Blog # 14

Blog # 14

I would like to continue focusing my short analysis paper on how teachers use observation as a tool to solve issues within their classrooms. The teacher I interviewed gave me many examples of issues she was faced such as teaching an ESL student how to write. How she used writing as a tool to determine whether or not the student is learning. She had trouble getting some students to write, so she asked them to write on a topic that interest them (mind craft a video game). She also talks about facial expressions that she sees within her students that lets her know something is wrong. She has developed some sign language with her students in order to advise her when they need a moment to calm them down or talk to her. This interview has given me a lot of information to work with!

Blog #13

Blog # 13

Excerpt 1

Flora: Yea it is , pause so, so my other question for you was Can u tell me about a challenge you’ve faced and how you were successful in overcoming it, and that right there seems like a challenge , with the learning
Teacher: The learning, I think that’s um One of the main things is that they gave me a student they thought I was Hispanic so they gave me a student with like a Spanish last name then we found out she was Portuguese and I’m like well I know nothing about that um so teaching a student who doesn’t know a word of English that was one of my challenges but even more challenging is working with the students who I think have a disability but I’m not qualified to determine that  so talking to the parents about it, talking to the child study team about it , presenting my case , talking to the guidance counselor and just all the paper work that goes with it. Oh my gosh. 10:12
Flora: it’s a lot right
Teacher: Um I fill out tons and tons of paper work for just one student so keeping record of all of that and just documenting the different strategies I do with them on a daily basis it’s A LOT!

Before I started the interview I had advised the teacher that my focus was about how a teacher uses observation in order to indicate that there is a problem in the class room. Here she talks about having a non speaking student in her class as a challenge she was faced with. Then she states that threw observing her students progress she comes to a conclusion that some students may have a learning disability and how challenging it is for her to work with the students and take that extra step to advise the parents and other professionals.

 
Excerpt 2

Flora: Yea.. so what about the um, the Portuguese student
Teacher: Hahhaa
Flora: Is she still in your class ?
Teacher: She's in my class!
Flora: Yea and how are you dealing with it
Teacher: Now she talks too much Hahhaa  they absorb language its amazing ! and like the difference btw September and now she’ll carry on conversation's
Flora: With other students?
Teacher:  with everyone yea!  she’ll even do the writing with us , like the other kids, you’ll see the students that are fluent in English they’ll just shut down with the writing and she's attempting it even if its spelled wrong I'm like I don’t care even if its spelled wrong get your ideas out  I just want to see what you know
Flora: right
Teacher: Just to really see if she's understanding what's being taught and she does. So that’s I think that’s….
Flora: So your basically telling her even though your answers may be incorrect just write your ideas down
Teacher: Yea if its writing I don’t care if your sentence structure is off , like if you're missing a comma I just want to see if she understands the question being asked and if she can give me some details.

 
 The teacher finally explains that she uses a writing exercise as an observational tool to see if the student is understanding the material. The teacher is solving this problem by encouraging her student to give it a try even though it isn't perfect.


Excerpt 3

Teacher: Oh yea they love video games, they love it. I told them Mrs. Castillo plays mind craft, I just said it , I don’t play mind craft. Hahhaa I uh made myself learn because of them.
Flora: Oh really? Hahhaa
Teacher: Yea just because they are obsessed with that game, they wrote about it .they wrote about it in their essays. I’m like faking it, oh yea I love it Hahhaa
Flora: Hahhaa
Teacher: Then I told them to write me a how to essay, like how to survive in the game and
Flora: Oh that’s a very good idea
Teacher: Yea and I actually took some of their steps and I tried to play the game then I’m like you missed a step because I died Hahhaa
Flora: Hahhaa that’s amazing I think that’s a good way to get them to write

I love that the teacher knows her students. She knows that they like mind craft (video game) and uses that topic as a writing assignment. She talked about some students shutting down and having a melt down when it came to writing, but this strategy helped her students over come that fear and sparked their interest.

