Science

        To ensure all students on all levels are grasping concepts in Science, I teach by the two major approaches, traditional and inquiry.  I teach mostly by the inquiry approach which is the constructivist and hands-on approach.  The experiemental methods and concrete way of learning help my students achieve more.  I follow the five E's: engage, explore, elaborate, explain, and evaluate.  Through the explain step, this is where some of the traditional approach comes in.  Once a week we'll look through the Science textbook to learn facts and vocabulary.  The vocabulary is then placed in the Science Square (like a word wall).  There's also modeling of activities and "experiments" during this time.  We have Science vocab readers and once I read one, there are several other copies to place in their group book baskets.  During the engage and explore steps, there are multiple means of action to provide learners for demonstrating what they know, individually and in cooperative groups (Universal Design for Learning).  To record their findings, they are given concept maps and grapic organizers.
        Looking through the chapter, I realize that I haven't looked into buying inexpensive Science Lab Kits.  Greenville County Schools receive three Science kits throughout the year that are chalk full of materials and hands-on lessons, but I could have more kits for the units we do.  I also don't start all lessons with a review before new material is presented. 
        Of course, there are ways that I could be even more sure that students are where they should be with Science proficiency.  I'll go to the websites mentioned in the chapter and also do a little research myself for kits I can purchase to help my student with being engaged and exploring.  To help with a daily review, I'll implement Peer Tutoring, PALS and a time for Retelling/Repeated Readings. 

Social Studies

       I have Social Studies on my schedule to teach 30 minutes every day, but also it's integrated into Reading and Writing very often!  Sometimes Social Studies and Guided Reading are combined for the week, depending on the unit.  For example, we (my 2nd grade team and I) combined it for a Polar Express Unit, focusing on comparing communities and their traditions in S.S. and sequencing events in Reading.  Instructional approaches I take to teach S.S. that stem off of textbook and lecture, as stated in Ch. 10, "Textbook and lecture should still be done, just integrated with new and supportive techniques," are the following:

• Inquiry - making connections to the real world, student-centered, students being social scientists and solving problems, planning and organization on my part as the teacher, and cooperative groups
• Making Connections - Reading (comprehension) and Math (map skills) integration
• Strategic Instruction - helping students identify different test structures (key words), Reading and Writing assistance with organizers (POSSE, POWER)
• Simulations - students acting out events (for ex: other cultures' traditions, the voting process in government, following map routes, role playing and dressing up for historic figures)

Accommodations I make for my students to better meet their needs for excelling in Social Studies is giving extra time for completing projects to LD students, having separate settings when needed, assigning reading partners, assigning partner work, assistive technology (webquests) and concept maps. 

       Instructional Approaches that I'm not doing to help some of my students bring up their grades in S.S. is working with them in small groups to give assessments.  Some directions on assignments and tests aren't as clear as they could be.  More materials for weekly lessons is something I'm not doing.  This could be because at my school, Science is taught every day as well and the preparation is hard to make each lesson for both subjects every day seem highly stimulating with materials.

       To put these approaches into practice and help all my students excel in S.S., I could assess some in small groups where I can reread the directions more.  They could also be given highlighters to highlight test directions and also directions given in partner and individual work.  I need to plan better to have every lesson have at least one material that will cause thinking for all students to move from abstract to concrete thinking.  I could also have more partner work for my class before assigning individual work and tests.

