Teacher Work Sample

Teacher Work Sample

Introduction

Student Teacher Colin Morrissey

Cooperating Teacher Mr. Tvrdy

School Seward High School

Context of Teaching

I performed my teacher work sample at Seward High School in a World History. The class is made up of generally freshman and some sophomores who might have failed World History the year before. The class is required as a core class at Seward High School, so every student that goes through Seward High School must take this class and receive a passing grade.

The classes that I’m responsible throughout the day are composed of three roughly hour and thirty minute periods. The first period I teach is made up of sixteen students, second period has roughly twenty – two students, and fourth period has twenty – six students. The fifth period of the day is made up of a half period study hall that Seward High School calls access. I don’t have a third period, so this time is used for plan and lunch time.

First period:

The first period of the day is made up of the smallest and also the quietest class of the day. This class has two of the strongest intellectual ability students of all the class and also has some hard workers to compliment them. This class also has students who are chronically late in turning in turning in their work. The penalty for late work is 10 % every day that it is late, but the penalty only goes to a maximum of 60% so that it still gives students incentive to turn their late work in. This class has two students who receive special education services.

One of them is a kid named Daniel. Daniel is a very capable student, but for some reason or another he takes little pride in the work that he does. He is the kind of student that will get most everything in on time, but the quality is at a minimum. He also lacks the discipline of quality study skills. His intellectual ability is hidden because he often writes down only what is required, but I feel as though he knows much more than what his work leads on. Because Daniel is very capable he receives only help from a para during projects and note guides for notes.

This class also has a student named Colton who receives special education services. Colton is a very shy, suffers from school anxiety, possible self – esteem issues, fails to read and follow simple directions, and usually does the absolute minimum. Colton has missed nearly half the days this quarter because of his school anxiety. When Colton is given work to do while he is home he fails to get it done. This issue is a real predicament because he can’t get the help he needs if he is at home and he fails the tests because he wasn’t there to learn the information. Colton receives note guide print offs, help from para’s, and modified tests that the resource room produces.

Second period:

This class is made up of a lot of steady achievers. I don’t really have any major concerns about this class, but late work can be an issue for some of the students. The class is the most behaved and appropriately interactive in the learning process of all the periods. This class has five students who receive special education services.

One of them is named Ali. Ali is a student who has very bad cerebral palsy. This condition affects the way she is able to walk to class, her physical comfort level, her fine motor movements, and also her cognitive ability. To top this all off she comes from a low income household with broken family dynamics. I try to walk Ali any papers that she needs in class to limit her movement. Ali has a para in class, receives note guides, and also receives modified tests.

This class also has two students of similar cognitive ability. There names are Craig and Marcia. These two students have the lowest cognitive ability that the resource teacher has worked with in a long time. They are able to respond in class, read, write, and grasp some concepts but linking everything together and finding meaning is difficult. These two students receive para help, note guides, test modification, and reinforced learning in the severe special education room.

This class also has a student named Rianna who is to some degree on the spectrum of autism. She is very quite, but unconfident when called on in class. She is capable though. She receives para assistance in class, note guides, and modified tests. She however, can do most projects on her own with little to almost no monitoring.

The last student is Emma. Emma is a student who has poor study skills and work habits. She is a sophomore and failed this class the year before. Emma is becoming a success story and soon might be out of the special education program. She has really turned her work habits and attitude about school around.

Fourth period:

This class is a very social class and often times pushes the boundary on acceptable chatter times. Those who are in the class like to have fun, but at the same time they have to be reminded that they have to be more mature. The class as a whole gets their wok done and in general get good grades as a class. The issue is just reminding them that this is a learning environment. I have moved students around several times to get the best fit. They are getting better on their wild behavior and I’m getting better at managing it. This class has one student receiving special education services.

His name is Jackson. Jackson is a student who to some degree lacks appropriate social norms and behavior. Jackson tries to be very outgoing and talkative to everyone. He really enjoys being with his fellow students in class. He comes off as inappropriately loud and wild. He will often times blurt out things to other students across the room at inappropriate times. He receives resource room help when needed.

Overall:

This freshman class has been expressed as one of the weakest academic wise as well as work habit wise by my teacher that I work with. This makes things difficult because I constantly have to hunt down students in class that are missing work. There are a good five or more students in each class that chronically have late work. Each of these students would simply fail the class if
I didn’t hunt them down. The thing is that most of these students will eventually get their work in, but they are only able to attain 60% maximum due to late work over 4 days.

There are also the students who are good hard workers that get things in on time. The students that get their work in on time and study to some degree tend to do well. This class is no where near difficult and the work load isn’t taxing at all.

Situation:

My cooperating teacher Mr. Tvrdy and I came up with the plan that this experience would be much like an apprentice style of learning. I would watch how he does things and then I would try to replicate some of the things he did for the periods during the day that I would teach. As the experience carried on I would take on more periods to the point of teaching everything which I’m at right now.

