421
Segment I
Notebook Guide
Where to find related
resources:
• 421 Course site
• http://courses.education.illinois.edu/ci421/
• Council of Teacher Education
(www.cote.illinois.edu) for Student Portal, online
portfolio rubric
• Office of Clinical Experiences
(http://ed.uiuc.edu/ci/oce) for Common Assessment
Portfolio (CAP), evaluation forms, & other forms
• IL State Board of Education
(www.isbe.state.il.us) for standards
To purchase:
• 2 binders (one for 421 notebook
assignments, one for resources)
• plastic sheet protectors
• tabs (8 labeled & inserted into
notebook in the order of
appearance in syllabus, plus
enough for all the
“subcategories” of your
resources binder)
• printer ink & paper
Timeframe and
Staying Organized
• Use your notebook checklist to
help stay organized.
• DO the work during the
indicated week.
• SUBMIT the work by midnight
on Sunday following the week’s
work.
• CAP: artifacts and reflections
must be posted on your site by
the times/dates listed on
Notebook checklist
Timeframe and
Staying Organized
• Make corrections, if requested,
and resubmit work, if requested,
within a week from when you
received mentor feedback.
• Print CLEAN copies for the
binder
• Place final, clean copies, back to
back, in plastic sheet protectors as
soon as they are returned to you
• Categorize resources and place,
back to back, in plastic sheet
protectors, then into binder
Use the checklist to stay organized
C&I 421 /Fall 2013
Notebook Checklist
Segment 1
Dates in
placement
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
8/26-8/29
9/3-9/5
9/9-9/12
9/16-9/19
9/23-9/26
9/30-10/3
1. •map &
questions (once)
2. •letter of
intro (once)
3. Observations
(2/wk)
4. Comments
(2/wk)
5. Learnings (1
learning per day,
1 page per week)
6. Photos (1
photo per day, 1
page per week)
Investigative
Lesson
8. Connection
paper (weekly)
Common
Assessment
Portfolio
Posted to
Weebly
Standard 3 (Planning
for differentiated
instruction)
Investigative Lesson
plan & Reflection
9a. Lesson Plans
for investigative
lesson
All work should
be submitted to
Moodle by:
Teach lesson &
observe peer
Midnight
Sunday
September 1
Mentor Visits
9b. Pre-conference worksheet
LP for mentor observations
post-reflection section complete
Midnight
Sunday
September 8
1st
Midnight
Sunday
September 15
Midnight
Sunday
September 22
Midnight
Sunday
September 29
Reteach lesson
Midnight
Sunday
October 6
2nd
Mandatory paperwork to be completed in week 1, bring hard copies to Friday lab, September 13
BBP worksheet
Emergency Medical Form (2 hardcopies-1 for mentor, 1 for coop)
Teacher Interview
Greyed out areas means you don’t do it that week/day
Map & Questions
• due once, second week
• computer generated
• In a 1-2 page response, answer
these questions:
a) how does the classroom
environment demonstrate
expectations and beliefs about
children?
b) what are the environment’s
strengths and limitations?
Letter of Introduction
• 1 page long, due end of first week
• nicely presented: neat, no grammatical or spelling
errors
• must include a picture
• give professional AND personal information
• what can you share about yourself that will help
you connect to your students and families? (pets,
what you liked to do when you were in school,
where you grew up, birthplace, current hobbies,
what you are looking forward to doing in this
placement)
• include contact info (email & school #) NOT
your home phone
• must be proofed by cooperating teacher and
mentor before you send it out, send out at end of
first week with students.
Dear Parents/Guardians,
My name is Lauren Paramore, and for the next
couple months I will be student teaching in Mrs. Rogers
Classroom. I am a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana
Champaign in Early Childhood Education with a Concentration
in History. I have worked in elementary schools around the
Chicago land area with 2nd and 3rd grade as a tutor, in
Mahomet working with infants, and Champaign as a tutor with
kindergarten through 3rd grade.
I was raised in Glenwood, IL, which is a south
suburb of Chicago about an hour and a half north of here. I am
an only child as well. I remember that when I was in
kindergarten, my days were filled with exploration, girl scouts,
and sports. When I was in school I loved writing stories and
doing artwork. Currently I enjoy baking cakes and cupcakes
and making artwork.
If you have any concerns or questions for me
please feel free to contact me through email at anytime or by
calling the school. I look forward to working with your children
and meeting or hearing from you throughout my time in the
classroom. I hope to get to know your children and learn from
them as much as I can in furthering my career as a teacher.
