Running Heading: SERVICE LEARNING SUMMARY 1

Service Learning Summary - 1 Rosiland Jackson Ivy Tech Community College

SERVICE LEARNING SUMMARY - 1 INTASC Standard, Description and Rationale

Standard #3 Learning Environments The teacher works with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and selfmotivation.

Name of Artifact: Service Learning Summary 1 Date: February 19, 2013 Course: EDUC 101

Brief Description: For this assignment, I selected to observe a teacher in the classroom to learn her teaching styles, her interactions with her students, and her ability to manage her classroom. This assignment will give some detail as to how this teacher is able to manage her classroom while preparing children to take the ISTEP.

Rationale: To document my classroom observation Standard #3, learning environments, I selected to observe a teacher in the classroom to learn her teaching styles, her interactions with her students, and her ability to manage her classroom. This assignment will give some detail as to how this teacher is able to manage her classroom while preparing children to take the ISTEP.

SERVICE LEARNING SUMMARY - 1

Introduction/Background Information Excited, anxious, and eager to learn are just a few words to describe the emotions of the day. In the middle of a much worn down neighborhood sits this amazingly beautiful school full of bright young students being prepared to take on the world. The Service Learning assignment allows one to see first-hand knowledge and functionality of a classroom; by observing a teacher in the classroom and learning how they handle children in the classroom. This summary will introduce the students of Brookside Elementary Class 214, their teacher Mrs. Engles, and how she and the students operate in the classroom. Also the techniques for her lesson plans with two distinctly different groups of students while preparing them for the ISTEP. Students There are 30 students in the classroom 17 boys and 13 girls. This is a unique group of students because their class is a hybrid of 4th and 5th graders. One of the first things that someone will notice is, how much taller the girls are than the boys in this class, and how some of the girls are somewhat aggressive toward the boys. The racial make-up of the class is predominately African-American; however there are also Caucasian and Hispanic students. The children appear to get along with each other; it is easy to tell the students that are a bit disruptive because the teacher has strategically placed them on opposite sides of the classroom. She definitely had to separate the girls from each other because they are a talkative bunch. Mrs. Engle has a good working system on how she deals with students when giving instructions. She has one group working on worksheets or testing items on the computer, while she is teaching another group. The students have to be taught in this manner because they are at two distinctly different learning levels. The students get excited when they compete in the math worksheet

SERVICE LEARNING SUMMARY - 1 game. She will give them 2 minutes to complete as many math problems, she will then collect

the sheets grade them and let each student know what they need to work on improving. This is a way for students to earn rewards in the classroom. Teacher Mrs. Engles gives the students the worksheet because it allows her to see the students progress in math and it also allows her to see which students are having a difficult time grasping certain math problems. Mrs. Engles is a Caucasian female that appears to be in her late 30s. She has been teaching for 14 years. She does not have an instructional assistant during her class and from what I gather the only volunteers that do assist are the Ivy Tech students. She uses a variety of techniques to keep the students engage; one way is by doing the math race with the students so she can keep them encouraged about their progress in the class. She moves around the room quite a bit, she is either up at the SMART Board going over the lesson of the day with one group or she is in the backroom handing out graded assignments to the students. She also has an area in the back where she will assist students that are having difficulty with learning the material given to them on a test. She maintains control of the classroom at all times, if a student starts to become disruptive she, immediately addresses the issue and warns the student of progressive discipline methods, if he or she does not correct their behavior. She is very warm towards the children but, she is firm in her discipline methods so they respect her and will follow her instruction immediately when they are told to do something. She believes if the children are not handled firmly that the classroom can turn into chaos immediately.

SERVICE LEARNING SUMMARY - 1 Classroom Environment

Mrs. Engles allows the children to finish their breakfast in class, but they understand that they have to clean up after themselves and be prepared to start the learning process for the day. While the children are eating breakfast they are also working on what she calls their morning work. (Engles 2013). These are worksheets she has in a bin that they are to complete before they start the days agenda. The work is separated in two colored bins for the students to choose, the red bin is for 5th grade and the blue bin is for 4th grade. The children have this routine down pack; if there is a student being disruptive or appears to have nothing to do, she will immediately ask them have they completed their morning worksheet. (Engle) If a student has completed the assignment then they can read a book of their choice until she is ready to start for the day. The classroom has a very warm vibe; there are posters on the walls that constantly remind the children that they can achieve. She has a word of the day that one students gets to read to the class that keeps them encourage to learn. She is outside the door when the students are arriving and she greets each child individually by name. The children genuinely appear like they want to be there and that they want to learn, they are allowed to use laptops issued by the school at their desk. The stipulations with the use of the laptops is that the student must be on an educational website learning new things, if they are caught visiting any other type of website they lose their computer privileges for a week. Mrs. Engles maintains order in the class by letting the student see that she treats every child the same when it comes to the overall environment of the class, if one of them misbehaves they will be punished for that bad behavior. She does not show leniency when someone breaks the rules, she has to act swiftly to maintain a good working environment.

SERVICE LEARNING SUMMARY - 1 Conclusion Mrs. Engles is an excellent teacher because she has mastered the art of juggling multiple

tasks while maintaining the integrity of her classroom. She prepares each day to teach Math and English Language Arts to 30 students, this isnt an easy job because she is teaching two separate groups of students in one classroom. She comes to work prepared to teach each child what they will need to be successful students and she encourages them to always strive to do their best. The children come to school with a genuine desire to learn and be there in the classroom, and I believe it is because Mrs. Engles makes them all feel like they are special and important. She has established and environment for the students that gives them the motivation to want to achieve simply because she believes in their ability to learn.