In doing the apprentice style I use largely all of Mr. Tvrdy’s materials. We largely use the textbook, power point notes, projects, and videos to contribute to learning. The idea behind doing my experience this way is that I can learn from a system that works and focus on the things that will make me effective in the classroom. My goal is to learn how to effectively manage a class, get comfortable with my teaching, effectively engage and teach students, effectively interact with students, and also to get the general feel of what it’s like to be a teacher. The idea is that lesson planning and materials for that will come along through prep work during the summer of my first teaching job or as I gain more experience and years under my belt.

Understanding by Design – Stage One: Identify Desired Results

Established Goals:

Social Studies STAR Standards
12.2.11
- Identify the distribution of major religious cultures in the contemporary world.
- Apply geography to interpret the past by using maps of time, place events to put together the shifts in boundaries and culture/religious groups through time.
12.4.3
- Analyze past and present trends in human migration and cultural interaction as they are influenced by social, economic, political, and environmental factors.
12.4.6
- Explain the way in which the world is divided among independent and dependent countries.
- Describe disputes over borders, resources, and settlement areas.
- Describe the historic and future ability of nations to survive and prosper.
Nebraska Social Studies/History Standards
12.1.9
- Summarize the military conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, and the Middle East.
- Explain the new challenges to America’s leadership role in the world.
12.2.10
- Discuss the economic and military power shifts since 1945, e.g., the rise of Germany and Japan as economic powers.
- Relate the revolutionary movements in Asia and its leaders, e.g., Mao Tse-tung and Ho Chi Minh.
- Explain how African and Asian countries achieved independence from European colonial rule, e.g., India under Gandhi and Kenya under Kenyatta, and how they have fared under self-rule.
- Describe regional and political conflicts, e.g., Korea and Vietnam.

What understandings are desired?

Section 1:
- Describe how Indian Nationalism grew and the role of Mohandas Gandhi in it.
- Describe how religious conflict in India led to the partition of the sub-continent and explain how that led to the assassination of Gandhi.
- Analyze what India has been like since winning its independence.
- Explain five challenges facing South Asia in modern times and countries they are occurring in.
Section 2:
- Analyze the independence struggles of five countries in Southeast Asia.
Section 3:
- Identify who Mao Zedong is and his three reforms / programs.
- Describe the Tiananmen Square Massacre event and issues facing China today.
Section 4:
-Explain how Japan changed after WWII
- Describe how the nations of the Pacific Rim changed after WWII
- Identify the Asian Tigers and explain how they developed

What essential questions will be considered?

Why is their conflict over religion and what are solutions to these conflicts?
Why do countries around the world fight for independence?
What aspects of government have most successful countries possessed?
Why does communism appeal to the poor?

What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this unit?

Students will know. . . Students will be able to. . .
A.  About Mohandas Gandhi
B.  That India has the largest democracy in the world
C.  India and Pakistan have tested nuclear weapons
D.  Indonesia is made up of 13,000 islands
E.  East Timor won it’s independence from Indonesia in 2002
F.  Cambodia had a militant group called the Khmer Rouge
G.  Myanmar was formally called Burma and won its independence from Britain
H.  The Philippines are a group of islands in Southeast Asia that earned their independence from the US
I.  The different paths North and South Korea took after the Korea war
J.  Who Mao Zedong is and his reforms
K.  How Pakistan and Bangladesh came to be
L.  The issues involving China today
M.  The economic and social path Japan took after WW II
N.  Understand Chinese and Taiwan foreign relations
O.  The countries that make up the “Asian Tigers” and what has made their economies thrive

Pre – Assessment:

Name: ______

Period: ______

Chapter 16 “Asia” Pre – Assessment

1. What religion is Pakistan primarily?

2. What religion is India primarily?

3. What religion is Bangladesh primarily?

4. Historically how did these countries come to be?

Pakistan –

India –

Bangladesh -

5. What industry in modern times is India known for?

6. What colony was Indonesians a part of before independence?

7. What two countries historically occupied East Timor before its independence?

8. What country in Southeast Asia had a communist group known as the Khmer Rouge?

9. What leader of China created the formation of the People Republic of China?

10. What was involved in this leaders five – year plan to develop China?

11. Explain what China’s Cultural Revolution involved?

12. What happened at Tiananmen square?

13. What has Japan’s economy focused on?

14. The Philippines were a colony of what country?

15. Describe the make up of North and South Korea? (Such as government, economy, relationships, and military)

Answers to Pre Assessment:

1. Muslim

2. Hindu

3.Muslim

4. (3 points)

A. Pakistan – Partition from India

B. India – Gained independence from Britain

C. Bangladesh – Won civil war with Pakistan

5. Service Industry

6. Dutch

7. (2 points)

A. Portugal