Florida Educator Accomplished Practices
FEAP 2:
The Learning Environment. To maintain a student-centered learning environment that is safe, organized, equitable, flexible, inclusive, and collaborative, the effective educator consistently:
a. Organizes, allocates, and manages the resources of time, space, and attention;
b. Manages individual and class behaviors through a well-planned management system;
c. Conveys high expectations to all students;
d. Respects students’ cultural linguistic and family background;
e. Models clear, acceptable oral and written communication skills;
f. Maintains a climate of openness, inquiry, fairness and support;
g. Integrates current information and communication technologies;
h. Adapts the learning environment to accommodate the differing needs and diversity of students; and
i. Utilizes current and emerging assistive technologies that enable students to participate in high-quality communication interactions and achieve their educational goals.
2a:
Attention getters!!!
I find attention getters to be very useful and needed in the classroom. I use a variety of attention grabbers with my students during the day. A couple of these are:
- T: "Class class" S: "Yes yes"
- T: "Ready to rock?" S: "Ready to roll!"
- T: "1 2 3 eyes on me" S: "1 2 eyes on you"
One new attention grabber that I introduced to them and they enjoy is when I say "Scooby dooby doo"and they say "Where are you?" I find these attention grabbers most useful when I need to transition the students from one activity to another or if they are off task during a lesson and I need to redirect their attention. I also use it if we are walking in the hallway or an area where we need to be quiet and I need to get their attention to make sure they know they should be walking quietly.
*clip of audio sent to supervisor*
2b:
In my classroom, we do not have a behavior chart as our management system but we do of course have rules that need to be followed. Instead of creating a poster myself with rules for them to follow, the students as a class came up with their own rules. We did this at the beginning of the year. The seats are arranged in tabe groups and each group was assigned a specific subject. They had to make a poster for rules that need to be followed during that subject. The groups then presented their posters and other students agreed with the rules and suggested more if needed. Lastly, all of the posters were put up on the wall. I like this strategy more over creating my own rules for them because it gives the students ownership.
2c:
In order for the students to know that they need to uphold high expectations, we created a class mission statement at the beginning of the year. In order to do this, we first showed the students some examples of class mission statements created by other students. Then, we asked them what they needed to do in order to be the best class they can be. These ideas were jotted down and then put together into a wonderful class mission statement which reads:
"We, the 4th grade students in Mrs. Z's class, care about each other. We work together, listen to each other, communicate respectfully, and give 100%! We will be honest, respectful and willing to learn. This is who we are even when no one is looking!"
The students created individual mission statements for themselves as well.
2d:
This school has a plethora of students whose first language is Spanish. Therefore, they make it a priority to have good communication with parents and this means sending newsletters home in both English and Spanish. If newsletters were only sent in English, many parents would not know how their child is doing and about any of the many events that are held that they can attend to be a part of the school community. Below is an example of a double-sided newsletter in English and Spanish that informs parents/guardians about the annual book fair.
2e:
One thing I emphasize whenever the students are writing is using text evidence. As 4th graders, they need to know the importance of giving examples and going back into the text or whatever their source is and using supporting details. We have an anchor chart on the front wall of the classroom that they can refer to whenever they need help with beginning their evidence-based sentences. A couple of these are, "The author said...", "For instance...","For example...", and "According to the text".
2f:
In order to maintain an open climate in my classroom and build the community, I do morning meeting activities with the students.
One example of this was a beach ball activity. In this activity, the students sat in a circle and tossed each other a beach ball. On the beach ball I wrote a different question in each colored section. "I did this activity with my students with the purpose of them getting to know each other better. It is important for them to know that just like there are many differences between them, there are also many similarities. The students enjoyed this hands-on activity because it was interactive and they were able to learn more about their classmates. This is usually an activity done at the beginning of the year when the students don't know much about each other. It can be done as a whole class, but I broke the class up in half to have smaller circles because there were only six questions and they would have gotten repetitive. So, I had two circles and two beach balls with different questions on them. I later had the groups switch beach balls so they could have different questions. Here is a list of the questions displayed on the beach balls:
1. What kind of music do you listen to?
2. What do you look for in a good book?
3. If you could give a future 4th grader advice, what would it be?
4. Who is one famous person you look up to?
5. What is your favorite summer activity?
6. Tell something that most people do not know about you.
7. What is the best vacation you have been on?
8. If you could be an animal, what would it be and why?
9. What is your favorite restaurant and why?
10. What makes you extremely happy?
11. What makes you mad?
12. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
2g:
I-station is a computer program that students are required to get on weekly and complete a certain amount of time. Its purpose is to help them with their reading fluency and comprehension. The students like I-station because it helps them do this in the form of games. After the students complete a set amount of time on I-station, there is a progress report which says how they rank amongst other students and the areas they need help in.
