You will create a portfolio of descriiptions, rationales, and resources that cou

You will create a portfolio of descriiptions, rationales, and resources that could be used in your future work to create a classroom ecology that engages learners through a framework of critical care, drawing on assigned readings and focal concepts.
You will develop an overview for the first week of school that begins to create a sense of classroom community and positions students as skilled and capable, welcomes families and communities, situates your discipline as worthy of engagement, and establishes an ethos of care. This will include a detailed lesson plan for teaching at least two of the policies or procedures.
Please use at least one page reference, at least 6 from the following, and others from your choice. Please email or chat to me if you are having trouble access the files. I will send them to you. You can also use visuals to illustrate this. Thank you!
1.Dewey, J. (2009). Democracy and education. WLC Books. Freiberg, H. J., & Lamb, S. M. (2009). Dimensions of person-centered classroom management.
Chapter 2& 8
2.Labaree, D. F. (2000). On the nature of teaching and teacher education: Difficult practices that
look easy. Journal of teacher education, 51(3), 228-233.
3. Graham: Authority or Democracy? Integrating Two Perspectives on Equitable Classroom Management in Urban Schools
4. Baldwin: a talk to teachers
5. Sealey- ruiz: Sealey-Ruiz: ARCHAEOLOGY OF SELF FOR OUR TIMES_ ANOTHER TALK TO TEACHERS
6. Alex Shevrin Venet: Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education (chapter 3-6)
7. Adam Alvarez: Seeing Their Eyes in the Rearview Mirror”: Identifying and Responding to Students’ Challenging Experiences & Exploring teachers’ beliefs and feelings about race and police violence
8. Castrellon et al- Centering loss and grief
9. Marias: 2013 tears worth telling
10. Leonardo & Porter 2010
11. Stengel: Questioning Safe Space: An Introduction
12. Noguera: Schools Prisons & Social Implications of Punishment
13. “The Power of Introverts” & “Dare to Disagree” – TEDTalk
Writing sample:
Teaching Framework…………………………………………………………………………….4
The First Five (beginning of class)…………………………………………………………………………………….7
Getting to Know You/MySpace………………………………………………………………….9
Rap Session (how to meet with Ms.XXXX)………………………………………………………………………11
Absence Plan…………………………………………………………………………………….12
I Need a Pencil! (shared classroom resources)…………………………………………………………………..14
Late Bloomer (tardiness policy)………………………………………………………………………………………16
Oh Behave! (behavior management)………………………………………………………………………………..17
Take on Technology……………………………………………………………………………..19
I think I’ve seen this before… (cheating policy)……………………………………………………………….21
Be Seated/Grouper………………………………………………………………………………23
I See the Good (recognizing the good in math)………………………………………………………………….25
Ruler (classroom rules)…………………………………………………………………………………………………..27
Introducing… (teacher intro)………………………………………………………………………………………….29
Keep in Touch (communicating with parents)…………………………………………………………………..30
Setup Crew………………………………………………………………………………………32
Field Notes (field trip plan)……………………………………………………………………………………………..33
Under Review (reviewing my teaching)……………………………………………………………………………34
The Network (teacher network)……………………………………………………………………………………….35
Limiting (work-life balance)……………………………………………………………………………………………36
First Few Days…………………………………………………………………………………..37
Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………………..39
Classroom Ecology Definition
In the beginning of this semester, I conceptualized the idea of classroom ecology as more compact, like one single unit or set of things that created a successful classroom. I was not sure what these things were, but it was something similar to a list of rules, policies, or statements. I now see classroom ecology as a whole system of interconnected components that influence one another. In writing my classroom ecology plan, I realized that my policies and procedures frequently overlapped. I could not think about addressing the issues in equity surrounding tardiness without thinking about the issues surrounding absence, for example. My stance on one is very similar to my stance on the other, in the sense that there are common themes and beliefs that run throughout. I then noticed many chain reactions that could occur in the classroom. For example, if a student was hungry or thirsty and could not be provided with food or water, they would not be able to focus. Okay, now say this student was fed. If that student was not in a supportive, equitable group to work on an instructional task, the food and water was for nothing because the group work is not effective. If that student is in a supportive group environment, but the task is very narrow, with only one write answer and a single solution strategy, that student’s ideas are not valued, creating another opportunity for a poor learning experience. This made me think about ecosystems in the environment and how different animals depend on each other or other natural resources for survival. This is not exactly the same, but the idea of having a complex system of interconnected parts makes a lot of sense in my head. Classroom ecology is a set of decisions the teacher makes in order to create a complex system that provides an equitable and enjoyable learning environment for all students.
Teaching Framework
Classroom Environment:
● Valuing Diversity
Students are encouraged to bring all of their identities into the classroom. We will be a community of diverse learners, each coming from unique backgrounds and experiences that we can share with others. Students will be encouraged to draw from their funds of knowledge while engaging in mathematics.
● Social Justice Oriented
We cannot ignore the issues rooted in social justice that exist outside (and inside) the classroom. The teacher will acknowledge certain injustices that exist and actively try to work against them to provide an equitable classroom environment for all. Students should feel comfortable speaking up about issues of social justice they encounter. We will discuss the ways in which mathematics can empower students to understand and confront issues of inequity outside the classroom.
● Humor, Fun, Play
The teacher hopes to instill a love for mathematics in students. Engaging in mathematical tasks should not always be thought of as high-stress or intimidating. Students should be forgiving of one another if mistakes are made, as they present valuable learning opportunities.
● Mindfulness
The teacher values mindfulness as a tool for reducing stress. While students will not always be asked to directly engage in mindfulness activities, the teacher will provide some suggestions and occasionally give space to practice. Mental health should be prioritized in all aspects of life, particularly in the classroom.