Blog # 12

Interview

 

Flora: What grade level do you teach?

Teacher: Third

Flora: How do you like it?

Teacher: I love it,

Flora: Yea

Teacher: I love it, I just hate the testing. Um it’s hard to deal with parents sometimes but (Pause) I don’t see myself doing anything else. I love the kids every day they make me laugh. And it’s those moments where I get to be maybe with just one walking down the hall way and I get to know something about their day they make me laugh and realize it can’t be that bad when I’m prepping for test( Laughter)

Flora (Laughter) So then it all pays off

Teacher: Yea hahhaa  I think it does. And I get inspired every time I see the teachers that have been here for 30 years and they’re still pushing and I’m here going through my first year , Like I want to be that in the long run I still want to stay with the kids.

Flora: Ok so this is your first year teaching ever? . . . .

First year teaching in the elementary school district for a whole year yes. I’ve done like side jobs here and there But it was never a full year as my own classroom

Flora: Do you think that um you would want to continue to be a 3^rd grade teacher or would you like to work with the older children or the younger children?

I guess it depends where I am in my life; I always wanted to do kindergarten, pre-k first grade

Oh that’s so fun

Haha that’s what everyone I meet says they love a lot of imagination. But when they asked me to teacher 3^rd grade  I said ok I’ll take it because I looked for a job for 3 years and couldn’t find anything but I had to learn a lot of stuff over again  I had to spend my entire weekend reviewing 5 different ways to teach fraction’s . I dunno If I will stay with third grade it’s a tough grade not a lot of ppl want it b/c it’s so vigorous and its testing

Wow they have to take state test already!

Yea and it sets you up for middle school and High School BUT I love their independence too I don’t have to worry about them being, you know crying. Well they still cry but I don’t have to worry about things like tying everyone’s shoes.

So you like that they are more independent?

Yea they’re more independent

What inspired you to be a teacher?

I don’t know… I used to say I wanted to be a nurse, but then I always had these teachers that I remembered like HS I think I had a teacher that stuck to me she really helped me out when I (pause), she basically encouraged my writing. UM and just having someone value me that meant so much

Flora: SO that made you feel special and you want to give that to your students

That to these guys, (pause) and it’s not easy bc some of it is really tough I have some students where  I’m just really trying to click and I’m not clicking with them so I have to figure out how to make them feel special too , I dunno see the good in everyone I guess. But I had that teacher who helped me

Flora: can you describe a normal day in your classroom

Teacher: HAHHA you want me to pull up my lesson plan

Flora: hahhaha

Teacher: it starts with I line them up in the hall way b4 we enter the room, I tell them what I expect from them for the day, um I tell them the rules, Take out ur planner take out your HW, they know how to do the lunch attendance, they have about 15 minutes to gather themselves, and copy their HW down. Then we have routines, I think that is the, you need routines without routines they will go off the walls they know what is expected of them, if they get in trouble they flip a card to the next color, they know there is consequences and then it depends every day, instrumental schedule will throw me off its random 3 days a week an hour each. My kids have band some of them leave different hours of the day

Flora OH wow,

Teacher: so the huge part of my class is gone I have to scramble on my toes and figure out what lesson I have to teach that they can catch up on their own

Flora: WOW that would be difficult I think

Teacher: That’s the main challenge I tell them they could take it home and finish it , but I will not re teach this. If you look up on my board to the left I have my objectives on there, my lesson plan with is like OCD hhhaaha I can show you that later if you’d like.

Flora: Yea

Teacher and it shows you hour by hour what I have to cover. We usually start off with a problem of the day or a work sheet which reviews some concept that we learned and then we usually jump to grammar or spelling b/c that’s the easiest to do to get their brains working. Reading is a little bit more challenging, if it’s the first time we are reading something I like to do it with the class and have a group discussion. If it’s the second day then I allow students to sit and read where ever they want and then ill pull my small group with me the lower level learners um and it differentiates all the time a lot of shuffling. Different techniques some kids just blank out and that’s the hardest part.

