Journal Practicum student: Joel Wright Date of Entry: January 23, 2012

Describe an instructional interaction that is:___ effective

I have been working on a one-on-one basis with a 5th grade African American male on ELA. He has been very positive and cooperative, and, I believe, he looks forward to our time together as a good part of his day. Several teachers have mentioned that he has had some behavioral issues recently. However, I have yet to perceive anything on his part other than active participation and interest. We have been working on his literacy skills, specifically phonics and fluency, and I would like to progress to more reading comprehension skills when appropriate.

Mark the learning variables that made it problematic/effective: Task difficulty environmental considerations Curriculum meaningfulness _clarity of task Prompting materials Consequences If the scenario above was problematic, describe solutions to variables mentioned. If the scenario was effective, describe how the variables were used correctly.
This scenario has been effective for many reasons. We follow the same routine every day, and so the student knows how to transition from one activity to the next, and he knows what is expected of him. The material is at or near his reading levels, as opposed to his push-in ELA courses, which were too difficult for him. Finally, I have tried to practice errorless learning as closely as possible, which I hope will result in accelerated learning on the students part.

Based on your reflection above, describe 1 action you choose to use to be effective and explain why. Practicing errorless learning is the most efficient way for a student with a specific learning disability to make progress in an area that is difficult for him or her. I have been trying to use a prompting system that uses a 0second time delay to improve his phonics. I have yet to implement a formal instructional program, but I am hoping that one will grow out of our work together up to this point.