Math

Math.  When I was a student from 6th grade and on, this word made me cringe.  Now that I'm a teacher and am aware of evidence-based teaching practices, I know that a lot of the teachers I struggled learning Math from didn't use many of the practices in their teaching.  Thinking back, 7th grade was a little different because I remember my teacher introducing each lesson by relating it to real-life and taking the time to model different procedures to solve problems.  She also had us work in groups a lot (one high student in each group) to extend the teaching.  I use these practices in my teaching as well and they fall under the Four-Step Direct Instruction Format that I use daily: introducing lesson, modeling procedures, guiding students (during whole group instruction and cooperative learning groups) and moving student to work independently.  Something I do that is a very important part of introducing and modeling the lesson is using manipulatives to ensure I'm getting through to every learner.  Even those above-level students sometimes get stumped on new Math concepts and using manipulatives help provide the concrete learning they all need.  After we've done whole group, guided work, and independent work, I know who is proficient in the standards taught that day and who isn't.  Those that are will move on to work in their assigned Math station.  Those not will have their station with me in a small group for extra practice.  I'm very thankful for my low-performing students being pulled for Math Intervention with our Math coach.  She is teaching what I'm teaching and is able to give those students more one-on-one help that I may not be able to in whole group.  When they come in from working with her, we're doing Math stations and they get more small group help with me!  We didn't have Math Intervention in 2nd grade last year, and it's made a big difference this year with helping below-level students catch up! 
       There are about five students in my class that display deficient semantic memory, procedural deficits, and visuospatial MD.  A couple of these have learning/behavioral disorders that mess up their self-regulation that is essential to successful academic performance in Math.  All of these students are in Math Intervention with the Math Coach and they also work with me in a small group while on and above level students work in Math Centers.  Strategies that I'm not using from the chapter that aid in these students' success, despite their learning difficulties, are more drill practice, self-monitoring, and self-regulating demonstrations.
       For effective academic remediation with my students showing deficient semantic memory and procedural deficits, more practice will be done with drills.  I'll try to make the process of doing drills interactive, motivating, and fun by playing lots of games and giving positive feedback.  My goal is to have students learn and behave like successful mathematicians and self-monitoring/self-regulating are evidence-based practices I need to put into practice more in my students' daily Math routines.  For my students showing difficulty, they can have a form for that certain skill that has a list of questions for them to ask themselves when working out the Math problems of the day, whether it's in guided or independent instruction.  First, they'll mark the form when I give them a cue and then they'll move on to independently monitoring themselves.  This self-monitoring practice has proven to help students be more accurate and productive in solving Math problems.  If it's more than one area of Math they're struggling in, I'll provide them a set of prompt cards that can be held on a ring.  As for self-regulating, I'll provide more opportunities for students with MD to demonstrate talking out the problem (and actually paraphrasing word problems) and solving it before I step in.  This will help them take more responsibility for their learning and hopefully, motivate them to have perseverance in being successful in Math.

Culturally Responsive Teaching

I grew up in a predominantly Caucasian classroom and even in my field experiences at Clemson, I was placed in classrooms that I was familiar with: mostly Caucasian and very few African-Americans and Hispanics.  However, my first teaching job and where I still am, I had to adjust real quickly to a culturally diverse classroom: mostly African-American, some Hispanics, and very few Caucasians.  Now, I have to say I have to agree with the book, "Unfortunately, too few teacher education programs appear to be preparing teachers and other education professionals to work effectively with culturally different students."  So my first year was hard, very had.  Thankfully, my school's main professional development that year was differentiated instruction and this helped with varying teaching styles to accommodate and affirm learning styles.  In my classroom, learning styles dominate the instruction making my instruction be student-centered.  When there's a lecture, there's always a chance for student discussion.  When the class has a grasp on the standard(s) being taught, judging from discussion and activities, they are assessed.  For activities, cooperative learning takes place frequently, as well as graphic organizers, group presentations, projects, games, manipulatives, creative movement, role-plays, peer-tutoring, and sharing/celebrating work.  I've been told when my class is observed by administration or support staff, that my classroom feels inviting and warm and there's a respectful rapport between the students and I.  I try my best, but definitely fall short every now and then, at treating my students exactly like I'd want to be treated and try to be an example of what I expect from them. Whether it's using manners and following procedures or putting my best effort into the work being done that day.
         From Ch. 14, some things did grab my attention that I'm not using to foster my classroom being culturally responsive.  One being that the teaching is bidirectional.  Yes, there is peer-tutoring in cooperative learning groups, but I don't have the students trying to make me learn from them.  To facilitate the communalism characteristics of some culturally diverse students, I need to use teaching strategies that implement service and community involvement.
         Now to make a plan to readjust a couple of my teaching practices.  With the bidirectional teaching, this could be done with my students being required to research a certain topic without me teaching them about it first and then coming up to teach it to me and the rest of the class!  Sounds pretty exciting to me, except there would have to be some major guidelines set up before freeing them to teach themselves. :)  With service and community involvement, we get a lot of help from churches and social services because of being a Title 1 school.  We do make thank you notes and posters, but it just stops there.  We could find ways to help them back!  Also, we could delve a little deeper when we learn about our cultures.  I make sure to somehow incorporate all cultures present in the classroom in the instruction at least once during the school year, for example with African-American and Hispanic students, some things we learn about are Kwanzaa, Cinco de Mayo, El Dia de los Muertos, Black History Month.  I could actually have speakers come in that have experience with our cultural units. 

