ITL 606 Brochure

ITL 606 Field Work

Teacher Interview

Pinon Mesa Middle School
Phelan, CA

Curt Chase
6^th-8^thGrade Leadership

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs indicates that we all have 5 levels of need that must be met:  Physiological, Safety, Love / Belonging, Esteem and Self-Actualization.  In your professional opinion:

1.     How important it is for students to have their basic needs met in order to be successful in School? Why do you think so?

It’s important for students to have their needs met, because they need to feel safe and comfortable in school. This could be the only safe haven they have, and teachers need to provide a sense of support and create connections with students.

2.     Which needs are most important to have satisfied so students can thrive in school?  Why?

The love aspect of the model is the most important. If the student knows you care for and about them, they will perform better in the class. 

3.     Who is responsible for ensuring that students have their needs met?  Why do you think so?

It is a combination of teacher and parent support. The teacher and parents rely on each other to provide the best support system for the student.

4.     What is one thing a teacher might do for a student who has physiological or safety needs?  Why would this be useful?

It’s important to make sure the student is safe. If necessary, the teacher needs to alert authorities, contact the administration, and file a report. The student needs to know they can trust the teacher, and that the teacher will ensure their safety.

5.     Ensuring Safety needs are met and making sure students are ready to learn involves classroom management.  What are three things you do to manage your classroom?  

1)   Clearly explained/defined expectations

2)   Have students help create expectations, so they feel included in the process

3)   Communicate frequently with parents and students 

6.     How do you decide what rules and routines to employ?

It depends on the group of student. Keep consistency, but remain flexible. If one routine does not work, try another one. If that one works, continue to use that day by day. 

7.     Do these fit for students who have a Behavior Intervention Plan? How do you assess progress? What do you do for students from a different culture?

For students with a BIP, Mr. Chase speaks one-on-one with the student. Together they create a list of goals the student wants to achieve throughout the year. He keeps open communication with the student and their parents. He continues to watch and talk with students on a daily basis to discuss progress. For students from a different culture, Mr. Chase pairs them with someone who speaks the same language, or someone who is a diligent worker (who can help the student succeed.)

8.     How do you organize your classroom / educational environment to support classroom management?

The class is arranged in large table groups, the students rotate seating throughout the year to ensure students are meeting new people, and creating a welcoming environment.

9.     With classroom management in mind, what advice would you give me regarding how to establish good classroom management in my first class?

-Stay consistent

-Follow through with what you say you will do

- Create bonds with students
- Don’t take behavior or actions personally

10.   When you know that a student has a specific need that most of the other students do not have, what do you do to address that need? 

Each need is handled differently. Either modify the activity or partner the student with a diligent student in the class. Remain flexible in lesson plans, and adjust when needed. 

SUMMARY

            Mr. Chase is a 30+ year teacher at Pinon Mesa Middle School. I observed his 6^thand 7^thgrade leadership skill classes. Mr. Chase thrives on creating lasting relationships with his students. He is the most common favorite teacher between middle school students, and establishes bonds with students, that follow throughout the student’s adult life. He creates a safe learning environment in the classroom, and ensures that the student’s need for belonging is met. Mr. Chase chooses to have a classroom with an open door policy, making students feel comfortable and safe. Mr. Chase successfully balances flexibility and consistency in the classroom; students know what is expected, but Mr. Chase offers support if the student is struggling academically, or facing family issues. When asked “what advice would you give me during my first year in the classroom?” Mr. Chase responded that I must remain flexible, follow through on my word, build connections with students, and not take anything personally. 