2h:
At the student table groups there are A's and B's. The A's are at a higher level than the B's. When there are turn and talks, A's are told to turn and talk to B's. This a great system because the higher level students help the lower level students out. If two lower level students were partnered up, they would not get as much learning out of the conversation as they do when partnered up with higher level students.
2i:
The purpose of participation sticks is to ensure that all students are participating. I made these for my homeroom group of students and for the group of students that switches since my classroom is not sustained. At the beginning of a lesson, I make sure students know I plan to use my participation sticks and that they may get called on. Participation sticks prevent me from calling on the same students more than once and give students a reason for staying on task which is knowing they may get called on at any moment.
​
FEAP 1: Instructional Design and Lesson Planning. Apllying concepts frm human development and learning theories, the effective educator consistently:
a. Aligns instruction with state-adopted standards at the appropriate level of rigor
b. Sequences lessons and concepts to ensure coherence and required prior knowledge
c. Designs instruction for students to achieve mastery
d. Selects appropriate formative assessments to monitor learning
e. uses variety of data, independently and in collaboration with colleagues, to evaluate student learning outcomees, adjust planning, and continuously improve the effectiveness of lessons
f. Develops learning experiences that require students to demonstrate a variety of applicable skills and competencies
1a:
On January 28, 2016, I did a Social Studies lesson on maps. The standard was SS.4.G.1.4 Interpret political and physical maps using map elements (title, compass rose, cardinal directions, intermediate directions, symbols, legend, scale, longitude, latitude). I made sure to align every part of my instruction with this standard. This included my objective, essential question, formative assessment, and summative assessment. My objective was: Given an example of a map that shows the different elements, students will be able to create their own map in which they include these same elements. The essential question was: How can I use my knowledge about the different map elements to create my own map? I utilized a Kahoot as my formative assessment in which, as teams, they answered review questions about maps since they had prior knowledge from a previous lesson I did on maps. Their summative assessment was to create their own map of either a place that exists or a made-up place. The needed to include five landmarks and specific map elements such as those mentioned in the standard. As proof of this FEAP I am using a section of the FEAPs coaching tool filled out by my collaborating teacher (CT).
1b:
On January 28, 2016, I did a Social Studies lesson on maps. The standard was SS.4.G.1.4 Interpret political and physical maps using map elements (title, compass rose, cardinal directions, intermediate directions, symbols, legend, scale, longitude, latitude). Students needed prior knowledge in order to complete both the formative and summative assessments. I ensured they had this by doing a previous lesson introducing the map elements. We read a section in the Florida Social Studies book, practiced placing symbols on certain areas of latitude and longitude, and completed a graphic organizer with all of the map terms. This was cut and glued into their Social Studies notebook so they could go back to it and refer to it if needed in the future. This was all done to ensure their coherence for the next lesson I did on maps. They used their knowledge to answer questions, as teams, on the Kahoot and to create their own map using the various map elements. As proof of this FEAP I am using a section of the FEAPs coaching tool filled out by my CT.
1c:
On January 28, 2016, I did a Social Studies lesson on maps. The standard was SS.4.G.1.4 Interpret political and physical maps using map elements (title, compass rose, cardinal directions, intermediate directions, symbols, legend, scale, longitude, latitude). Every step in my lesson was done to ensure mastery of the objective which was: Given an example of a map that shows the different elements, students will be able to create their own map in which they include these same elements. Students went into this lesson already having prior knowledge of maps from a previous lesson. The Kahoot, which was the formative assessment, was a review of the previous lesson. My summative assessment was for them to create their own map of either a place that exists or a made-up place, in which they needed to include five landmarks and specific map elements such as those mentioned in the standard. In order to ensure they understood what they needed to do, I created a model of a made-up place that I named “Barefoot Island.” I made sure to include everything that I was asking of them, which was five landmarks and five map elements. This helped students understand their performance task and helped them achieve mastery. As proof of this FEAP I am using a section of the FEAPs coaching tool filled out by my CT as well as the model I created and one of the students’ maps.
