TWS: Contextual Factors

Classroom Factors: Physical Features: In Mrs. Carters classroom there are posters and things the class has done on the walls. It is open for Mrs. Carter and I to walk around while the class is doing work independently. Availability of Technology: The availability of technology in Mrs. Carters class is more than I have seen in other classrooms. There are four computers available to the students in her class. There is also a Promethium board at the front of the classroom. Also they have a piece of technology that has a camera and shows what is underneath it. Equipment: In my classroom there is many pieces of equipment. Some of their most used pieces of equipment are the Promethium board and the document camera. Some other equipment in the classroom is the teachers desk, sink, printer, and four computers. Learning environment: The learning environment in Mrs. Carters classroom is good. The students are always engaged and interested in what Mrs. Carter is teaching. The classroom is organized but some students desk are unorganized, but these students are the students with IEPs. Resources: In the back of the classroom there is an organized classroom library. Also the students are given all the materials and resources they need to understand the lesson being taught. Parent Involvement: I have not been in a situation where I have noticed parent involvement. I went on a field trip with my class and there were three parents that went on the field trip as chaperons. I have heard Mrs. Carter say she text the childrens parents often and the students are sometimes given notes to take home to their parents. Classroom rules and routines: The classroom rules and routines are known well by the students. They are given a circle on a chart that Mrs. Carter has on a clipboard and she gives it to the extra curricular teachers so they can keep track of how students are behaving in their classrooms as well. They are given specific duties each week, which are on a hanging chart at the front of the room. They have a weekly bathroom monitor for the girls and boys bathroom who must go in and check the bathroom and tell their classmates how many can come in. Grouping patterns: I have only seen grouping patterns done by Mrs. Carter once. They were done the way the desks were set up. Scheduling: The children arrive to school around 8:00 in the morning and their day begins at 8:15. The first subject they learn is math. After math they go to their extra curricular activity for the day. After their activity they go back to class and eat lunch

around 11:00. After lunch they come to the classroom and do language arts and history. Their learning day ends at about 2:30 and dismissal is at 3:00. Classroom Arrangement: The class room is arranged with six desk horizontally on one side of the room, four desk facing the front of the room, six desk horizontally on the other side of the room, in the middle of the class there are ten desk, two are together and three together behind the two, four are behind them, and one students sits behind them. All of the students are able to see the board from their seat. Student Characteristics and Demographics: There are 26 students in Mrs. Carters Third Grade Class at Ninety Six Elementary. Twelve girls and fourteen males, the ages of the girls are there are five females and six males that are eight years old. There are six females and eight males that are nine years old. There is one female who is ten years old. The diversity spilt for the girls is as follows: two African American, nine Caucasian, and one Hispanic. The diversity for the boys is as follows: four African American, one Asian, eight Caucasian, and one Hispanic. There is three females who go to LD Resource for reading and math. There is one male who goes to SST. There is one male who receives services from the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind. There are two males who go to the PLUS Program. The same data input into a table: Mrs. Carters Third Grade Class at Ninety Six Elementary Spring 2014 Description Nos. of children Eight years old Nine years old Ten years old African American Asian Caucasian Hispanic LD Resource SST SC School for Deaf and Blind PLUS program Female 12 5 6 1 2 0 9 1 0 0 0 0 Male 14 6 8 0 4 1 8 1 3 1 1 2 Total 26 11 14 1 6 1 17 2 3 1 1 2

Age

Race/ethnicity

Special needs/ IEP

In my classroom I have two students who are allergic to red dye, one who is lactose intolerant, and one who has Celiac disease, which is when all of her food must be gluten free. The students were given the MAP test during the first month of school. Based on the scores, there are 6 students reading below grade level, nine students reading on or slightly above grade level, and eleven students reading above grade level. In math skills, there are seven students who are below grade level, nine students that are on grade level, and ten students above grade level. Instructional Implications: An instructional implication I have to apply to my instructional planning and assessments is the student who receives services from the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind must have his worksheets magnified to a larger print because of his eyesight. Also if I use the Promethium Board I have to connect it to his iPad in order for him to follow along with my instructions and examples at his desk. Another implication I had to take into consideration while planning my Valentines Day lesson, because I am using M & Ms, were my students who had special circumstances with the food they intake. For my students with red food allergy, I made their candy bags with only white M&Ms. For my student who has Celiac I had to check with my cooperating teacher to make her she was able to have chocolate. Finally for my child who is lactose intolerant I am not going to allow any of my students to eat their candy in the classroom, all of them must put it in their book bags to take home to their families to make the decision whether they can eat it or not. For my students who have learning disabilities when I pair them with other classmates, they will be placed with my students who are more advanced in the subject.