My contact information is listed below.
Thank you,
Ms. Lauren Paramore
•Email: Lauren.paramore@gmail or Lparamo3@Illinois.edu
•School Number: 384-1391
Observations, why
bother?
• exercise in “seeing the student”
• to gather data on a child in order to
better understand a child
• “to create an instrument for
thinking about teaching and
children in a critical sustained
way” (Ayers, pg. 39)
• to develop your observational
skills, to notice the smallest detail
that one day may shed an immense
light
Observation pointers
• Write lots! No detail is too small
• Describe how a child does
something (not “Emma sits on her
chair.”)
• Break behaviors into smallest
chunks possible: “Caitlin slid
down the slide” does not provide
a thorough image. How is she
holding her arms, her legs, her
torso? What expression does she
have? What does she say?
• 1/2 page in length
Interpretation pointers
• Try to get into the child’s
head, why are they doing
what they are doing?
• no definitive answer – offer
multiple possible reasons for
the behaviors based on your
observations and prior
knowledge of the child.
• See following example
(upper right)Week number
(beneath week )Date
Name (upper left)
Observations (title centered)
11:13-11:18am (exact time)
Treyvon (first name of observed child)
Context: Outside Playtime (where this is happening)
Description:
Treyvon is riding on the scooter with both hands on the handles. His left foot is
moving up and down on the ground as he rides across the playground. He rides to
the logs surrounding the playhouse. He runs the scooter into the log. His body lightly
jerks forward. He steps off the scooter to the right side. He turns around. He shouts
to Dagim, “I’m in second place.” He turns back around. He steps back on the scooter
with his right leg first. He puts his hands on the handle bars. He moves the scooter to
the right. He rides around the playground with his left leg going up and down on the
ground. He rides back to the log surrounding the playhouse. He runs the scooter into
the log. The scooter and his body fall to the left onto the ground. He sits up. He
pushes his hands off the ground. He bends over. He picks up the scooter with both
hands. He looks to the right. He tells Dagim, “Come on. You got second place.” He
steps onto the scooter backwards using his right foot first and left foot second. He
puts his hands on the handlebars. He leans back over the handlebars. He tips over to
the left. He lets go of the handlebars. He steps down off the scooter. He walks to the
right where Mitsy is standing. He looks up at her. He tells her, “Dagim is losing.” He
looks to the right. He turns around.
Interpretation:
Treyvon seemed to be having fun riding on his scooter outside; although it didn’t
seem like Dagim was really racing him as he had thought. I saw him riding around
the playground, but it didn’t look like Dagim wanted to play with him. I think that
Treyvon thought he was playing with him because they were the only two children
on the playground. Treyvon doesn’t play with other children much because he
doesn’t know how interact with them well. I thought this was one possible reason
why he was playing by himself, even though he thought Dagim was racing against
him. When he spoke to Mitsy and then walked away, I thought more about his
alienation from the other students. Did he tell that to Mitsy because he felt she was
the only one who would listen? Was he bored with riding the scooter and wanted
someone to talk to? I’m not sure. I also noticed his behavior while he was on the
scooter. I saw that he continued to run scooter in to the log, and I began to wonder,
did that hurt? Did he think it was fun? His body seemed to jerk every time he hit it,
and he fell over the second time. I thought it would have been hurt, but I’m assuming
he had some kind of enjoyment out of it.
What are
Comments?
• brief dialogue between
student and student, or
student and teacher
• insightful dialogue, one
that is unique and/or
meaningful
• dialogue that allows you
to better understand the
child’s perspective
How do you do
“Comments”?
• Carry a pencil and paper at all times so
you are able to write comments when
they occur – don’t rely on memory
• Concentrate on writing exactly what the
children say.
• Record: child’s first name, time, and
short, but detailed, description of
context.
• 3 comments per day, word–processed,
totaling one page of text per day
• Refer to Notebook Checklist for precise
number of pages due each week.
• See the following example
Name (in upper left)
(week in upper right)Week 7
(date beneath week) March 7, 2013
Comments (title centered)
1.Jaidyn, Mar’sheonna, and Kavontae (10:01am Breakfast)The students have
breakfast served to them every day. The students sit at assigned tables. Now that we
have been at school for 5 weeks now, the students are beginning to talk more during
meal times. Today the students had oranges with their cereal.
Jaidyn: I can’t eat those.
Mar’sheonna: No, it’s nasty.
