MICHICAN

STATE

UNIVERSITY

SPECIAL EDUCATION INTERNSHIP FALL & SPRING REPORT

DATE: April 18,2073 INTERN: Mary Ciotta

Semester 2012 General Education - grade 3 SCHOOL: Allen Elementary School DISTRICT: Ann Arbor Public Schools

COLLABORATING TEACHER: Laura Wolf-Fall

COLLABORATING TEACHER: Jennifer Mallory-Spring SCHOOL: Haisley Elementary DISTRICT: Ann Arbor Public Schools

Semester 20 L3 Special Education Resource Room K-3

MAJOR: Elementary Education K-5

Special Education Endorsement-Learning Disabilities K-1 2

FIELD INSTRUCTOR: JoDell R. Heroux

College of Education
Department of
COUNSELING,

THE INTERNSHIP SETTING

Mary completed the first semester of her internship as a general education teacher in a third grade classroom at John Allen Elementary School in Ann Arbor, MI. Allen is located in a suburban area and serves students in kindergarten through fifth grade. In the general education third grade classroom, Mary was responsible for planning and implementing instruction for Math, Language Arts, Social Studies and Science. She utilized a variety of instructional strategies to meet the needs of all students.

EDUCATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY, AND

SPECIAL EDUCATION
Michigan State University Erickson Hall 620 Farm Lane East Lansing, MI 48824
517-355-1837
Fax: 517-353-6393

education.msu.edu

Mary completed the second semester of her intemship at Haisley Elementary in Ann Arbor, MI. Haisley is located in a suburban area and serves students in kindergarten through fifth grade. In the special education resource room, Mary provided specialized instruction in Language Arts and Mathematics to students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

KNOWING SUBJECT MATTERS AND HOW TO TEACH THEM

Mary was responsible for lead teaching Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies in the general education third grade classroom. Mary demonstrated

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knowledge of subject matter through lesson planning focused on targeted Common Core Standards. She consistently addressed relevant standards and displayed awareness of how they related to one another across content areas. Mary develops organized, sequential and targeted lessons and is adept at providing accommodations that increase access to the general education curriculum for all students, particularly at-risk students and students with disabilities. Mary delivers sound instruction using effective pedagogical practices including modeling, guided practice, and independent practice. She implements a wide variety of learning structures such as independent, partners. small group and whole group based on her lesson objectives. She strives to include student interests and experiences knowing how critical it is to student leaming. She frequently provides opportunities for students to make personal, local. and global connections to content.

Mary indicates an awareness of the importance of assessing student leaming by routinely using quick, efficient informal assessments to monitor student progress and inform instruction. During her time lead teaching in the third grade classroom, Mary selected tasks that were complex and challenging resulting in the active engagement of students. She provided instructional scaffolds to ensure student access to complex grade level appropriate content. She effectively implemented school-adopted curriculum and included additional supports and resources as
needed.

In the resource room setting, Mary delivered individual and small group instruction in Math and Language Arts. Over the course of her internship, Mary demonstrated a keen awareness of student's strengths and needs and used this information to develop individualized, targeted lessons. She increased the use of informal assessment to gauge student learning and monitor progress towards objectives.

WORKING WTTH STUDENTS Mary displayed a genuine ethos of caring

as evidenced through her interactions

with

students. Her interactions could be characterized as genuine, sincere, respectful and responsive. She was successful in developing and maintaining a positive rapport with students. Mary demonstrated the desire to connect with her students and routinely used positive reinforcement to increase appropriate behavior. Her consistent use of specific feedback enabled students to understand and work toward desired academic and behavioral expectations. Mary engaged students in lessons by incorporating their interests and drawing upon their varied experiences. Mary demonstrates a consistently thoughtful, responsive, and respectful demeanor with students in both general and special education settings.

CREATING AND MANAGING A CLASSROOM LEARNING COMMUNITY

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Mary's patterns of classroom interactions are friendly, caring, and respectful. Her students exhibited respectful behaviors towards her as a lead teacher and towards each other. Mary's frequent use of specific feedback regarding behavioral and academic performance allowed students the opportunity to leam and grow. She is very intuitive and is aware of the student's individual needs and effectively accommodated instruction and assessments to meet various student needs. Mary indicates an understanding of the active nature of student learning and frequently provided a variety of learning structures such as partner work and small group collaboration to allow students opportunities for movement and collective problem
solving.

WORIflNG AND LEARNING IN A SCHOOL AND PROFESSION

Mary seeks opportunities for professional growth to enhance content knowledge and pedagogical skills and uses this knowledge to improve her teaching practice. She participated in all school-wide professional development seminars as well as IEP meetings. Mary accepted instructional feedback with poise and professionalism. She consistently used feedback to improve her practice. Mary demonstrates the ability to be a critically reflective and responsive educator with the goal of consistently improving her teaching practice. all students and works diligently to provide successful academic opportunities for all students. Mary displays exceptional professional and personal judgment. She is insightful, thoughtful, driven, and dedicated to providing high quality educational opportunities for all students. For this reason, I give Mary my highest recommendation for any position in the field of
She is committed to the education of

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R. