The student was able to articulate the correct segments of about half of the twenty-two words that were listed. Yopp (1995) states, “Students who correctly segment some items (7-16 correct) are displaying emerging phonemic awareness.” I believe that one of the problems that she is facing relates to the idea that she believes that a letter can only sound one way; she is not aware of the short and long sounds that one letter is capable of sounding like when saying different words. For instance, when we reached words such as she, that, and three I could detect that she was hesitant with the beginning sounds since those phonemes are joined. She was not able to determine that they should be recited together so when she began to tell me the sounds, she said the sound of each of the letters rather than placing them together. To a certain extent I believe that she is lacking phonemic awareness due to the fact that she is not aware of the different sounds that letters could make. I think this could hinder her writing, as I have already witnessed, when she begins to produce sentences independently. They are taught to stretch out words to the best of their ability before asking for help so this could be a problem if she cannot identify the sounds that she is making. When I’ve looked over her writing, letters tend to be missing especially if it is a blended phoneme or one that is usually silent.
Based on the results of the spelling inventory, Jennifer falls under the stage of “within word pattern.” Instruction is necessary in the areas of common long vowels and inflected endings. The step to helping Jennifer grasp an understanding of long vowels and inflected endings is to implement word sorting during the day; with a teacher, independently or with a group. The results of this spelling inventory came as a shock; specifically the stage of spelling that it categorized Jennifer. Although she was able to identify the initial and final consonants as well as short vowel sounds of the words that were provided, that is not what I observe when she is writing sentences. The inventory indicated that Jennifer falls within the “within word pattern”, a stage where she is capable of spelling single-syllable words correctly along with consonant blends and digraphs. However she is not at that point where she can automatically recognize short vowel sounds. Jennifer is still in the process of breaking apart the sounds of words while reading and writing. The scores retrieved from iStation and observing her while reading during shared reading time, helped me realize that even though a student may be lacking in a few areas of literacy, it does not mean that there are not proficient in others. She needs consistent encouragement to practice skills independently. Jennifer should be not sit near friends when engaged on iStation during computer time to help improve her focus.
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![]() It was a bit nerve wrecking to have one of my peers to come into the classroom to observe me while I worked with my focus student since it isn't the norm. We often have time to reflect amongst ourselves about our days and how things with our inquiry project but it was definitely different having them witness it with their own eyes. However we are very respectful of one another and we realize that we all just want to help each other become the best educators! It so happened that my focus student did very well during our time together on this particular day during shared reading time. Yet, I shared with my peer privately that there are days when she doesn't seem to have any problems reading but then there are others where she struggles. I appreciate the suggestions of using flash cards and sound games to help my focus student strengthen her phonemic awareness. Using interactive games and flash cards would be different techniques that I believe would really capture the student's attention and maintain her engagement. There is a traditional approach in the classroom where technology is not implemented frequently aside from the listening center. Create a brief blog entry describing and summarizing what you learned from the ESE resource teacher interview we had in seminar last month in Ms. Hill's room. How does the information she shared help you in your own practice as a general education teacher? How can the information help you support your students better? Is there any information that helps you understand your inquiry student and how best to work with them?
As a general education teacher, the information provided by the ESE resource teacher strengthened the importance of community between educators, despite our titles and roles in the school environment. Just as we desire to create a community within the walls of our classroom by encouraging our students to be open-minded, eager to help and accepting of one another, we should have the same approach with our colleagues. It is not a secret that there are a variety of hurdles standing in the way of our exceptional students progressing as well as those who are in place to help them such as a shortage of staff that are qualified to assist them, lack of time to work within throughout the day and the process of actually providing those services to students who need them but are not "labeled." It is my duty as a teacher to ensure that I am supporting my students by collaborating wholeheartedly with the resource teacher by providing lesson plans in a timely manner, informing them of the daily schedule and modifying the classroom in such a way that is suitable for their learning needs. The interview was very eye-opening as a pre-service teacher into the job of a ESE resource teacher. I was aware that their jobs were anything short of easy but when she went into detail of trying to assist a group of students in a matter of 30 minutes, it really dawned on me how demanding her job was. When I was in elementary school, there were separate classes for students who were considered ESE which I believe gave them the direct attention and support that they need. On the other hand, the arguments of including those students in the regular setting of a class is understandable as well. There should definitely be a surplus of resource teachers hired to flood our schools for the benefit of our students. |
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