Assistive Technology

       I learned that Assistive Technology services is, as defined in chapter 13, "any service that directly assists an individual with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology device."  As I've said in earlier posts, I don't have any students this year that have IEPs, but in the past have used AT to help disabled students with IEPs.  Devices that were utilized were interactive white boards, word prediction software, school-installed software such as: ABC World, Mathosaurus, KidPix, TypetoWrite, Number Recovery, Graphers Network, Compass Odyssey, and Fast Forword.  These are used presently with students that are below level in my class, even though they don't have IEPs.  Also in the past and currently, tools that have been and are used that don't involve the use of a computer are: talking cash registers, color coding, highlighting tape, page tabs, pencil grips, stamps, and sticky notes.  For all of the tools mentioned, I've provided multiple opportunities for practice and have given feedback.  I've also progress monitored and collected data to help support how the technology has enhanced my instruction and the students' learning. 
       I download and use flipcharts every week from Promethean Planet, but sometimes settle for mediocre flipcharts, knowing what could be done to make it more engaging and effective.  Making the time to make some of my own flipcharts hasn't been a priority of mine like it probably should be.  We have FlashMasters that help master Math operations with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts.  I don't have any in my room because there weren't any available in the beginning of the year.  I believe there have been some more added to the Math Resource room, I just keep forgetting to check. :/  We do, however, practice Math facts with internet games on the Promethean Board and they can't get enough! 
      Since I'm keeping my textbook and its valuable information, I'll definitely use it to make sure assistive technology is applied as it should when I have the next student(s) that have IEPs.  For my classroom this year and to ensure my instruction is enhanced through research-based technology, I'll take the time each week during my lesson planning to make a highly appealing flipchart or two that correlate exactly with my standards and essential questions.  I'll also check the Math Resource room for FlashMasters to help with fact fluency.

Writing

      Writing is one of the hardest subjects to teach, but one of my very favorites!  It's a time where my class and I share our lives with each other, ask personal questions, convey feelings, and give praise.  Writing is such a critical subject to effectively teach and for the students to get down pat because it's the primary way that most knowledge is shown in school.  I make sure when I'm planning writing lessons, that they are carefully designed, well-paced, and highly interactive.  During Writing in my classroom, students have an organized routine.  It starts off with Writing Workshop that begins with five minutes of reading a book or me telling a personal story that showcases the trait being taught, next I model writing, then the students get with partners to talk about whatever emotions/thoughts they connected to during Writing Workshop, the students have their individual Writing time, then an "Author of the Day" is picked to share any writing piece they're comfortable with.  After they put their writing on the Dukane (visual projector), they receive praise from myself and peers.  Throughout the writing instruction, the Writing process is discussed daily and there's a display for the students to refer to.  In my draft modeling, I include specific statements about why I'm writing what I'm writing.  I also include statements that reflect goals, coping, and reinforcement of the skills and traits I'm wanting to obtain.  For the editing step, we have an Editor's Checklist that strictly focuses on editing (spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization) and they write the Checklist numbers at the top of every writing piece.  They know they can't publish until they've gone through their writing and checked off the item's number and then it's been double checked by me.  For example, item 1 states "Do all of my sentences make sense?" and item 2 states "Did I put an end punctuation mark after every complete sentence?".  As of now, we have a total of six editing items.  Right now we're learning how to portray the trait of Voice in our writing and so during conferencing, Voice is the main component being praised first and addressed for revising.  Of course, other traits that have been already taught and are present in writing will be praised as well.  Students have a working portfolio at their desk, they have a Writing folder that has a place for Brainstorming (graphic organizers and lists) and a place for Publishing.  Their Writing journal is their Drafting.  When pieces have been published, they turn them in and I save them for their showcase portfolio.  There is a Writing rubric at the front of the room at eye level so students can easily remember what needs to be displayed in pieces that will be graded.  I'm pretty confident that cognitive strategy instruction is being implemented currently in my Writing instruction, but there's always room for improvement!  On a sidenote of what else is implemented in my classroom, I have a Writing station.  This is where the Writing Process is displayed on the wall, as well as posters for Writing ideas and Punctuation/Capitalization strategies.  On shelves there are: dictionaries, a bucket of objects for students to choose that help with generating ideas, a mailbox to submit letters, and trays that hold stationary, envelopes, markers, and erasers.  There's a place for students to sit and write on laminated posters that look like notebook paper.  Under the shelves, there are drawers that hold materials for making books, stamps for making scenes and/or using in created book illustrations, and writing journals that have extra handwriting practice and places to write to classmates.
       One thing that I don't do and definitely need to put into place is a showcase portfolio for each child to look through to help them see their growth in Writing!  I have the binders for the portfolios, it's just getting them put together and this is something that I NEED to take time to do.  I know it would help motivate them!  I also fail to put up published work frequently.  I have the work saved and ready to use in conferences with parents and send home at the end of the year, but why not have a place in my room where it's constantly changed out and celebrated?  When it comes to grading, I don't show anchor papers that have below level, on level, and above level scores.  Another strategy that isn't going on in my classroom is having the students actually help grade anchor papers.  What a great way for them to be more aware of how an acceptable and exceptional writing piece should look. 
      Now to make improvements .... I want to put together Writing showcase portfolios as soon as possible.  In these portfolios, I'd like to include tabs that show months and genres.  I also need to get a checklist ready to ensure that students have turned in at least one published piece per month.  Over the summer, I'm going to set up a place for published pieces to go on the wall in my Writing station so the most exciting step of the Writing process can always be celebrated!  When it's time to grade, I'll get together all levels of writing assessments and show the students the papers without the grade.  I'll give them the opportunity to use the rubric to grade them and then I'll show them the actual score to see how well they assessed the papers.  Hopefully, in the near future, these areas won't be considered weak areas of mine anymore. :)
      