Teaching Strategies:
● Creativity and Student Choice
The teacher encourages students to be creative in completing all assessments. Creativity can include the use of colors, unconventional materials, modeling, new techniques, or anything else the student would like to bring in. Occasionally, there will be multiple forms of assessment for students to choose from. In general, the teacher will attempt to assess students in multiple ways, so all learning styles are acknowledged and valued. Novel ideas and methods are always welcome in the classroom. The teacher is eager to learn from students and may engage in activities that challenge students to think outside the box and consider concepts from multiple perspectives.
● Dynamic, Purposeful Group-Work
We are smarter together! Students will frequently engage in group activities, and the teacher will (usually) prepare these groups ahead of time. Groups will be made accounting for equity in the classroom, as inequitable group work can be more harmful than helpful. Students will be randomly assigned roles to make each group member feel included and allow everyone to have meaningful contributions.
● Multiple Learning Strategies
Students will alternate between individual think time, group work, and whole class discussion. This combination will provide students time to reflect upon their own thinking and form deep questions, while also being exposed to new ideas and engage in meaningful mathematical discourse. The class will participate in accessible tasks that may be approached in multiple ways. For most tasks, there will not be one correct answer, and multiple solution strategies will be accepted and valued. The teacher will cater to different learning styles when possible during direct instruction.
● Flexibility and Communication
The teacher will be flexible with student needs and may adjust the pace of class content if it seems appropriate. It is more important to master the crucial skills and have a strong foundation than speed through content without much depth. In order for this to be successful, there will be open lines of communication between teachers and students. We are all humans, and we must make each other aware of how we are doing. The teacher is eager to learn how to improve situations in order to create the best possible classroom experience. Students will frequently fill out feedback forms, which will be read by the teacher, and changes will be made when necessary.
The First Five
I envision this looking differently each day of the week. On most days, students will be instructed to check in with groups for the first minute or two. There are reasons why this check in could be longer. Monday’s for example, since students would have been gone for the whole weekend, this group check in could take up almost the whole five minutes. After the check in, students will have some kind of warm-up to transition into mathematical thinking. I would like to develop some sort of schedule for students to follow each week, which would be posted each day (a proposed schedule is below):
Monday Find the Mistake
Tuesday Visual Pattern
Wednesday WODB
Thursday Mental Math Talk
Friday Logic Puzzle/Riddle
Any given week, the teacher reserves the right to substitute an alternative warm-up. The teacher may choose to try something new or create a warm-up that more directly relates to class content. However, I will describe each of the daily warm-ups and what they involve. For Find the Mistake, the teacher will display imperfect student work with the name removed. I first saw this in a past practicum placement and have seen it many times since. Students will analyze the work and make corrections. By going through errors together and explaining why they are incorrect and how they can be improved, students will have a better idea of how to evaluate their own work. Visual Pattern is an idea from Iliana Horn’s book, Motivated (2017). The teacher will project a visual pattern to the front of the room, and students will first have individual think time to try and figure out the pattern. Then, students will briefly discuss in groups before engaging in a whole-class discussion. The teacher will ask students questions about how they made sense of the pattern, which will allow students to develop skills in justification. WODB stands for Which One Doesn’t Belong, which is a chart with four boxes. In each box, there will be some sort of mathematical representation, and this could be a number, graph, equation, diagram, etc. Students will think independently and try to come up with a reason for each item not belonging with the other three. Similarly to Visual Pattern, students will then talk with groups and engage in whole-class discussion. For Mental Math Talks (Horn, 2017), students will be given a computational problem to complete mentally. Volunteers will share their answers and justify them, and other students may disagree and present alternative solutions and explanations. These are aimed at improving computational fluency. The Logic Puzzles/Riddles are supposed to be a more fun Friday activity. I actually had these in one year of my own schooling experience and really enjoyed them. The teacher will present a logic puzzle or riddle to the class, and students will work independently and in groups to solve it. Some of these may be lengthier than others, so students can choose to finish it over the weekend (although it is never mandatory). The teacher will post the solution on Monday, and whoever finished the puzzle can compare their answer.
Writing sample 2:
Table of Contents
Teaching Framework………………………………………………………………………………………………………..3 “I Need a Pencil!” : Shared Classroom Resources……………………………………………………………….4 “The First Fifteen” : Beginning of the School Day……………………………………………………………….5 “Getting to Know You” : Introductory Activities …………………………………………………………………6 “I’m Done” : Early Finishers……………………………………………………………………………………………..7 “Absence Plan” : Student Absences …………………………………………………………………………………..8 “Pass Out” : Students Leaving the Classroom ……………………………………………………………………..9 “Oh Behave!” : Behavior Management …………………………………………………………………………….10 “Take On Technology” : Technology Use …………………………………………………………………………11 “She Just…!” : Tattling……………………………………………………………………………………………………12 “Ruler” : Introducing Classroom Rules……………………………………………………………………………..13 “Be Seated” : Classroom Seating……………………………………………………………………………………14 “Help Wanted” : Classroom Jobs……………………………………………………………………………………..15 “Introducing…” : Student and Parent Introductions…………………………………………………………….16 “Keep in Touch” : Sharing News and Regular Interaction …………………………………………………..17 “Setup Crew” : Space and Seating ……………………………………………………………………………………18 “Field Notes” : Ideal Field Trip………………………………………………………………………………………..19 “Under Review” : Improving My Teaching ………………………………………………………………………20 “The Network” : Supporting My Growth ………………………………………………………………………….21 “Limiting” : Personal Limits for Work/Life Balance…………………………………………………………..22 First Days of School……………………………………………………………………………………………………….23 References……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..27
Teaching Framework
CORE VALUES FOR TEACHER AND STUDENTS
COMPASSION HEALTH/WELLBEING
COLLABORATION
○ Demonstrate courage
○ Practice self-
○ Show respect for
by “giving it a go”, advocacy with yourself, students, and
participating in requesting needs and teachers through both
uncomfortable wants. Advocate for actions and words.
conversations, and those who struggle Assume positive
standing up for advocating for intent and build others
yourself and others.
themselves.
up.
