Field Experience-- Instructional Strategies

This post is for my own reference.

I am to complete 15 hours of field experience this semester for an instructional strategies class (and 15 hours more for two other classes). I am using this post to compile a list of things I've learned to make writing my end reflection easier.

• Tip/Math/Instructional Strategies: Ask Lowe's to cut dry erase boards (much less expensive); use dry erase boards for math lessons, students can work on problems as I present them on the overhead
• Language Arts (Main idea)/Lessons: Use palm as "main idea," use fingers as "supporting details;" supporting details wrap around main idea
• Language Arts/Instructional Strategies: Graphic organizers; have students work in small groups and use post it notes on construction paper to pick out details of story, take off notes, and exchange papers with other groups who put details back in order
• Tip: Video tape oneself to find where time is being lost and to improve
• Language Arts/Instructional Strategies/Diversity: Read story in group and have students make a place for themselves on large piece of paper; give some idea about things to look for in story (singular possessive nouns, action verbs, etc.) but allow students to compile information/ organize information as they would like to do so and also allow children a choice of story to promote a democratic working environment
• Tip: If one doesn't use worksheets, one does not form this bad habit
• Instructional Strategies: Assign small group members a job for the day: leader, reporter, recorder, collector (numbers on back of chairs, switch numbers each day)

Edit 1:

• Tip from my class/Instructional Strategies: Use folders for many purposes- have students write name on outside of folder and on tab, have students hang folder from desk to learn names, use folders to check for roll (folders not picked up= student absence), put missed assignments in folder
• Language Arts (Inference)/Lessons: Model inference by acting angry, sad, etc., ask students how teacher is feeling and then explain why they think this is so, introduce concept of inference, give picture representations of emotions, have students use inference to explain feelings pictures represent; have flowers or the like delivered to class with card, read card, discuss why card was given (what occasion, holiday for flowers and card), explain inference in writing; have students use inference in text
• Diversity: Group work at elementary level helps students understand diversity because students have different view points, need to learn to work cooperatively
• Observation: Teacher never says answer is "wrong;" asks students to agree or disagree by thumbs up or thumbs down; says "not right on target"
• Observation: Teacher had to make many decisions and work around distractions- school nurse conducting lice check, parent call, questions from vice principal and other teachers
• Observation: Teacher deals with possible ADHD student by allowing him to move and fidget to an extent as long as he is engaged in lesson; when movement from desk is extreme, student is asked to sit in isolation for approximately five minutes; teacher has students review in groups while briefly speaking to possible ADHD child and asks him to review what he has been working on with his mother ("keep control of body")
• Observation: Teacher is focused on incorporating higher order thinking skills whenever possible; introduces standardized test questions on Friday tests and briefly throughout lessons
• Observation: Teacher used repetition throughout lessons; used definition of inference twice by having class repeat her at intervals and then wrote definition on overhead at which time she used definition to review past lesson- parts of speech
• Observation: Teacher tied inference into parts of a friendly letter
• Language Arts (Parts of a friendly letter)/Lessons: Use Powerpoint (pictures) to show parts of friendly letter, use fellow teachers to model parts (heading- head, greeting- "commas" around mouth [to show that one follows greeting with a comma], body- body, closing- hands on knees [commas], signature- toes); use sticky notes on parts of body; have students get out of seat and chant "heading, greeting, body, closing, signature" while touching corresponding parts ***lesson incorporates five modalities: verbal, visual, interpersonal, kinesthetic, musical***

Edit 2:

• Language Arts (Prefix and Suffix)/Instructional Strategies/Lessons: Have students write on three cards- prefix, suffix, both- and display words, students hold up corresponding cards ***formative assessment***
• Observation: Teacher integrates previous lessons with current ones (inflections versus prefix and suffix)
• Instructional Strategies: Ask students to "prove" their answers in order to encourage higher order thinking, students must "prove it"
• Instructional Strategies: Allow students to "phone a friend" when they are stuck on a question after being called upon in class
• Classroom Management: Have students put work in progress in a "working on" folder
• Classroom Management: Compile work in a weekly folder for parents to sign off on as acknowledgement of student weekly progress
• Observation: Teacher uses administrative interruptions/ things out of her control as teachable moments when applicable (field trip paperwork was used to review sentence structure)
• Observation: Teacher prepares students for TCAP (standardize tests) throughout the year by saying such things as "you'll need to know this for TCAP" and "you won't have this model for TCAP"
• Observation: Teacher rewards opinions/thoughts in discussions that are off-topic but are still reiterations of previous lessons; teacher explores wrong answers instead of just proclaiming them "wrong"
• Language Arts: "Noun walk"
• Observation: Students enjoy working on the overhead and on computers and with technology in general
• Instructional Strategies: Make "cubes" with paper of current lesson information like a past, present, and future inflections cube, have students roll it like a game and have them complete assessments based on what they rolled
• Observation: Teacher encourages "self-talk" ("The subject is the 'who' or 'what' so you have to ask yourself, 'what is the who or what in this sentence?'")
• Observation: Importance of parent interaction with children- children are able to listen and hear what is right or wrong in a sentence (noun/verb agreement)
• Tip/Language Arts: Have students work with sentence strips (cut in half) and present their work on the overhead
• Tip: Create a sense of community discovery by using large pieces of paper to paste active learning activities to (like the sentence strips above), keep the paper displayed in class for a period of time, students can use this paper as a model in subsequent lessons
• Instructional Strategies: Tell students to fold paper "like a hotdog" or "like a hamburger," make a "T chart" (graphic organizers)
• Language Arts (Linking Verbs and Action Verbs)/Instructional Strategies/Lessons: Make a pitcher of lemonade and have students compile a T chart of linking and action verbs as they are happening
• Observation: Teacher integrates subjects as applicable (in lemonade activity, teacher asks "what form of mater is this?")
• Observation: Teacher uses worksheets only as morning work as students come into class, teacher gives students the choice of completing worksheets instead of activities when they are demonstating poor behavior; students overwhelmingly prefer activities over worksheets
• Observation: Students are asked to be "responsible citizens" by reusing paper, other
• Math (Charts and Graphs)/Instructional Strategies/Lessons: Ask students to write their birthday on post-it note and have students organize the class data on the front board by month (a bar graph is formed), allow students to bring their own post-it note to the front as opposed to "polling"
• Tip/Math: Use data sets that are relevant to the class like pizza toppings and birthdays
• Tip from my mentor teacher: Don't be afraid to change in the middle (when complications arise)! :)