Nastasha Green

Education 429
Contextual Factors
Classroom Factors
When I first walked down the fifth grade hallway, there were a lot of posters hanging up
dealing with the students and activities going on around the school. As I made my way to Mrs.
Bledsoes classroom, I noticed About Me poems the students had created. They were very
colorful and displayed information about the students. When I walked into the classroom, it was
very spacious. The desk were spread out and placed in groups of twos and threes. The majority
of the boys are placed in the first two rows and the girls are spread out amongst them. Mrs.
Bledsoe separated all of the students that are best friends, in order to keep the students on task.
Mrs. Bledsoes desk is to the right of the students, in a corner next to the Promethean board. The
Promethean board is used to display the morning warm-ups, the morning show, math book, and
PowerPoints that the students need to know. The students desks are facing the front of the
classroom towards the whiteboard. The date, lunch choices for that day, and homework for the
next day are written in the top right corner of the whiteboard. The remaining space is used
throughout the day to go over work and lessons. To the right of the whiteboard is a recycling bin,
school calendar, and the daily schedule. Hanging above the whiteboard is the American flag and
next to that is the television. Under the television are the reading table and a window. Mrs.
Bledsoe uses this table to perform running records, guided, shared, and independent reading. To
the left of the reading table are two bookshelves, a board games cart, a bulletin board with the
names of each student, and an emergency exit window. Students are allowed to go to the
bookshelves before class or when they are finished with an independent activity. Above the
second window is the South Carolina flag. At the back of the classroom are three computers,
cabinets, and a sink with a water fountain. These cabinets contain extra materials such as glue,
paper, and scissors for the students to use when necessary. The computers are used for research
and educational games during free time. The overall atmosphere of the classroom is positive and
relaxing for both the teacher and students.
When the students enter the classroom, they must take their homework folder and signed
agenda out and write their homework down. Once they are finished writing down their
homework and upcoming events, they place their agenda on the corner of their desk. The
students then place their book bags on the back of their chairs since they do not have cubbies.
Next, students start their daily warm-ups that consist of three review questions. Students are
given about five minutes to complete their warm-ups. During this time, Mrs. Bledsoe checks
homework, takes attendance, and marks lunch choices. When that is completed, Mrs. Bledsoe
reviews the warm-ups as a whole class. Then, the students go over their homework from the
previous night and answer any questions. Next, the students start learning. The first subject that
is taught is math, then English, and social studies. The students go to recess and lunch from
12:00 p.m. to 12:55 p.m. After recess and lunch, the class heads back to the classroom and starts
a science lesson. After science, the students start packing their book bags and pulling their
agendas out for Mrs. Bledsoe to sign. Mrs. Bledsoe keeps in contact with the students parents
through the agenda. She writes notes on behavior, meetings that may need to take place, and
answers questions. The students must get their agendas signed every night to make sure their
parents are seeing what Mrs. Bledsoe is writing. Once that is completed, the students line up for
their related arts. The related arts consist of Spanish, music, computer lab, physical education,
and art. When related arts are over, the students come back to the classroom, stack their chairs on
their desk, and wait to be dismissed.
Student Characteristics
In this fifth grade classroom, there are twenty two students ranging between the ages of
ten and eleven. There are eleven boys and eleven girls. The class consist of sixteen Caucasian
students; eight girls and eight boys, and six African American students; three girls and three
boys. Four of the students come from upper middle class families and either pay for lunch or
bring it. Sixteen students come from middle class families and receive free or reduced lunch. The
two remaining students come from lower income families and receive free lunch. In the
academic area, there are five students below grade level in math receiving a percentage between
50 and 70 on their interim reports. Seven students are above grade level ranging from 93 to 100
percent, and ten students are on grade level receiving grades between 70 and 90 percent. One of
the students that are below grade level in math, gets pulled out for math intervention once a day.
For reading there are three students that are below grade level with grades ranging from 60 to 70
percent, and one of these students get pulled out of class during the day. There are eight students
that are above grade level for reading, receiving grades between 93 to 100 percent, and eleven
are on the reading grade level with 70 to 90 percent. The student that is below grade level in
reading is also one of the students that get pulled out for math. This student receives math and
reading intervention twice a day. Sometimes these two students are not required to participate in
class activities because they get pulled out around that time. These two students do not actively
participate in class discussion and tend to doubt themselves. This class also has two students that
made perfect scores on the Palmetto Assessment of State Standards test. One scored exemplary
on reading and the other on math. These two students have the highest grades in the classroom,
and are two of the four students who are in PLUS. PLUS is the gifted and talented program at
Ninety Six. These students go to PLUS once every week and work on new material that is above
their grade level. The majority of the lessons aim towards visual and auditory learners, but after
helping some students one on one, I believe many would benefit from the kinesthetic learning
style. The students truly work hard in class and seem to grasp the concepts of different lessons.
The students in this class are very boisterous and opinionated. The girls and boys are
always competing or forming ideas and answering questions together. They love to express their
ideas through talking, yet they are still respectful toward Mrs. Bledsoe and their fellow
classmates. The students are interested in games, drawing, reading, entertaining, and helping one
another. Their favorite and least favorite subjects are math and social studies because they
believe these subjects are difficult and boring. They tend to become distracted easily or change
subjects when the lesson is boring or if they are sitting too long. I have also noticed that the
students do not respond well when a teacher yells at them. They like to feel respected and in turn
will show respect. As fifth graders, they are stuck between being a kid and maturing. They love
to joke around but are not disrespectful. The have become a family and are very passionate
individuals.
Instructional Implications
After evaluating and observing this classroom, there will be many factors that influence
the way I will interact and teach the students this semester. These students have great ideas and
are socially aware of the people around them. They enjoy learning information that is relevant
and interesting to them. My goal for this semester is to tackle the students least favorite subjects,
math and social studies, and turn them into fun learning experiences. The students view these
subjects as tedious and insignificant. They do not see the importance of these subjects because
they are not appealing to their eyes. For math, I notice that many of students get confused on
what steps to take during a word problem, and simply use any number to try to figure an answer
out. I want the students to become confident in the material they have learned and know the
proper steps to take. As an instructional strategy, I will have the students create a song dealing
with the different methods that can be used in a word problem and practice that method. I believe
creating a song will get the students involved and excited about learning the steps. While the
students are working to create a song, I will observe and ask questions as an assessment to see
why students chose certain words to place in their songs. I want to know what makes the song
relatable to the methods they need to learn. I would write down the different methods that could
be used during problem solving for the two students that receive intervention for math, and place
them in groups with students that already understand how to solve problems. I believe that
students are able to explain information clearer to one another that will help with understanding.
When I teach social studies, I want the students to feel as if they are from that time
period. I will implement a readers theatre using props and clothing so that students will get the
feel of what it was like back then. I believe the students will enjoy an activity like this because it
allows them to become creative and makes the information interesting.
I want the students to understand that learning can be fun and easy, if they are willing to
try. These students want something different and I want to make sure I can provide them with
that change. I will be sure to include the students that are pulled out in lessons, by simplifying
what I am teaching so that they can fully understand it. I will provide them with notes to follow
along and extra activities that appeal to them. If the students can continue to be respectful and
work hard, I know that group work would be the best teaching strategy to use. It allows the
students to be active and gives them time to express themselves. I look forward to working with
this group of students and believe that I can implement great knowledge in a more relevant way.