selected wanted to be a Historian so the teacher picked him first because of that interest and then randomly selected the rest through his Dojo app on his phone.

Rules in the Classroom

One rule that I like in J. Borunda's classroom is to have an organized desk and put away any distractions or mess on the student's desk so that they can fully focus on the lesson and be present in class. I can't really think of a rule right now that I dislike in my mentor's classroom. All his rules seem pretty fair.

Performance Assessments in the Classroom

Last Wednesday during practicum, I saw the 5th grade students take a math test which was to establish the Tier that they should go into. This test had students use diagrams to show fractions and to solve fractions with multiplication and using the vocab "of" for word problems.  My practicum teacher tried to show me how to grade the tests but was too complicated because some students were given partial credit for getting the correct answer but not showing their work and how they found the answer. It was interesting seeing the students take the test because a lot of the students could not answer most of the tests and left it blank. The hardest part of watching the students take this assessment was not being able to help them find the answer but only being able to read them the answer or clarify the instructions. Many of the students needed extra help but were not given it in the classroom and were not pulled out for extra time. Also, when I observed the Tier that scored 100 percent and higher on their math tests take this test , I noticed that one of the students struggled the most with this exam and had a lot of pressure on him to do well from his parents and just by being in this specific class group. It was hard to see some students want to give up and not try their best on this test because they didn't think it was worth it to try on the test even when they knew they were going to fail and didn't get most of the material. I have always struggled with testing and thought that my test scores defined who I was but they are still just a number and even if you don't do well on one test does not mean you are a failure and a lot of the students I worked with thought that and was heartbreaking to hear and see.

Accommodations for Students in the Classroom

When it comes to accommodations for specific students in the classroom, i have seen some modifications for students but it is still too early to tell. On the first day of practicum, my partner and I mostly saw math centers and led a math problem based center. When I first got to my practicum teacher's class, the teacher went over the schedule for the day and also told us about the students who needed Special Education services and accommodations. For example, while I was teaching students how to solve a math problem during a center, my teacher told me that one of the students needed a lot of repetition and help through scaffolding. So for this student i worked mainly one on one and broke down the math problem into smaller sections for the student to understand better. That was the only time that I saw a student who needed accommodations, the other students either blended in or worked more with the teacher and made it hard to tell if they needed accommodations and an IEP as well. As I continue to work in the 5th grade classroom every Wednesday then I will be able to have a grasp on the students who require an IEP and Special Education Services. I need to get to know the students better before finding out their strengths and weaknesses in the class.

Introduction

My name is Alayna Maduell. I am a Special and Elementary Major. I want to work in a Resource Room or be a Speech Pathologist. I thought that I wanted to be a Journalist for all my life because I love writing but when i got to high school and took a class called Teaching Academy I realized teaching was my passion. All my jobs throughout high school had involved teaching in some way whether it was tutoring, working aftercare at a community center, volunteering at non-profit organizations or working summer day camps. I have always loved helping people in some way and makes me feel good knowing that i can make a difference in someone's life even in a small way. I want to be a Special Education Teacher because school never came easy to me, I always needed more attention and patience when being helped in school and had to work even harder than most students. I didn't start to have great teachers until the end of high school and it made me want to be an even better teacher for students who need more help to succeed. I am excited to be working in a 5th grade classroom this semester and working with older kids and learning from them.