Reading Comprehension

      Race and socioeconomic status are definite factors with students not comprehending reading.  I teach at a Title 1 school and face this with many children.  Reading Chapter 7, I came across modifications and strategies that I'm using now to increase reading comprehension for all of my students.  Modifications that fall under direct instruction such as dynamic presentation of info, clear organization and structure of instruction, step-by-step progression of teaching elements, and explanatory instruction are some that I'm using.  With explicit instruction, I'm guiding students during initial practice, providing students with high levels of successful practice from modeling, highlighting, providing feedback, reviewing, and then having the students practice and apply knowledge cooperatively in groups and/or individually.  As for strategies, there is spatial organization with graphic organizers and also mnemonic practice.  There are many opportunities for my students to progress in reading comprehension from questioning, main idea instruction, multicomponent elements, summarization, reciprocal teaching, cooperative learning, and peer tutoring.
       There are strategies and collaboration from the chapter that I haven't yet put into practice in my classroom.  They are having the reading disabled students serve as tutors, students performing self-regulation, and full implementation of a multicomponent strategy program.  Looking at the tables for reading comprehension procedures, when it comes to summarizing and main idea, there are steps I haven't taken to provide higher achievement in these areas. 
      Realizing that reading comprehension is the basis to do well in all subjects, there is always room to apply additional research-based strategies in teaching.  To help boost confidence and self-efficacy in my reading disabled students, I could demonstrate to them how to be a reading tutor in cooperative groups.  With self-regulation, I could model self-instruction such as think-aloud skills, teach for self-monitoring, and provide students with strategies that they can apply independently with confidence.  A multicomponent strategy program that I've heard of and could start with is the SQ3R program (Survey, Question, Read Retell, Review).  We do a lot of this already in my classroom, but to have my struggling students put together these skills into one name and know steps for the process, it would help text information be clearer and more organized. 

Reading Instruction

Regarding teaching Reading to all cultures, languages, disabilities, and exceptionalities in my class, I have the following evident:

• addressing cultures in my class within the curriculum
• meaningful activities when focusing on basic reading skills
• most components of Culturally Responsive Reading Instruction (having students make connections between school and their lives,helping students access prior knowledge, and high expectations)
• Literacy Instruction with Emphasis on Oral Language Development (oracy instruction)
• Intensive Reading Interventions (modified Guided Reading in small group)
• most components of Reading Comprehension Strategies within Content-Area Instruction (reciprocal teaching and collaborative strategic reading)

Strategies and theories I've learned about in this chapter that I'm not implementing are:

• transferring reading strategies already known in first language to second language
• practicing different ways to distinguish between a learning disability and a language acquisition
• learning as much as possible about all cultures of my students and celebrating similarities/differences more often
• recognizing literacy experiences at home
• giving students roles in cooperative learning groups

The following is on my "To-Do" list with Reading instruction:

