By: Arsha Wiltz
Prairie View A&M University
April 24, 2012
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Learning Context (page 4)
Learning Goals and Objectives (page 15)
Assessment Plan (page 21)
Design for Instruction (page 27)
Instructional Decision Making (page 35)
Analysis of Student Learning (page 40)
Reflection and Self-Evaluation (page 44)
References (page 49)
The candidate describes a specific
learning context, including community,
school, classroom, teacher, and
student characteristics that might affect
student learning.
Instructional Implications of the
Community
Cypress-Fairbanks
District Demographics
Hispanic/Lataino
American
Indian/Alaska
Native
Asian
Black or African
American
Native Hawaiian or
Other Pacific
Islander
The earliest inhabitants of the area now occupied by Cypress-Fairbanks
ISD probably never dreamed that the picturesque landscape marked by winding
creeks and fertile fields would one day give way to a maze of concrete highways
meandering through master-planned subdivisions. Even as recently as 1956,
Cypress-Fairbanks was still referred to as "Harris County's Little A&M," a term
coined by a Houston Chronicle reporter describing the community's deep-seeded
agricultural emphasis (Houston Chronicle Rotogravure Magazine, December 30, 1956).
As it turned out, the history of Cypress-Fairbanks ISD has been marked by
transition from rural to suburban; this phenomenon has largely occurred during the
latter half of the 20th century.
This community is very diverse and offers many different educational
resources due to the many different cultures at the different schools. The
community caters to over 106,000 students and takes pride in ensuring that they
receive the best education possible. This community is very supportive of the
teachers and the students at different schools and they have shown their support by
creating partnerships within the community such as parent volunteer programs. All
of these different characteristics help to build a wonderful teaching and learning
experience for both the teachers and students.
Spillane Middle School
Student Demographics
African American
Hispanic
White
Native American
Asian
Pacific Islander
Two or More Races
Economically
Disadvantaged
Spillane Middle School first opened in 2005. To ensure student
success, the Spillane learning community pledges to provide a system of
support for each student. Having announced plans to retire in December 2004,
Carolyn Stamm Spillane was chosen as the namesake for Middle School #14.
As of 2011, the school is home to over 1, 100 students, 78 teachers, and the
administration team consists of 11 members. Partnerships with the parents are
vital in order to strengthen instructional outcomes for all students. Spillane
would like you to develop a collaborative relationship with them that will
foster long-term student achievement, one that offers opportunities for all
students while making a difference together.
The arrangement of the students’ desk was in rows. The centers were set up at
the back of the room so that every student had access. The classrooms didn’t
have class computers so we would rent laptop stations from the library when
we needed computer access. The instructional technology such as the smart
board, projector, etc. were all located towards the front of the classroom in the
center so that every student could have a clear view. My classroom didn’t have
any chalkboards but they did have dry erase boards. All of the dry erase
boards were located in the front of the classroom as well. My classroom was
very spacious and filled with lamps because our principal believed that it
would make a better learning environment if we could control the intensity of
the lights. The students had access to dictionaries and thesauruses which were
located in a storage area towards the back of the classroom. For every class
period we had a warm-up routine so that the students could prepare
themselves to learn. The set up of my classroom was very compatible to the
learning styles of the students and it promoted academic achievement.
CLASSROOM TEACHER
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Mrs. Harris is a Caucasian, 47
year old female, in her 7th year
of teaching. She is very hands
on with her students and
believes in building teacherstudent relationships. However,
she is not a major disciplinarian
and can sometimes lack in
classroom management skills.
This is one of the factors that
will effect my teaching
experience and student
learning.
TEACHER CANDIDATE
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Ms. Wiltz is a African-American,
23 year old female, who is about
to be a first year teacher. I am very
outgoing and enthused about
making sure my students receive
the best learning experience will
in my care. I am also big on
teacher-student relationships,
however I am always in control of
the classroom. Classroom
management is one of my strong
points and I make sure that both
the students and I feel respected at
all times.
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In Mrs. Harris’ 5th period classroom she has 21 students whom are all in
the 7th grade. The majority of the students are Caucasian, however there
are a few that are Hispanic, African-American, and Indian. She has 13
females and 8 males in her classroom. While the vast majority of the
students speak English, she does have 2 males who speak Spanish as their
primary language. In order to accommodate these 2 students there is a
Teacher Assistant who comes in daily to make sure they are receiving
their information. In the classroom there are students with special needs.