○ Bring levity to the
○ Incorporate
○ Be of service to others
(sometimes very long) when you have a skill
school day with an or thought that may
appropriate sense of help. Many hands
humor.
make light work.
○ Develop a community
○ Dedicate yourself to
of integrity which problem-solving in
elevates the ideas of brainstorming or
others, strives to do designing solutions.
the honorable thing, No problem is too
and admits when large or too small.
things go awry.
○ Strive for flexibility
○ Recognize that
in teaching and
thinking. Follow
students’ lead and you
may find your class on
an amazing adventure. ○ Honor others with
freedom to think, act,
confident in your and feel for
knowledge, themselves. Elevate
experiences, and voice and choice in all
perspectives.
areas of school.
○ Utilize classroom,
school, and community resources to receive help when you need it, without fear of backlash.
mindfulness into the school day with similar effort to “traditional core subjects”. This may look like brain breaks, calming corners, and scheduled or unscheduled rest time.
○ Model and practice
perseverance in academic and non-academic realms. Counting by twos and tying your shoes are skills perfected through practice.
○ Allow yourself to be
“I Need a Pencil!” : Shared Classroom Resources
● I am committed to having all of the necessary classroom supplies available to students at
all times. In a primary classroom, students should not be responsible for acquiring their
own supplies outside of school. My plan to get necessary supplies includes using school
funds (if available), shopping annual sales at stores like Staples, sending supply lists
home (if feasible for families), and crowdsourcing with Amazon wishlists and Donors
Choose projects. Essential supplies will be continually restocked throughout the year. ● Necessary supplies in a prek-1st grade classroom include: pencils, erasers, glue, crayons,
markers, dry erase markers, whiteboards, scissors, lined paper, construction paper,
notebooks, and folders. There will be additional supplies for
specific projects.
● Students will be allowed to access supplies throughout the school
day. If I am teaching a whole-group lesson, I will use visuals to
show students what they need to bring to the carpet or other
lesson space (TpT item shown by The Texas Teacher). When
students are working in small groups and independently, the goal
is for them to get, use, and put away whatever supplies they need
for the activity.
● If community supplies are allowed and recommended, I will have
a shelf in the classroom dedicated to storing supplies. This enables me to use flexible
seating arrangements without having to worry about moving supplies
around. Community supplies help to build sharing and problem-solving
skills, along with developing a sense of community in caring for the
supplies. Supplies will be sorted in baskets by type and frequency of
use.
● If community supplies are not allowed or recommended, I will shift to
individual student boxes or bags of school supplies. Items that students
use daily, like pencils, crayons, scissors, dry erase markers, and
whiteboards will stay in a container labeled with each student’s name.
Students will store these items in their chair pockets (pictured), since I
would not be able to use flexible seating in this scenario. Paper and less
frequently used items will be passed out by the teacher.
● In primary classrooms, students also need supplies to help them care for
their bodies. Ideally, I will have a toilet, sink, tissues, hand sanitizer, and
paper towels in my classroom so students can independently use these
products. I would also like a shatter-proof mirror so students can study
their own emotions, cultivate a positive-self image, clean their own
faces, and find their own boogers. My goal should be to “make myself
unnecessary” as a teacher, as Labaree so succinctly writes (2000).
“The First Fifteen” : Beginning of the School Day
● I will make every effort to greet students, by name, at the door each
morning. I want to make it extremely clear that I am glad they are at
school today! I want to give students the option of how they would like
to be greeted. I love posters that give students visual depictions of
various greetings (example pictured). Common choices include hug,
handshake, jazz hands, thumbs up, etc. This daily greeting is important
to me because when students have positive relationships with adults at
school, they are less likely to be suspended (Brown, 2007).
● When students come into the classroom, it is their responsibility to put
their backpack, lunch, and outerwear in their cubby/locker. If my
school/classroom uses daily folders for home-school communication, it
is students’ responsibility to take their folders out of their backpacks. I will support
students by having a consistent, easy to reach, and accessible location for students to put
their folders.
● Students must wash their hands, or use hand sanitizer if we do not have a sink in the
classroom, before we start our day. I will support students with visuals about the
hand-washing process. Examples include pictures of several songs to
sing that take 20 seconds, and a sign next to the soap that says 1, 2,
[stop sign] to remind them to use a reasonable amount of soap.
● Some students will have trouble remembering the order of tasks: put
away backpack, put away coat, take out folder, wash hands, sit
down. For these students, I will have a small visual board for them
to keep in their cubby or at their desk. There will be icons of all of
the steps of the morning routine, and students will physically move
the icons, attached with Velcro, once they have completed each step
(similar to example pictured).
● The first task of the day is for students to have some independent
journal time. This is time for them to draw, write, and casually
chat with peers at their table group. Students will have notebooks,
pencils, and crayons in their chair pockets or community supply
shelves, depending on the seating arrangement. Journals will have
picture space and primary lined pages to help develop handwriting
(pictured).
● After all students have entered the classroom and are working on
their journals, I will take attendance and then float around the
room, asking and answering questions and generally chatting with
students. I will point students to our word wall or other classroom
resources to help with writing words.
“Getting to Know You” : Introductory Activities ● Primary classrooms have many getting to know you activities at the beginning of the year! I find that the best thing with young children is to have a variety of activities
including oral, written/drawn, group, individual, formal, and informal. Below are some examples of activities I would use in the first week of school.
