Savannah Taylor

Dr. Gilbert
ECED 329
October 1, 2014

Teacher Work Sample #1

Classroom Factors:

Physical Features:

The School that I am doing my 329 Field Experience in is Ninety Six Primary School. Ninety Six
Primary consist of four main buildings. The buildings consist of: A kindergarten building, first
and second grade building, Library/Main Office, and a Gym. I am located in the first and second
grade building in Mrs. Cobbs second grade classroom. Mrs.Cobbs classroom is full of bright
colors and education posters that the children can look to that might inspire and motivate them
during their work day. As soon as you walk into Mrs. Cobbs classroom, you are greeted by
three groups of desks that have each childs name on them with their work folder open and
ready for them to start working on as soon as they come in during the morning. To the right of
the room you will see a white board that has a very colorful calendar with different decorations
depending on the season. You will also see the classroom library where students are free to get
books during independent reading time. If you look to your left, you will see the Promethean
Board, the teachers desk, and the classroom computer. At the back of the classroom you will
see where the students hang their book bag along with a kidney shaped table where Mrs. Cobb
does one on one instruction with students. At the front of the classroom there is a white board
where the morning work is posted and the lunch count is taken. The classroom is very
organized and clean. Students are very aware of their spaces and make sure to have all of their
school stuff is in order. I enjoy going to my field experience classroom because the environment
is very welcoming and inviting.

Availability of Technology

In Mrs. Cobbs classroom, there is only one computer that can be used for student instruction,
but is mainly used for the teachers records and other uses. The main piece of technology that
the students have interaction with on a daily basis would be the Promethean Board. This board

is used to show the morning work, Morning Show, and other lessons that are taught
throughout the day.

Equipment:

Some of the equipment in the classroom would be multiple drawing and writing easels,
clipboards for use during center time, and the Promethean Board equipment.

Learning Environment:

The learning environment inside of this classroom is very inviting. The classroom is very
organized and clean with the use of bright colors which makes the children seem very excited
about learning. The desks are always kept very nice and neat which makes the classroom look
very put together. Mrs. Cobb tries to keep the noise level at a minimal so students can have the
peace and quiet they need to really concentrate and learn all that can during center time and
instructional lessons.

Resources:

In the classroom, Mrs. Cobb has an entire bookshelf full of instructional textbooks, dictionaries,
and childrens encyclopedias for the students to use as resources in the classroom and for
different activities.

Parent Involvement:

Since I have been in my classroom, I have not seen that much parental involvement, but one
thing that I was very impressed with was that my Media Permission forms that were sent home
to be signed were returned in a timely manner which makes me think that the parents are very
proactive about checking their students take home folder.

Classroom rules and involvement:

The daily routine is posted on the white board at the front of the classroom so the students can
see it as they are entering and exiting the room. It is clearly displayed with the times and
activities that will be done. The rules are also displayed at the front of the room, and all
students know what is expected of them and what will happen if a rule is broken.

Grouping patterns:

The students in my classroom are broken into 3 groups for seatwork, and instructional time, but
are broken into 5 teams for center time. I am not exactly sure why Mrs. Cobb grouped them the
way that she did, but through my observations I have seen that at least 1 girl 1 boy are in a
group, and no one race or ethnicity is grouped together. I think she did this so that each
students individuality could be contributed to the group learning.

Scheduling:

The schedule for the day is based on their Critical Literacy hour. So, every bathroom break,
math lesson, or pencil sharpening time is carefully put into the daily schedule so students have
as much class and instructional time as they can.

Classroom Arrangement:

I spoke about this a lot under the physical features of the classroom. The arrangement is done
so that the desks are close to the Promethean Board and the books and distractions are
towards the back. I think Mrs. Cobb did a great job when setting up her classroom because
even though it is a small room, she has arranged it so that is looks very spacious and inviting!

Student Characteristics and Demographics:

There are 12 females and 10 males in Mrs. Cobbs classroom. The children range in age from 78 years old. There are predominately white students in the classroom, but 4 African American
students. Students are tested on prior knowledge by using MAPs testing, but new ways of
testing have been implemented this year. Ninety Six is now using guided reading and running
records in order to help to assess students progress and to see where they are
developmentally. At Ninety Six, Math and Reading are the two subjects that have the most
focus, Science and Social Studies are taught but not as a primary subject. The students might
read something about Science or Social Studies, but would be focused on more reading that
learning the facts on what the text has to give them. In Mrs. Cobbs classroom, 3 students
participate in Speech class and 1 student goes to different instructional reading times which
helps him to get extra practice on reading and in other areas with language that he might have
issues with.

Instructional Implications:
In Mrs. Cobbs classroom, she uses students demographics to guide her instruction in the
classroom. Some of her students have speech issues or reading comprehension difficulties and
do not receive the help they need at home so Mrs. Cobb has to focus on how to help the
students through their disabilities. She also uses the different Centers in the room to help
students through visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning to make sure they receive as much as
they can throughout the Center and instructional time. Some things that will influence how I
plan and teach my lesson will be the availability of different resources in the classroom, the
prior knowledge of the students on a specific subject before the lesson is being taught. Since
there are students with speech impediments I would also take that into consideration when
having a responsive lesson. I would also ask Mrs. Cobb what she does to modify lessons to
make sure the students obtained as much information as they could during the instruction

time. I am very glad that I was placed with such a fantastic teacher who is willing to help me
with any lesson that I will be planning!