Kavontae: It will make you throw up.
M: Mmhmm, you throw up.
J: You could choke on them.
2. Syncere, Rolando, and Tianna (10:50am Recess)The students have recess for
thirty minutes every day. Lately, Rolando and Syncere have been competing against
each other throughout the various centers they are placed in. While outside, Syncere
and Rolando typically ride on bikes, race each other, and scream when they get to
the finish line. Tianna was playing near them when they rode by yelling.
Rolando: Ahhhhh!
Syncere: Ahhhhh!
Tianna: Would you guys stop it? What’s wrong with you guys?
3. Mar’sheonna and Jaidyn (11:23am Bathroom Break)After going outside, the
students go to the bathroom before returning to the class for center time. Typically,
we divide the class by gender, having all the girls go to one bathroom, and all the
boys go to the other bathroom. Sometimes when we call out Jaidyn’s name we say
her full name Jaidyn Harris. Today, Jaidyn was taking an extra long time in the
bathroom, and we were calling her name to tell her to hurry up.
Mar'sheonna: Come on Jaidyn Harris!
Jaidyn: I’m coming!
M: Come on Jaidyn Harris!
J: I’m coming! I’m coming! I’m coming. Everybody, I’m coming!
Focus on dialogue between students, or between teachers & students that gives
you a unique perspective or understanding of a child’s perspective.
Choose moments that are meaningful, or teachable. Choose comments that are
illuminating or teach you about children & what they are thinking.
Learnings, what are they?
• You are learning all the time. Become
aware of your learning, take note of
it.
• “Building bridges” builds
community; get to know the people
and the children with whom you
work. Make a conscious effort to
inquire and understand them.
• On a daily basis you will encounter
many helpful details of the invisible
aspects of teaching – record them.
Learnings, how do I complete these?
• Each day write down one thing you
learned—about teaching, about
yourself, about a child, about your
school. A few lines, beginning,
“Today I learned …”
• Follow what you learned with a brief
explanation of how the learning
helped your development as a novice
teacher.
• Date each one.
• At the end of the week, word
process—one page per week.
• See following example for precise
formatting.
Name (in upper left)
upper right hand corner)Week 8
Learnings (title centered)
Monday (3/7) (day & date)
I learned that Kassie, a girl in my class, has an older sister who spends a lot of time
playing with her. Kassie told me how she loves to play dolls with her and together they
make them go to school, or the playground. I was able to tell her how my sister and I
used to do similar things, and since we had that conversation Kassie is really
comfortable with me; she is eager to share her ideas with me and wants to show her
work to me. Such an important point to remember, taking time to get to know a child
and build that relationship is powerful, and is often so easy as Kassie has taught me
(start each sentence with “I learned…”)
Tuesday (3/8)
Today I learned that my cooperating teacher uses notebooks to write notes to each
child’s parents once a week in order to keep the lines of communication open. I had a
chance to look at some of these and was able to see months of communication between
home a school, all organized in one place. Some notebooks were really informative and
I learned a lot about how much some parents were involved in the children’s
schoolwork at home. These notebooks are clear examples of how easy it can be to build
bridges between home and school; I will definitely use this method when I have my
own classroom. I asked my co-op if I could write notes as well, so I could have a
chance to build my communication skills with parents. She agreed, and will check my
comments before they are sent home. (Single spaced)
Wednesday (3/9)
I learned that we will be getting a new student, Lukas, next week and we will be visiting
his home on Tuesday. I asked my co-op what the goal of this visit was and she shared
with me a questionnaire she would bring with her, but also the more important point of
taking a moment to get to know the child’s home environment and family. Yet again
another way to build bridges with the families. I think we’ll learn a lot about Lukas and
be able to ease his transition into our classroom because of this knowledge. Also we
can hopefully easy any anxiety he might have. I hope to be able to conduct home visits
when I have my own classroom. (explain how this learning has helped you as a novice
teacher)
Thursday (3/10) (indicate days you are absent)
I did not attend placement today. I was sick.
Friday (3/11) (indicate days & reason why you didn’t attend placement)
No School-Spring holiday
Photos
• At least 1 photo per day, 1 (or more) page(s) per
week
• follow the photograph policy of your school
• write a brief caption for each photo, a caption that you
could post on a display board for parents, visitors,
and/or administrators. Think of yourself as a tour
guide: what would you say to your visitors so they
understood why this scene was significant and worthy
of their viewing. ?
• take a wide variety: classroom activities, the
environment, etc.