● Students’ families are one of the main components of their self and
community identity at this age, so I think it is important to incorporate families into these activities. I like the idea of sending monthly activities home for families to complete with their children. In my mind, this is the only sort of developmentally-appropriate homework, especially before second grade. I think that families describe themselves best in their own words. This “about me” project would ask students to share whatever they like about themselves and their families, using pictures and words with the help of adults at home (example shown). I would send home all of the necessary materials for this project, including construction paper, glue, stickers, glitter (if I dare!), and writing prompts. I would also explore and share free resources like libraries where families could print photos.
● Young students naturally like to talk with others who share similar interests. A great way
for students to see what everyone likes is with a game called A Great Wind Blows. This is an active game that keeps students engaged and laughing! It is important for students to play games with others in a
positive and kind fashion, as Shevalier & McKenzie suggest (2012).
Students sit in chairs in a circle (pictured) with one student without a chair standing in the middle. That student says “A Great Wind Blows if you like/have ___.” Any student who agrees with that statement
gets up and has to find another seat, like musical chairs. The last
person without a chair stands in the middle and the game continues.
Students can share silly or serious likes, dislikes, and facts about
themselves. It is a great feeling for students to know that others share interests/qualities.
● Students can also get to know one another by conducting “news
interviews”. One student can pretend that they are a reporter, and ask another student questions about their life and interests. This is great practice for students to ask and answer questions, as well. Learning questions versus comments versus stories is an essential skill! The materials for this activity are a fake (or real) microphone, and maybe other props like a student-created set. The activity could easily be recorded on an iPad and shared securely online.
“I’m Done” : Early Finishers (NEW)
● I need to purposefully proceed with caution against having only “fun activities” for early
finishers. I want to make sure that all of my students have equal access to classroom
activities. I also do not want to encourage students to rush through their work in order to
get to the early finisher activity. It is a balance to keep all students
engaged, without creating unfair situations.
● I plan for each student to have a folder where they can store
unfinished work. This could be work from when they were absent, a
project they have not yet completed, an unfinished craft, or writing
pieces that are still in progress. When students finish something
early, I will first refer them to this folder. I may call the folder
something fun, like a ketchup (catch up) folder! Perfect in Primary
has free labels for these folders (pictured).
● Depending on the content area, I believe that a natural extension of
most activities is having students create their own problems. For example, if we are
practicing addition within 10 with word problems, students who finish early could
continue on writing their own word problems. They can solve them independently, or
trade problems with another early finisher student.
● Some students love to read all the time! I will always offer independent reading as an
early finisher activity for those who want it. I will also experiment with adding some
reading response sheets for students to draw or write about the plot, conflict, characters, a
book review, etc. I also acknowledge that reading is not a preferred activity for all
students, and I will not force students to have additional reading time. I want to provide
multiple choices to students, so I can keep stretching my personal view of what education
really is, since it is certainly much more than reading (Biesta, 2010).
● One of the main components of my classroom culture will hopefully be a strong sense of
community and helpfulness. I can direct early finishers to go
and help other students who may be struggling with the
assignment. Of course, acting as a tutor or tutee will be
completely optional. Some students may be more receptive to
having a peer help them than having to go to the teacher’s
small group table. I believe that students become even more
comfortable with the material when they can teach it to
someone else.
● If a certain student is a habitual early finisher, I need to evaluate whether the work I am
giving that student may be too easy. If this is the case, I will collaborate with other
teachers and/or specialists at my school to brainstorm more complex work for the student
to complete. This may include participation in a gifted and talented program, if available.
“Absence Plan” : Student Absences
● I believe that absences are never the fault of a primary student, and that any frustrations
about excessive absences should be discussed with the family, not the child. Although it
is most schools’ policy for the parents to notify the teacher of a student’s absence, it is
obviously not the young child’s responsibility. I can discuss excessive absences with my
administration and work together to help the student’s family.
● One of my favorite pieces of advice regarding absences comes from my professor Justine
Bruyère, who shared how she frequently hammed it up when a student came back from
being absent. She would tell the student how she cried because they were not in school,
that all of the other kids missed the student, and how glad she was for the student to be
back! I think this is great because it stresses the importance of coming to school in a
positive, kid-friendly way.
● In my student teaching, a routine I adopted from my mentor teacher was reviewing who
was absent during morning meeting. We sent out a kiss and a hug to each student who
was absent, as a way to show that we cared about them. This came in quite handy, as we
had a student out for several weeks with appendicitis! When she came back to school,
everyone was so excited, because we had been talking about her daily. This sort of daily
routine contributes to a nurturing educational environment (Dewey, 2009).
● As mentioned earlier, work from when students were absent will go into their ketchup
(catch up)/unfinished work folder. This will be the first thing students go to when they
finish other work early. This system also prevents me from having to remember which
students missed which assignments; when someone is absent, I will simply tuck the
worksheet or instructions into their folder.
● I promise to prioritize the work that I ask students to make up, especially if they have
excessive absences. It is overwhelming for young students to look at a giant stack of
unfinished work, when the rest of the class is moving right along. I will consider what I
already know about the student’s academic strengths and areas of improvement, as well
as the student’s ability to work without becoming overwhelmed. In this way, I will work
with the student to make up the most important things first, even if that means some other
assignments are tossed.
● Wall work and other crafts that are displayed in the classroom/hallway are an important
part of a primary classroom. If a student misses one of these activities due to an absence,
I will make every effort to have them make up the activity. Since these things are
displayed for weeks and sometimes months, I believe it is important for all students to see
their work represented.
“Pass Out” : Students Leaving the Classroom ● Unlimited bathroom passes are absolutely essential in primary classrooms. Students
quite literally do not have control over when they need to go. I will never tell a student that they cannot leave to go to the bathroom. I believe that giving students a limited number of bathroom passes or only letting them go at certain times contributes to dangerous hyper-surveillance in schools, as discussed by Raible and Irizarry (2010).