Flora: Wow that is a lot of work

Teaacher: hahah yea. I have some students with disabilities, some students that don’t speak English that they are all in my class, they transfer in here and  I have 24 by the end of the year.

Flora: Yea that’s a challenge for you. (5:47)

It is but it’s great, so I have it color code it you can see up on the board. Where’s my glasses

Flora: I see social studies, science, reading…

Teacher: Yea so right after grammar, spelling and reading we take a quick break I go over math multiplication, facts. I give them maybe about a 3 min quiz just to see what they know. IF they do well they get a big star, it goes on my wall of fame.

Flora: omg how cute

Teacher: Um… if they don’t, they have to keep taking the test until they do well and then they go up on the wall, if you ace 3 of them you are exempt from the rest. And then we jump into the math lesson where everything now is on the smart board, if your smart bored works then you’re lucky! Hahha mine usually craps out on me a lot. But uh . . We review math HW then we teach a math lesson.

Flora: Oh Ok

Teacher: And then we go into our special activity, it changes every day I have a schedule for what we do over here ( Pointing to a poster on the wall) Then  we come back and if we didn’t finish the math lesson we finish it up really quick. And then by the time we are finished with math it’s time for lunch.

Flora: Ok….

Teacher: After lunch we read for 15 minutes and I pull my individual students so I can test their reading levels, I have to test their reading levels to see if there is any growth and I keep record of all of it. I dunno if you need to know all of this but I’m just telling you haha.

Flora: No that’s great I appreciate it trust me .

Teacher: It’s all right here ( opens here desk drawer)  I keep record of it.

Flora: Each student?

Teacher: Yea each student , every single grade we document how their doing the beginning of the year, the middle of the year and the end of the year

Flora: This is for every student or for the students that have a learning disability?

Teacher: Yea every student, so while their reading for 15 mins. I’m scrambling here trying to read with 1 student    here in this little area . I asked them questions and then I get to tell them what their reading level is, they get to find booked based on what their reading level . And then after the 15 mins. end we jump either to social studies quickly and then science and um at the end I leave it for writing because writing  they hired me because they knew that writing was my strength and with 3^rd grade writing is a weakness. They come in here writing maybe most of my students wrote maybe 1 paragraph and by the time they are in 4^th grade they are expected to know how to write 5 paragraphs, how to write details and um once we get to the college level I know we hated seeing 5 paragraph essays but in 3^rd grade we have to know how to write in details, they have to know basic structures , and so that’s the challenge

Flora: So, when you do the writing do you teach it up on the board?

Teacher:  I do stuff on the board, I do stuff ugh I came in here with my own set of ideas of what writing was based on the college level but I realized with them I have to be very specific. I have to tell them “ok in your introduction you need a 3 specific reasons in college this is called a thesis. In third grade this is your listing sentence “very similar just the language is different. break it down for them we do outlines, we do four squares we do maps, some of them do bullet points , I try to do my free writing thing that I did with my college students to see what works and what does not work. (PAUSE) um it takes a long time and I have kids that cry they don’t want to do it they shut down, absolutely nothing it takes a lot of energy just to make sure that I don’t spend it all on just one kid who is screaming hysterically every single day for writing and I am still ab le to teach the other kids.  I do get in class support 4 out of 5 days I have a teacher who comes in for maybe an hour for either reading or writing, so she helps a lot she takes my lower level learners to the side and works with them but it’s still a lot to take in, I have to , I try to cover all of those every single day (points to board)

Flora: Yea

Teacher: Hahahhaa  it’s a lot

Flora: Yea it is , pause so, so my other question for you was Can u tell me about a challenge you’ve faced and how you were successful in overcoming it, and that right there seems like a challenge , with the learning

Teacher: The learning, I think that’s um One of the main things is that they gave me a student they thought I was Hispanic so they gave me a student with like a Spanish last name then we found out she was Portuguese and I’m like well I know nothing about that um so teaching a student who doesn’t know a word of English that was one of my challenges but even more challenging is working with the students who I think have a disability but I’m not qualified to determine that  so talking to the parents about it, talking to the child study team about it , presenting my case , talking to the guidance counselor and just all the paper work that goes with it. Oh my gosh. 10:12

It’s a lot right

Um I fill out tons and tons of paper work for just one student so keeping reord of all of that and just documenting the different stratagies I do withthem on a daily basis it’s A LOT!