1e:
On April 7, 2015 I taught a lesson on maps. One of the map elements we discussed in the lesson was a compass rose. In order for them to understand the cardinal directions and the intermediate directions, I came up with an activity in which the students would create a compass rose. I labeled eights sheets of paper N for North, S for South, E for East, W for West, NE for Northeast, NW for Northwest, SE for Southeast, and SW for Southwest. Then, I chose eight students to hold up these papers and stand in the correct positions in order to form a compass rose. I selected specific students for this activity. They are usually quiet and/or do not participate or usually fidget. So, I felt they would benefit from this activity involving movement. As proof of this FEAP I am using a section of the FEAPs coaching tool filled out by my CT.
​
FEAP 3 Instructional Delivery and Facilitation. The effective educator consistently utilizes a deep and comprehensive knowledge of the subject taught to:
a. Deliver engaging and challenging lessons;
b. Deepen and enrich students' understandings through content area literacy strategies, verbalization of thought, and application of the subject matter;
c. Identify gaps in students' subject matter knowledge;
d. Modify instruction to respond to preconceptions or misconceptions;
e.Relate and integrate the subject matter with other disciplines and life experiences;
f. Employ higher-order questioning techniques;
g. Apply varied instructional strategies and resources, including appropriate technology, to teach for understanding;
h. Differentitate instruction based on an assessment of student learning needs and recogntition of individual differences in students;
i. Support, encourage, and provide immediate and specific feedback to students to promote student achievement;
j. Utilize student feedback to monitor instructional needs and to adjust instruction.
3a:
This small-group lesson was done on a book titled “My Grandpa”. A few of the pages were read by me, for one page we used choral reading, and the rest they read with a partner. The exit ticket questions that the students answered at the end of the lesson was: “How do Quentin’s thoughts, actions, and words show his feelings about jazz music before the party? How do they change?” Throughout the reading, I stopped the students a couple of times to engage them in some turn and talk questions. Towards the end of the book, there was a scene that I thought would be perfect for a tableau. The students had never done one before and at the end of it asked me when we would do another one. They were very engaged with the tableau and it really helped them understand the feelings of the characters, which in turn helped them in answering the exit ticket questions. As proof of this FEAP I am using a section of the FEAPs coaching tool filled out by my CT as well as some student work.
1d: Selects appropriate formative assessments to monitor learning
On Tuesday March 8, 2016, I taught a Social Studies lesson on pioneers. The standard was to “Describe pioneer life in Florida.” My essential question was, “How did the Pioneers adapt to their life in Florida?” I decided to begin the lesson with a photo analysis activity. I placed a black and white picture of pioneers up on the overhead projector and asked the students to make some observations and inferences. I gave the students about 5 minutes to write them down and then I had them share. Before they shared out loud, I made sure they understood the difference between an observation and an inference. The students had great observations and inferences. Some of the inferences were: ”it is really hot”, “no electricity”, and “long time ago”. We then looked at one more picture and wrote down some more observations and inferences. This activity served as the formative assessment of my lesson.
3d: Modify instruction to respond to preconceptions and misconceptions
I taught a lesson in which the end result was for students to understand the difference between main idea and theme. I started the lesson off by asking the students what the definitions of main idea and theme are. One student told me that the main idea was what the text was mostly about and another student responded that the theme of a story was the central message or lesson. One of my formative assessments was observational notes. I did this while the students completed an activity. This activity consisted of reading a task card which had a short story on it. They glued this task card in their reading notebook. Then, under it, they needed to write the main idea and the theme. I noticed that about four or five students were still confusing main idea and theme. So, I pulled them to the back table with me and we did two task cards together. After that, they had a much better understanding of main idea and theme and were able to correctly complete the last task card by their self.
3e: Relate and integrate the subject matter with other disciplines and life experiences
When I taught a lesson on the pioneer life in Florida for Social Studies, I made sure to connect it to something the students have experienced. In second grade, the students take a field trip to Cracker Country at the Florida State Fairgrounds. When I began my lesson, I asked them to think about when they went to Cracker Country and how what they saw there was similar to how the pioneers lived. They had houses made of wood, had to make their own tools, and grow crops. The summative assessment was the following: Pretend you are a pioneer back in the day and write a letter to a relative or friend describing your new in Florida, and include the ways you adapted. For this, I had them research information about the pioneers on laptops. They were only allowed to use one website though, which was the Cracker Country website. It had plenty of information for the students. They took some notes on how the pioneers lived and what they did in their daily life. Afterwards, they composed their letter.
