Teacher Work Sample 1 Contextual Factors

Classroom Factors:
Mrs. Smiths fifth grade classroom provides a warm and inviting environment that makes students and visitors feel welcome. The classroom setup provides a safe yet serious environment for students to learn and achieve their goals. The classroom consists of posters, terms, and references pertaining to fifth grade math standards. The schools motto is placed on the wall above the students cubbies. The motto addresses a positive behavior intervention system in which the students should hold while performing in the school and classroom. Mrs. Smiths instructs three classes a day, the first class is homeroom while the other two come from the same cluster. Mrs. Smith interacts with one of the two fifth grade clusters, the cluster that visits Mrs. Smith daily consist of fifty nine students. The students spend an hour and a half daily in Math and ELA while Science and Social studies is split throughout the week. When each class time has ended the students line up at the door and wait to be instructed to change classes. The students have a daily routine of coming quietly into the classroom and having out their materials needed. During class the students are expected to follow the school and class rules. If the students continue to not follow the directions they will receive a mark which involves cut or no recess time. When a student has received one mark it is considered a warning, two marks means five minutes off recess, three marks means ten minutes, and four marks means the students does not receive recess for the day. If a student has received enough marks to not attend recess for three days then their homeroom teacher is responsible for making a phone call home. The rules were addressed and reviewed numerous times in the beginning of the school year. Mrs. Smith continues to ensure that the students follow the rules while continuing to reinforce them. The rules are also stated on the wall for the students to refer back to at anytime. The students are aware of the routine performed at the end of class, the students are to quietly pack their materials up and line up before transitioning classes. When walking into the classroom there is a small three tier yellow shelf that holds numerous things. Mrs. Smiths lunch menu is visible for students to place their Popsicle stick into a lunch choice box. The students have three choices for lunch; each box represents a different lunch for the students to choose from. Homeroom students are to make their lunch choice when coming into the classroom in the morning. The lunch menu is placed on a small shelf which also holds the students Popsicle sticks, lunch tags, and hand sanitizers. The bottom tier shelf holds clipboards and red folders to place on the students desk during test. The clipboards are at easy access for students who are required to complete homework at recess. On the shelf lies a basket for students to turn in their test papers or class work before transition classes. The students desk are connected and placed in three long rows with a break in the middle to allow Mrs. Smith to move around. At the front of the classroom there is a Smartboard mounted between a white board and a magnetic board. The desk provides the students with a clear view of the Smartboard and allows Mrs. Smith to mobilize during instruction time. The seating arrangement allows for students to talk and turn to peers as well as work with partners during group work. Mrs. Smith

continues to move the desks each nine weeks to give the students a change while still providing social interaction. When Mrs. Smith changes the seating arrangement she ensures that every student maintains easy access around the room along as well as a line of visibility towards the Smart and white board. On the far right side of the classroom hold the students cubbies and a line of coat racks. The homeroom students are to place materials not being used for the day in the cubby as well as their book bags on their rack. The homeroom students are only allowed to use their cubbies in the beginning and end of the day. The homeroom students are instructed to have their book bags ready to move to other classes but are allowed to place their math materials in their cubbies before transitioning to their last two classes. The two non homeroom classes are not allowed to use the cubbies in Mrs. Smiths class. When the two non homeroom students come into the classroom they are instructed to have only their math materials out and place their book bags in the racks to prevent clutter. In the back right corner Mrs. Smith has set up a small carpeted area which holds books of different genres. The area allows students to grab a book if a student has completed their own before the next scheduled library date. The carpet area also holds previous math activities completed in class, when students have available time they are allowed to perform the activities and games used in previous classes. Beside the carpeted area are three computers placed on separate desks. For the first four weeks of school only one of the three computers has been accessible. Due to the broken computers the students are allowed to use their cluster teachers computer if they are not involved in direct instruction. The computers are provided for the students to take accelerated reading test as well as other educational games. Mrs. Smiths desk is placed in the back of the room but is not used as much as her work area placed in the front right corner of the classroom. Mrs. Smiths computer and Smartboard switch is placed on a small desk out of the students way but easy access for Mrs. Smith. Against the wall and beside Mrs. Smiths computer desk is a filing cabinet that holds test papers, lesson plans, long range plans, and student discipline from past and present years. The Elmo is placed beside Mrs. Smiths computer for an easy transition from the Smartboard to the Elmo. On the far left side of the classroom Mrs. Smith is provided with high and low cabinets to store materials and resources used by the students. The cabinets hold items used by Mrs. Smith and the students: scissors, color pencils, paper, notebooks, rules, individual whiteboards, hands on activities, and more. The cabinets are large and allow the classroom to be clutter free and maintain an organized system. The class continues to have large amount of parental involvement as far as volunteering, conferences, and providing classroom supplies. During meet the teacher, students and parents came to visit their homeroom and drop off supplies for the year. The supplies consist of hand sanitizer, sanitary wipes, Kleenexs, and dry eraser markers. Mrs. Smith continues to make phone calls and send email to communicate with parents about students work and behavior performances. Mrs. Smith has held parent teacher conferences in the classroom to allow parents to visualize the students environment as well as referring back to students work. The community continues to support the elementary school through funder raisers and additional supplies. Abbeville High school football players come to the elementary on Fridays to help with bus and car rider duties. The community and families are supportive and involved with the elementary school.