Some students have medical challenges while others face learning
challenges. I am aware of all of my students with medical and learning
challenges so I make sure that I monitor them and make adjustments
when necessary. One student in this period has a learning disability so he
has his own student assistant who comes in to work with him
individually. When grading his papers I have to make sure to curve his
grade according to his level of effort. All students were given a pre-test at
the beginning of my unit and they also completed a post-test at the end. I
was able to go back and reflect on the changes in their grades to
determine if they understood and mastered the concepts.
During this unit the students will learn about Spindletop and The Great
Strom of 1900. Their parents and community will support this unit in a
positive manner by extending other sources to their children. According to
Henderson and Mapp, when working together, families, schools and
communities can successfully make a difference to improve student learning.
In fact, evidence from numerous studies confirms what educators have long
known: families can and do have a positive influence on how well their
children do in school. Their research also shows that communities too, can
have a positive impact on school effectiveness. Although less abundant,
research on community engagement has found that when communities
mobilize around school improvement efforts many positive outcomes can be
achieved, including improved student achievement. The community and
parent volunteers are very active at Spillane Middle School. By having some
of the volunteers assist in helping the teachers re-enact some of the events
that occurred during these time periods, I am certain that the students will
gain proper knowledge of these events.
The candidate sets a learning goal and
multiple learning objectives that offer
variety and are appropriate to the
learning context, challenging to
students, and aligned with Texas
Essential Knowledge and Skills
(TEKS).
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The overall goal that I want my students to meet is the TEKS
standards and make sure that they are prepared for the STAAR
test. This is very crucial to the curriculum because I want my
students to feel prepared and not overwhelmed. The students will
show me their understanding of this unit by explaining
geographic factors, the significance that the oil industry had in
Texas, and showing their knowledge by completing a test.
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During this unit the learner will need to complete the following
multiple objectives. The learner will need to explain ways in
which geographic factors have affected the development of Texas,
the learner will explain the significance and effects of the oil
industry in Texas, the learner will analyze the early effects of the
20th century, the learner will analyze the political, social, and
economic effects of World War 1 on Texas, and the learner will
show their knowledge of the effects of early 20th century. In order
to master these objectives the students will need to complete
simple worksheets as study tools in order to master the test at the
end of the week.
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All of these objectives match the learner context. The stated
objectives were appropriate for my specific community, school,
classroom, classroom teacher, and students. The objectives allow
for the students to brainstorm and achieve high levels of academic
advancements. Being that we started a new unit the students
didn’t need to have a substantial amount of prior knowledge.
With additional sources such as hand-outs and their textbooks,
they will be fully equipped with all the information that they
need. The only prior knowledge that they would need to know are
some of the effects on Texas from World War 1 that were
previously taught.
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The objectives describe learning outcomes rather than specific
activities by introducing multiple opportunities for the students to
engage in learning. Some of the different characteristics of my
students range from hands on to visual learners. Therefore, some
of the activities consist of completing a web quest which will be
projected on the smart board and other activities consist of graphic
organizers and fill-in-the-blanks. This provides the students with a
variety of tools to help them master this unit. The students enjoy
doing work on the computers as well as completing group paper
assignments with their peers. However, overall it allows them the
opportunity to gain new knowledge and apply it to new concepts.
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7.5 History. The student understands how events and issues
shaped the history of Texas during the Civil War and
Reconstruction.
7.6 History. The student understands how individuals,
events, and issues shaped the history of Texas from
Reconstruction through the beginning of the 20th century.
7.7 History. The student understands how individuals,
events, and issues shaped the history of Texas during the
20th and early 21st centuries.
7.8 Geography. The student uses geographic tools to collect,
analyze, and interpret data.
7.9 Geography. The student understands the location and
characteristics of places and regions of Texas.
7.10 Geography. The student understands the effects of the
interaction between humans and the environment in Texas
during the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.
The teacher candidate plans
appropriate assessments for each
learning objective to evaluate student
learning before, during, and after
instruction.
