Completed Teacher Work Sample

Running Head: Teacher Work Sample 1

Katie Holmes

November 29, 2011

First Grade

Social Studies – Long Ago and Today

Louisiana State University

EDCI 4481

Teacher Work Sample 2

Table of Contents

Contextual Factors ………………………………………………………………............ 3

Learning Goals and Assessment ………………………………………………………… 8

Design for Instruction …………………………………………………………………...13

Instructional Decision Making ………………………………………………………….21

Analysis of Student Learning ……………………………………………………………23

Reflection and Self – Evaluation ………………………………………………………..33


Contextual Factors Community Factors

Northwestern Elementary School is located at 4200 Rollins Rd., Zachary, LA

70791, in East Baton Rouge parish. The city of Zachary has a total land area of 23.7

square miles. The population of Zachary, according to the 2010 census is 14, 960 people.

According to the 2010 census, the population is composed of 61.66% Caucasian, 35.42%

African American, 1.48% Hispanic or Latino, 1.33% 2 or more races, .83% Asian, .44%

other race, .31% Native American and .01% Pacific Islanders. The median age of the

Zachary population is 34.4 years old. The median household income is $72,517 with the

unemployment rate of 6.8%. The community of Zachary, according to the numbers is

stable in employment and income, which indicates the population of the school and

community, should not fluctuate throughout the year. The community around Zachary is

supportive of the school and participates in informational nights as well as donating items

to better the school, such as box tops or other materials.

District Factors

Zachary serves as its own school district, rather than serving all of East Baton

Rouge Parish. Zachary separated from the East Baton Rouge Parish school board in 2002.

Zachary school board serves six schools, 4,618 students pre –k through 12th grade. The

current expenditures of the Zachary school district are $8,030 per pupil. 60% of this

money goes to instruction, 34% on support services and 6% on other expenditures. The

school district has 15 students for every full – time teacher. The school board requires all

students in the school district to wear school uniforms. The Zachary school district has


been ranked as the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education as the top

school district in the state since 2005.

School Factors

Northwestern Elementary school has a total of 766 students, all being in

kindergarten or first. The race/ethnicity breakdown of the school population is 52.9%

Caucasian, 45.4% African American, 1% Hispanic, and .7% Asian. The school has 314

students who receive free lunch and 72 students who receive reduced lunch. The area

surrounding Northwestern elementary is supportive of the school. Many family members

volunteer in classrooms and around the school. The school has events that involve the

family and community, such as AR and Math night, as well as an open house at the

beginning of the year. Because the community surrounding the school is stable, the

classroom is stable and modifications for a fluctuating classroom population will not have

to be made. Because the surrounding community is safe and stable, it makes involving

the family and community in the education of the students at Northwestern Elementary

easier. This stable community and involvement of families and community positively

influences the education of the students at Northwestern Elementary.

Classroom Factors

The classroom is filled with brightly colored materials; it is rich in literature. The

classroom seems cluttered with materials necessary to meaningful instruction. The walls

of the classroom are covered with useful resources for the children, such as colors,

number/number line, coin amounts, their names, birthdays, months and days of the year,

word wall and many other things that the children can use to further their learning. Rather

than having all the desks be uniform, the desks are adjusted to the children’s personal


size. This allows the students to be comfortable in their desk and will allow them to give

their full attention to instruction. The classroom has four computers, an overhead

projector, a CD/tape player and a television and VCR. The classroom has nine stations

available to the children during station times.

Families are allowed to volunteer on any day during the school year, to help with

various activities, as well as attend and chaperone field trips. The families are invited to

participate in informational nights, such as math and AR night. The parents receive

weekly antics, so they are aware of what their child is learning for that week. The antics

give activities and skills so the families can practice skills and reinforce what the school

is teaching their child. Parents are also invited to eat lunch with their children; this shows

the child that their family is welcome and important at their school and vice versa.

The classroom rules are as follows: 1) Follow the teacher’s directions, 2) Keep

your hands, feet and objects to yourself, 3) Talk only with permission, 4) Stay in your

assigned area. The schedule in the classroom is very flexible, based on the children’s

understanding of a certain skill. The children attend ancillaries throughout the week,

including computer lab, guidance or library and music. Restroom breaks must be

scheduled due to a new school rule that children cannot walk down the hallway alone.

