ESE Students in the classroom

This semester, I had my first classroom experiences with ESE (Exceptional Student Education) students. My second placement gave me experiences with both sides of the ESE spectrum. Two of my students were in the gifted program and one was in the ESE/students with disabilities program. This experience gave me the opportunity to observe how a teacher differentiates instruction for both sides and how AIPs affect classroom learning. My lower ESE student was pulled from our classroom twice a day for extra reading and math support. Because he is the only low ESE student in 2nd grade, this time was spent learning one-on-one from a paraprofessional educator. This aide helped him complete the work we did in the regular classroom as well as provide extra support in his areas of weakness. During regular classroom instruction, he was permitted to work with a partner and was often given slightly easier morning work. He was also given extra time during tests.

My gifted students were also given extra support in the form of a paraprofessional aide. Once a week, all of the gifted second graders met in a new classroom and were given enrichment work. This work went above and beyond the second grade standards. In our classroom, we provide our gifted students with extra worksheets after they complete their work. We also give them more difficult morning work and ask them higher order thinking questions during their guided reading groups.

This experience has taught me how easy it is to differentiate instruction in the regular classroom and opened my eyes to the resources ESE students of all ability levels have.

Classroom Management During Daily 5/iii

My second placement uses the "Daily 5" model for reading instruction. For those unfamiliar with this structure, this model revolves around four student centers and one teacher center. Centers change twice weekly so each student has a chance to visit at least four centers. The centers my supervising teacher uses are "Read to Self", "Listen to Reading", "Word Work", "Writing", and "Teacher". The teacher center is reserved for students receiving iii interventions. Initially, I was nervous about this structure because I was unsure how the teacher would be able to manage her classroom while providing triage help to her lowest students. After observing Daily 5 during my first week, I was impressed by how well the students managed themselves. Students met on the carpet before each rotation and chose a center to visit. Each center had a learning goal and scale posted for the students to see so they always knew what was expected of them. They knew what to do at each center, when to rotate, and what to do if they finished their work early. Because the students were so organized and self-sufficient during their rotations, my supervising teacher and I were both able to select iii students to intervene with. We were able to meet with twice as many students as she would meet with normally and provide individualized help without worrying about whether or not the other students were on task. Now that I have seen the Daily 5 model in action, I understand how it is beneficial to all students and have gathered some ideas for how to manage my classroom should this be the model my future schools decide to implement.


RECs: 6.10, 6.7

Learning Enviroments

In RED 3012, RED 4519, and RED 4942, we spent a substantial amount of time discussing learning environments and the best way to create a print-rich environment. My first placement was an example of an exemplary literacy environment. Each student had their own browsing box filled with books on their reading level and in their interests. Students were permitted to read anywhere they felt comfortable and were also allowed to read with a stuffed animal from a favorite story (i.e. Cat in the Hat or Horton the Elephant). The classroom library was separated into boxes based on reading level and genre. Each genre box was labeled with both words and a picture that described that genre. The reading corner was decorated with favorite literary characters, bean bags, and motivational reading posters.

The set-up of my supervising teacher's classroom was both inviting and beneficial. ELLs benefited from the picture labeling on the boxes as well as the motivational posters around the room. Every student knew their reading level and knew exactly where to pick their books from. Students in this classroom found reading fun and loved reading in the reading corner with their animals. Before I left my placement, I took notes on the classroom set-up and learning environment so I will be able to apply what I saw to my own classroom.

My supervising teacher also uses her classroom environment to enhance vocabulary instruction. Her students are constantly surrounded by new vocabulary words through word sorts and a vocabulary wall. She also utilizes read-alouds to build vocabulary. Each morning, we read a book before morning circle. After lunch, we read from a chapter book at least two grades above ours. This helped introduce our students to words they had not encountered yet.

RECs: 6.12, 6.5

Case Study: Comprehension

I completed my case study with a first grade student in my first placement. I spent the majority of my intervention time working on his comprehension skills (more specifically, recalling details). According to his initial QRI and data I received from his classroom teacher, my student struggled with summarizing and identifying key details. I worked with him daily on summarizing short stories we read during our read-aloud time. I used the gradual release model to demonstrate how to use "first", "next", "then", "last" to retell a story. I spent two days on each section of the gradual release model ("I do", "We do", "You do") until I was confident in his ability to summarize a story with this model. Next, I began to teach him how to choose the most important details to write a one-sentence summary. Unfortunately, my time in my student's class ended before I was able to fully complete my instructional plan. Before I left, I shared my plans with the reading aide in my class and she continued to carry out this plan after I changed classes. Through my case study, I was able to pinpoint my student's exact needs and figure out a plan that would best benefit him. While the case study process was long, it was very helpful and I feel I will be able to complete the process quicker when I enter my own classroom.

RECs: 6.1, 6.6, 6.8

RTI with ELLs

Based on my school's 90-minute reading block, each RTI (Response to Intervention) group receives extra support four days a week. My supervising teacher is in charge of instructing the lowest 2nd graders in the school. We work on reading mastery, word recognition, and phonics (recognizing blends, vowel sounds, and individual letter sounds) rather than building comprehension. We introduced our students to letter chunks (such as -eck, -ay, -ee) and worked on building words using these chunks. Teaching these chunks rather than working on comprehension allowed us to increase our students' word recognition and helped them decode unfamiliar words.

Several of the students in our reading group are ELLs (English Language Learners). My teacher is challenged each day to provide him with the extra support he needs. We allow him to whisper read and ensure each of the stories he reads contain enough visuals that he can interpret the meaning of each page using just the pictures. Over the past few weeks, I have seen his word and letter recognition improve greatly. Echo reading has also improved his fluency and intonation. He is able to mimic my intonation and phrasing as I read and apply it to his own reading.

RECs 6.4, 6.11, 6.12, 6.3, 6.2