The students received a
pre-assessment before we
actually started the unit to
show me if they had prior
knowledge on the subjects
that we were about to
cover.
Learning Objectives
Type of
Assessment
Assessment
Format
Adaptations
1) TLW explain ways
that geographic
factors have
affected Texas
2) TLW explain
significance and
effects of the oil
industry
3) TLW analyze the
early effects of the
20th century
4) TLW analyze the
effects of WWI on
Texas
5) TLW show
knowledge of the
effects of early
20th century
 PreAssessment
 Graphic
Organizer
 Web Quest
 Short Answer
Worksheet
 PostAssessment
Throughout the
duration of the
unit, the
students will
complete a web
quest in
partners, a
short answer
worksheet on
their
knowledge of
Spindletop and
the oil boom, a
graphic
organizer over
the 19th century,
and a postassessment.
For my ELL
students and the
few who can not
read and
comprehend the
text, I will read
the directions and
the assessments to
them as a small
group. I also have
a teacher assistant
who comes in
daily to monitor
that they are fully
understanding
what is being
expected of them.
My strategies for administering assessments is to validate that my
students fully comprehend the new material that was taught to them. I
wanted to make sure that my students completed a pre-assessment so
that I would know if they had any prior knowledge on the topics. Being
that this material was new to the majority of my students I decided to
keep the same post-assessment to ensure that they understood the unit.
The multiple types of assessment reliably assess the stated learning
objectives by providing the students with the opportunity to display in a
variety of ways that they understand the information that is being
presented to them. The different formats were designed to measure the
students achievement as well as comprehension on the subjects. My
purpose for using the graphic organizer was to make sure the students
clearly understood the effects of The Great Storm of 1900. The web quest
also supported the graphic organizer because it was able to show
important events and the effects of The Great Storm as the students
followed along and completed check points. All of the formats were very
successful for both the teacher and students.
The scoring procedures for each of these assessments is to come up
with a mastery scale and grading rubric, and then score their
assessments according to the amount of questions that each student
answered correctly. According to the testing results I will be able to
see what my students know and understand about the topics that
were discussed. For the two subgroups I will compare the scores of
males vs. females and monitor their learning progress. I believe these
scoring procedures are detrimental to the advancement of the student
because it allows the teacher to monitor the students’ progress.
Without assessments you wouldn’t be certain that your students are
actually learning and applying the new information that was taught.
Some of my learners have problems reading and comprehending the
material that they previously read, therefore, for those students I
would offer small group instruction so that I could verbally state the
directions and read the materials to them. This would allow them the
same opportunity to complete their work to the best of their
knowledge. For my special education student, my teacher assistant
who works with him daily would come in and monitor his progress
so that he stays on task and gets the proper assistance that he needs. I
believe that adaptations are necessary because despite the challenges
that some students may face, they all should be awarded the same
learning opportunity to better themselves.
The candidate designs instruction for
specific learning objectives, taking into
account the entire learning context.
The pre-assessment revealed to me that the students had little
knowledge of the events that were about to be discussed in the
upcoming unit. The students knew more about the outcome of World
War I versus The Great Storm of 1900 and Spindletop. I could tell that
I would need to spend more time making sure they actually grasp the
material rather than teaching a new topic each day. I wanted to make
sure that my students understood the events and the effects they had
on Texas. After reviewing my pre-assessment results I could tell that I
would need to spend more time making sure that each student
understood the new information being taught.
The students took the pre-assessment the week before the unit began.
On day 1 of the new unit the students will begin with their opening
tradition and create a unit page titled “A New Century” so that they
will be aware of the activities that follow during this unit. The
students will also begin the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 web quest
with accommodating notes. On day 2 the students will begin with
their opening tradition and then finish the Galveston Storm web quest
and prepare a Venn diagram to assess if they know the similarities
and differences between The 1900 hurricane and Hurricane Ike. Once
they have completed this they will watch the Spindletop video enroll.
They will also complete a reading with short-answer questions about
Spindletop. On day 3 the students will complete the opening tradition
and fill in the boom/bust graphic notes and PowerPoint. Once they
finish they will also look at the effects of the oil industry on Texas.