● Ideally, I would have a bathroom in my classroom! This is the least disruptive to the
daily routine, but I know it is not feasible in every school. I will avoid asking everyone who needs to go, or having students announce that they need to go, because then everybody suddenly has to go! A well-documented primary phenomenon.
● At the beginning of the year, I will emphasize to students that they need to tell me
whenever they leave the room. I frame it as, “I feel scared when I don’t know where you are!” This prevents kids from wandering off, most of the time. I will also model how they should tell me they are leaving the room. For instance, coming up and tapping me on the shoulder instead of yelling across the room.
● I would like to have some sort of check-in and check-out
system for students outside of the classroom. That way, if there is a fire drill or other emergency, I can immediately see how many students I should have in the room, and where my other students are. I like the idea of magnets with the students’ faces on them, so they can move their magnet to where they are in the school building. This can also work in the morning for attendance, as they can move their name from “home” to “school”. I would try to adapt the board shown from the blog Diary of a Second Grade Teacher.
● At the beginning of the year, I may have students leave the
room with a buddy, especially if the bathroom/nurse/library is far away from my classroom. This reminds the students to stay focused and not get lost, and also gives the buddy student a sense of pride that they are doing an important job.
● Also at the beginning of the year, I will be sure to share a social story with my kids of
what to do if they get lost in school. I will make sure that they know to find the office, an older student, or another teacher and tell them that they are lost and what classroom they belong to. Getting lost will undoubtedly happen to at least one of my students, and I want to prevent it from being a scary experience.
“Oh Behave!” : Behavior Management
● I will proactively avoid behavior issues by focusing on building meaningful relationships
with my students. If we have a classroom built on fairness, consistent expectations, and
trust, I believe that will go a long way in terms of student behavior. Milner et al. discuss
that consistency in practice is of utmost importance with relationship building in the
classroom (2018).
● I plan on having daily circles for morning meeting in my classroom. The main
components of a morning meeting are a greeting, sharing, and a morning message. These
activities help to build a strong sense of community, and students know what the daily
expectation is. Therefore, using circle processes as a part of restorative practice will
hopefully be a natural fit in my classroom. Milner et al. outline how teachers can use
restorative circles in their classroom both as a daily routine and as a problem-solving
method (2018). I believe that having a physical talking piece will be a helpful reminder
for young students to wait their turn and be active listeners while others are speaking. If I
or another student feel the need to call a circle to discuss a specific issue, students will
already know the circle norms in terms of seating arrangements, turn taking, and overall
expectations.
● The easiest way for me to monitor developing issues is to format my physical classroom
in such a way where I can easily see and reach all students. There is a fine balance in
primary classrooms between intervening to help students solve problems and staying
uninvolved to promote independent problem-solving skills. As we discussed in class,
being able to reach most students in five big steps means I can increase my “withitness”
and quickly address pressing issues (Harris & Tomick, 2016).
● As I consider common difficulties throughout the school day, I aim to be proactive and
address specific situations with certain students. For example, if I know that some
students have difficulties transitioning between activities, I will be sure to individually
alert those students shortly ahead of the actual transition. Jennings affirms this tactic, and
alerting sensitive students to upcoming changes will go a long way in keeping a peaceful
atmosphere (2015).
● I am a huge fan of natural and logical consequences. I believe that these types of
consequences also prevent students from feeling negatively towards their teachers, as it
takes some of the pressure off the teacher “being mean” and can be logically explained,
even to a young child. Jennings draws a great distinction that these sorts of consequences
are often NOT punishments (2015).
● Positive reinforcement will be an essential part of my classroom management plan. Many
schools use some sort of “ticket” system for positive reinforcement. While these types of
systems are not my favorite, I can try to check my own biases by keeping a tally of how
many tickets I give each student each day or week, examining the data and being critical
of any recurring trends.
“Take On Technology” : Technology Use
● I believe that technology has a very specific place in the primary classroom. Technology
is a great resource for specific tasks, but should not be used as a substitute for interactive
play and general learning. Students at this age rely on social and physical cues for
interaction and development.
● The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends one hour of screen time for children
older than age 2 (2016). Most kids get way more than this amount of screen time at
home, and I feel it is not my place to add significant screen time during the school day.
● When I want to incorporate technology into the classroom, I need to ask questions like,
“what benefit does this bring to the lesson?” and “how will the children be interacting
with this technology?” If there is a way for me to achieve the same result without
technology, I tend to pick the no-tech option.
● I am concerned about the prevalence of technology in primary classrooms. In some
cases, it has become a substitute for meaningful small-group and independent activities. I
will continually try to make engaging, motivating, screen-free activities for my students.
For example, instead of clicking on an app about the alphabet, students can use
playdough to shape letters and letter formations (example
shown from Parenting Chaos).
● As for activities where technology does add significant
benefit, I will try to use technology that my students can use
as independently as possible. For instance, iPads are a lot
easier for younger students to use than laptops or desktops.
Students should be able to navigate apps with minimal
assistance. If it takes 20 minutes for me to help everyone log
into a specific learning website, our time has been wasted as
a learning community.
● Appropriate technology example: students can record themselves narrating a story to go
with a drawing. This is a beneficial use of technology because students are using it to
achieve a grade-level appropriate goal (storytelling), and the technology is allowing them
to achieve more than they could without it (telling an entire story, instead of writing a
few words).
● Condensed policy for parents: In our classroom, we learn best by interacting with the
world around us! We spend lots of time talking to one another and trying new things.
