School Experience

Reflection Journal
EDUC 250-Educational Psychology

NAME: ___Molly Toomey___ DATE: ___12/11/14___

SCHOOL: ___E.O. Muncie___ TEACHER: ___Cyndi White___
GRADE LEVEL: __K-6__
GENERAL EDUCATION: _________
SPECIAL EDUCATION: _________

Chapter 7-Personal, Social, and Moral Development

Think about the concept sense of self and its implications for teaching and
learning. Review the developmental trends on p. 245 in your textbook. Did
you see indications of sense of self affecting learning of the student(s) with
whom you worked? Explain.
What effect did perspective taking have on the teaching and learning
environment? Reread p. 255 in your textbook to understand developmental
trends.
If you observed aggressive behavior, explain the type of aggressive behavior
that you witnessed. See textbook p. 254-255 for an explanation.
Response: One student in particular had an interesting view of sense of
self. He had a friend within the classroom, and these two were always joined
at the hip throughout the day. They were even put on the same lunch
schedule since they were so close. This little boy would always compare
himself to his friend, with everything. He would often get discouraged when
his items were not the same or were not done as well as his peers items. He
has been told several times that its only important for him to see how he
improves over time, but as a child with special needs, he was finding this
difficult to accept and comprehend. I observed aggressive behavior once
during the observation. One female student would get into things around the
room, throwing them or breaking them. As a distraction, the teacher would
give her candy and time on a tablet. I noticed the student using this tactic to
have access to rewards, yet the teacher did not seem to connect the
destruction with the sweets and technology time.
Reflection: The sense of self is such an important view that a child has of
themselves, I feel like I will spend a large amount of time helping my
students to develop it. This may seem unrealistic with a large group of

students, but some children need a strong and positive sense of self if they
are going to meet the goals that they set for themselves. Most children need
help developing this skill so that it can move with them throughout life,
affecting them in a positive way. For the aggressive behavior, I will definitely
use a better tactic than the one I observed.
Chapter 8-Instructional Strategies
Many instructional strategies are summarized on p. 312 of your textbook.
Describe two of the ones you used for tutoring or RTI in your school
placement. Be sure that you give a rationale for the instructional strategies
that you selected to use.
Response: One strategy that I used during time in the special education
classroom is cooperative learning. Because the students were often grouped
based on academic or social skill levels, I regularly dealt with a group of
students at one time, about 3-4 of them at one time. These students would
often work alone on whatever task was given them, but I felt that this was
inefficient and, honestly, a little boring. I had my small group working
together. Since it was a group of children with special needs, I had to actively
help them due to physical, mental, or speech difficulties. The students
seemed to like the idea of working together on the subject, but the teacher
did not like it. She had them go back to working individually and then would
go around to each group/learning level to help them go over the sheets they
were doing. Another strategy I used was direct instruction. This was often
used due to the differing skill levels, grades, and ages amongst the
classroom. I would be asked to work with one student on a particular topic
that was troubling them, oftentimes a math topic or a reading topic. There
was a teacher and 3 aides in the room and any one of us would often work
with children one-on-one so that they could understand the topic better than
what they seemed to understand while working in a small group when it was
time for that particular center in the schedule.
Reflection: I really like the use of cooperative learning, as I like the
discussion and teamwork aspect of learning. Its odd, I never liked that type
of work in school due to having to work with students who would not work
hard, but the more I learn about education, the more I like the fact that group
work and discussion has positive effects on school work and social skills. The
teacher Im observing did not seem to like the idea of group work, but it may
have been because of the fact that they were special needs students. She
may feel like they needed more attention on a one-on-one level instead of
learning it as a group. I like direct instruction with one student or a group of
students, but that can sometimes become boring or even inefficient when
there is a large group. I can see myself using this tactic during my teaching
years, but I will not focus on it. Yes, there will be direct instruction during the

lesson and describing an activity, but I will more likely want to focus on other
ways I can teach the topic, such as cooperative learning, using technology,
changing environments, discovery learning, inquiry learning, etc.

Chapter 9-Strategies for Creating an Effective Classroom

Environment
Chapter 9 discusses many ways to enhance the classroom environment.
What were some of the ways that you helped to create an environment that
was conducive to learning?
Explain which of the suggestions on p. 347 in your textbook for addressing
undesirable classroom behaviors you utilized in the tutoring or RTI setting of
your school experience.
Response: There were a few things that I did to help enhance the classroom
environment in which I was tutoring and happening. For one, a student was
having trouble leaning over his book while looking at the words. He was
moving his head around a lot, like he was trying to focus. He also was
touching his neck a lot like he was uncomfortable. I helped his environment
by finding some way to prop up his book so that he was focusing less on
being uncomfortable and more on the words on the page. This seemed to
help him, and we moved a little bit more quickly through his story, then
finished a worksheet about the story, on which he did very well. Another time
I changed the environment was when I noticed that a students chair was
wobbly. He was more focused on tilting his chair back and forth instead of
listening to the lesson and then working on the activity. To help him focus a
bit more, I put something under the leg of the chair so that he would not find
it as distracting. The student seemed to not like what I had done, liking the
fact that he could wobble back and forth on it. However, once he got used to
it, he focused more on the topic at hand. Honestly, I did not use many
strategies to help negative classroom behaviors, leaving this mainly to the
teacher and the aides. With the students having special needs and me not
knowing them very well, I did not want to use the wrong tactic.
Reflection: When I have my own classroom, I would like to think that I would
be observant in seeing and changing any environmental aspect of my
classroom that seemed to distract or upset my students. It would probably

take time for me to get to know my students and understand what classroom
needs that I need to meet so that they are efficient and useful with their time
in their environment. Ideally, I will make it a comfortable space for all my
students. Realistically, I will try my best to do so, probably not always
succeeding. I did not like the way that the teacher and her aides would deal
with the behaviors that the students would have. That may seem critical and
judgmental, but it is true. They oftentimes would scold the children so
harshly for so little of an offense. They would also use tactics that I did not
agree with, such as very lengthy time outs or taking away things for minor
offenses. However, I did not step in because I felt that I would be
overstepping my boundaries and perhaps even stepping on some toes if I
were to try to use any type of strategy to deter a negative classroom
behavior.