It’s a lot of work for you im sure

Yea and that’s y I sty here until 7 just so I can type it up and  I know im ot supposed to , everyone goes home hahhaa but I need to , I really have to prove to the district that im here , I an do it and if they throw me in another classs room I can still ddo it ill swim you know. I might have to float some days haha but ill swim eventually haha.so I keep fighting  But I love it . that’s my challenge I think just different level learners

So..

Rand new grade, ive never been in 3^rd grade before

Yea.. so what aout the um, the portugese student

Hahhaa

Is she still in your class ?

Shes in my class

Yea and how are you dealing with it

Now she talks too much hahahha  they absord language its amazing ! and like the difference btw September and now she’ll carry on cnversations

With other students

12:11   with everyone yea!  she’ll even do the writing with us , like the other kids, you’ll see the students that are fluent in English they’ll just shut down with the writing and shes attempting it even if its spelled wrong im like I don’t care even if its spelled wrong get your ideas out  I just want to see what you know

Rightg

Just to realy see if shes inderstaning whats being taught and she does. So that’s I think that’s….

So your basically telling her even though your answers may bbe incorrect just write your ideas down

Yea if its writing I don’t care if your sentence structure is off , like if ur missin a commona I just want to see if shne understands the question being asked and if she can give me some details.

Ok

So of course I have to shuffle and change my expectations for other students but I pause I just think its amazing how shes learning so much.

And shes learning quikly

Yeaa the challenge is when I have a student that’s face with something that they melt doen and shut down completely . Then when I bring it up to a parent and the parent is not cooperative and makes excususes for the child then I feel like I’m alone.

Yea, does that happen a lot?

Yea like “oh my child could never do wrong” kind of thing and im like okay we will see how it reflects in their grade.

Don’t u just wish you can put a camera in here and show it to them and be like excuse me , but this really did happen! Hahaha

Hahaha yea right. I tell the kids all the time, theres cameras every where they’re watching you. Hahaha I like that they still have magic in their eyes at this age.

Flora; yea? Third graders are what age?

Teacher :8 and 9

Flora: Oh yea 8 and 9 are still

Teacher :Yea they still have a great imagination and they are big, some of them are taller than me! So I thought oh they are older but then I saw how excited they got when Elmo showed up the beginning of the school year and I’m like REALLY? Ok! Hahaha

Flora: Hahaha yea even like 12 years old they are still young

Teacher: They put on sucha tough front, I’m like why do you have to pretend like you’re so tough when they try to fight with me and I think that they are so mature but then I’m like no your still a kid they still want to go home to their parents, they still want to go home and eat ice cream.

Flora: Go home and play video games!

Teacher: Oh yea they love video games, they love it. I told them Mrs. Castillo plays mind craft, I just said it , I don’t play mind craft. Haha I uh made myself learn because of them.

Flora: Oh really? Hahaha

Teacher: Yea just because they are obsessed with that game, they wrote about it .they wrote about it in their essays. I’m like faking it, oh yea I love it hahah

Flora: Hahhaa

Teacher: Then I told them to write me a how to essay, like how to survive in the game and

Flora: Oh that’s a very good idea

Teacher: Yea and I actually took some of their steps and I tried to play the game then I’m like you missed a step because I died hahaha

Flora: Hahah that’s amazing I think that’s a good way to get them to write

Yea find something that they are interested in and try to run with it. I find that helpful with college students too

Yea I think so too

But it’s when they are faced with something that they have no idea what they’re reading it for if I don’t model it for them then they are lost. I have to model a lot read out loud, which means that I just have to show them how to do it step by step, its repetitive, tiring and boring for some but for the kids that don’t get it they need it. So ….. that’s my rant with the kids ahahhaa

That was your challenge, um another question I had for you was Can you tell sometimes just by looking at your class can u just tell that OMG a problem is going to happen btw students

Oh yea

Flora: Like, then what do you do?

