COYNE 1

Tracie Coyne
9 September 2017
ECED 429
TWS 1

Teacher Work Sample 1

Teacher Knowledge of Students (TKS)
Community, District and School Factors
Lakeview Elementary School is in Greenwood, South Carolina. For the years 2012-2014,

Lakeview received an “excellent” state rating. There are 645 students enrolled in Pre-

Kindergarten through grade five. There are also 38 teachers in the school. There is not a number

amount listed on the report card as to how many other staff members are employed. Even though

race/ethnicity is not listed on the report card on the Department of Education, it is easy to see

that Lakeview Elementary is a very diverse school. Lakeview is a Title I school. All students

receive free breakfast and lunch.

The information in the charts below is for students to meet the profile of the SC Graduate.

Our School Change from last year

Students (n=645)

% of students in poverty (TANF, Medicaid, SNAP, foster child or 63.0 Down from 70.2
homeless)
Attendance rate 96.0 No change
With disabilities 10.8 Down from 11.0
Out-of-school suspensions or expulsions for violent and/or criminal 0.0 No change
offenses
Percentage of students served by gifted and talented program 8.6 Down from 9.7
Percentage of students retained 1.1 Down from 1.3
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Our School Change from last year

Teachers (n=38)

Percentage of teachers with advanced degrees 73.7 Down from 78.6

Percentage of teachers on continuing contract 84.2 Down from 96.4
Teachers returning from previous year 84.8 Down from 87.2
Teacher attendance rate 95.7 Up from 95.5
Average teacher salary $52,345 Down from $52,603
Professional development days/teacher 20.9 Up from 14.9
Percentage of teacher vacancies for more than 9 weeks 0.0 No change

Our School Change from last year

School

Principal's/Superintendent's years at school/district 3 Up from 2

Student-teacher ratio in core subjects 23.2 to 1 Up from 23.1 to 1
Prime instructional time 90.5 Up from 89.7
Opportunities in the arts Good No change
AdvancEd (SACS) accreditation Yes No change
Parents attending conferences 100.0 Up from 94.3
Character development program Excellent No change
Average age of books / electronic media in the school library 15.0 Up from 14.0
Number of resources available per student in the school library media 18.1 Down from 20.9
center
Each student device has access to at least 1 Mbps of bandwidth Yes N/A
Percent of classrooms with wireless access 91 - 100% Change from 76-100%
Number of devices dedicated for student use 404 N/A

Classroom Factors
Ms. deTreville’s classroom is very naturally bright and welcoming. Many of the physical

features in this classroom facilitate learning and are placed strategically to help students. When

walking into the classroom, directly to the left, is Practical Life. There are three shelves and three

tables, with two chairs each, and the snack table located in this area. Backed up to Practical life
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is the Art shelf. To the right of practical life, along the wall, are hooks for students to hang their

bookbags. Located at the back-right corner of the room is a sink and water fountain. Next to it,

along the back wall, is the fridge, teacher desk and shelves on the wall for teacher supplies. Next

along the back wall are three shelves, shaped in an “L”, of Sensorial. At the end of the “L” are

the Knobbed and Knob-less cylinders and Pink Tower. To the left of Sensorial is Math. Math is

in the shape of an “L” with the Bead Cabinet along the back wall. The four shelves follow along

the left wall and jut out towards the middle of the classroom. In the middle of the left wall is the

Air Conditioning Unit. Backed up to Math is the student Reading area with two chairs for

students to read individual books. Next is the Language area with four shelves. Located at the

front of the classroom is the SmartBoard and Geography and Science shelves. Directly to the

right of the classroom door is two cabinets that hold classroom supplies. There is a line-time rug

in the center of the classroom. Ms. deTreville keeps the classroom a prepared environment so

that the students can independently gather the supplies they need for their lessons. Student

grouping is based on the multiples ages in the classroom.

Geography and science shelves:

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Language:

Reading Shelf:
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Math:

Sensorial:
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Practical Life:

Class Schedule
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Availability of Technology

A SmartBoard is located on the front wall in the classroom. A laptop is connected to the

SmartBoard. The SmartBoard is used mainly for YouTube videos that the teacher will sometimes

show in the few minutes before lunch. There is a desk top computer located on a desk at the back

of the classroom for teacher use. The class has one classroom iPad that is used to take pictures

of students work to upload on the Seesaw for parents to see what their students are doing in cl

ass.

Availability of Resources

Ms. deTreville keeps her Montessori classroom prepared with all the supplies her

students need. Books for reading are always available, the paper for cutting lessons, art lessons

and metal inset lessons are always filled. This prepared environment allows the students to

independently go about their learning with little help from the teachers.