• PPT is a good application for combining photos
and captions
• absolutely NO photos of children to be posted on
Facebook
Connection Papers
•format:
Name
Week 7
Title
• connect a placement experience to class
• specifically cite a reading, class
discussion, or Paley book
• “quotation” (Ayers, p. 61).
• 1-2 pages long
• double space. 1” margins
• Make sense of the experience. How did
the experience challenge or develop your
beliefs as a teacher?
• opening paragraph from an actual
connection paper:
I recently made an important connection between Vivian Paley’s The Girl with the Brown Crayon
and my placement. The Girl with the Brown Crayon tells a wonderful story about wonderful
teaching. I have observed this same manner of teaching in my co-op’s first grade classroom,
particularly during literacy activities. The Girl with the Brown Crayon proved an important belief
in early childhood education: No matter how young children are, they can understand stories.
Paley’s extensive use of Leo Lionni’s stories amazed me. She discussed the ways that the
characters entered “our stories, our play, and our ordinary conversations.” (Paley, p. 49) Under her
guidance, the students made insightful connections between Lionni’s stories and their own lives.
These connections dealt with friendship, race, and gender; all of these issues are relevant to
children’s lives. I admired the way she tackled these issues by helping her students focus on
difficult moments in their own lives. Reading about these difficult moments helped me see the
power that stories can have on people.
Lesson Plans for Mentor
Sessions
• Use lesson plan template (421 web
site), word processed
• Standards can be found on the ISBE
website or course website
• Must be reviewed by co-op.
• Post lesson plan to Moodle by
Thursday midnight the week prior to
your observation. Bring a hard copy
to lab the next day.
Writing Lesson Plans
Start with the Destination
• Start at your destination, where do you want
to go?
• What is the long term goal, the “big” goal you
are working toward? Your lesson should
take students closer to this long term goal. 1
of these is sufficient
• What are the short term, specific goals, that
will inch the children toward the long term
goal? By the end of your lesson what do
you want the children to know, to
understand, to accomplish? The answers to
those questions will be your specific goals;
1-3 specific goals is sufficient.
• For each specific goal, you should have a
corresponding evaluation statement. How
will you know the students achieved the
goals? What evidence will you gather?
Examples
• Long term, “Big” (general)
goal: Children will
understand that members of
a community are
interdependent.
• Short term “little” (specific)
goals
– The children will understand
the food web of the arctic
animal community
– The children will identify pairs
of interdependent creatures
and explain how they help
each other.
Evaluation
Statements
• The children will have a chance to
demonstrate their knowledge by
creating a visual representation of
the Arctic food web. They will
include all the animals listed on the
board and indicate, with lines and
arrows, each animal’s role and
connection in the food web.
• They will then pick one pair of
animals that are mutually
dependent and write a short
paragraph explaining this
dependency.
Lesson plans cont…
• Write the background as if a substitute
were picking up your plan. What do the
children already know about this topic?
• Break lessons into segments, at least
three, introduction, conclusion, and the
work that goes in between.
• How will you engage the children’s
hearts, minds and bodies? Be deliberate
about this. Make a conscious effort to
engage all three parts of the child
throughout the whole lesson. Ask
yourself, would you be engaged if your
teacher started their lesson with, “Today
we are going to learn about nouns”?
• Make the lesson purposeful and
meaningful to the children.
Lesson plans cont…
• Focus on DIALOGUE; how will you
introduce the lesson, what are your
expectations, what questions will you need
to ask so the children achieve your goals?
Write EXACTLY what you will say.
• Spend considerable effort writing
anticipated student responses. Go beyond
the hoped for response. Consider the
many directions the children could take
with your questions and your activities. Be
prepared for as much as you can
anticipate.
• Use your lesson plan as a resource; keep
it in front of you for support. However…
• Deviating from the plan is okay, as long as
you know your destination; respond to the
children and help them get to your desired
end point, or as close as possible.
After the lesson has been observed:
The post lesson debriefing session
• A moment for hansei, “open, honest,
reflection focused on improvement of
ones’ shortcomings” (Lewis, pg. 76).
• Take an active role in the session – share
your observations, ask questions, pose
possible solutions, take notes.
• Mentors will share their observations,
pose questions, and work with you to
identify methods to improve the lesson,
and your craft.
• Some things will be difficult to hear. Push
beyond your anger & ego.
• “see the [gaps in the lesson] not as a threat
or embarrassment, but as a wonderful
challenge and a spur to one’s fullest
development” (Lewis, pg. 78).