This interrupts instruction time and line activities must be planned so time is not wasted

standing in the hallway. The students are grouped in both reading and math levels. There

are four reading levels, each containing six children. The high group reads on levels 6 –

8. The low group reads on levels 1 -2 and the other two groups are on level. There are

only two math groups, a high and a low.


Student Characteristics

There are 24 children in the classroom, ranging from age 6 – 7. The class is made

up of 13 boys and 11 girls. 12 of the children are Caucasian and 12 of the children are

African American. Four of the students attend speech to help develop oral and receptive

language. Three children attend reading intervention, two of which are in tier II

intervention and one being in tier III. There is only one child with an IEP in the

classroom. Reading levels vary from students who are unable to identify letters to

students who can read independently.

The majority of the students in the class learn best when they are presented with

hands on activities and are allowed to move about the classroom. These children are

kinesthetic learners. There are a few students who prefer to work alone or sit at their desk

and work. Many of the students would prefer to draw a picture to describe their idea and

then attempt to write a sentence accompanying the picture. These students are visual

learners. 2 children in the class finish things very quickly and need other activities or

instruction to stay occupied, while a few students must be reminded of directions or

encouraged in order to finish the activity in a timely manner. The students come from

different educational experiences as well as different home situations. Their prior

knowledge is varied based on these two life components. The combination of these two

experiences must be taken into consideration when planning instruction and attending to

each individual child’s needs. The children’s interest will influence my plan for

instruction. If the students show certain interest in a particular time period in the past or

become interested in certain artifacts or ways of life, I will adjust the lesson plans to


include the students’ interests. Planning around the interest of the students will make the

lessons more meaningful and engaging for the students.

Instructional Implications

Because there is a mixture of learners in the classroom, I will try to incorporate

hands on activities and visual aids. Some students prefer to work in groups, while others

prefer to work alone, therefore opportunities for small group, whole group and

independent practice will be created. Instruction will be differentiated to accommodate

the various levels of development in the classroom. I will use preferential grouping or

partnering when students are working in groups, so that peer-to-peer help can be

implemented. Activities will be planned for students who finish quickly, so they do not

become bored. When planning instruction I will be sure to accommodate the

requirements for the IEP.

The parents and community at Northwestern are very involved and supportive, so

I will plan to involve and incorporate families and communities as much as possible. I

will do this by sending home activities the parents can work on with their children or

families can come to the classroom and participate in activities at the school. Technology

will be integrated into the unit because it is readily available in the classroom. The topic

of past, present and future will be a good way to learn about the individual student’s

lives, as well as their background.


Learning Goals and Assessments

Learning Goals:

LG1: Increase vocabulary to describe different periods in time. (i.e. past, present,

future)

LG2: Identify similarities and differences of life through time.

GLE’s: 1st grade Social Studies

1. Use words to describe time (past, present, future) (H-1A-E1) 2. Identify similarities and differences in families over time (e.g., structure, roles of

women, men, and children) (H-1A-E2)

The learning goals I have chosen are aligned with the Louisiana grade level

expectations for first grade social studies. The social studies benchmarks for history

and historical thinking skills are appropriate for the time long ago unit, because it

addresses all necessary skills first graders should learn regarding history. These

goals allow for differentiation and can be adjusted to accommodate all types of

learners. Pre – requisite knowledge is important in the outcome of these learning

goals because knowing and understanding what past and present means will affect

the way the students accomplish the goals. Assessing the prior knowledge of the

students based on these subjects and learning goals, will allow me to differentiate

instruction based on what skills that child needs the most help on.

The goals are relevant to the children’s lives because the children will be able

to use their personal experiences to better understand the concept of past and

present and how time changes life and the aspects of life. These learning goals will

prepare the students for history and social studies in later grades.

Assessments


Pre – Assessment

To determine what each child knows about the past, present and future, the

children will complete an activity in which they will determine which pictures are of

present day and which pictures are from the past. The children will sort through the

pictures and correctly place the pictures on a board indicating past or present. This

assessment will inform me of the children’s understanding of the words past and

present and determine if they can distinguish between past and present pictures

based on similarities and differences. Each correctly placed picture will be worth

one point. I will ask the students to explain their reasoning for placing the pictures

in their chosen areas. If the students recognize similarities and differences in the

pictures, the explanation will be worth one point. The students will give their

definition of past and present. If this is close to the dictionary definition, or shows

they have a clear understanding of the past and present. Students will receive 2

points for full understanding of the words, 1 point for understanding of either past

or present or 0 points for not understanding either of the words.

