Reflective Fieldnote Blog #4

My overall impression of this evaluation is that it is a very useful tool for teachers. By focusing on one particular student, the teacher is able to identify the needs of the student. The personal interview is an excellent way to form a relationship and trust. By finding out
more about the student's family, interests, and culture, the teacher can modify instruction to better meet his/her needs.

One result of the field work was that I was able to identify some educational gaps in E.H.'s reading foundation. I knew he struggled with multi-syllable words. However, by focusing on him, I was able to identify that he did not understand the difference between open and closed syllable types. In addition, E.H. was having trouble identifying many sight words.

I think the value of the case study is that teachers can realize important information about a particular student and evaluate how to meet his needs. With 20 students and many new state standards, it is easy to overlook the needs of any one student. By focusing on one student as much as possible, the teacher can discover new ways to help this child.

The ethnographic narrative was a bonding experience for E.H. and me. Since he is new, I have not been able to spent a lot of time with him. Before the interview, he would participate in my reading group, but it was only part of the routine. After the interview he hugged me and asked me if we could do it again. Since we were able to form a relationship, I think he will be more receptive to instruction. Also during the interview, I realized that E.H. had an interest and talent for art. I was able to enroll him in an after school art program so he can develop his artistic talent.

Since I know that multi-syllable words and some sight words are a problem for E.H., I would ask the teacher to review these concepts at the beginning of the year. Also, I would encourage his teacher to help develop his artistic ability by giving him assignments that would provide him the opportunity to be creative.

Some Internet websites that encourage art in the regular classroom are as follows:
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/art-classroom and http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/

Blog #3

I think taking the time to conduct action research is beneficial as long as the researcher uses the information to plan their instruction. As a teacher, I am constantly presented with students that may not always understand different concepts. By recording specific areas missed by the students, I can often find patterns needed to be retaught. It also gives me a chance to evaluate the way I am presenting the material, and make necessary accommodations for the students.

In my project, I helped the regular classroom kindergarten teacher complete activities from Phonemic Awareness in Young Children. The book uses auditory examples to teach different PA skills. The area of focus was identifying rhyming words, rhyme production, and beginning sounds. After giving a PA test, I worked with the six students with the lowest scores using visuals and manipulates. Four out of six of these students were ESL. These students received explicit instruction for one week. The students did much better on the post test. The visuals and manipulates helped the students understand the concepts, and helped the students "see" the auditory skills needed for Phonemic Awareness.

All children, especially ESL students, need as much visual clues as possible. By showing the pictures, I was also able to increase their vocabulary and language abilities. It is difficult for the students to identify words that they are not familiar to them. The more visual you can make your instruction, the more verbal you students will become.

Adams, M.L., Foorman, B.R., Lundberg, I. & Beeler, T. Phonemic awareness in young children: A classroom curriculum. Baltimore: Brookes.

Web resources for ESL lesson plans: http://www.csun.edu/~hcedu013/eslplans.html
http://www.eslflow.com/esllessonplans.html (The teaching with pictures ideas are great.)