3h: Differentiate instruction based on an assessment of student learning needs and recognition of individual differences in students
Due to the fact that I have low, medium, and high learners in my class, I felt the need to differentiate the instruction of and the directions for the summative assessment of my Social Studies lesson, as is done with other lessons. This specific lesson was about the pioneer life in Florida. For their performance task they needed to pretend they were a pioneer back in the day and write a letter to a friend or a relative describing their new life in Florida and the ways they adapted to this new life. Seeing as they needed to do some research first, I decided to have them visit the Cracker Country website, which offers a plethora of information about the pioneer life. I went through the website first myself and noticed that there was more information on specific topics rather than others. For example, they had the most readings on things pioneer men such as blacksmiths, cowmen, crops, tools, etc. So, I gave my gifted students the role of a pioneer and told them they were going to write their letter from that specific point of view. Second, there were several readings on things pioneer woman did such as cooking, laundry, making butter, etc. This role was given to my middle learners. Lastly, my low learners were given the role of a pioneer child. There was the least amount of reading for this role, but still enough to where they could compose a letter from it.
3i: Support, encourage, and provide immediate and specific feedback to students to promote student achievement.
In fourth grade students are expected to read chapter books. Some students are fond of reading and others are not. Still, for both groups of students it is imperative to conduct reading conferences. The purpose of reading conferences is to make sure students are staying on track with their reading and that they actually are reading. This is where you can tell whether students are using their independent reading time productively and if they are reading at home. I conduct a reading conference with each of my students weekly. In this reading conference I jot down many things. First, I ask the name of the book, the genre, the page number they are on, and its reading level. Second, I ask them why they chose the book. Third, I ask them to tell me what is currently going on in the book to check for comprehension. Fourth, I ask them to read a page or two to check for fluency. Fifth, I ask them what they do when they do not understand something they read. Common responses to this are, “reread”, “use pictures to help me”, “try to visualize what I read”, and “use context clues”. Lastly, I ask them to set a goal for a number of pages they will read in a certain amount of days or when they think they can finish the book by.
3g: Apply varied instructional strategies and resources, including appropriate technology, to teach for student understanding
When I did a Reading lesson on theme, I made sure to use various strategies to ensure understanding. I started the lesson of by stating my objective which was that the students would be able to come up with the theme of the story after listening to it and answering questions about the characters in it and the events that occurred. First, the students listened to a recording of the text and followed along in their books. Next, the students were broken up into groups of four or five, with a mix of low, middle, and high learners. Each group received a big red sheet of chart paper where they were to write down their individual answers to five questions that I gave them about the story. I laid down the first question face down in the middle of the red paper as the students sat around ready to record their responses. I then set a timer of seven minutes. For the first two minutes, the students read the question to their self and then looked for evidence in the book to then write down their answer. This allowed them to have individual think time. After about two or three minutes, the students then had to discuss all of their answers and come to a consensus for a group answer. This paper with the group answers for the five questions was then turned in as the formative assessment.
1f: Develops learning experiences that require students to demonstrate a variety of applicable skills and competencies
A couple weeks before the students’ FSA test, a number of my lessons included practicing some very important skills. Instead of focusing on one skill each day, I decided we could practice a little of each skill in the lessons. So, the students were broken up into groups of four or five. Each group was placed at a station with a specific skill to practice. For example, one of the station was text structure. At the station, the students were provided with a reading and then a couple of questions based on text structure to go with it. Also at the station was an anchor chart listing the different types of text structure and their definitions. I set a timer on ten minutes and after it was up, the each group rotated clockwise to the next station. There were a total of six stations. As the students worked, I walked around to observe them, guide them, and watch their cooperative learning skills.
3B: Deepen and enrich students’ understanding through content area literacy strategies, verbalization of thought, and application of the subject matter.
One of my various Social Studies lessons was one on pioneer life in Florida. In this lesson I wanted to make sure to incorporate literacy strategies. After reading a short text in the book, I allowed the students to use a laptop to do some more research. They were only to use one specific website. However, this website provided any and all information they needed. The students needed to use literacy strategies to pull out the important information. They read closely, took notes, and paraphrased information. After their research was completed and they had sufficient notes, they completed their summative assessment. This consisted of pretending they were pioneers back in the day and writing to a friend or relative describing their new life in Florida. Not only did students have to use reading strategies but for this part, also writing strategies. I told them I wanted them to include at least three crafts in their writing. Some of the crafts they included were vivid verbs, ellipses, and specific details.
3C: Identify gaps in students’ subject matter knowledge.