Teacher: Do you see how these desks are set up, I just did this today um it becomes a challenge because (PAUSE) you’ll see it; you’ll see the body language. You’ll see some of them shut down you’ll see the tears in their eyes, you’ll see those pushing books on the floor, pencil shavings everywhere. Im like what is going on in this group?! He said this she said that he licked his fingers and touched me. Oh my gosh it goes on and on. So I talk to them, I give them maybe a minute or so in the hallway, it’s my little office. Where I have my arm on the door way so the class knows im there and im peeking with half my face in the class so they know im there hahhahaha. I just let them let it out and vent let I tout let me know what’s going on .

yea

Teacher: um I, I work with the guidance counselor if it’s something I really don’t have a clue what im doing, or sometimes I will run to another teacher . if it’s something im really really concerned about I run to the principle. um, and but most of time if they are arguing right I ask them to move their desk away from each other and try to get them to refocus. it’s harder when they  shut down and are sobbing, I let them go to the bathroom, wash their face come back, and If they’re you know like come back and get ready to learn bc if you don’t do the work you’ll have to take it home or im going to send you to another classroom to do it.

Ok

Teacher: Um I give them that ultimatum; you can’t just sit here and do absolutely nothing.

Flora: right, but ur also giving them a moment to like breath

Teacher: yea and if they don’t then they will shut down the whole day and I think im very aware with the students that have issues with other kids. they usually tell me anyway. But um….. I think what’s hard is when you have  a quiet student that holds things in and doesn’t say anything , barely talks so you can’t figure out what’s going on in their minds that’s when I try to get the parents , like is there anything going on? Do they say anything at home? Communication is huge, weather I’m communicating with the kids, guidance counselor, or parents; I just have to communicate all the time. But yea I shuffle their desks around to answer the question. hahaaa if I see something that’s about to happen; that’s why I have one girl, I mean two girls by the door. I said the next step is another classroom and they’ll have to do their work in there and if you can’t handle it the next step is we will call your mom

oh wow

Teacher: Um, they need that. Like I told them I can be nice but I can be firm, no more nice MRS.C. I talk about myself in third person. I know I sound crazy but I do it with them

Flora: hahaha

Teacher: I give them choices I think, it’s your choice you can sit there arguing with each other or we can step out into the hall way I’ll hear your side of the tory ill hear her side and then I, I usually say like we’re friends right like you guys are friends with one another so what’s going on. And then the next day they are fine.

Flora: Yea that’s how it usually is hahahaa

Teacher: I mean if it’s a really big issue then the guidance counselor gets involved and she’ll talk to the class and pull them out group by group. I always try my best to address it before it spreads like wild fire because at this age they r very chatty, very um .. Like rumors hit hard with them

Flora: ha-ha how crazy they r only in 3^rd grade

Teacher: I know! Rumors like he’s dating her, im like really third grade!

Flora: hhhahaa

Teacher: hhhaha I dunno I guess its TV

Flora: ok so when you do see a problem you try to take them out in the hall way and hear their side of the story

Teacher: it depends if im in  a middle of a lesson and  I see one of the kids fighting with another I’ll say oh I want u sitting in my teacher chair or I want… I have areas where they can sit like by the computers, or

Flora: ok so you try and

Teacher: I pull them away from each other without interrupting a lesson unless I have to and sometimes I have to because it’s just...

