How I feel about my classroom

I love my classroom!

DESCRIPTION OF CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT

School District/Corporation: _______________ School: ___________

Approximate % free/reduced lunch: 40% Geographic Location: suburban

Grade level(s) in class: 4th Number of students enrolled in class: 30

Classroom grouping:

Whole class, small groups, some individual, some peer teaching.

Instructional materials:

Rarely textbooks, manipulatives, trade books, technology (Front Rowed Math, Reading A-Z, and Spelling City), worksheets, whiteboards.

Well equipped with Technology/ Resources:

SMART board, document camera, television with VHS and DVD player (might not be set up), 2 analog clocks, 1 teacher computer, 4 student computers, room phone, class iPad, class-sized buzzer set, label maker, Infinite Campus website for grade book and planner, Remind website, printer in the classroom, copier, laminator.

Some Teaching interruptions:

Train horn, pull-outs (Read 180, Systems 44, speech, Fire Time), push-ins (8:45AM phonics and 10:30AM reading), bathroom breaks, writing nurse’s passes, phone calls, drills, assemblies.

Help available:

Educational assistants, some parent volunteers, resource teachers.

Individual Differences:

9 Students are Culturally Diverse                 No Students with Special Needs

2 Students are ELLs

1 Student is Unidentified as Gifted and Talented __ Students are Free/Reduced Lunch

14 Male Students                                      17 Female Students

I like that...

• We have a SMARTBoard
• There are 6 student tables
• There is a workshop table which holds 6 students at a time
• We have hall passes and a hall pass sign out sheet. This is great for data. At the daycare, we have a student who goes to the restroom when he gets frustrated. A sign out sheet would provide evidence of that. 
• This classroom has so many great anchor charts!
• This classroom has Dollar Tree anchor charts like I bought last year. 

• I like that the job lists get printed off and posted in 3 places each week, but this can use a lot of paper. 
• Even though the "We wish you well" segment of the morning meeting is long time, it very important. It shows what students are interested in and clues the teacher into why a student may be distracted. The students were surprisingly interested in topics from the news. I like that there is a celebrations segment. I like that the teacher marks off who has talked and who she has sat beside so that she can give everyone attention. I love the "We wish you well" song. 
• *Update the teacher moved "We wish you well" to the beginning of the morning meeting. She begins with asking for celebrations then she pulls 6 sticks for who can add someone to the list. Everyone else has to write their requests on pieces of red paper and put them in the box. 

At the beginning of the semester, I had a table which I used to work with students. Now I have a desk and I have students sit on my side of the desk with me while I help them. My students seem to feel special when they get to sit on my side of the desk.


Other reflections from today:

• One of my students has a learning disability and does not skip questions when he does not know them. He spent a long time on Front Rowed Math today. I had to prompt him to answer the questions that I thought would be easy for him. He finished a long time after everyone else.