Fred's Case Study

Time is needed for teachers and specialists to meet and create well-constructed plans to identify and implement modifications the, accommodations, and specific goals for individual students. Collaboration must also exist among teachers, staff, and parents to meet a student’s needs and facilitate learning at home.

At 1:00 p.m. I entered into Evoline C. West Elementary school on Thursday, July 12 2012 for an interview with Mrs. Yolanda Lawrence. As I entered the classroom, I was greeted by Mrs. Lawrence, the head teacher in this classroom. Mrs. Lawrence has no assistant at this present because of it being in the summer. After I entered into the classroom, the entire class welcomed me with “hello Ms. Flournoy”. It made my day to see all of those smiley faces greeting me. This was a 2nd grade classroom which consisted of 17 students of which 8 were girls and 9 were boys. This interview and observation was a total of 2

For my Field Experience I chose to observe at Krahn Elementary which is a part of Klein Independent School District. After my approval, I was assigned to four teachers and their classrooms. I observed at Krahn Elementary on six Tuesdays between 15 September 2015 and 27 October 2015, and more or less followed the schedule that was given to me by the Assistant Principal Ms. Shannon Strole. From 8:30 am to 9:15 am I observed Ms. Judy Burkes, who is a third grade Math and Science teacher. Her classroom is comprised of twenty students which range from average to below average learners and a student with ADHD and another with autism. For most part of my observation, M. Burkes had been working with her students on fractions and multiple digits addition and subtraction. From 9:15 am to 10:30 am I observed Ms. Lisa Parker who is a Math co-teacher and resource teacher at Krahn Elementary for grades K-5. During my assigned time, Ms. Parker usually joined Mr. Duru’s fifth grade class of twenty three students as a co-teacher and when required would pull out a group of six students after initial instructions from Mr. Duru and would teach them the concepts separately at a slower pace. This particular group of students with special needs was mostly seen to be focusing more and more on mathematical word problems. These students were students with Learning disabilities, behavioral issues and one of them was a student with ADHD. From 10:30 am to 11:15, I was with Ms. Janice Bluhms, who is a

I teach in an eighth grade classroom that is set in a Jr-Sr. High school. It is located in the Jr. High hallway, near the rear of our high school. I have thirty-two student desks situated in rows and two small tables at the front of my room used for paper pick up. I painted my room a turquoise beach blue and it is decorated with various beach themed paraphernalia. I also have many inspirational quote posters up around my room, hoping to engage my students into deeper thinking. The students all have their own Chromebooks and I have a desktop computer as well as a Samsung Tablet. Many computer applications suited for 1:1 schools are used in our building. We begin our day at 7:40am with a zero period for professional development and meetings. The students have seven, forty-five minute periods beginning at 8:20am and continuing until 3:15pm. My classes include four “regular” English classes, one “Honors” class, an Essential Skills class that rotates every week with two other teachers, and a prep period. My duties throughout the year consist of sponsoring the Jr. High Student Council as well as parking lot duty for two weeks during second semester. We adhere closely to the Indiana State Standards and use the ISTEP and NWEA mandated assessments. We, as teachers, are given free rein to teach how we see fit; however, we were asked to submit curriculum mapping outlining the content/topics, key terms, sources/resources, assessments

When asked about how this impacts her instruction and instructional time, she said greatly. She alters most everything for each student and group that they are working and developing at his or her level and pace. She mentions that it can be difficult to meet all of the student’s needs with just her in the classroom and only 15 minutes a day with the support staff for their grade. However, she has seen great improvement with students as the year went on.

For the most part, we had similar ways of running our classrooms and including students in different classroom activities. However, there were 2 areas in particular that were different. First, Kim identified that she tends to group her students based on their learning needs while I tended to group students heterogeneously. This is something we knew would be different due to our learning environments. Kim, who sees her students on a daily basis, is able to identify the learning needs of her students and understand how to meet all their needs in a group environment. In the blended classroom, I am less likely to do this because I have a different student population every month. While I may have a few students

Can you tell me about this person’s ability to be flexible in responding to a student’s needs?