• To transfer between languages, I'll make my students more aware of how they can transfer literacy skills and knowledge already acquired in first language and will demonstrate to further advance students in the process.
• I'll pull my Hispanic student I'm concerned with to help distinguish between LD and language acquisitionn by giving her oral directions in English to follow.
• I'll double check permanent records and ask parents to confirm all cultures and will research all holidays and traditions that can be integrated into lesson plans.  I can take books on diversity and separate them in labeled book baskets.
• I can send home an interview form for students and parents to fill out together on all literacy experiences at home.  Then, we can have a designated day where the parents come in and they present the form's info to the class, whether it's a poster they made, books they brought in, projects they created, movies made from books, and/or simply storytelling.
• When students are in cooperative learning groups, I can give them roles such as Leader, Clunk Expert, Questioner, Time Keeper, and Encourager.

Assessments

      The right concepts that I'm applying towards my students being assessed (as mentioned in Ch. 12) are using most of the steps of the Problem Solving Model, giving different types of assessment, and preparing students for high stake testing. I currently don't have any students with IEPs and therefore, do not have to accommodate or modify assessments for students with disabilities.  I've just received permission from one child's mother that I can go forward with referring him to A-Team (my school's problem solving team) for the gap between class expectations and his low academic performance. I'm still waiting on permission from another child's mother to go forward with referring her to the A-team process.  Both children's areas of concern have already been identified with their classroom grades and being screened and submitted for RTI in Math and Reading. I'm using positive reinforcement incentive charts for both with trying their best and staying focused on quizzes and tests.  I have them in the front and away from the peers that could distract them.  For my whole class with assessments, I offer checklists, rubrics, running records, interviews, quizzes, unit tests, projects, presentations, cooperative group activities, and hands-on activities for a variety of given assessments.  When it comes to high-stakes testing, my students are in 2nd grade and do not have to take PASS.  However, they did have to take CoGAT and ITBS testing this past Fall and complete MAP testing in the Fall and Spring.  We go over test-taking strategies such as using time wisely, double checking answers, using best-option guessing, reading all the answers before making choice.  I also show them empathetic understanding of possible pressure during these kind of tests and we go over ways to reduce anxiety. 
      Unfortunately, there are areas of weakness in my assessing.  One is how often I give a wide variety of assessments.  I also don't consistently send home weekly a printout of grades from my gradebook.  When it comes to exploring and implementing interventions for my below average students, I don't collect as many work samples as I should.  When it comes to referring students to A-Team, I tend to wait until the last minute in case they start to make adequate progress in the classroom.
      To help with giving different types of assessments more often, it's going to require taking the time to plan out rating scales, checklists, and rubrics and sharing these with the students before they're assessed.  While I do send home grades, it would be nice for the parents to count on a chart of organized data every week to be best aware of how their child is doing.  For my low achieving students that I'm thinking of are going through with A-teaming, I should make copies of work samples for my files before sending them home. When a concern arises about how a child is doing compared to an on-level student in my class, I need to take steps faster with implementing interventions and having ongoing evaluations of the interventions.  This will give me more confidence of when exactly the child should be A-teaming instead of feeling like it was done too late in the school year.  I plan on coming back to this post to keep myself in check with what needs to be done to better assess my class.  

Classroom Management

       I would say my classroom is an effective and managed classroom and this is a result of having a very tough first year of teaching.  Towards the end of my first year, my school decided to implement PBIS (Positive Behavioral Incentive System).  In order to decrease behavior problems, the administration wanted to look into a program that had proven to be successful at other schools.  Having PBIS at my school helped me to be more on the lookout for positive behaviors, and consequently, became a habit to draw attention to what students were doing right rather than wrong.  Since my first year was so challenging, I knew there had to be a change with how I started out my second year.  I made it a point to practice the qualities of a sound PBIS teacher.  How my classroom was effectively managed that year and from then on is that the following is being implemented: 

• a well-designed physical environment that makes the students feel safe and respected. 
• clear rules and routines (the first week of school is strictly for practicing rules and procedures)
• appropriate and effective instruction
• reinforcement for positive behaviors
• consistent consequences with inappropriate behaviors
• teaching and modeling prosocial competencies