Student Characteristics:
The fifth grade cluster that Mrs. Smith sees daily consists of fifty nine students. The majority of the students have spent their elementary career at Westwood Elementary. The age of the students in the class ranges from ten to twelve years old. Mrs. Smiths homeroom class consists of ten students, 70% which are boys and 30% girls. In the class 20% of the students are Caucasian females, 50% are African American female students. Out of the percentage of boy students there is 10% Caucasian males and 20% African American males. The majority of the students come from low socioeconomic status, while few come from lower socioeconomic status. Mrs. Smiths homeroom students are considered her low level class, the students who have been placed in the class held the lowest percentile of PASS test scores out of 300. The students placed in the low level class scored under a 210 on their Math PASS test. The students reading PASS scores were border line or under 210 out of 300. All except one student receives free lunch and three out of the ten take medication for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). There is one IEP in the homeroom class, his accommodations require his test to be read aloud, a slanted desk area for easy accessibility (the student receives a three ring binder to provide a slanted writing area), and a foot stool under his desk. The student is required additional accommodations during ELA to adjust to his writing skills. There are four students who receive 504 accommodations; these students attend additional help three out of the five days of the week during related arts. There are no ESOL students in the class that need assistance outside the classroom, all the students speak English. None of the students have hearing impairments that require assistance. Out of the ten homeroom students two are required to wear glasses throughout the day. Mrs. Smiths second class consists of twenty nine students. In the class 68% are Caucasian girls and 32% African American. In the class 90% are Caucasian males and 10% Asian males. The majority of the students come from middle to high socioeconomic status. Mrs. Smiths second class of students is considered her high level class, the students who have been placed in the class held the highest percentile of PASS test scores out of 300. The students placed in the high level class scored at least a 225 or higher out of 300 on their Math PASS scores. The students reading PASS scores were at or above 220 out of 300. Three students from the high level class receive free lunch and eight out of the thirty take medication for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and one student takes anxiety medication. The students who require medication and eye impairments are classified as IEPs which requires individual documentation stating their accommodations. None of the students are classified as 504, ESOL, or have a hearing impairment. Four of the students are required to wear glasses throughout the day. The third class Mrs. Smiths instructs consists of twenty students, 40% are girls and 60% boys. Twelve percent of the females are Caucasian and 88% are African-American. Forty-two percent of males are Caucasian and 58% are African-Americans. The majority of the students are considered middle socioeconomic status, while few are considered lower socioeconomic status. The third class Mrs. Smiths instructs is considered her middle level class, the students who have been placed in the class held the middle percentile of PASS test scores out of 300. The students placed in the middle level class have scored between a 210 and 225 on their Math PASS scores. The students reading PASS scores were between 210 and 220. Seventeen out of the twenty students receive free lunch and twelve out of the