The students were given an option to write/draw their answer to the

questions asked during the assessment. This was one accommodation made to

differentiate the assessment plan. I conducted the assessments one at a time to

individual students so that I could observe the children sort and classify the pictures

and interview the children individually and get exact quotes and thoughts from each

student.


Formative Assessment:

The students will have daily journal topics to write about pertaining to life in

the past, present or comparing/contrasting the two. Students will also complete

open ended question sheets through out the lessons to assess what they are

learning. Students will participate in class discussions about different aspects of past

and present life and will be assessed through teacher observation.

Summative Assessment:

The students will be asked the same question as the pre – assessment. The

students will also complete the pre – assessment activity in which they sort and

classify pictures into past or present. I will compare the papers and number of

correctly identified pictures from pre and post assessments to determine if the

lessons were successful.


Learning Goal Assessment Format of Assessment

Adaptations

LG1: Increase vocabulary to describe different periods in time. (i.e. past, present, future) LG2: Identify similarities and differences of life throughout life.

Pre – assessment

Formative

Summative

The student will provide their own definition of the words past and present through and individual interview. Students will sort and classify 10 pictures on a chart identifying them as past or present. Students will receive 1 point for each correctly placed picture out of a possible 10 points.

Provide the student adequate answering time. Provide visuals of past and present times but do not identify which is which. Allow extended time and repeated directions based on individual needs of the child. Provide further explanation of the visuals.

Fully Understands Past/Present (2 points)

Somewhat Understands Past/Present (1 point)

Does Not Understand Past/Present (0 points)

Gives a reasonable definition of past and present

Gives a reasonable definition for either past or present

Gives an unreasonable definition of past and present

Past – Time that has already passed; time long ago Present – occurring at this time, currently happening


Visual of Pre – Assessment Picture board

Past Pictures Present Pictures


Design for Instruction

After reviewing the assessment results, I can tell the students do not have an

understanding of past and present. LG1 should be focused on before the students can

engage in activities for LG2. The beginning lessons will need to focus on the

understanding of LG1. The understanding of past, present and future will be necessary

before the students can understand LG2, similarities and differences of life throughout

time.

After reviewing the results of the pre – assessment for LG1, the children should

be placed in 2 separate groups for teaching instruction. The children who had a full

understanding of both past and present (score of 2 points) will have differentiated

instruction in which the activities focus on things and lifestyles of past and present rather

than the definition. The children who scored less than 2 points on the pre – assessment

will be in a group so they can build an understanding of the terms, past and present before

they participate in more advanced activities. This differentiation of instruction will

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Learning Goal 1

Points Earned

Possible points


provide each child with the skills they need to understand time long ago to the best of

their ability. The “high” group is small and therefore lessons can easily be adapted to

challenge them enough to keep them engaged.

After reviewing the pre – assessment results for learning goal 2, I noticed 15 of

the children scored 7 points or higher out of a possible 10 points. This group of children

was able to recognize items and pictures that belong in the past and present. The

remaining 9 children scored less than a 7 on the pre – assessment need more explanation

of why certain items are from the past and others are in the present. This could be caused

by their lack of understanding of the words past and present and these two groups need

differentiated instruction and activities. The students could have also guessed correctly,

rather than honestly knowing the answer. To be sure the students completely understand

the concept of past and present and the similarities and differences between the two, I

would not differentiate the instruction in groups to start off. I would teach the same

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Learning Goal 2

Points Earned

Possible points


activity to the entire class, or a few activities to get a better understanding on which

students truly understand and which students just happened to guess correctly.

Unit Overview

November 7 – Introduce past, present and future and the definitions (LG1)

• Read My Great Aunt Arizona discuss when the book was set and create a chart

discussing the differences in , transportation, communication, technology, school,

games/toys, way of life, means of food, and chores. (LG1 and LG2)

• Students will view different pictures and decide if the items are from the past or

present or what items from the past serve the same purpose as items from the

present (LG1 and LG2)

November 8 – Walking field trip around the community.

