Assess Focal Student

Date:
3/26/08 ~40 min

Summary:

My main focus when assessing my focal students was based on his growth as a classroom learner. I wanted to see him become a part of the classroom community, not so focused on his assignment out come. I informally assessed DL by his amount of appropriate sharing with the classroom.

Reflection:
During this lesson I learned that the adaptations do not have to be major changes. They can be single statements that guide students, in DL’s case, guide him into more participation. In the initial part of the lesson, the students were on the carpet. The carpet is often a time when sharing occurs and the students know that everyone is welcome to share at appropriate times. During the carpet time, DL did raise his hand and share, but only after many other students took the initial risk factor and were verbally awarded by a simple “Thank you for your thoughts.” My goal for DL is to be comfortable enough with his classroom environment and himself in order to be one of the first students to share, possibly taking that initial risk. Later in the lesson, during the work time, I made sure to make my way over to DL and look over what he had come up with. His ideas were really good and he was extremely on track. I made sure to tell him this, in hopes that he would be more confident in his work, making him more apt to share. At the conclusion of the lesson, the class was asked to share their work. Sure enough, DL was one of the first students to raise their hand. I took advantage of this situation and call on DL. By making the differentiation to make sure I check DL’s work and share with him my thoughts on his progress, I made sharing for him less of a risk, but did not take away all of the risk. DL was confident in his work which made him able to share with the class and not second guess himself. Additionally, after sharing I thanked DL for his thoughts. This will hopefully further encourage him to share appropriately in the future.

In my future I will use this experience to emphasize the importance of a classroom community. A classroom community is something that cannot be built in one day or even a week, it is something that takes continual efforts on part of both the teacher and the students. However, as a teacher, DL will impact my future teachings by serving as a reminder that students can never be thanked too much for their work or their sharing, nor can they be praised too much. Often time students are only told what is wrong with their work and what needs to be fixed. This can create a negative environment where the students feel the teacher’s task is an enforcer not a facilitator or builder. This also hinders the amount of risk taking that occurs. If students only feel like they are going to be told they are wrong, then they will never feel ‘safe’ to put themselves out there and take risks. The classroom community is a guiding factor that determines how and what students share. A successful community allows for students to share all at appropriate times, which can enhance and encourage authentic learning.