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.

TPA Lesson Plan Response

TPA Lesson Plan Response

In the WHAT conditions of the Context for Learning I was unsure of what to include for the requirements and expectations. It went from the district level down to the cooperating teacher’s requirements and I’m realizing I have not made myself privy to the information of the policies of the district. Last quarter I seemed to accept my cooperating teacher’s curriculum as just being based off of the EARL’s but I missed the boat on the influences that the district and school may be putting on her

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Another section was of surprise is the Parent and Community Connections. Parents are the backbone for a student and can play a large role in their successes and failures. The connection that I have seen with this in my cooperating class is that there is a class website where a parent has access to tracking their child’s success. Also, a weekly calendar is put up to let parents be aware of test dates and special events as well as daily assignments. I think this could be utilized more to allow for help with lab materials or a possible field trip. In a smaller town like Medical Lake I think it might be possible to have a couple of field trips which would have been great during our ecosystem and vertebrate grouping units. I’m not sure how to involve parents directly into the classroom and would think it would cause too many classroom management issues.

Introduction and closure in the instructional strategies section is one of the most valuable portions to the lesson plan. Setting the objective is the first thing I do in starting my lesson plan and is the first thing I communicate to my students.  The objective always takes me back to Bloom’s Taxonomy in using verbs that are measurable. It’s at this point that I make sure my objectives are aligned with my content standards and to start brainstorming to think about how my learning activities match up too.  One thing that is missing from the Introduction portion in regards to objectives is being more specific in communicating by way of sound, sight, and re-iteration by students. Simply stating the objective is not enough.

A valuable section in the lesson plan is the Differentiated Instruction especially in our quickly diversifying society. It wasn’t long ago when students would be taught in just one way and if a student didn’t comprehend then they were considered handicapped. I think there’s an understanding now that there are many different learning styles and that teachers and students can all appreciate that. Heterogeneous grouping plays well into differentiated instruction and works well for inclusion of 504 and IEP students. I’ve also been trying to use guided notes, accepting oral answers, and providing extra time. However, I’m a bit unsure of working with English Language Learners as there aren’t any in the class that I’m observing. My main concern is being able to give adequate time to each student and to be sure to not lower the standards. This section of the lesson plan has efficacy at its core.