Janea Irby

Explanation of How Student Was Observed

Since I only spent one day of the week at the school, I only have a few days of
observation on the student. I was given my original focus student on my second day in internship
and this student changed two weeks after, due to his negative behavior and his unwillingness to
cooperate with me. For the past couple of weeks I observed the second student suggested by my
CT and I took many notes, as well, as having conversations with my CT about her weaknesses,
strengths, and progress. I was able to do the ERAS assessment, talk with my focus student, listen
to her read, and watch her write. Because my student was never absent on my internship day, I
was able to observe my student at different times from 9:40 am to 11:25 am and again from
11:55 am to 2 pm when the class leaves for specials. The class does not return before I leave for
seminar class with my peers. During lunch and after the students leave at 2 pm are the best times
for my CT and I to talk about my focus students assignments and engagement for the day.

The student is naturally shy and quiet and has never changed her demeanor around me. I
have noticed that throughout the weeks, she seems more comfortable to answer questions out
loud in whole group settings. I have also noticed her being more social. It doesnt happen often,
but on the last two days I observed her, I finally say her talking to other students voluntarily. I
believe her confidence is beginning to get better. I hope that this will encourage her to ask for
help when she is having trouble with spelling in her writing or comprehension of a text when
reading. She seems to be responsive with a positive attitude toward me observing her as well.
She hasnt expressed any concerns or dislike for the process so far.

Literacy Practices Observed

According to Cunningham & Allington (2016), based on research studies of effective

classrooms and schools, we can draw some firm conclusions about what it takes to create
classrooms in which all the children learn to read and write (p.9). My CT displays most of these
effective classroom practices such as providing huge amounts of balanced, comprehensive
instructions, children doing a lot of reading and writing, teachers emphasizing higher-order
thinking, teachers using a variety of formats to provide instruction, and classrooms being well
managed and having high levels of engagement as explained in the Cunningham & Allington text
. Unfortunately, because I have only been able to observe the student for a few weeks, one day a
week, I haven't been able to see any assessment being done administered by my CT. I have
noticed the student is very eager to come in to the class in the morning and go to the computer to
complete a reading quiz on a book she has read or his currently reading. These reading quizzes
are online and consist of 10 comprehension questions for each story. It usually takes the students
5-7 minutes to complete each quiz but my focus student can take anywhere up to 15 minutes to
complete her quiz. I have only witnessed her pass two of the quizzes but it does not stop her
from continuing to try again throughout the day.
I asked my focus student a few questions after administering the Elementary Reading
Attitude Survey, an assessment to evaluate a students attitude toward reading (McKenna &
Kear, 1990). During this interview I learned although she is very shy, she likes to work in groups
because she likes to talk to her friends. She also likes to read books about mysteries and
animals. She also told me she completely understands the books that she reads in school assigned
by my CT. This information was interesting to me because this is my focus students second year
in third grade and she is still on a second grade reading level and is scoring very low in reading.

I observed that my student would rather read alone at her desk or on the floor during
reading time. The teacher instructs the students to stay on task if they wish to read in groups, but
my focus student rarely reads with anyone else during this time. I have noticed her following
along with the words using her finger to help her stay focused. This is a strategy younger
students use to follow the text. Only her and about two other students use this technique. My
focus students is starting to respond to the literacy practices in the classroom with more
confidence. She doesnt have the right answers every time but it does not stop her with being
engaged or trying her best. I would identify her effort as one of her strengths. She is also very
fluent in the vocabulary that she does know. Her fluency and ability to use reading techniques
during reading is another strength. Some of areas of growth include comprehension, phonics, and
writing.
Instructional Decisions
Based on my observations, I would suggest that my focus student get more practicing
with reading and comprehension by reading her required text more than one time. To become a
good reader, you also need instruction, practice on the important skills, and practice reading
( Cunningham & Allington, 2016, p.20). By reading the books more than the once, the student
will get more practice reading and have a better chance of comprehending the text as well. When
it comes to answering comprehension questions about the text, I would use other comprehension
strategies such as underlining the key words in questions. By doing this, it allows her to focus on
exactly what the question is asking so that she may find the answer in the text easier. Using the
process of elimination when selecting answering from multiple choice options will also help in
the comprehension of the text.

I would also like to revisit some basic phonic strategies to build the students literacy
foundation. My focus student often comes across an unfamiliar word and gets stuck. She
doesnt seem to know how to sound it out or pronounce it at all. This interferes with her
comprehension of the text because she has to spend time trying to read and understand individual
words when this time could be used for critical thinking time to understand the entire text.All
proficient readers have the ability to look at regular words they have never seen before and
assign probable pronunciation (Cunningham & Allington, 2016, p.60). I would use some of the
phonics activities explained in the Cunningham & Allington text, such as Guess the Covered
Word, Using Words You Know, and Making Words to build the students basic phonic
foundation.
Lastly, I would want my student to practice her writing. First, all children need to
engage in some writing in which they select the topics and decide how they will write about
those topics (Cunningham & Allington, 2016, p.151). Introducing a Writers Workshop
(Calkins, 1994; Graves, 1995) in the classroom could be effective to stimulate better writing
strategies. In these workshops students write, revise, edit, and publish their own writing about
topics they have chosen. This would allow my student to be able to write about her interest and
thoroughly analyze her writing to ensure that it actually makes sense. This process will also
allow the student to be able to build confidence in her writing as she is able to edit incorrect
writing and grammar and slowly make it close to perfect. She has to be able to read and
understand her required text ,as well as, own writing. I believe this method would definitely help
her get to the next level and on grade level for her writing.