REFLECTION

            Personally, I’ve always looked up to Mr. Chase as an educator. Mr. Chase is an excellent example of an inspired teacher, and I will be lucky to be half the teacher he is. I hope to share the same connections and life-long bonds as he has with his students. I want to create a safe environment for students to come in to; where they can forget the struggles they are facing at home, and focus on learning. I want to be an understanding and compassionate teacher, one who isn’t there for a paycheck, but one who cares about the well being of my students. I aspire to have the calm and warm aurora that Mr. Chase exemplifies, and to be a confidant to my students while still delivering necessary learning material. Group tables, partner activities, and open door policies will create the classroom experience I want. Clear, explicit expectations, parent/teacher conversations, and flexible lesson plans will create a classroom management style that can be respected and followed by students. This observation was beneficial in helping me see what I would like to implement into my own classroom. 

ITL 604- CELDT Testing Transition

INTRODUCTION

            California is a state in which a significant number of children reside in homes in which English is not their primary language. Based on a parent’s response to the Home Language Survey, any pupil in California not previously identified as an English Language Learner or where previous records do not exist must be assessed for English language proficiency using the California English Language Development Test (Education Commission). Results of the CELDT are used by the school’s EL coordinator, teachers, and administration in order to guide instruction and to ensure that EL students receive adequate support within the classroom.

ASSESSMENT TOOL

            The CELDT is an assessment tool used to gauge the proficiency of English Language Learner students. The CELDT Fundamentals video on Blackboard reviews the four components of CELDT: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. There are five proficiency levels that students can score, “beginning, early intermediate, intermediate, early advanced, and advanced” (Blackboard, 2018). Once test results become available, EL individual student progress can be tracked and monitored for the duration of their public school career. The EL coordinator and teachers use the proficiency levels of the CELDT to properly place EL students in their classes. Also, teachers use the results to ensure that EL students are getting the needed academic support necessary to be successful in their classes. Another example of how teachers use the CELDT results is in the placement of the bilingual associates who provide increased student support in order to help the student transition to their new school setting. Teachers utilize individual CELDT results in order to modify lesson plans that address the language weaknesses and strengths of the EL students. This is an example of how a teacher could modify a test based on a student’s CELDT result. A student who has a higher proficiency level in Speaking could be allowed to verbally answer test questions instead of writing their answers. CELDT results also enable teachers to identify areas that a student’s skill is lacking such as reading. The teacher can then collaborate with the EL coordinator or other members of their department in order to remediate that skill. For example, an EL student with a Beginning reading score would benefit from reading with a partner to help increase reading fluency. There is a less stress for a student when working with a partner versus reading aloud to the entire class. CELDT scores are also important to administrators. For example, a smaller class size may be considered when grouping English Learners. State testing is also affected by English Learners. Generally, English Learners do not test at a proficient level in English and Math. Lastly, administrators also consider the number of English Learners when it comes to the staffing of teachers and associates. 

PURPOSE OF CELDT TESTING

            In order to utilize the benefits of CELDT testing, it is important for educators, students, and administration to understand the purpose of the test. The CELDT is administered in grades kindergarten through 12^thgrade, and progress is tracked each year to better assist the student. If the student is new to a California public school, it is a requirement that students take the CELDT within 30 days of starting the school. According to the California Department of Education, the test is administered yearly until the student attains sufficient English proficiency and is reclassified as a fluent English speaker. The CELDT boot camp video explains the elements associated with the test, and prepares the students for the upcoming test they will be taking (Blackboard, 2018). The teacher discusses with the students that they will be required to write one coherent sentence during the test, which describes what is happening in an image that is given to the students. In order to help the student, the teacher uses a basic sentence frame, which will ultimately keep the sentence organized and guarantee all required components are included in the sentence. She urges students to keep the sentence short and to the point, and encourages students to reread their sentence. Students are told to look for a capital letter, period, and check that the sentence makes sense. She teaches the students that the sentence should be “big, little, and easy through the middle;” meaning the students should have a capital letter at the beginning, period at the end, and that the sentence should flow and makes sense through the middle. Towards the end of the video, the teacher creates one last sentence with the students, “the kids are sliding on a fun slide,” and together the students decide that the sentence makes sense, and contains all required components needed to make the sentence. The results of the Writing portion of the CELDT help teachers determine if a student understands and can use verbs properly or if they can use proper punctuation in their writing. This information helps a teacher guide the individual instruction for the EL student.