• Read the book Long Ago and Today, discuss how the town may have looked

different in the past and why (LG2)

• Show pictures of Zachary long ago have students discuss if some of the things we

saw today looked the same or how they have changed over time, jobs, buildings,

transportation etc. (LG2)

November 9 – Guest Speaker – discuss the past

• Write a journal entry of how their life would be was if they were children during

the same time period as the speaker (LG2)

• Introduce timeline to prepare for the lesson the following day. (LG1)

• Read Samuel Eaton’s Day and discuss the chores he did on a daily basis. Give

examples of chores, have students decide if the chores are past, present or both.

(LG1 and LG2)


November 10 – Making Timelines

• Discuss the important events of the students’ lives, which are from the past, what

is in the present. (LG1 and LG2)

• Children will construct their timeline using the sheet they have completed with

their parents. (LG1)

• Read Toys and games Then and Now and discuss timeline and toys from the past

and present (LG1 and LG2)

November 11 – Fun Friday Activity / sharing our timelines

• Sharing and discussing our timelines (LG1)

• Making Butter (LG2)

Technology: I will use the computer to show various pictures and websites to engage the

students in learning about past, present and future. The students also have time to use the

computer and websites during stations.

Stations: I changed the stations to make them more relevant to the theme of time long

ago.

Stations:

Art- Loom weaving

Writing – book making and pioneer dictionary

Computer – various past and present websites

Pocket chart – past, present and future definitions and past and present picture sort


Activities:

Introductory Lesson – Past, Present and Future

This activity will introduce the concept of past, present and future and the theme

for the week.

• Hold a class discussion of the meaning of past, present and future. Ask they

students their definition of the words. After explaining some of the words have

multiple definitions write the definition of past, present and future on sentence

strip and display them at the front of the classroom.

o Read My Great Aunt Arizona and discuss the transportation,

communication, games, technology and chores and way of life depicted in

the book.

o After reading complete a chart comparing the past and present

transportation, communication, technology, way of life, games/toys and

chores. Students will use their own experiences to compare their life to the

lives of the character in the path.

o As a follow up activity the hula hoops will be set up with various pictures

and objects in each. Allowing the higher students to compare items from

the past and present and decide which items serve the same purpose

differentiated the activity. The lower students will go to labeled hoops that

have only two objects or pictures and record which item would be used in

the past. The students will have an opportunity to do the higher or lower

activity with the help of another student.

§ The recording sheets are different for each group


Guest Speaker

This activity will give the children a chance to learn about the past from the guest

speakers experience through their life in the past. This will give the students an

understanding that these people had a very different childhood than the students are

living now. The writing activity after the speakers will show what the students have

learned.

• Two guest speakers will inform the children of how their life was in the past. The

students had 2 days of learning of past and present prior to the speakers coming.

They were able to look at artifacts from the past and ask questions to gain more

knowledge of what life was like in the past.

o Following the speakers the students were asked to write a story of what

their life would be like if they were 7 years old during the same period as

our guest speakers and how their life would be different.

Butter Making activity

This activity will give the students a hands on way of understanding the hard

work it was to have to make your own food and the differences in the ways we get our

food today and the way people in the past obtained food.

• The students have seen various ways of making and obtaining food in the past. I

will allow the students to look and use a real butter churn. I will explain the

process of making butter, show a video of churning butter and explain we will be

making butter, but in a slightly different way. I will play a butter churning song

while the students “churn” their butter.


• Two students will share a glass jar with whipping cream in it, I will tell the

students we will shake the cream. I will ask the students to make a prediction of

what they think will happen after we shake the cream. After the butter is made,

we will eat the butter on the homemade biscuits we cooked the day before. After

eating, we will discuss that in the past people had to go through all the work we

just did if they wanted butter. They couldn’t just go to the store and buy some.

Did the students enjoy this activity, why or why not?

Technology: Computer and projector to display video

Use computer to listen to butter churning song

Timeline Activity

This activity will relate the concept of past and present to the children’s own

personal lives and give them an opportunity to see that everyone’s pasts and lives are

different and also allows the students to see how their pasts and present lives have

similarities and differences.

