Ending: Week 12 at the Learning Academy

I was allowed to lead the OG Lesson today along with Ms. Jameson so I could practice monitoring a class while teaching a lesson. I had to watch the class for errors in speech and motions, which was a lot harder in practice!

Observation of Teacher (8:00-9:00)

• OG Lesson: ostrich and pumpkin division syllables (VCCCV)

• Visual, auditory, and syllable drill

• I had two students re-do motions when they said something wrong

• Ms. Jameson saw two more students and had them correct themselves

• She corrects errors immediately

• Requires students to be confident in themselves ("Be strong!")

• She changes the powerpoint when the students show difficulty responding

Interpretation

Ms. Jameson is highly in tune with her students. She can pick put which student messed up out of nine voices within the drills. She also taught my partner and I today how to identify a possible language disability today by looking at an example writing of a student. She also accommodates her students so that they feel comfortable within the classroom. Her attentiveness really pays off in their assessment and differentiation!

Observations of Student

• Primary Spelling Inventory (8:00-8:05)

• 17/26 correct (+1 from PSI in the beginning of the year)

• Misspelled words previously spelled correctly: spoil, stick

• Correctly spelled words previously misspelled: wishes, shouted, blade

• After he finished the PSI, Johnny went back to his assessments for class

• When he finished them, he sat quietly at his desk and did not offer to help the other students with the project Ms. Jameson assigned to them. He also did not work on anything else.

• OG Lesson (8:30-9:00)

• Doesn't open mouth very much during drills

• Is sitting in my peripheral vision

• Small movements

• Didn't do math homework

• Explains that his mother wanted him to do other things

• Offers to do the homework during snack

Interpretation

Johnny is unconfident in his skills during assessments. He showed signs of indecisiveness during his assessments, as he would pause for a moment when writing, go to write something, and then stop again. He also doesn't know all the spelling rules yet and often has to think through the ones he does to see if he knows a spelling corresponding to a sound. During the OG drills, Johnny doesn't have a lot of confidence in his actions. His eyes wander rather than stay on the screen, and he lets the class carry his work because he's not in the direct sight or hearing range of the teacher. I believe he needs more support in the classroom as well as at home. Many of his skills are on his grade level, but his need for practice holds him back from achieving everything on his level.

Observations of Class

• Class must complete assessments with blinders on their desks

• They may use textbooks during the completion of the assessments

• Raise hands to ask questions

• After they finish, Ms. Jameson asks the students to complete a project

• Cutting paper and grading papers

• Students quickly redo the drills when Ms. Jameson asks them to

• Students often self-correct and say, "I didn't do that right" and then do it again.

• Students mess up on the short /e/ sound multiple times

• Ms. Jameson changes the visual on the screen to see if students respond to it easier, but is unsuccessful after 4 tries

• This is not an uncommon occurrence

Interpretation

The class needs many accommodations in order to do their work. They were very attentive today with their work and finished their assignments quickly. They, however, show that they are comfortable with asking questions if they are unsure of something. I am rather impressed at the open atmosphere that the class has created.

#week12 #observation