Flora: it’s bad

Teacher: yea it gets bad. And the worst is when I have an unannounced observation coming in and then there’s an issue and it looks like im not doing anything but im trying to solve a conflict

Flora: yea that must be hard

Teacher: Um…

Flora: So do you think that those methods to solve problems that you use do work?

Teacher: Yea I think so now that I shuffled, you can’t have them sitting in the same desk all year around I have to shuffle them around. If it gets to crazy, like they’ll be horrible on a Friday when they come in on Monday they are all sitting in rows and they HATE it, they hate sitting alone. Uh, then they earn their way back into a group

Flora: ok that’s a good. .

Teacher: yea I think so, uh I give a lot of prizes so if I had an issue with the kid I warn them they know right away to flip their card you know. If I know that their doing something wrong they flip it to yellow or sometimes straight to red. Then if I have a party in the class no reds allowed so they are not allowed to go, they’ll go sit in another room.

Flora: wow

Teacher: so yea, I learned all that stuff first year

Flora: so if they have a red card they can’t participate in the party

Teacher: They get a detention or they can’t participate. They lost their tad pole party, I mean not tad pole party, they’re gonna have tad poles in the room next door we’re going to observe. I’m like boys and girls if you talk , or I have to stop my lesson you will get a check on the board and if I get to 3 checks no tad poles so it’s a constant reminder for them that there’s no tad poles. Um they had reached three checks but then they started behaving. So they always have a chance to redeem themselves.

Flora: oh that’s great

Teacher: Yea by keeping the checks on the board I try to give them a lot of visual cues. I do sign language sometimes.

Flora: WOW FACE

Teacher: well my own sign language with the kids. Secret symbols if I have students who continently have to talk to me they go like this (shows sign) another goes like this (shows another sign)

Flora: AW

Teacher: So I know that it means they need a moment to be with you real quick to vent.

Flora: that’s really, that’s really comforting

Teacher: yea so they can talk to me, I think they like that. Um, and parents are happy when their kids are able to talk to me too. I dunno it’s a lot ha-ha.

Flora: (Quiet pause) Im sorry Im just looking over my questions, I think we covered all of them

Teacher: OH yeyeyeye

Flora: but we can still chat ha-ha

Teacher: Now good luck transcribing all that, hahhahaa I hated transcribing.

Flora: gee thanks

Teacher: oh my god, it would take hours

Flora: thanks !

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blog #11

Blog # 11
Interview protocol
 
How I will conduct my interview is by first asking easy questions about the classroom, and how long she has been teaching. This will set up a foundation for my main focus. With Dr. Chandlers help I have come up with the following questions. I'm sure that during the interview there will be some other questions that arise and might take my interview in another direction, I may or may not ask these questions in this particular order but I will try my best.
 
1. What grade level do you teach?

2. How long have you been teaching this grade?

3. How many students are in your class room?

4. What inspired you to become a teacher?

5. Have you ever taught any other grade level?( If she answers yes, I will ask....so which grade is your favorite? )
 
6. Can you describe a typical day in your class room?

7. How do you organize your daily routines?

8. Can you tell me about a challenge you've faced and how successful you have been in overcoming it?

9. What kinds of language and behaviors give you an idea that there will be a conflict between students?

10. Once you realize that there may be an issue arising do you then change your language and behavior to manage classroom behavior, or to prevent the issue before it occurs ?

11. Are there any things in particular that you look for when trying to find a resolution?

12. If you are faced with this problem again would you do the same things to solve the problem or would you try a different approach.

Blog # 10

Blog # 10 - Cultural Stories

Cultural Stories related to teachers

- The majority of Teachers are Women

- Teachers are organized

- Teachers are knowledgeable

- Good teachers are ones who care about their students

- Good teachers are effective communicators

- Teachers know how to give directions and explain things in great detail 

- Good teachers are encouraging

- Bad teachers yell a lot

- Bad teachers are the ones who can not control their classroom

- Teachers dress funny ( not all though!)

Although these ideas listed above many not apply to all teachers, these were some of the things that people believe about teachers.