Chapter 10-Assessent Strategies

What types of assessments did you employ with the student(s)? Did you
choose to use different types of assessments? If you did use a variety of
assessment tools, explain why different assessments were necessary?
Response: I didnt do much assessment during the tutoring, but I did do
some formative assessment, assessing the work of the student during the
lesson. The teacher had a copy of the lesson up on the smart board and the
students were working on a worksheet with a similar format as the lesson
that they had just went over. She had them do the worksheet individually as
we walked around the room helping the students. I would stop and help
them, gauging how well they had understood the lesson by how well they
were doing the worksheet. A few of the students did very well, while a few
others needed some help in certain areas. This was really the only type of
assessment that I personally used, but I did observe the teacher using other
types of assessments. She was doing official testing that needed to be done
before Christmas break, so I got to look through those papers and see how
official IEPs and individual lesson plans for each student were set up. She
would often use reading, math, and word usage scales when testing the
students on different topics within those areas of study. She did this one-onone, as they do not have an overall testing system that was able to be used
by all the special needs students in the classroom. She used different
assessments with different students, obviously needed because of the large

variety of levels and understandings amongst the class. There were 11

students total, covering grades Kindergarten through 6th grade. Within these
different age and grade levels, they also had varying degrees of special
needs, something that was physical, mental, and/or emotional. Because of all
of these factors, a difference among the way that she assesses her students
is very much necessary in this group of children.
Reflection: Obviously, there will be assessments that I will need to use
based on state requirements and standards, but I will also have certain
assessments that I can use to just understand how well my students are
grasping the ideas that Im trying to portray within my lessons. I personally
like the idea of group work or group discussion. This allows students to have
social interaction while learning from one another and going over the topic
that has been presented. I also like the idea of learning as a group, but
checking individual knowledge along the way, such as having them write
their answers on a dry erase board or having them come up one at a time
and write an answer on the board. I prefer the feeling of working as a whole
classroom, but I also see the necessity of checking individual understanding
so that a student does not feel like he or she is being left behind within the
lesson. I will also incorporate the traditional individual spelling quizzes, math
quizzes, worksheets, etc. Pulling students together for a large group or
smaller group project is also something that I can see myself doing.

Final Reflection:
1. In terms of the major concepts presented in class, how do you think your
school experience and reflections on it has helped prepare you for classroom
responsibilities as a teacher?
I believe that my observation and interaction with how to handle a
group of such varying students has helped me to better understand the
future challenges and possible struggles that I will have as a teacher. I feel as
though a lot of the teachers time was spent on paperwork and planning,
something that she stated does tend to take up a lot of her time. She also
talked about the amount of paperwork that comes along with a student who
has an IEP or something that causes the student to be different from the rest
of the classroom. Seeing how the room was set up definitely helped me
understand the needs of a special education student when it comes to
personal space and having different areas for different topics of learning.
Especially within a special education students mind, they need the

separation of space. I noticed that when someone entered someone elses

space, or something wasnt where it belonged, the student impacted by this
became very uncomfortable and wanted to leave the situation or fix it
somehow. Environment plays a huge role within the learning of a student.
Another fact is the different type of learning styles that were all within one
classroom, something that I will have the definitely deal with my future class,
as no two students are the same. They will all learn in their own way and it
will be my job to meet those specific needs.
2. Briefly sum the impact that this school experience has had on your
professional aspirations. You will not be penalized for constructive criticism.
Quite honestly, I feel as though I learned a lot from this classroom
experience, but in a negative sort of way. I am not trying to be judgmental or
critical in any way, but I saw a lot of things that I just do not see myself doing
within a classroom. It may be because a special needs classroom is so much
more different than a regular education classroom, but I did not like the feel
of it at all. I loved the openness of the classroom and the size and space of
the area, and the centers that were set up were very efficient and conducive
to learning for the students. The teacher had wonderful activities and
creative projects where the students were having fun with Christmas
decorations and things to make to take home. That being said, I feel as
though the feel of the classroom was not very good. The teacher would
often leave the room to go get a soda or use the bathroom, being gone for a
while. She would also set a student up with an assignment or project, then
go check e-mail or get a snack from her desk or use her phone. When she
would return to the student about 15 min. later, she would chastise them for
not getting more accomplished or not doing it correctly. The teacher and the
aides were very quick to punish, and even yell at, the students within the
room, even for the most minor offenses. They also used tactics that I did not
necessarily agree with, such as very lengthy time outs, taking away such
things as snack time or seeing a movie, and even separating them from the
rest of the group when they did something fun. This would happen for even
minor offenses. While this may seem like a small part of the day, it greatly
impacts how a student learns. I hope to have a better classroom feeling in
my future classroom than how I felt in this classroom.