• Prior to creating the timeline, the students will have been exposed to different

timeline and will have read and discussed the purpose of a timeline. The students

completed a timeline sheet of important events with their families.

• After showing my own personal timeline I will discuss the important events of the

children’s lives and explain how we will be constructing the timelines. The

timelines will be numbered as well as the pictures.


• After completing the timelines, the students will be allowed to share the timelines

with the class if they choose to do so.

These activities are directly related to the learning goals I set for this unit of time long

ago. These activities were designed to accommodate all learning styles, including visual,

audio and kinesthetic. The activities also incorporated opportunities for group

collaboration and teamwork as well as individual activities. The activities were relevant

and relatable to the students’ lives and their community.


Instructional Decision Making

Our class took a walking field trip around Zachary. After the field trip I had

planned to discuss what we saw on the field trip and compare the town how it was in the

past to how the town looks in the present. While reading a book, that discusses the

differences between the past and present, one student expressed that he was confused

about how the town was different because some things from the past were still here

today, such as the historical village and the train depot. I realized the students didn’t

understand that some things and places from the past are carried over and used in the

present. After one student expressed this confusion others seemed to be confused by it

also. Because of this confusion we discussed that some things are still here from the past,

but they are used in a different way.

I showed the students pictures of the train depot from the past and read what it

was used for from a book about Zachary in the past. After discussing what it was used for

the in the past, we discussed what we saw in the train depot early that day and what it is

used for today. I explained that even though some buildings are still here from the past,

they are used for different things and can change in different ways. I think this visual aid

and discussion helped the students better understand the similarities and differences of

past and present and that things from the past are still used today, but maybe in different

ways. This change in instruction helped the students reach learning goal 2, understanding

similarities and differences of life through out time. One child’s question brought about a

teachable moment in which, I think the entire class benefitted. The change in instruction

was just a change in what we were discussing and the materials used.


While creating their individual timelines, a few of the lower students were

confused on the order in which the events should be placed on the timeline. To address

this situation, I gathered the class and we reviewed chronological order of events, past

and present and I showed my timeline as an example. We discussed as a class what

happened first, being born or the first day of school and other events in the same manner.

After discussing which came first, we talked about the years that accompanied the event

and that the smaller numbers were the first events.

This review of the main ideas enforced learning goal 1, past and present

vocabulary, and learning goal 2, similarities and differences by relating the 2 goals to

their own personal lives. The connection to the students’ personal lives made it more

understandable, than just thinking of the past as events that have already passed and

present as happening today, but that they each have their own past and present and

everyone’s is different. The students’ were also able to realize different events in the past

could be happening at the same time as well as different events in the present.

During the presentation of the students’ timelines I had planned to break the

presentation of timelines into sections so the students would not get restless, but they

were so engaged they asked to continue presenting until everyone had finished. I took

advantage of their interest and gave the students the option to read their events from their

timelines, or discuss the picture that accompanied the event. This slight change in plans

was lead by the students’ positive response to the presentation of their timelines. I think

this improved their progress toward the learning goals, because they were able to explain

their past and present and similarities and differences between the past and present in

their own words. This also gave the children a chance to teach and learn from their peers.


Analysis of Student Learning

Whole Class

The following table and graph shows the progress the students made in regards to

learning goal 1, increase vocabulary to describe different periods in time. (i.e. past,

present, future). The students received 2 points if they correctly defined both past

and present, 1 point if they correctly defined either past or present, and 0 points if

they could not correctly define past or present. The table and the graph show that

19 of the 24 students met the full criterion at the post assessment, after instruction

they were able to define both past and present. 19 students reaching full criterion is

a vast improvement to the 4 students who were able to define the terms during the

pre – assessment. 1 student did not improve from pre to post assessment and the

remainder of the class improved from pre – post assessment, but did not meet the

full criterion of explaining both past and present. The graph and table show the

progress of each individual student towards learning goal 1. Overall, the table and

graph proves the class reached learning goal 1 and could correctly define past and

present.


Learning Goal 1 Student Pre- Assessment Post Assessment

1 2 2 2 1 2 3 2 2 4 1 2 5 0 2 6 2 2 7 0 2 8 0 2 9 0 0 10 0 2 11 0 2 12 1 2 13 1 2 14 1 2 15 0 1 16 1 2 17 0 1 18 0 2 19 0 2 20 0 2 21 1 2 22 2 2 23 0 2 24 0 2


The table and graph below show the students’ progress towards learning goal 2,

identify similarities and differences of life through time. The students received 10

points if they were able to correctly place various pictures in the past or present.