When we learn, it helps us to see, hear, touch, and experience each concept. For example,
when we talk about a letter, we will look at the letter, practice writing it, practice the
sound it makes, and make up rhymes with that letter and sound. We can even create our
own stories about certain letters and sounds! We may occasionally use iPads to help us
record and/or share our learning.
“She just…!” : Tattling (NEW) ● Tattling is a common way for students to reach out to teachers for attention. In a study by Ingram & Bering, 90% of preschool tattles were true, and students are usually
reaching out for egocentric reasons, like to request for another student to be punished (2010).
● My goal is to reduce tattling by progressively stepping back from being the main
problem-solver in the classroom. Ingram & Bering found that there were rarely negative consequences for the tattlers, and therefore they continued on (2010). Of course I would not punish a student for tattling, but I would also fade out my responses and reactions to tattling as students become more competent problem-solvers throughout the year.
Problem-solving is something I will model often through morning meeting, social stories, and role-playing in the classroom.
● I like this Tattle Tongue poster by Amy Mangan (shown here)
because it covers a lot of common issues with tattling. Of course, if there is danger, I want my students to come get me right away. However, I also expect them to be problem-solvers first before they get me involved in a situation. Additionally, sometimes students just want to tell me something, but that could be done later if it is not an urgent issue and I am busy working with students. Lastly, kids do need to be taught just to mind their own business! If someone sees another student doing something annoying, they can look away and get on with their work.
● I believe another component to tackling tattling is to help students understand how big a
problem is, and that their response should match the level of the problem. This poster by Create-Abilities (shown here) matches easily understandable emojis with descriiptions of certain problems. It reiterates to get a grownup right away if someone is in danger, but that with smaller problems, kids need to try and problem-solve first, and maybe consult with a teacher later. I would also use this chart with read-alouds so students could categorize the conflicts in the story.
“Ruler” : Introducing Classroom Rules ● When working with young children, I think it is often wise to present a list of “starter”
classroom rules, and then co-create any additional rules with the students. I know that as a teacher, I have certain non-negotiable rules that I need to make sure my students understand. However, I also understand the importance of students co-creating rules, and they may think of great ones to add, especially after our first days together as a classroom community.
● I will help students unpack what the main rules mean by cooperatively brainstorming
examples of what each rule looks, sounds, and feels like. As the GOTAGS authors point out, this is an effective way for students to take responsibility as a part of the classroom community (2016). How can we act in our classroom to uphold this rule? I will try to keep these examples positive. I would love to take photos of the students doing these positive actions to display around the classroom.
● At the beginning of the year, there are also rules
surrounding use of classroom supplies that may be new to some students. This is sort of a mix between a rule and a procedure, as it is how to use the supply, but also some strict “no” situations. When you hand a kid a glue bottle, there need to be some guidelines!! I love these anchor charts by the Kindergarten Smorgasboard (picture shown), since they make the expectations super clear. I would try to add some pictures to help non-readers understand the posters independently. These would be stressed in the first weeks of school, then probably faded out as students become familiar with the supplies.
● Three main rules and potential student-generated examples:
○ Rule #1: Respect our classroom and each other.
Examples and picture opportunities: pushing in chairs, hugs/high fives/fist bumps,
wait your turn, clean up, share, look at the person who is speaking, apologize. ○ Rule #2: Be safe.
Examples and picture opportunities: walking indoors, wearing sneakers on the
playground, sitting properly in chairs, gentle hands, helping someone who is hurt. ○ Rule #3: Follow directions quickly.
Examples and picture opportunities: lining up, listening to the teacher, getting
supplies, reacting to fire drill/other special routine.
“Be Seated” : Classroom Seating
● I plan to incorporate flexible seating into my physical classroom format. Young children
naturally cannot, and should not, sit in the same chair for 5+ hours each day. In my mind,
flexible seating looks like a combination of tables, chairs, floor mats, standing tables,
wobble stools, lap trays, scoop chairs, and more.
● Students will have the opportunity to change their seats throughout the day (community
supplies help make this possible). When we have whole group activities, students will be
sitting, most likely on the floor, all together. When we have small groups, students may
have to sit with a certain group of students at my table, depending on how I configure the
activities. However, unless students are working with me or with certain materials (ex. a
sensory table will have an assigned seat with it), they are free to choose their seat.
● I want my room to be a very flexible space to accommodate a variety of activities. Part of
that flexibility is helping my students practice the routine of moving chairs/stools/floor
mats into certain configurations. In GOTAGS, the authors outline a routine of rearranging
desks in a timely manner (2016). I would like to implement a similar routine so that
students know how to change the room around quickly, and we can get on with our day. ● I believe that flexible seating will increase students’ feeling of comfort with the school
environment. When students are comfortable,
they can act as more engaged learners and
teachers to one another (Anderson & Hartley,
2018). Students can discover how they personally
learn best by trying out different types of seating.
● Having clear rules will help flexible seating work
smoothly in the classroom. I really like the rules
that Move Mountains in Kindergarten (shown
here) created with her class. They are simple,
have a positive mindset to them, and apply to a
variety of situations.
● It may be necessary for me to change a student’s
seat. Here is a condensed scriipt of what that
conversation may sound like: “[student], I’ve
noticed that it has been hard for you to work on
[activity] today. I know that you are trying to focus on the activity, but I keep noticing
[specific behavior – talking with another student, looking out the window, getting mad at
someone in their space]. It is my job to help you learn! We are going to try [this seat] for
a little while. I really think it will help you because [specific reason – quieter area, close to teacher for assistance, next to peer who is a good role model]. Tomorrow/after lunch/etc. you can have another chance to pick a spot.
“Help Wanted” : Classroom Jobs ● I think that classroom jobs are a great way to help students feel ownership over their
learning community. Freiberg and Lamb discuss classroom jobs as one way to implement cooperative discipline (2009). Students can literally apply for and interview for jobs that they think would suit their personality and skills. Of course, in the primary grades, this would be a very casual process with students explaining to the teacher why they think they could be helpful in a certain job. I think it is great for students to be self-aware of their strengths and personality traits.