Also, my posted rules are between the 3-6 suggested number and they address multiple situations.  These rules are referred to daily and role modeling is done if needed to show what could happen if this helpful rule wasn't in place.  During whole group, one of the rules is you have to raise your hand to be the speaker.  During transitions, there is no talking or touching and when I count down from 5-1, they have to have their "five things" together (eyes on me, ears listening, mouth closed, hands to self, feet still).  During individual work, they are to only whisper or talk softly to themselves if they need to talk out their thinking.  If they have to talk to someone, it's only to use manners like "Excuse me" or "May I please borrow an eraser?"  During partner/group work, they are to have "soft work talk," talking only about the assignment they're doing.  They are to stay seated and show numbers for getting up out of their seat.  These numbers are for using the bathroom, getting water (not during whole group), and getting supplies (only tissues during whole group).  There is an individual and whole class reward system that has components of a token economy and the students know that each day, they could be caught for doing the right thing.  Individually, they receive stickers and once they get to a certain amount, they go to the treasure box.  As a class, when they're all working hard together academically and/or behaviorally, they could receive puzzle pieces and once the puzzle is complete, they know I'll reward something they've expressed interest in (certain type of treat, extra recess, a Magic School Bus movie, etc).  Now there's also a time of token removal with the puzzle, a piece is taken when there's several students not following rules and procedures.  For their individual reward system, if they got a letter (a consequence for violation of rules), they'll not be able to receive a sticker at the end of the day when I'm signing behavior charts.  However, during the day if they showed proof that they were obeying the rule/procedure of whatever they got in trouble for, they could be given a sticker.
         Sometimes I do forget to be more on the lookout for chances to reward tokens to students, especially my students that are almost always following our rules and procedures.  When transitioning from one place to another in my room (there's different places for whole group:  at the promethean board, classroom library, calendar, and desks) when they have their five things together without me having to count down, I forget to reward them a puzzle piece.  When a child does or says something positive for another in my class, I ignore the importance of praising this to the class as a whole.
        What I'd like to improve with my classroom management is to take every opportunity to be positive and to give praise where praise is due.  This would help with giving more stickers to the students who are consistently doing the right thing.  It would also help with class puzzle pieces being given more when they're all working towards a common goal.  And when a child follows through with PPR (Positive Peer Reporting) I need to always reward that child with a token and/or praise.  I'm going to help PPR become more evident in my classroom by introducing tootling and why it's important to toot each other's horns whenever possible!  I'll give feedback after I've implemented these strategies more and how my class environment has become even more positive (there's always room for improvement!)

Low-Incidence Disabilities

          I’ve been teaching for five years and have never had my own classroom with students of any formally identified low-incidence disabilities such as: Autism Spectrum Disorders, Multiple Disabilities, Orthopedic or Other Health Impairments, Severe or Profound Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Hearing Impairment and Deafness, Visual Impairment and Blindness, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Deaf-Blindness.  I’ll have to really rack my brain on this one to remember my best and not-so-best practices.  When I was doing a long-term sub five years ago, I had a student who was mildly autistic.  I only worked with him for about three months, but did see characteristics such as mild limitations in social interaction and problems with verbal and nonverbal communication.  Most of his language disorders were demonstrated by part of his echolalia with stuttering.  I’d have patience with him and let him know that we all were listening to him and wanted to hear what he had to say.  I would model to the class how he should be treated and respected.  They were very receptive and practiced what was modeled without having to be told.  Another aspect of his language disorder was his difficulty to control the volume of his voice.  I would give him signals as to when to lower the volume, because sometimes he wouldn’t realize how loud he had become.  Every now and then, he’d have a hard time getting his emotions and wants/needs made known without getting frustrated.  Socially, there were frequent misunderstandings with others and it was challenging at times for him to get these misunderstandings sorted out without the help of an adult.  Since he was recently identified as being slightly autistic, he was still having to learn how to handle these situations and had to be closely guided as to what he should do before getting frustrated and losing his temper.  It took several pep talks, modeling, and role playing, but he started to make great gains when it was about time for the school year to end. 

          A couple of strategies that I could’ve implemented was to stay in closer contact with his mom and what they were doing outside of school.  I never found out if he was going to a specialist or counseling.  I also wasn’t as knowledgeable about the disability as I could’ve been and didn’t go out of my way to do any research

          What I could have implemented was to get the guidance counselor involved with working with him one on one.  I should’ve set up a time for them to meet bi-weekly and even set up meetings with any psychologists/mental health workers.  I was new to the school and hadn’t gone through any orientation, so it was a little hard to get plugged in and learn about who and what was around to help.   