The student received 1 point for each correctly placed picture. 22 of the students

met full criterion of correctly placing all 10 pictures during the post assessment. The

remaining 2 students improved from their pre – assessment score but missed

reaching full criterion by 1 point. The graph and table shows evidence that the class

reached learning goal 2 and was able to distinguish between items and events in the

past and present using knowledge of the similarities and differences between the

two time periods.

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Learning Goal 1

Points Earned-‐ Pre

Points Earned Post


Learning Goal 2 Student Pre- Assessment Post Assessment

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Learning Goal 2

Pre Assessment

Post Assessment


Subgroups

I chose to analyze the progress of students toward learning goal 2. The analysis is

based on students’ performance level of high versus low-level students. The level of high

and low is based on the student’s pre – assessment scores. Low-level students are

students who scored 5 points or less on the pre – assessment. The table and graph below

depict the high and low groups’ progress toward learning goal 2. After analyzing the

results of both subgroups, I realized that overall, the low group showed more

improvement as a whole. The high group, showed significant improvement as well, but

some of the students who scored high on the pre – assessment scored the same on the

post assessment or improved by only 1 point. When you look at the high group graph, it

appears that some students performed worse on the post assessment, whereas the low

group graph shows complete improvement of all students. Both subgroups improved

from pre to post assessment towards reaching learning goal 2.

Student Low Pre - Assessment Low Post Assessment

7 5 10

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15 5 10

20 5 10

23 3 10


Student High Pre - Assessment High Post Assessment 1 7 10 2 6 10 3 7 10 4 9 10 5 7 10 6 9 9 8 6 10 9 6 10 10 8 10 11 6 10 12 8 10 14 8 10 16 9 10 17 7 10 18 9 10 19 8 10 21 8 9 22 9 10 24 7 10

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Low Pre and Post

Low pre

Low Post


Individuals

I chose 2 students, student 8 and student 22, who performed very differently

based on assessments through out the unit. Student 22 is a high student and met the full

criterion on both the pre and post assessments for both learning goals. Student 8 correctly

identified 6 out of the 10 pictures during the pre – assessment for leaning goal 2. He

received 0 points during his assessment for learning goal 1. Student 8 improved

significantly from pre to post assessment for learning goal 2. Student 8 met full criterion

for learning goal 2. Student 8 showed no improvement from pre to post assessment

regarding learning goal 1.

During the pre – assessment I took notes on the students’ definition of past and

present and their rationalization of why they placed certain pictures in the past and certain

pictures in the present. This was helpful in understanding how that student learns, what

they know and gave them an opportunity to explain their thinking. From observing

Student 8 during the pre – assessment I realized he focused more on the pictures, which

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High Pre and Post

High Pre

High Post


he placed the majority of correctly, but could not explain why he put the pictures where

he did. He also struggled to provide a definition of what he thought past and present

meant. This was important because it showed me he is a visual learner, but that he needed

an opportunity to practice oral language and expressing his thoughts and explaining his

thinking. Student 22 was knowledgeable on the subject of past and present and was able

to identify the pictures correctly and explain why he did so. Realizing he had basically

reached the 2 learning goals, I knew I needed to think of ways to challenge him while still

including him in the classroom unit and activities.

I administered a formative assessment after an activity, discussing past and

present. The students were asked to go to different areas and identify which item was

from the past (Low group) or identify which items served the same purpose in the past

and present (high group). After this activity I asked Student 8 to explain how he knew

which items were from the past, this gave him an opportunity to verbalize his thinking.

Student 8 received the assessment for the lower group because he needed to understand

the basic concept of past and present before applying it to critical thinking skills, which is

what the high group assessment was. I gave different assessments based on the students’

pre – assessment scores. Student 22 took the assessment for the high group in which he

found different items from the past and present that served the same purpose. This

activity, while still addressing both learning goals required more critical thinking than

simply identifying the item from the past. Making this assessment different allowed me to

see each student’s level and decide if future activities needed to be simplified or made

more challenging.


