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Hayli Thompson ELED 300 Intro to Teaching Mrs. Cikanek 18 April, 2014 Reflection Paper A classroom structure can dramatically affect students' attitudes and ways of learning. While observing at Dorie Miller Intermediate in Mrs. Raburns 4th grade English/Reading classroom, I perceived her setup as being pleasant and inviting. The students environment was organized, encouraging, and comfortable. There were 25 students in attendance for Raburns homeroom. There was various inspirational posters on the walls with encouraging quotes. The classroom environment was arranged in a practical physical layout, providing various materials and supplies and the desks were faced toward each other making it possible for the students to have group work and turn and talk. The teachers desk was placed next to the smart board facing the students. Along the back wall there was a row of four computers followed by a learning center in the right corner, equipped with learning materials for group work. Mrs. Raburn shared positive qualities of good communications, there was respect in a classroom, and she showed interest in teaching from the point of view of the teacher and learning from a student. During my observation there was interaction of passive learning, the students directed their attention for lecture at the beginning of class, then read an assignment in group work, followed by video shown on the smart board. Mrs. Raburn had significant classroom management, she used a discipline technique of positive reinforcement as a reaction to a problem situation. The management of discipline consists of rewarding the students with good behavior and good grades with tickets. At the end of the month the children get to use their tickets to choose a prize from the teachers gift basket or to use it towards a free homework

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pass. There was only a few interruptions at which were handled by advising the student they would lose recess time if not corrected. This method had an effective outcome, clearly the student did not want to lose time to play and the problem was quickly resolved. In order to provide maximum time for learning and to reduce bad behavior, enforcing discipline provided a better opportunity for the students to learn. The lesson taught was centered on a Phonics instruction. Phonics instruction is a teaching method that teaches the relationship between sounds and the letters we use to represent them. Using Phonic is also an effective strategy to use with reading disorders and can be used along with word recognition strategies. The students went over test samples from the previous STARR testing packet. After lecture the students formed a grouping configuration reading out loud, using process of elimination, and discussing trial and error. As the students gather into their groups there were about 3 students who were excused to go an ESL classroom for better understanding of the lesson and there were also a few 504 students that received direct attention from the teacher. Reflecting on my time with all the students, I strongly believe that the learning process is dependent on what I know and learning from my mistakes. In the classroom there were positive strengths in decision-making and action-taking. I really liked the relationship between the teacher and the students and the respect the students gave the teacher. Most significantly, I think that children are most importantly influenced by an instructors ethical approach to education. Therefore, my personal philosophy is sincerely based on the values and morals that are in the best interests of the student.