Context for Learning Assignment

I conducted an interview with my cooperating teacher.

I’m assigned at a middle school and the school is described as between a suburban and rural setting.

The school does not partake in any special programs like AVID or honor courses although they do provide elective courses for those students that are not in band or choir. My cooperating teacher will be teaching a hands-on medical elective class this coming fall.

There is a scope and sequence program that is used across all grades to understand what standards have been met and what academic language should be known. This scope and sequence then dictates the curriculum map which is outlined at the start of the year. A curriculum map plans out units and daily lessons.

-Discuss the classroom:

            I am observing a 7^th-grade math class that has emphasis on proportional reasoning and geometry at this time. I’m also observing two periods of 7^th-grade Life Science with the last trimester focusing on chemistry. Each course extends the length of the school year and each period is 50 minutes in length.

            Each class has a wide range of abilities and full inclusion is always the goal. It affects the class in how groups are made for lab projects and how seating arrangements are made. IEP and students with 504 plans receive preferential seating which is usually near the front of the class. Other students are very accommodating.

            The textbook that I use in the Life Science courses are a collection of Prentice Hall-Science Explorer books. The textbooks are incorporated with guided note-taking when introducing a new topic.

            The classroom contains a smart board, document cam, and a laptop in the front which are frequently used in entry tasks and in demonstrations. The document cam has surprising clarity when demonstrating a dissection. There is no other technology present in the classroom besides calculators that are always provided. Seven lab stations are set up on the perimeter of the class.

-Discuss the students in the classroom:

            The estimated percentage of students eligible for free/reduced lunch is 37%. The class is composed of all seventh-grade in which there are 24 students with 16 males and 8 females. There are not any English Language Learners or Gifted students. There are 3 IEPs and 3 readers that are at or below a second-grade reading level.

            Accommodations and modifications for students receiving special education or 504 services is really student dependent. For the students receiving special education the class I’m observing will give a copy of the guided notes especially to our low readers. Also, oral responses are taken for a couple of students who struggle with writing but understand the math and science content. Test and assignment accommodations include a shortened test/assignment that focuses entirely on the main concepts and they are read to the students as well. Heterogeneous grouping is used as other students can help teach material from a new angle. Group placement is very important with placing motivated students with special education students as it keeps them on task. As mentioned before preferential seating is required for students with 504 services.