Field Experience Form

                                 Trinity Christian College Field Experience Form

Context for Learning

Description of School and Students

About the School Where You Are Observing or doing Field Experience

School Name and City:  Santa Lucia Catholic School in Bridgeport, IL

Type of School: Elementary school, Middle School, High School, or Other:  Elementary and Middle School, K-8

Setting: Urban, Suburban, or Rural:  Urban

Write your responses to the three questions below in paragraph form.

1.       List any special features of the school or classroom setting (e.g., themed magnet, classroom aide, bilingual, co-taught with a special education teacher, pull-out program).

Some of the special features of the school include the presence of teacher aides.  So far though, I have only encountered aides in the preschool class.  The school is very diverse with some students that speak Spanish only.  One of the unique aspects of this school is the small class sizes with only 3 students in the 8^th grade class and 6 students in 6^th grade, for example.  The largest class is preschool with 22 kids. 

2.       Describe any district, school, or cooperating teacher requirements or expectations that affects the planning or delivery of instruction, such as required curricula, pacing plan, use of specific instructional strategies, or standardized tests.

Working for the Archdiocese of Chicago requires that substitute teachers have a Bachelor's Degree and sub certificate. However, there is some leniency given to individuals who are working toward their certificate. As long as the certificate is in progress, they may sub. Additional requirements include: Virtus Training certificate, Criminal Background Check, Fingerprinting, CANTS and Code of Conduct forms to fill out. CANTS = Child Abuse and Neglect Tracking System.

Teachers must know how to effectively plan lessons in a format used school-wide. In the AoC, there is no set template for planning lessons. However, lessons must include the Gains Benchmark Standards--the standards that the Archdiocese of Chicago uses. These standards do align with Common Core State Standards. AoC provides teachers and leaders with a pacing guide. Standardized tests are given every April, and quarterly, students are given interim assessments to prepare them for the ACT/Aspire summative assessment.

3.    For special education only: List any educators with specialized expertise in the school/district (e.g., specific disabilities, subject-specific pedagogy, English language development, speech therapists).

               N/A

About the Students in this Class [Give a brief or one word response]

1.    Estimated percentage of students eligible for free/reduced lunch: 100%

2.    Grade level(s): Preschool through 8^th grade

3.    Number of

a.    students in the class: from 3-22 students in each class

b.    males: 60%

females: 40%

c.    English language learners: 2%

d.    students identified as gifted and talented:  0

e.    students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) or 504 plans:  1 student

4.    Complete the chart below to summarize required accommodations or modifications for students receiving special education services and/or students who are gifted and talented as they will affect instruction. As needed, consult with your cooperating teacher to complete the chart. The first row has been completed in italics as an example. Use as many rows as you need.

Special Education Category	Number of Students	Accommodations, Modifications, and/or Pertinent IEP Goals
Example: Learning Disability	Example: 4	Example: Close monitoring, follow up, and Resource Room
Learning Disability	1	Resource room for 20 minutes for reading and math (20 min each).  Close monitoring required.  Accommodation of number of math problems given: general ed students receive 30 problems for math homework and special ed receive 15 problems for math homework. Students receive additional time for reading and answering reading comprehension questions.

About the Class You Observed

1.       How much time is devoted each day to instruction in the classroom? Describe the class periods (if applicable)? Choose a content area of your specialty or major. How much time is devoted to teaching that subject?

Instruction in the classroom begins at 8 am and ends at 2:45 pm.  Learning is from the moment you walk in the classroom to the moment the students leave.  Students start with a prayer and pledge of allegiance, followed by the agenda for the day.  Middle school does have class periods but the lower grades do not change classrooms.  The class periods are an hour and 15 minutes each.  Physical education is my major and this is taught one day a week at this school. 

2.       Is there any ability grouping or tracking? If so, please describe how it affects your class.

No, there is no ability grouping or tracking in the classroom.

3.       Identify any textbook or instructional program you primarily use for instruction. If a textbook, please provide the title, publisher, and date of publication.

8^th Grade History Book: Title: Harcourt Horizons World History; Harcourt School Publishers; 2005

7^th Grade History Book:  "America: History of our Nation" and the publisher is Prentice Hall; 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

4.       List other resources (e.g., SMARTBoard, manipulatives, online resources) used for instruction in this class.

SMARTBoard is used at this school to enhance the classroom learning environment.  The students also have Chrome books. 

5.       What do you know about what your students know, what can they do, and what are they learning to do? What do you know about your students’ everyday experiences, cultural backgrounds and practices, and interests?

       Every day I start out with 3 things the students are happy about and a video that depicts a situation that gets them to critically think.  While doing this I observe that this brings out things that may be happening inside and outside the classroom.  Also, this gets the students to think positively to start out their day.  The class is then ended with a discussion about something that the students like and something that the students learned.  I think this is a great way to engage students from the moment they walk in the class to the moment they leave. While these questions only take a few minutes to answer, I feel that they have a great impact on the students and give me insight into their lives that I may not otherwise have.

6.       Describe one teaching event. What best practices in teaching were used?

One “teachable moment” that occurred in the classroom was when I was teaching the students the proper way to give a handshake.  One student felt that shaking hands is just for men to do.  I saw this as an opportunity to teach about equality and asked the other students how they felt about what they had heard.  Both the male and female students agreed that what they heard sounded sexist and was inappropriate.  The student who made that statement in the end did apologize and agreed that men and women should be treated equally.  I feel that it is important as a teacher to realize that these teachable moments may happen at any time and when an opportunity comes up, we as educators must see it happening and take these moments seriously and take action.