Global Read

Catalina Elementary SchoolESE ProgramJoanne Kathederkat@knights.ucf.eduApril 23, 2010EEX 4242

My name is Joanne Katheder and I am a math education major at the University of Central Florida.

For my Teachers in Action service project, I tutored students and taught lessons in the developmental reading classes for 3rd and 4th grade ESE students at Catalina Elementary.1

CATALINA ELEMENTARY

I had started planning a totally different type of activity for my Teachers in Action project, but then three rainy Sundays in a row really disrupted my plans. FCATs and spring breaks contributed to rescheduling difficulties, and I finally decided not to pursue my first project. So, I was left scrambling for a replacement project that I could start and finish in less than three weeks.

Bethany Ehrman is a fellow Girl Scout leader, and she is also the lead teacher in the ESE program at Catalina Elementary. Early in the semester I bounced a few project ideas off of her, and each time she invited me to visit her classroom and consider doing my project there.

I needed to settle on a project quickly, so I desperately called Bethany, who graciously agreed to let me help in her classroom.

2

EARLY PERCEPTIONSDevelopmental reading classes for 3rd and 4th graders

What do I know about teaching reading ? ! ?

What were my initial thoughts about my new project?

What do I know about teaching reading?

I plan to teach high school math. Reading is not my subject and I am not used to teaching elementary age kids.

I worried that I would not be able to relate to the challenges that these students face in learning to become better readers. I love to read. Reading is like breathing to me. Its completely automatic. I just do it. I dont have to think about it. The students in developmental reading struggle with every reading assignment, and I cant even remember a time when reading seemed difficult.

I did not know what to expect. I have a little bit of experience working with middle school aged students with math learning disabilities and mild ADHD, but almost no experience working with younger children with generalized learning disabilities or behavioral problems.

My biggest fear was that I would be absolutely no help to anyone and just get in the way.3

CATALINA ELEMENTARYTitle I school located in southwest Orange CountyServes approximately 650 students in the Isle of Catalina neighborhood

Catalina Elementary School is located in southwest Orange County near I-4 and L.B. McLeod Road. Catalina Elementary has served the Isle of Catalina community since 1959. In the 1950s and 1960s the neighborhood was a nice, middle-class suburb, but today the area is not so desirable. Catalina Elementary is a Title I school.

In 2007, a brand new Catalina Elementary School opened less than a block away from the original campus, which is now used for alternative education. The new Catalina Elementary School provides a comfortable, clean, inviting learning environment with the latest educational materials and technology. Students have access to two fully equipped computer labs and each classroom has a projector system, audio enhancement, and at least three student computers.

4

CATALINA ELEMENTARYTitle I school located in southwest Orange CountyServes approximately 650 students in the Isle of Catalina neighborhoodReceived a grade of D in 2008-2009 based on FCAT scoresCurrent school status is School in Need of Improvement (SINI)

Sadly, student achievement at Catalina Elementary has not met expectations. Based on FCAT scores, Catalina Elementary is a D school. In 2008, 57% of students were below grade level in reading and 50% of students were below grade level in math. Catalina Elementary has failed to meet its No Child Left Behind Adequate Yearly Progress targets for five of the past six years and has been classified as a School in Need of Improvement.

Because of the history of disappointing test scores, instructional activities at Catalina Elementary School are closely monitored by Orange County and the Florida Department of Education.

5

The primary emphasis in all subject areas is developing reading proficiency. Teachers are expected to develop lesson plans that emphasize reading, and also require students to demonstrate what they have learned in a tangible way. So, the hallways are filled with student-created posters and projects. 6

One recent professional development opportunity provided for Catalina teachers encouraged the use of flip books as tactile graphic organizers. Flip books are useful for learning new vocabulary words, recognizing the parts of a story, and understanding scientific processes such as the life cycle of a frog. The flip books can be written or illustrated and used for any subject area.

7

STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICSStudent EthnicitiesFree or Reduced LunchHaitian students are the largest ethnic group at Catalina Elementary

The student population at Catalina Elementary is 88% black, 9% hispanic, 2% white and 1% other ethnicities.

Haitian students are the largest ethnic group at Catalina Elementary. Communicating with parents can be difficult because many parents have limited English proficiency. Several staff members speak Haitian Creole and they are frequently called upon as translators.

Catalina serves an economically disadvantaged neighborhood. 93% of all students receive free or reduced lunch. Students also receive many school-based social services including health screenings, on-site vision exams with free glasses for students who need them, and free after-school tutoring.

Now that I have introduced you to Catalina Elementary School, I would like to introduce myself.8

ABOUT METeaching is a midlife career change for meMarried with four fantastic kids

Girl Scout Troop Leader and Day Camp DirectorCoach for Odyssey of the MindEnjoy working with young peopleLove to read, travel, and learnnew things

First of all, I am not your typical college student. Teaching is a midlife career change for me. I worked for fifteen years as a marketing specialist and corporate communications specialist for Disney.

My husband and I have four fantastic kids:

Adam is 7 and is in the first grade.Elizabeth is 10 and is in the fourth grade.Charlotte is 17 and is a junior in high school.Marshall is 20 and is a sophomore at Brown University.

Our kids are the light of my life and I am tremendously proud of all of them.

I have been a Girl Scout Troop Leader for 12 years and a Girl Scout Day Camp Director for 3 years.

I also coach an Odyssey of the Mind team that recently placed 4th in the state tournament.

I really enjoy working with young people and I am excited about the opportunity to become a teacher.

I love spending time with my family, reading, traveling, and learning new things.9

Engagement activities

My service project at Catalina Elementary was more of a traditional service learning experience than a stand-alone project.

I began by observing and asking lots of questions. I met all of the students in the three groups that come to developmental reading every day.

The first group is 4th graders and is always teacher-led. The second group is 3rd graders and is a mix of teacher-led and guided practice activities. The third group is 4th graders and is more or less a supervised study hall. The students bring assignments from their regular class and we help them to organize their work and stay on task, we answer their questions, we check their work, and we help them make corrections as needed.11

At first, I circulated and help students during independent work, but Bethany gradually gave me sections of lessons to teach. On my last day at Catalina, I taught the 3rd grade class for the entire class period.

The 3rd graders were starting a new book, Trapped by the Ice! by Michael McCurdy, which tells the story of Sir Ernest Shackletons famous 1915 attempt to cross Antarctica from sea to sea. I helped the students to prepare for the unit by leading a discussion where they shared what they already knew about Antarctica, and they also compared and contrasted Antarctica and Florida. Then, the students made flip books with the vocabulary words that they would encounter in the story.

For someone who had been a little anxious about teaching reading, I think I did pretty well. It was a great learning experience for me.12

PARTICIPANT DEMOGRAPHICS

As I mentioned, I worked with three different groups of students.

The first group at 8:45 each day consisted of four 4th grade students, three boys and one girl, all of whom are black. They are not officially classified as ESE. They are considered bubble kids which means that they have been targeted for intervention because they are likely to be retained at their current grade level. I had the least amount of interaction with this group because they do a very structured reading curriculum that is completely separate from the reading instruction in their regular classroom. I still learned a lot from observing the students as they completed each lesson, and helping them whenever I could.

The second group at 9:30 each day consisted of eight 3rd grade students, all boys. One boy is white and the rest are black. And with this group I got to learn a lot of acronyms. Two are classified as OHI or Other Health Impaired because of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. One has both SLD specific learning disabilities and EBD emotional behavioral disorders, one has EBD only and another has SLD only. One boy is classified as IND or intellectually disabled. There are also two more boys who are currently being evaluated for possible inclusion in the ESE program.

The third group at 10:30 each day consisted of six 4th grade students, four girls and two boys, all black. In this group, one boy has intellectual disabilities, one boy has ADHD and is classified Other Health Impaired, one girl has anxiety issues and is classified Other Health Impaired, and the three remaining girls have Specific Learning Disabilities.

All of these children are unique and really wonderful. Most of them give their best effort every day. They are not easily discouraged even though reading is so difficult for them. I looked forward to seeing them and I really enjoyed my time in their classroom.13

REFLECTION OF MY EXPERIENCEValuable learning experienceImportance of exceptional education programs in schoolsProfessional expertise and dedication of teachersNatural curiosity of childrenDifferences matter, but we still have a lot in common

This project was a valuable experience for me. I learned a lot about exceptional education in a very short period of time.

My service learning experience helped me to appreciate the importance of exceptional education programs in schools. Every child deserves the best education we can offer them. If they have learning disabilities and don t succeed in the mainstream classroom, we just need to teach them differently.

I have a renewed admiration for the professional expertise and dedication of teachers. I have known Bethany Ehrman for about five years and although this is her first year at Catalina Elementary School, she has been an ESE teacher for more than 15 years. Every day I saw Bethany deal with dozens of different issues with different students. Seeing the breadth and depth of her knowledge about learning disabilities and her resourcefulness in getting her students the services and accommodations they need to succeed was an eye-opening experience for me. Bethany and her colleagues are truly making a difference for these wonderful students.

As adults I think we sometimes underestimate the natural curiosity of children. Going into this project, I worried that these kids would be hard to teach and unwilling or unable to learn. I quickly discovered that they want to know more about the world around them. If I find ways to tap into that curiosity, they will be motivated to learn and interested in what happens in our classroom.

The most important thing I learned is that differences matter, but no matter how different we are, we still have a lot in common. I discovered that despite their labels and categorizations, these students are still just kids. They want to learn, they care about the people around them, they love to laugh and play, and they have opinions and memories that they want to share.

14

Catalina Elementary SchoolESE ProgramJoanne Kathederkat@knights.ucf.eduApril 23, 2010EEX 4242

15