2. Class Rules:
1. Don’t talk when Ms.
Motzer is talking.
2. Keep track of your own
stuff.
3. Keep hands and feet to
yourself.
4. Follow directions.
5. Raised hands not raised
voices.
Classroom rules are posted visibly in the classroom where
the students can see them at all times.
3. The Orange County Public School System website shows
the very clear and ambitious vision, mission and goals for
schools and students in Orange County.
4. Every day students will track their progress on the lesson for
that day. Students vote prior to learning based on their own
knowledge, then again after the teacher has taught it. This
pictures shows the before and after of understanding the
lesson.
5. LESSON PLAN
•Every day starts with morning announcements, work and
writing homework in the planner.
•After morning announcements, begins a block of time called
Response to Intervention (RtI). The students that are chosen
for this group have been identified as struggling with various
issues (most in reading) and therefore need additional
assistance.
• Next other classroom management things (voting for
lunch, attendance) are completed. Then they begin their
classroom morning meeting. Here the students are able to
discuss any pressing problems that they are having in their life
and they can discuss possible solutions as a group. After they
have completed this, then they say “Good Morning” to each
other in different languages.
6. LESSON PLAN
• Reading block then takes over, where the whole class
breaks into small group center rotations. During the
rotations the students will visit: the computers, complete
“seat work” based on the skill that was taught, “word work”
which has the students utilizing their vocabulary and
spelling words for the week, silent reading, and guided
reading (with the teacher). In the guided reading block, the
students are divided up into groups based on reading level
and we read and discuss appropriate books for their level.
• Writing is next.
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and
Friday they work on a piece of
writing and Wednesday they work on
a specific grammar skill. Monday is
spent in the prewriting
stage, Tuesday is spent in the writing
stage, Thursday is for editing and
revising, and Friday is for publishing
and sharing.
7. LESSON PLAN CONT.
• Lunch and Recess follow writing. After recess, they have a
15 minute read aloud where the teacher reads a book out loud
to the students, showing correct pitch, voice inflection, and
fluency.
• Social Studies/Science is during the next block on time. The
units vary between 2-3 weeks and focus on one subject area
for those two weeks. Currently they are doing Science and
learning all about Energy.
•Specials (electives) are next. The students visit: PE, Writing
Lab, Science Lab, Performing Arts, Art, Computer Lab and the
Media center.
•Math is the last subject of the day. The start off whole group
for math and then, based on need, some students go to a
small group with the teacher for re-teaching or extra review on
the skill.
8. This photo was taken of a second grader during “seat
work” time. Every morning the teacher separates the class
into small group center rotations. 1. Seat work. 2. Word
work. 3. Guided reading with the teacher. 4. Computer
work.
9. Technology, specifically computers, are a huge part of the
every day activities and work for each student. There are 3
computers in the classroom and every student gets plenty
of computer time each day.
10. Rather than always sitting in desks during the day, the
teacher encourages students to spread out around the
room and do their silent reading or seat work on the
floor, or at a different table, or in the comfy chair.
11. INTERVIEW
Name: Ms. Motzer
Grade you teach: 2nd grade
1. What made you want to become a teacher? Influence of a specific person?
Love of children?
I danced my whole life and I used to teach dance on the weekends and
over the summer. I really enjoyed watching the ah-ha moment with the students I
taught in dance when they were able to accomplish the dancing goals that we
had for them. I knew that my love for teaching children was not only in the dance
world, but in the world of education in general.
2. What is your biggest struggle as a teacher?
One of my biggest struggles is time management. It is very easy to delve
into a discussion and then look up at the clock and realize that lunch is in 5
minutes. I normally plan extra activities to do, in case we have extra time at the
end of the lesson.
3. What is your favorite part about being a teacher?
I love figuring out what motivates a student and trying to best to
individually motivate them to complete their work and/or have appropriate
behavior all day. I have a few different students who have individual needs, so
they have individual goals and charts that cater to what they want/like. This helps
them to stay on track throughout the day.
12. INTERVIEW CONT.
4. How do you deal with a group of 15 students with 15 different personalities and
15 different learning styles?
Most of the students are visual or kinesthetic learners, but I do offer
auditory accommodations as well. Most of the activities we complete on the
promethean hit all three learning types. Having a delicate balance with the
students is very important. Allowing each student a fair chance to complete a task
is essential, because their success could drive another student to want to
accomplish the same task. A lot of classroom management is needed. A color
chart is utilized for negative reinforcement, which works for some students. I also
have a whole group negative reinforcement, which unites the students together
as a whole class, because they are trying to work together to accomplish
something. Positive reinforcement is also used, because I give out a lot of
positive praise. I normally give out one “Thank you __________ for taking out
your seat work packet” because then every student will jump to take it out to
receive that compliment.
5. What would you say your Philosophy of Teaching would be?
I am very much behaviorally driven. I believe anything can be
accomplished in the classroom, by any student, as long as they want to do it. It is
finding what drives them and what disappoints them and then creating a system
that creates the most cohesive classroom. I have one student who has a
checklist for her morning, making sure she finishes everything that she needs to.
If she does she is rewarded. I normally have the students turn a color if they do
not turn their folder in. To extinguish the behavior of not turning the folder in, I
have the students change their color if they do not turn it in. I consistently have 5
students who do not remember, so I have little reminder cards on their desk in the
morning. Some are going to be weaned off of this card, but others will never
remember without the card. The changing of the color does not affect their
behavior, so I had to find something else that would.
13. INTERVIEW CONT.
6. How do you use technology everyday in your classroom?
Our school, as a whole, is highly technology driven. I use the doc
cam, promethean board, and computers all throughout the day. They are used a
management tools (morning work, lunch count), teaching tools (flip
charts, videos), and for tracking the students’ individual progress for their own
learning.
7. Do you have any advice for me as a student wanting to become a teacher?
The biggest piece of advice I have is to make sure you know the
students are not your friends. When I first started out in my junior
internship, I wanted them to
like me. So I did not have the
authority in the classroom.
I learned quickly that it was
very hard to get it back once
it was gone. They will love
you anyway, but they will
also respect you.
15. REFLECTION
I really enjoyed doing my observation hours at Audubon Park Elementary
School in Baldwin Park, I had the privilege to observe Ms. Motzer and a
group of 17 second graders. The classroom climate was very exciting and
energetic but also structured and controlled. The direct teaching approach
was Ms. Motzer’s primary instruction method. She demonstrated strong
leadership in the classroom, but also made lessons exciting by
implementing class participation and involvement. To create an environment
for engaged time, Ms. Motzer had students practice the lesson they had
studied on the Promethean board, and for academic learning
time, students played different games such as Vocabulary Jeopardy and
Show Me the Money.
16. REFLECTION CONT.
With a group of 17 students, there are 17 different learning
styles. There were no exceptional learners in the classroom I
observed, however, there were a few students with learning
disabilities who required extra one on one assistance from the
teacher. There were several different ethnic groups present in
Ms. Motzer’s classroom, so to start off each day and to
demonstrate culturally responsive teaching she has her
students say, “Good Morning” to each other in different languages.
I look forward to using the teaching methods and utilizing the
concepts I learned from Ms. Motzer in my classroom one day.