● Jennings so eloquently states that all students want to feel self-worth and receive
routines. My students have a much better memory than I do, and when I forget to do something, they are the first to remind me! Giving them power over certain classroom jobs helps them feel valued and frees up some of my brain space to actually teach! ● I will determine a list of classroom jobs that I think will be helpful to our community, but
I will also welcome student suggestions. Some jobs include library helper, supply captain, calendar helper, meteorologist, light monitor, board cleaner, and general teacher’s helper. I personally think it is awkward to try and create a classroom job for every single student.
● I will have students hold a job for two weeks, then
attention in the classroom. If students feel they are not being attended to, they may try to get attention in inappropriate and disruptive ways (2015). Incorporating classroom jobs is a simple way to give multiple students a strong sense of self-worth, while making the entire school day run more smoothly. Students who crave a bit more attention may have a more “forward-facing” job like passing out supplies, while other students may prefer to help in the background.
● As a teacher, implementing a classroom job system also helps me to streamline the daily
welcome anyone else who would like to apply for the job to do so. I believe that students will take pride in doing their job each day, and I want to make sure I give them enough time to get accustomed to the job routine and succeed. Other students will also know who to go to if they need help. I really like Thrills and Frills in Third’s idea to have a bulletin board with laminated student pictures to show who has each job (picture shown). I know students will get a lot of pride from doing their jobs, and using Velcro will make it simple for me to change out as necessary.
“Introducing…” : Student and Parent Introductions
● I plan on sending “meet the teacher” postcards home to families at the end of summer, to give them a glimpse into my life as a teacher and human! I love the idea modeled in this photo. I would include my two degrees at Vanderbilt under education (and maybe K-12 schools if I am teaching in my hometown), some random
facts about myself (I love to read historical fiction, I once
lived in Italy, I am left-handed) and my favorites (favorite
color is purple, favorite food is pickles, favorite children’s
author is Dan Santat). I think that postcards are a more
visible and accessible format that parents and students are
likely to see. If I have transient students or students
experiencing homelessness, I would have to think of
another way to get the cards to them, maybe with summer
lunch pickup? If I have students whose families speak a language other than English, I will work with my district’s translation office to make sure I get the postcards translated ahead of time. If there are no translation resources for that language, I will try my best with online translator tools.
● I will make it a priority to have a positive phone call home to each and every family during the first week of school. It has become clear to me how much families value having these positive calls! This will also hopefully put parents at ease, and make them feel more comfortable to reach out to me in the future with questions and concerns. I will work with my school’s translation office to help me communicate with families either over the phone or over online messaging.
● To introduce myself to students, the easiest thing for me to do is answer their questions! Young children are always full of questions, so I want to set aside a bit of time at the beginning of the school year to let them simply ask me questions. I am sure they will ask creative and entertaining questions that will let them learn more about me.
● I will also complete the activities I assign to students in the previous section. I will make my own “about me” project about myself and my family. I envision us doing a gallery walk around the classroom to look at one another’s completed projects! I am sure that there will be more questions sparked from these projects. I will fully participate in games like A Great Wind Blows which bring up many casual, non-academic topics. Lastly, I would love for students to conduct a “news interview” with me as well! I could even sendhome the videos of myself being interviewed and my responses. This can help students as well as families get to know me on a more personal level.
● Really, I will continue to build my relationships with students through classroom norms like morning meeting, where we share about our lives and our feelings. I will continue to build relationships with families through open and consistent communication.
“Keep In Touch” : Sharing News and Regular Interaction
● I hope that my school/district uses an app like Remind to make teacher-family communication easier. I will share important information about my classroom and school in multiple ways, in order to make sure that parents are aware of events and changes. I will send home paper copies translated into the appropriate languages, as well as post on an app. I will call home to some families that I know may be harder to get a hold of. An app also enables families to
easily message me with questions or concerns, and of
course my email is always open to families as well.
● I also like the idea of sending home paper bracelets to help
remind parents of events happening the next day. I saw this
idea from The Simplified Classroom, and it can be used to
remind them about field trips, no school, picture day, and
other big events I love that I can print directly on the
bracelets, to help me translate more efficiently. I hope to
have a list of key phrases like “no school” in all of the
languages that my families speak.
● At the beginning of the year, a flip book is a useful way to
make all families aware of policies and procedures in the classroom. This example from Samantha Henry is great because it has only the necessary sections and is not too overwhelming. Again, I would try to get this translated before sending home. I could hand these out at Meet the Teacher night, in the mail, send digitally over an app, or
send home in students’ backpacks. Sections I would
include are: classroom rules, daily schedule, contact
info, general volunteer opportunities, calendar, and
community resources.
● I would love to use Remind to talk one-on-one with
parents on a regular basis. My goal will be to send one
personalized message per student per week. This could
be a picture of student work, a photo of students in the
classroom, or a note about something wonderful that their child said or did. Parents can easily respond to these messages in a text message format. I think that this will encourage me to keep a positive attitude about my students and prevent a negative teacher gaze
(Raible & Irizarry, 2010).
● If I do not hear from families for a while, I will try to call home or have another direct contact, like trying to meet them at the pickup line. If a lack of contact becomes worrisome, I will involve my school social worker (if I have one) and other administration to make sure there is not a huge issue at home.
“Setup Crew” : Space and Seating
● As explained previously, I would ideally utilize flexible seating in my classroom to increase student comfort and encourage experimentation in how they learn best. Classroom supplies (example shown from Kindergarten Smorgasboard) also enable flexible seating to occur, since students know how and where to find materials to bring to their workspace.