High-Incidence Disabilities

          In my classroom, the only high-incidence disability is one case of identified ADHD.  This child is on medication and takes it regularly.  I try not to make it known to him or to others if I don’t think he has it taken his medicine or how I think it affects him.  I make sure he’s seated at the front and is easily facing the area of instruction.  His medicine makes him stay focused and concentrate on assessments, but he does take longer due to making sure he understands the questions and gets all of the information down before moving on.  During assessments, if I look over his work, it makes him sometimes lose focus and get nervous.  So we have a deal that before I look over him and maybe he’s stuck or needs total concentration, he’ll hold up how many minutes he needs until he’s comfortable with me looking at his paper while he’s doing the assessment.  I give him time to finish even if it takes a couple extra days during Morning Work. At lunch, his medicine is still in full effect and makes him not have much of an appetite.  I’m consistent with reminding him of the energy he’ll need later and monitor closely that he’s eaten some of his lunch. 

          Sometimes I’ll let him work with his best friends during partner work or literacy/math stations, but this has mostly caused him to get distracted and off track.  I  want him to enjoy learning with his closest friends and have given him too many chances to get work done at the quality it needs to be and in timely manner, and he almost always becomes too playful and loses sight of the objective.

          From now on in partner and group work, I’ll make sure he’s working with those that will keep him fully engaged and working to his potential without disruptions.  I’ll pull him aside and let him know why I’m no longer letting him work with his best friends and why they need to have that time together just at lunch and recess during the school day.  I’ll get his thoughts on the matter and we’ll come to an understanding of why this is best for him and how it’ll help him accomplish his goals he’s working towards.

Ch. 4 Synthesis

    
I do understand the components of school-based collaboration, including the benefits and barriers.  Right now, I’m in the process of deciding on A-Teaming two students which could lead to implementation of Resource or Speech or possible retention.  For this process, I’m staying in touch with the A-Team Coordinator, Instructional Coach, and Speech Pathologist to make sure I’m taking the right steps at the right time.  I try to be a good team player and have been told by my administration and colleagues that I am.  Giving others the respect that I would like to receive is important to me.  I make sure that my lessons are standard-based and take note of what is essential for the student to learn and not learn when it comes to broad standards.  I use our district portal very much to guarantee that my students are learning according to the pacing guide and are being assessed by the common assessments provided. 

      What I need to implement more and strategize with how to make it work for me and my packed schedule is to try to make more time for higher quality collaboration.  When my grade level meets every Thursday, I am responsible for Math and its planning form for all my grade level teachers and our instructional coach.  While I do take the time and effort to make good lesson plans, they could be better and more creative overall.  Also at grade level, I tend to become frustrated every now and then when something else is piled on us and let it be known of how teachers have TOO much to do that doesn't involve lesson planning and assessment.

      When being told by our instructional coach of what else we have to do that doesn’t involve lesson plans/preparation and assessment, I could try to look at the positive side.  I could suggest to my colleagues how we can make it work so that stress isn’t the go-to and we don’t feel overwhelmed.  With planning for Math, I could do a little along the way instead of cramming it in one night.  That way I always feel fresh and I can give my 100% for the whole week of plans.  Next school year I will have more free time because of being done with grad school and I will volunteer more to help with school programs and even to be chair of committees! 

Ch. 1 Synthesis

With RTI and my knowledge of its benefits, when a child is showing below level work in Reading or Math, I contact those interventionists right away to come pull that child to screen.  When the interventionists progress monitor my RTI students and give me progress monitoring data, I analyze the data and know where he/she is.  This helps with conversation with the interventionists and ensures us to be on the same page.  I also am aware of the certain target instructional goals that are made for the students specifically. 

I could analyze the progress monitoring data more extensively and know exactly what area of the subject needs more work.  Instead, I just focus on the general subject.  I could also know exactly what lessons are being taught when my students go to RTI and what verbiage the interventionists use.  Using terms they become familiar with in RTI will carry over to the general classroom and could help students be more in tune with certain skills being focused on and helping them to progress faster. And with the actual program terminology, I’m not too familiar with such as the tiers and the two different RTI models, I know the basic idea of them but would like to see them in practice.

I should attend more professional development on RTI to know exactly how the program is ran.  I also want to ask the interventionists at my school to give me a copy of their lesson plans.  Our Reading interventionist was doing that in the beginning of the year by his own choice, but has stopped.  I’d like to know the specific data for each child and will ask the interventionists to be more detailed and send an e-mail bi-weekly to let me know what exact areas of the subjects to focus the most on.