On day 4 of the unit the students will begin with their opening
tradition design a timeline over chapter 20 in the textbook. After they
design the timeline they will analyze the events that occurred. On the
final day of the unit, the students will begin with their opening
tradition and complete a fill-in-the-blank on the effects of World War I
and Texas. After they have completed those assignments they will
complete the post-assessment. After the completion of the postassessment I will be able to see if the students grasped and applied
the new material that they learned throughout the week. My rationale
for providing my students with a wide variety of activities was to
cater to the individual students learning styles. All students can’t read
from a textbook and gain the information, therefore, I wanted to make
sure that I offered a variety of activities so that all students could be
involved.
During my planning process for the instruction of this unit, I made
sure that I kept in mind all the different learning styles that my
students portray. I wanted to make sure each activity was able to cater
to those individual needs of my students. For the visual learners I was
able to provide a web quest so that we could all follow along together
and it allowed me to answer questions that the students had about the
events as we worked through it. I also provided fill-in-the-blank notes
for the students that need to write the information so that it will stick
with them. As they continue to write the information it will come
easier to them. Graphic organizers were also a primary source for me
because it allowed the students to actually think about the events and
the time period that they occurred. Lastly, the Venn diagram allowed
me to see that the students were able to compare and contrast an
event that happened in the past to a event that they lived through.
My use of technology positively impacted the learning environment
for my students. I used technology on multiple activities and the
students were able to follow along with me during the web quest and
analysis of the 19th century. For these activities I would display the
information on the projector and go to the website for us to follow
along as we watched educational videos about the events that
occurred. Technology contributed to the teaching and learning
environment by providing the students with additional sources and
portraying the re-enactment of real life events. By showing the
students real footage of the videos such as “The Orphanage” in
Galveston during the Great Hurricane of 1900, it was able to allow the
students to vision themselves in those particular situations and think
about what they could have done in that time era to help some of the
citizens reach safety. Technology also allows the teacher and students
to bridge in the gap between the time periods.
The candidate makes instructional
decisions based on analysis of her or
his teaching, student learning, and the
learning context.
The first modification that I needed to make occurred when I had my
students begin with reading a secondary source about the oil field
terror in Beaumont which relates to Spindletop. I assumed that they
would be able to read the article and answer the short answer
questions without having prior knowledge of the oil boom because
the information was on their level and self explanatory. After my 1st
period class I realized that because it was so much going on about the
oil boom the students were beginning to clash all the information
together. At this point, I decided to switch up my sequencing and the
order of events for this day. Instead of having my students read the
articles and answer the short answer questions on their own we
watched a video on Spindletop and the oil boom first, and then we
read the article together so that I could monitor their comprehension
along the way. For the following class periods they proved to be very
successful in this activity due to the modifications that occurred.
The second modification occurred with classroom management
concerns during the Venn diagram and fill-in-the-blanks. I thought
that this day would be perfect for partner work because it was simple
and partners can keep you on task. My first and second periods did
great with partner work however, third period were more focused on
chatting about events that were going on around campus versus the
Great Hurricane of 1900. The modification I made for this period was
making the assignment individual work. I tried to give the students
the opportunity to correct their behavior but they continued to get off
task therefore, it became individual work. Once the students began to
work on their own, they were able to complete their assignments and
receive instructional feedback on their work. This benefited the
students because they were able to go back and make corrections in
the necessary positions.
The instructional decisions and modifications that I displayed
allowed me to pace myself and focus on the learning goals. Overall,
the main objective is for the students to grasp the new information
and apply it in future situations. As the days went on and I realized
that everything was not going to go as planned, I was able to adapt
and come up with innovative ideas so that the learning was still
student centered and focused on the learning objectives.
The unit being presented to the students was very interesting and
hands on. This enabled the students to be very productive and
cooperative during the teaching process. The students were very
eager to learn about what was going to come next and how it affected
the state of Texas. The only issue that occurred throughout the
teaching experience was talking. The students were always able to
voice their opinions and insight on the events however, sometimes
they would get off topic and this could ignite the entire class to get off
topic. All of the students were very active in participating and
portrayed an increase in learning. I believe that the students were
more interested in learning about the events because they have heard
of the locations. Galveston and Beaumont are not that far from their
community, so just the thought of them knowing that this could have
happened to them intrigued them.