● For wall space, I would definitely be more minimalistic on my room decor. Studies show that when wall spaces are too cluttered and/or busy, it can actually detract from student concentration and comfort (Cheryan et al., 2014). Student work will be an important element of my wall decor, but I also plan on having “real art” and not just little kid decor. Henri Matisse is one of my favorite artists, and I would really enjoy displaying some prints of his work! It would also spark great discussion about artist study and art techniques. I need to enjoy being in my classroom too, and having a bit of a coffee shop vibe will increase my comfort and happiness.
● I enjoy using soft lighting like lamps and natural lighting from windows as much as possible. Fluorescent lighting is harsh, unflattering, and can cause headaches. I like having some sort of light source I can turn on and off as a signal to students, but I think this can be accomplished with lamps. I also plan on utilizing a chime to gather the entire class’ attention at once.
● My classroom layout will reflect my teaching framework because students will learn to navigate the classroom space and make independent decisions, much like they are learning to do in real life. Flexibility in thinking and acting, and freedom to make choices will be present throughout.
● When students are not participating in whole group or teacher-led small group activities, there will be ample choices for academic, social, and practical life centers. Students will problem-solve and persevere with challenging tasks in all subject areas.
“Field Notes : Ideal Field Trip
● I have many magical memories of field trips when I was a young child. My parents
drove me to school, so riding on the big yellow school bus for a field trip was such a special treat! I definitely want to incorporate field trips into my primary classroom, as they are a great way to build community through shared experiences.
● Visiting an orchard is a classic field trip that fits well in
primary classrooms for multiple reasons. One of my goals as
a teacher is to incorporate non-traditional subjects into my
classroom like healthy eating and an understanding of how
our community works. Many children do not understand the
connection between grocery stores and where the food
originally comes from! When students can understand where
fruit comes from and see it in real life, they are also more
likely to try and eat an unfamiliar fruit. I’ve taken many
camp groups of children to apple/peach orchards, and it has
been a wonderful learning experience each time (see photo).
● Preparation is key for a field trip with young children. I would use “The Fruits We Eat” by Gail Gibbons as a mentor text the week leading up to the field trip. Students can build background knowledge with different
types of fruit, and have a basic understanding that food comes
from farms, before we go on the actual field trip. I would also
use some sort of social story about how to behave on a school
bus, since it may be a new experience for many students.
● Activities I would anticipate during this orchard field trip would
be an introduction to how fruit grows, an opportunity to pick and
taste some fruit, learning about the different products made from fruit, and an opportunity to ask a farmer some questions. Depending on the setting where I teach, students going out into a more rural area like a farm may be a completely new experience for them. I would offer small field trip notebooks for students to draw and write about their experiences during and after the trip.
● One of my dreams as a teacher is to involve my students in a school or community garden, where they grow food from seed and can eat it at school and take it home to their families. I think that a field trip to an orchard would be a great way to begin this journey. Students could gain an understanding of all the work that goes into growing food. From there, we could brainstorm garden jobs for students to take on, and even develop an ongoing relationship with the orchard staff to ask questions about our gardening adventures. This authentic and ongoing connection with the community will boost mindfulness in the classroom (Jennings, 2015).
“Under Review” : Improving My Teaching
● Frequent formative assessments will be an important tool for me to reflect on and improve my instruction. As I collect evidence of student learning through interviews with students, observations of students, and students’ written work, I will modify my instruction going forward in response to this data. I will focus on mastery goals rather than pure performance goals. Cauley & McMillan write
that formative assessment actually increases student
achievement and motivation (2010). Along with asking
students to answer questions related to the content, I will
also be sure to formatively assess their affect towards the
content. I like the idea of designing exit tickets that have
emojis for students to express their feelings, like this one
from Masa Israel Teaching Fellows. The students can
also write the answer to the exit ticket question, or
respond verbally. If I am relying on verbal responses, I will have to ask students throughout the day or have a rotating exit ticket system.
● I want to use online assessment tools like ESGI to show my students’ growth over time. Not only does the digital aspect save time, but it also shows trends over time. I can use pre-set assessments like letter and sound knowledge, or make my own for any content area. The software allows me to look at individual student progress, small group progress, or whole class progress. I think I can also look at previous years’ classes, to compare my teaching over time. I hope to assess my students using ESGI or a similar tool once a week, in order to build consistent data points.
● I know that it is not always beneficial to compare my class to others’, but I will want to compare my data occasionally to other teachers on my team. This will be more of a check-in to see if my students are obviously struggling or excelling in any particular area, and I can adjust my instruction accordingly. If all of our classes are struggling with something specific, we can brianstorm as a team and consult with coaches, administrators, or other grade levels as necessary.
● I will ask my administrators and/or colleagues to assess me around once a month, making sure to alternate subject areas. I hope to use a consistent tool like the TEAMS rubric so I can compare results over the year and over multiple years. I will also be sure to ask for written feedback that is not encapsulated on the rubric.
● On a more personal level, I plan on keeping some sort of journal to reflect on my teaching. If I notice a pattern of always feeling rushed during a certain math unit, or running out of time with a certain book study, I can adjust my time allocation going forward. I will use a pacing guide that I plan at an expected pace, and then update throughout the year with my actual pace.
“The Network” : Supporting My Growth
● I know I will continue to rely on my graduate and undergraduate cohort members once I am teaching in the classroom. One of the best parts of Vanderbilt, in my opinion, is how close we get within our subject/age cohorts. We still have an active undergraduate. GroupMe, comically called “Doing it for the Money and Fame” where we ask questions, congratulate one another, and vent about life. I think that talking to teacher friends from across the county will help give me some perspectives as well as many new ideas. This will absolutely be an ongoing support for me as I have known these girls for years already! In order