twenty take medication for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). One students takes daily medication for allergies and asthma and is required to report to the nurse station after lunch. All students taking medication or using prescription glasses are categorized with an IEP. There are no ESOL students in the class that need assistance outside the classroom. None of the students have hearing impairments that require assistance. One of the twenty students is required to wear glasses throughout the day. Due to the large amount of students and different learning styles the three classes may address material in different ways. Mrs. Smiths homeroom class requires more time spent of materials and perform best with hands on and visual activities. Students from Mrs. Smiths high level class perform best during direct instruction, and when using visuals. The students in the high level class need less time addressing material and prefer to complete work individually or with a partner. The middle level class does not need as much instruction time as the low level class but requires more than the high level students. The middle level class performs best while working individually or when using visuals and hands on materials. All three classes have different learning styles and accommodations, having the classes split into different levels allow Mrs. Smith to address to individual learning styles. A majority of the male students show a large interest in sports, many of them enjoy football and baseball. The girls enjoy cheerleading, cosmetology skills, social networking, and arts and crafts. The students enjoy lessons that are upbeat and relatable, majority of them enjoy social studies and science more than ELA and math.

Instructional implications:
Students characteristics and skills have implications for instructional planning. Knowing students interests and similarities provides teachers key information when planning for individual or group work. Distributing student surveys can benefit teachers in many ways. Conducting surveys can reveal students learning styles. Knowing students learning styles allows teachers to plan lessons that meet the majority of students learning needs. While planning for students in the lower level class the involvement of hands on activities and enough time for direct instruction is required. To provide more one on one time with the students planning individual work will allow the teacher to monitoring and assisting the students performance while others continue working. The students in the lower level class perform best during hands on activities and when visuals are presented, this will require adjusting to the days overall lesson. While planning for the high level students the lesson should include group work to allow students to compare and discussion steps and solutions with their peers. The high level students will require more individual and group work to gain more practice on specific skills. While instructing the middle level students the lessons should include hands on materials, visuals and auditory assistance and less group work. The students do not perform well in groups and tend to become off task, this does not mean to eliminate them but to limit group work. Instructors must take into account students behavioral status when planning instruction. Preassigned seating arrangements will prevent any disruptions or unnecessary behavior actions. This will allow for a smooth and non disruptive lesson. Seating arrangements should be modified to fit the students needs (visual or auditory) or behavioral issues. The students are placed together based on

their behavior and class performance to better accommodate partner work. Students who tend to be less talkative are placed with more outgoing students to increase communication skills. This also prevents talkative students placed too closely. Students with ADD or ADHD are placed in the front of the classroom. This allows the teacher to monitor the students behavioral and academic performance. The seating arrangement encourages communication skills through students as well as allowing the lesson to run smoothly with limited disruptions. Providing students with engaging and informational lessons include planning ahead. The students in the classes become distracted easily and lose concentration when presented with direct instruction. This must be taken into account when planning. Including hands on activities, visuals, group discussion, and movement in the classroom provides fifth grade students with variety of learning styles and new challenges. To enhance lessons that meet students needs requires integrating the students common interests. The classroom is a majority of male students who enjoy sports; this can help create real life situations and word problems involving sports related topics. The female students also must remain engaged in lessons and this can be done so by integrating common interest of social networking or cosmetics. Planning must provide a variety of students common interest to provide an engaging lesson.

School and Community Factors

Westwood Elementary is located past the downtown area of Abbeville County. The schools surroundings consist of a near house and woods. The school has an accessible road for parents to enter the campus to drop students off. Having a private road to the entrance of the school prevents heavy traffic and unwanted visitors on the campus. The school also has a strict visitors policy, if a parent or visitor approaches the school the office secretary must use the security system to view the visitor and then buzz them in. The play ground area is located behind the school to prevent unwanted visitors from approaching students. The school holds three grade levels for students, third, fourth, and fifth. The school provides music, art, and computer rooms as well as a large library and gymnasium. The school is involved with numerous programs which benefit the school and community. The students are allowed to be a part of Fellow Christian Association, after school tutoring, Accelerated Reading Star readers, and cheerleading. The FCA and cheerleading programs allows students to work with the community and provides students with a chance to perform in high school football games. The location of the school allows the students to maintain community affiliations while completing school projects of programs.