In order to identify gaps in my students’ knowledge of subject matter, I analyze their grades after they take assessments, quizzes, or tests. In their data binders, the students have a graph where they record their test scores. By looking at this graph, I can see on which tests and on which specific chapter students scored high, low, and average. First, I look at each individual student’s graph to see what they struggled on and then I think about what the students struggled on holistically. If only a small group scored below average on a test, then I would find time to pull them to the back table with me and give them extra support. If more than half the class scored below average, I would consider re-teaching the lesson or doing a connect lesson.
3f: Employ higher-order questioning
In order for students to be able to think deeper about the subject matter knowledge being presented to them, it is essential to ask them higher-order thinking questions. When planning my lesson on the Great Depression, I read the text a couple times to come up with some great higher-order thinking questions to ask the students. In the text of the Social Studies book, it said that one of the causes of the Great Depression was the prices of stock dropping after people invested so much money into them. Many people borrowed money they did not have to buy stocks. After reading this to the students, I asked them, “Why did people borrow money they did not have to buy stocks?” This really got the students to think deeper about people’s actions back then and got them to understand not only what people did but why they did it. Later on in the text it talked about how when people stopped buying goods In general, prices fell even more. I asked the students, “Why do prices fall even more when people stop buying goods?” Some students were able to give an answers but for those that did not understand, I tried explaining to them the law of supply and demand and provided examples.
3j: Utilize student feedback to monitor instructional needs and to adjust instruction
In my classroom, there is a specific area for students to turn in their work. In this back area of the classroom, there are three bins. These bins are labeled expert, apprentice, or novice. If they are an expert, it means “I can do this on my own and explain it to someone else!” If they are an apprentice, it means “I can do this if I have help or I am looking at an example.” If they are a novice, it means “I am just starting to learn this and I do not understand it yet!” When I collect the work, I make sure to notice which students placed their work in the novice or apprentice section and how they did compared to how they might have thought they did. I also make it a point to look at the work in the expert section to make sure the students know how to correctly gage where they stand with the understanding of material.
4a: Analyzes and applies data from multiple assessments and measures to diagnose students’ learning needs, informs instruction based on those needs, and drives the learning process
I have analyzed data from multiple assessments in order to diagnose students’ learning needs. A few of these assessments have been I-station, weekly tests, FAIR, and running records. Each assessment helps me see students’ strengths and weaknesses. For example, the I-station data tells me six things about a student’s overall reading. These are: text fluency, comprehension, word analysis, and vocabulary. The weekly tests tell me if students are understanding content. I teach Reading and Writing. At the beginning of the week, we start a new story and do lessons on this specific story until Friday, when we do our assessment. I also look at the students’ weekly tests in other subject areas. The analysis of several assessments serves the purpose of being able to gage where the students are and what needs to be done in order for the students to get to where they need to be.
4b: Designs and aligns formative and summative assessments that match learning objectives and lead to mastery
I taught a Social Studies lesson on pioneers. The standard was to “Describe pioneer life in Florida.” My essential question was, “How did the Pioneers adapt to their life in Florida?” I decided to begin the lesson with a photo analysis activity. I placed a black and white picture of pioneers up on the overhead projector and asked the students to make some observations and inferences. I gave the students about 5 minutes to write them down and then I had them share. Before they shared out loud, I made sure they understood the difference between an observation and an inference. The students had great observations and inferences. Some of the inferences were: ”it is really hot”, “no electricity”, and “long time ago”. We then looked at one more picture and wrote down some more observations and inferences. This activity served as the formative assessment of my lesson. The summative assessment was for students to pretend they were pioneers back in the day and write a letter to a friend or relative describing their new life in Florida and how they adapted.
4c: Uses a variety of assessment tools to monitor student progress, achievement and learning gains
I use multiple assessments to monitor student progress. A few of these assessments have been I-station, weekly tests, FAIR, and running records. Each assessment helps me see students’ strengths and weaknesses. For example, the I-station data tells me six things about a student’s overall reading. These are: text fluency, comprehension, word analysis, and vocabulary. The weekly tests tell me if students are understanding content. I teach Reading and Writing. At the beginning of the week, we start a new story and do lessons on this specific story until Friday, when we do our assessment. I also look at the students’ weekly tests in other subject areas.
4d: Modifies assessments and testing conditions to accommodate learning styles and varying levels of knowledge
Whenever my students take a test, they have accommodations if they are English Language Learners (ELL) or students with exceptionalities (ESE). If it is a standardized test, both groups are pulled out of the room and test with another teacher. They are allowed to have questions read to them and are allowed extra time to finish. If it is a test I am giving, I also read the questions to the students, if they ask me to, and they are given extra time if they need it. The ELL students are each given an English-Spanish dictionary to use.