The candidate uses assessment results
to profile student learning and presents
an analysis of student progress for each
learning objective.
100
80
60
40
20
0
Pre-Test
Post-Test
Pre-Test
The pre-assessment and post-assessment results definitely showed
that my students increased their understanding of the events that
occurred in the 19th century. The graph on the previous slide shows
the individual student scores on both the pre-assessment and postassessment for each student in the classroom. It is clear from the
graph that every student improved during the unit, resulting in a
higher score on the post-assessment than the pre-assessment. All of
my students improved their scores anywhere from 40 to 80 points on
their test scores over the course of the unit. Generally, the students
with the lowest pre-assessment scores had the greatest gains. This
would be the males since I compared their achievements in a subgroup of males versus females. I believe this occurred since the males
were the students who had the most room to grow. These results
showed me that my instruction was not over their heads, but
appropriate for my students’ abilities and educational needs. I was
very pleased with the outcome from this unit and their assessments.
My students learned about multiple topics and events during my unit
and proved to be successful in doing so. The average score on the preassessment was a failing grade, and showed that the students were
not ready to be tested on these learning goals that were set for them.
The average grade on the post-assessment was a B+. This showed
that, overall, I was able to help my students gain sufficient mastery of
these learning goals. Prior to me teaching this unit, the highest grade
on the pretest was an 55%, therefore, all of the students failed. Of the
16 students that took the post-assessment after I taught this unit, all of
them scored a B or higher. I feel that they successfully accomplished
all of my learning objectives and gained new knowledge of major
events that occurred in Texas.
The candidate reflects on his or her
instruction and student learning to
improve teaching.
I feel that I adjusted well to the modifications that were made during
the presentation of my unit. However, if I could make any changes
during the planning and teaching process I would keep the
modifications that I changed the same from beginning to end and
planning wise, I would try to keep in mind all the possible things that
could go wrong so that I will have a back-up solution ready to go. I
believe that by reading the materials with my students instead of
letting them read silently enabled them to vision the events and
improved student learning. I think that it was very important that I
did use videos throughout the unit because had I not done that, I
don’t think that the students would have received a clear
understanding of the atmosphere in those areas during those specific
events. Overall, I believe that my unit was very successful and I know
both the students and I enjoyed it!
In regards to my planning skills and abilities for a lengthy unit of
instruction I realized that you must have multiple assignments for the
students to complete. This is because in the general education
classroom you have both on-level and above-level students therefore,
you don’t know at what pace each individual student will complete
their work. When planning an entire unit I had to make sure that I
had enrichment activities for some of the students to complete so that
they wouldn’t be just sitting around with nothing to do. While
developing the assessment I had to keep in mind that although I want
all of the students to be successful on the tests, I don’t want to make
all of the questions easy to where the answers are obvious. I had to
think of questions that I knew would challenge the students to use
their higher order of thinking skills and master these objectives. Being
that I had to go back and review the material so that I would be able
to answer questions for the students, I would say that was a
weakness. I felt comfortable with the unit but I could’ve done
additional research in some areas to challenge my students more.
I believe that I am highly qualified to select effective learning activities
related to specific learning objectives and I have the results from the postassessment as proof. I was able to teach my students with consistency and
effectiveness and they all were successful at the end of the unit. My
cooperating teacher constantly reminded me that I was doing a fantastic
job with my lessons and those encouraging words were my motivation to
succeed on my own. As I previously stated that my cooperating teacher
was not a major disciplinarian, due to that I did have minor behavioral
issues. However, I was able to quickly get the students back on task and
redirect the behavioral issues. By analyzing and interpreting the preassessment and post-assessment data, I was able to see what areas my
students were lacking information and I focused on building their
knowledge in those areas so that they would be successful throughout
this unit. If you were to walk into the classroom at any point you would
clearly be able to identify that I had control of the classroom at all times. I
carried myself as a professional at all times and I am more than happy to
have the respect of my students and the educators at the school!
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Henderson, A. T., & Mapp, K. L. (2002). A new wave of
evidence: The impact of school, family and community
connections on student achievement (Research Synthesis).
Austin, TX: National Center for Family & Community
Connections with Schools.
http://schools.cfisd.net/spillane/index.stm
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/