After the the post lesson debriefing
session: The post lesson reflection
• Complete the post-lesson reflection section of
the lesson plan template.
• Go beyond a summary of the post lesson
debriefing. Use the ideas discussed in the
debriefing as a starting point. Dig deeper into
those ideas, the changes you might make, the
obstacles you faced, and the successes
experienced.
• Turn in the lesson plan with a completed
reflection section in the next week’s packet.
7. Post Lesson Reflection:
What would you
change about this
lesson and why
would those changes
improve it?
One thing I would change about this lesson is the ending of the lesson. While teaching this lesson, I found that I just came to an end without
any concrete ending or a good transition into the next activity. Next time, I would prepare more questions that would relate to the lesson
learned and to the activity the students are transitioning too. A second thing I would change is the amount of time necessary for the lesson. I
had limited time to get all the components of this activity completed. Next time I teach this lesson, I would be sure to have plenty enough time
to complete each activity completely without rushing. A third thing I would change about this lesson is the questions asked at the end of the
lesson. I would try to incorporate more comprehensive questions that pertain to the actual story line. A fourth thing I woul d change about my
lesson is that I would focus my short-term specific goals on a specific literature skill. For example, I would focus this lesson on reading
comprehension of the story. The next time I taught this lesson, I would focus on rhyming schemes and rhyming patterns. A fifth component I
would change about this lesson is that I would have the students create “a map” of the actions done while singing the bear hunt song. This
would make the song more interactive and help the students remember what actions happened during the song. Overall, I believe all of these
changes will better enhance my lesson for the next time I teach it.
How did your
organization and
materials affect the
success of the
lesson?
I believe my organizational skills and materials helped make this lesson successful. First, I had all the materials I needed for each component
set up and ready to go when I needed them. I made sure I knew which CD the song was on and which track the song was before I started my
lesson. I also made sure I had the book right by the stereo, so when I transitioned to the book I didn’t have to go searching for it. When it
came time to drawing our own bears, I made sure I had enough white paper and coloring materials so they could complete their pictures. I
also believe the materials I used in this lesson helped make this lesson successful. I made sure the song used and the book read had some
sort of connection and made sense when put together. I also made sure to use materials that were familiar to the students. This made the
lesson engaging and familiar. They were exposed to a new book, but enjoyed doing a familiar activity of singing a song they enjoy.
What were some
challenges with this
lesson? What
surprised you?
One challenge for my lessons was dealing with the fire drill before the beginning of my lesson. I wanted to make sure the students knew the
purpose behind the fire drill, but at the same time I wanted to gain their attention during the lesson. I did my best to transition from the fire drill
to my lesson, which was a task I was not aware I would be doing. Another challenge was making sure all of my students were engaged and
participating throughout the lesson. Some of my students become disinterested during carpet time, so I attempted to get their attention during
the lesson. Another challenge for me was the ending of the lesson transitioning into the next activity. My lesson kind of just ended without a
concise, clear end. This is something I know I need to work on for my next lesson. I was surprised by what the students remembered from the
story. After the lesson was over, they were still talking to me about what happened in the story. The sequel to the book is in our classroom as
well and the students recognized the characters and showed me the book.
Additional
comments?
Resources collect relevant artifacts
that may be useful for you in the
future.
Such as….
• teacher handouts
• classroom newsletters
• teacher training information
• school handouts, packets, etc
• student work
Categorize the artifacts into various
subsections by topic (e.g., language, math,
staff information, parent information). Once
they are returned to you place them in your
resource binder, organized by category.
General formatting &
management tips:
• follow format specifications exactly
• always have extra paper and printer ink
• read & reread the syllabus
• you can print back-to-back (if you do so,
one sheet per protector)
• place papers back-to-back in protectors
• have tabbed notebook ready
• when your work is returned, place into
your notebook sections immediately
• carry a small notebook or clipboard for
recording comments, observations & your
thoughts
• type up comments & observations daily
• be professional in all recordings – don’t
write anything that you wouldn’t want
your coop or a parent to read.
421 Final Notebooks
• “View” binder suggested
• tabs should be arranged in order as
listed in syllabus
• work in tabbed sections should be
placed in chronological order
• attractive cover
• name on cover and spine
• resource binder should be divided
into subsections according to the
categories
Homework
• Go shopping!
• Print out mandatory paperwork
forms
• Re-read this PPT, read the
forms, read the guidelines, and
contact your mentor with
questions.