Taking what happened in the interactions and decided what category of class management was being utilized out of our possibilities. Also, how Junie B. reacted to each style of teaching whether is was a positive or negative interactions and whether it had a positive or negative reaction correlating with it. After deciding what our topic was going to deal with we decided to pull examples from real life that also illustrated our main ideas, so, the group also pulled examples of classroom management from bulletin boards seen in classrooms at the schools Raymond F Brandes and Creston that included clip system of disciplinary action, expectations of reading comprehension in grade levels, and a smiley to frown face disciplinary system.

A typical day consisted of, casual conversations between students, Mrs. Hughes, and myself while we wait for more students to arrive. The older female students often got side-tracked talking to one another and on their cell phones. I noticed the majority of the students who come to class are the intermediate/ advanced students, only two beginner students came throughout the entirety of my service. At most, only seven intermediate/ advanced students came to class. Yet, there were two constant students in attendance, Rose (intermediate) and Vicente (advanced). I consider both Rose and Vicente the most driven students in the program, their attendance and participation in class speaks for

Ebony, a university student, finds herself in two classes, each with their own unique atmosphere. Interpersonal Communication comes first and is taught by Professor Gardner, who has been teaching for 20 years. Organizational Communication is her second class, taught by Professor Morgan, who is younger than Professor Gardner. Each professor has a different style of teaching and opinion on how students learn most efficiently. Professor Gardner sets out his expectations, rules of conduct, and strict no-technology policy on the first day of class; he values structure and consistency for his students. Professor Morgan does not present rules for her class; she does not mind if students come in late or leave early, and appreciates the use of technology for the purpose of adapting the learning environment for each student. Professor Morgan values freedom and self-responsibility for her students. Ebony loves Interpersonal Communication, and notices that the students, when provided with structure, tend to thrive, communicate freely, and connect with other students right away. There is a lot of laughter involved, and most everyone knows each other’s names. In Organizational Communication, however, Ebony feels lost and out of touch with the path of the class. She finds that the spontaneity of Professor Morgan is more confusing than helpful; Ebony senses the disconnect between students, as most of them do not know each other’s names. Professor

For this assignment, I had to develop one new idea for involving families and their student’s progress. My cooperating teacher mentioned to me that she would either email or call her students’ parents. She said that she would contact parents through email to let them know when their student is doing well in class and she would call parents when she has a problem or issue. My cooperating teacher recently had to call two parents because the two students were disrupting the class and always talking when they are supposed to be paying attention or doing independent work. My cooperating teacher said that both of the parents responded to her well and they said that they would talk to their child about the talking and disrupting the class. After contacting the parents, my cooperating teacher said that she noticed a change in one of the students, but the other student still continued to talk and disrupt the class.

Explain the way in which teaching and learning plans can be adapted to meet the individual needs of the

When Mrs. L began to share on Richards behavior when he attend the learning center with her she expressed that his distractions are limited. When he is at the learning center he has less students to become distracted from and he is able to stay focus on assignments. Currently, Richard works with a small group of students that are at close to his learning level. Mrs. L. expressed how it is more easy for Richard to work in a small group, because he is able to keep up with the learning material and use the students as reference to

There are three teachers in the classroom, one does reading/lesson circle with a small group of students, another does arts and crafts, and one of them circulates throughout the room helping students with their work-plans. The teacher that circulates around the room all the time appears to be the head teacher and when a conflict arises she is the one to mediate it. The way that the teachers speak with the children is as if they are equals, they aren’t talked down to and the students give the teachers complete respect.

The classroom follows a partial day inclusion program. Ms. Welsh’s classroom on the second floor of Village School is considered their base area. The student’s belongings are all kept in the classroom upstairs and they spend the majority of their time there throughout the day. All students are taught by both teachers for math, science, and social studies. For reading and writing, Ms. Wilush teaches three students in a pull-out resource room on the first floor of the building. When it is time for students to review those lessons, the three students make their way down to Ms. Wilush’s classroom with the folders and other materials they may need. Once reading and writing periods are completed, the students either return to Ms. Welsh’s classroom or go to an alternate room for specials such as art or music. Ms. Wilush and Ms. Welsh’s relationship can be described as both friendly and professional. Ms. Welsh is currently going to graduate school for special education, so she is learning a lot from Ms. Wilush’s work. At the same time, Ms. Wilush is taking the opportunity to learn from such an experienced teacher as Ms. Welsh who has taught for ten years. They believe that the best way to work efficiently and achieve the most success for each student is