Student 8 showed improvement from pre – assessment to formative and post

assessment for learning goal 2, recognizing similarities and differences between past and

present, this was probably due to the fact that most activities had pictures accompanied

with them. Student 8 did not show improvement from pre to post assessment for learning

goal 1, which may be due to the fact that he had to verbalize the meaning or explain an

example of past or present. Although the 2 learning goals were related and it is assumed

that if a student can place pictures in past and present categories that they know the

meaning of past and present; this was not the case with student 8, but I think it was due in

large part to the way the information was communicated.

Student 22 started out meeting full criterion during pre – assessment and

continued on this path during post assessment. He showed full understanding at the

beginning of the unit as well as the end of the unit. During post assessment he was able to

explain the difference in past and present better than in the pre – assessment.


Examples of student work

Student 22 – Post assessment Student 8 – Post assessment

Student 8 – Formative assessment Student 22 – Formative Assessment


Reflection and Self – Evaluation

The students in my class were the most successful in understanding Learning

Goal 2. The majority of the students correctly placed 5 or more pictures during the pre –

assessment. I believe the students performed better on this learning goal because they had

an idea of what past and present meant, but struggled to verbalize the meaning of the

words. Another explanation of the success with learning goal 2 is, the students guessed

correctly, or made their own criteria for sorting the pictures, such as sorting the pictures

based on what they would like to receive as a present and the left over pictures were

placed in the past because there was nowhere else to place them.

The post assessment showed improvement from the pre – assessment, only 2

students did not reach full criterion, but still showed improvement. I believe instruction

and planning contributed to this improvement in achieving learning goal 2. During my

past and present unit, we had many discussions in which the students and I gave

examples of events and items from the past and present. I also brought in many artifacts

to show, as well as pictures of items and we, as a class would identify if these items were

from the past or present. The guest speakers that came to speak to the class brought

various artifacts and discussed the use and time the items were from. There were many

opportunities provided to see and experience similarities and differences between the past

and present. We also created graphs and charts comparing the past and present. The

walking field trip contributed to the success of learning goal 2 because the students were

able to experience past life in present day.

The less successful learning goal was learning goal 1. All the students improved

from pre – assessment to post assessment with the exclusion of one student. I think


overall this learning goal was just more difficult for the students to express their

understanding. I taught specific definitions of the words and we reviewed them multiple

times a day, but I also allowed the students to give alternate meanings for past and

present as long as the meanings made sense in defining the words. I do no think the pre

and post assessment were an accurate description of the students understanding of past

and present because the students obviously did well on learning goal 1, and without an

understanding of past and present the improvements would not have been so great from

pre to post assessment. I think the way in which I assessed their knowledge of learning

goal 1 could have been improved to make the assessment more hands on so they would

not have to depend on their ability to explain the meaning of a word. I asked certain

students to give examples of the past and present if their definitions were difficult to

understand; I think doing this gave me a better idea of their understanding. In the future I

would make the assessment more individualized so that I can better assess students’

learning who struggle with oral communication.

During my Teacher Work Sample I learned, I need to focus most on improving

classroom management skills and parental involvement. I need to make a bigger deal of

getting their attention before giving instruction. I need to use an authoritative voice that is

also kind in order to get the students’ attention. I learned during my Teacher Work

Sample that misbehavior can be prevented if clear expectations are set before starting an

activity and that if I do not get their attention, then I am to blame for misbehavior or

misunderstanding. Classroom management is important for successful instruction.

Parental involvement is an area in which I need improvement also. I realized

during this time that not all parents are easy to communicate with. As a student teacher I


feel it is more difficult to communicate with parents. Sending notes home does not

always work, because parents do not respond, phones and email is not always accessible

to families and home and school visits are sometimes inconvenient for families. Although

parental involvement is difficult at times, as an improvement I will plan to ask each

parent the most convenient way to contact them, I feel that letting the parents dictate

how we communicate may encourage more free – flowing communication. I have learned

multiple ways of communicating with parents, and that parents respond positively to

feedback on their child that is positive. I plan to improve parental involvement by trying

to form relationships with the parents of my students early in the semester so they will be

more likely to communicate. Overall I believe the unit and instruction were successful,

but I did identify some areas in which I need to improve.

Documents

Completed Teacher Work Sample