Field Experience

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: Saint Michael School, Orland Park

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

Setting: Urban, Suburban, or Rural: Suburban

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

1. My school is a private parochial school, so we add in lessons about religion into our daily routine as well as prayer.  In the primary grades there is at least 1 aide per grade, sometimes more. The upper grades each also have a floating aide as well as specialists to pull kids out of the room.  Our academics are important to our school and we really encourage excellence in academia.  We are not a bilingual school unfortunately, but we do get students with parents speaking another language at home.  By the time the children come to us they speak well.  We also teach the Spanish language from Pre-K 4 to 8^th grade between two separate teachers.

2. We have constant data meetings with the whole faculty and with primary/middle/junior high and then at a grade level.  We review test scores of standardized testing from previous years and then we get to see it compared to the national averages.  We work from there to figure out what we need to do per grade level to raise and achieve goals.

About the Students in this Class

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

2.    Grade level(s): 4 y/o Preschool

3.    Number of

a.    students in the class: 19

b.    males: 9

females: 10

c.    English language learners: no

d.    students identified as gifted and talented: no, too early.

e.    students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) or 504 plans: 3 students with ISP

4.

Special Education Category	Number of Students	Accommodations, Modifications, and/or Pertinent IEP Goals
Individualized Speech	3	Speech Teacher pulls children for 10-20 minutes each to work with them.

About the Class You Observed

1.       All of our day has elements of instruction.  Carpet time is the primary learning time which can encompass anywhere from 20-30 minutes, depending on what we are doing that day.  Every other point when we are freely playing around the room there is instruction whether its behavior or based on actions.

2.       We all learn together in a group.  We may separate to do projects because it is easier to work with smaller groups, but the lesson would be learned on the carpet.

3.    We have the Illinois State Standards as well as The Religious Standards we have to meet in our lesson plans.  We are following the initial way the preschool program has paved for us, and I don’t know whether or not they used a guide.

4.    We use the SMARTBoard in our classroom for story-telling and occasionally work relating to lessons.  We have many many types of manipulatives that we use for learning.

5. We have a sheet the parents fill out to tell us about their home lives (Languages, families, etc) and we observe them throughout center time.  We see what they choose and who they choose to play with.  We also assess them 3 times a year so we can see what they are learning and what they are learning at their pace. 

6.  At my level I think understanding and communication is the most important practice.