            The overall purpose of the CELDT is to ascertain the English proficiency level in four different categories. In reading, a student could be lacking skills in phonemics or fluency. A reading program could be implemented to strengthen these skills. In the listening section of the test, the student is given verbal instructions, is tested on rhyming ability, and is tested on verbal comprehension. Teachers can use this information to determine where the student needs more help; for example, if the student scores low in the rhyming section of the test, the teacher would spend more time reviewing rhyming patterns with the student. In the writing component of the test, the student is instructed to create a simple sentence. Upon reviewing results of the test, the teacher might find that the student used the wrong verb tense; in this case, the teacher would develop lesson plans which improve the student’s aptitude to determine which verb tense to use. The last component of the CELDT is speaking, in which the student is tested on his or her oral vocabulary, speech functions, and the student is asked questions and must verbally respond. Again, the teacher is able to review test results, and determine areas of improvement. Possibly, the student may be struggling with subject-verb agreement, such as “the kids is going to the park,” in which case the teacher would incorporate direct instruction and student practice. 

CELDT TRANSITIONING TO ELPAC

            Current CELDT testing is evolving and becoming the ELPAC. As discussed in the article, “Comparison of the CELDT and the ELPAC” there several differences between the CELDT and the ELPAC. Eventually, the ELPAC will replace the CELDT. The ELPAC has intriguing characteristics, which will make test results more useful to teachers. The CELDT has 5 tiers of proficiency levels, and the ELPAC has only 3, this gives more room for improvement for students, and narrows the gap between proficiency levels. The CELDT is grouped into 5 grade level spans, whereas the ELPAC has 7 grade level spans, this can be beneficial because students can be tested more frequently on material they are learning, and gives students more room for improvement. This can also be a helpful tool in aiding teachers to discover areas of focus and can assist teachers in creating explicit lessons for individual students. In the document titled “ELPAC Transition” found on Blackboard, the ELPAC was in a pilot stage in 2016, in 2017 the ELPAC was being field tested, and as of July 2018, the ELPAC is currently in the operational stage, and the CELDT will slowly be phased out. The ELPAC incorporates the best components of the CELDT, and also contains several improvements that will benefit school districts (Blackboard, 2018).

CONCLUSION

            CELDT or ELPAC testing and results are essential tools for teachers and administrators in order to guide instruction and to properly place teaching personnel to benefit the needs of English Learners. The administration can also use results to guide Professional Development for teachers as well. Yearly monitoring of an EL’s English skills helps teachers target their instruction and celebrate the student’s language successes. The goal for each English Learner is to be eventually reclassified as English Proficient. CELDT or ELPAC testing is the first step to achieving this outcome. 

References

California Department of Education. Comparison of the CELDT and the ELPAC. 18 January 

            2018. Retrieved from https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/ep/celdtelpaccompare.aspon 28 July

2018.

California Department of Education. ELPAC Transition. 14 October 2015. Retrieved from 

            https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/ep/documents/elpactransition.docon 29 July 2018.

Edmund, Deborah. CELDT Brochure. National University Blackboard. Retrieved from
            https://nu.blackboard.comon 25 July 2018.

Edmund, Deborah. CELDT Fundamentals. National University Blackboard. 13 October 2017. 

            Retrieved from 

            https://nu.blackboard.com/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_8046

            8_1&content_id=_5939970_1&mode=reset on 28 July 2018.

Edmund, Deborah. CELDT Video: Bootcamp. National University Blackboard. 24 October 

2017. Retrieved from

https://nu.blackboard.com/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_8046

8_1&content_id=_5939970_1&mode=reset on 28 July 2018.

What Methods are Used to Identify English Language Learners. (2014, November). Retrieved       from http://ecs.force.com/mbdata/mbquestNB2?rep=ELL1403.