Parental Involvement

Most our parents came on Orientation Day to meet the teacher, pick up Welcome Packets

and fill out paper work. Several of the parents of new students met with my cooperating teacher

before orientation day and the start of school to learn some of the classroom procedures. Every

student brought in all or most of the items on the supply list sent home and several parents

offered to bring in more if needed. Ms. deTreville uses an app called Seesaw to take pictures and

videos of students completing lessons. These pictures or videos are then upload into individual

student accounts in the app for parents to see. Parents can log onto the app at any time and look
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at the lessons their child is completing in the classroom. Every week, on Wednesday, red folders

go home for parents to look at student work, or school information that needs signatures etc.

Classroom Rules

This classroom is regulated with natural consequences. Students who make wrong

choices will deal with the consequences of their actions. Many times, this includes the student

not being able to use certain materials any longer or having to sit in the watching chair to

consider their actions. When students have conflict with their peers they have the opportunity to

sit at the Peace Bench with their peer and discuss the conflict. Allowing students to work out

their disagreements on their own. This teaches students how to independently problem-solve.

Grouping Patterns

While the classroom is mostly independent work, students do have chances to work in

groups. These groups are usually by age groups: three year old students, four year old students,

five year old students and four/ five year old students together. When students are grouped the

teacher is usually showing lessons that every student in the class can do. Grouping allows the

students to learn new lessons, like cultural lessons, without the teacher having to show the

lessons individually. Group lessons also allow for students of different ages to collaborate.

Student Demographics

There are twenty-four students in the classroom. Sixteen of the students are female and

eight are male. Out of the whole class, thirteen students are returning students from last year.

Characteristic Description Males Females Total

8 16 24
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5 4 7 10
Age
4 1 9 11

3 3 0 3

Race Caucasian 6 8 14
African-American 1 5 6

Indian 0 1 1

Caucasian/ African- American 0 1 1

Hispanic 1 1 2
English as first language 8 16 24
Language

Accommodations 0 1 1

One student has albinism in this class that affects their eye sight. This student will need to

sit beside the teacher to have a better sight line.

Student Interest

The students in this class love working together to complete lessons. The boys are

interested in cars, playing outside, video games and lessons where they can construct things. The

girls are interested in dolls, Trolls, princesses, flowers and lessons that are colorful.

Prior Learning

Most of the students in the class are returning Montessori students from last year. This

means that these students know and understand how the classroom runs. They know the rules

and regulations, what lessons they have been shown and what they can do. The lessons students

were shown last year allows them to complete mastery and progress through further lessons.

Student Skill Level

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There is not enough data for the three-year old’s and the four-year old’s.

There is no skill level data available for the five-year old students at this moment in time.

Instructional Implications

Community Factors

Many students come from homes where parents work and may not be there when the

students arrive home. When double checking bookbags behind the students, I notice that many

students will still have the work from the day, or even the week, or their parents have not

checked their red folders, still in their bookbags. Students who have no support at home may

need extra help in the classroom.

Classroom Factors

Because of scheduling, the three-year old’s dismissing at 11:30, and the four-year old’s

rest time, I will do my best to focus more on teaching the threes and fours lessons in the

mornings. During the three-hour work period the threes and fours will be shown individual or

group lessons. Later in the day, after the threes have dismissed and the fours are resting, I will

focus my time on the five-year old’s when we have the five-year-old work period. This will

allow me to utilize individual time with all the students in the three age groups.

Student Factors
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My classroom consists of many students from many backgrounds. When planning

lessons, it is important to remember that each student is unique. Therefore, it is important to

remember that their cultures are important to learn about and understand. Learning more about

the individual cultures of the students will allow me to understand and build relationships with

them better.

Some of my students have a hard time focusing on their work or finding interest in doing

hard lessons. As a teacher, I will do my best to hype up the lessons and make them seem inviting

and to engage these students in their lessons.

There is no skill level data to give instructional implications on at this moment in time.

Differentiation of Classroom Practices

Classroom practices of rules and regulations will remain the same regardless of student

characteristics. These factors will change based on the students’ skills and prior knowledge.

Students with higher skill levels will most likely advance through lessons quicker than students

without. Students who have extra help and support at home will also be more likely to learn the

information being taught easier with the extra practice. My lessons will be based on students who

need less help and extra help. All students will be taught lessons based on their skill level and

their progression. New lessons will be taught as students master previous ones.
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Resources

South carolina department of education. (n.d.). Retrieved September 05, 2017, from

https://ed.sc.gov/data/report-cards/state-report-

cards/2016/view/?d=2450&s=009&t=E&y=2016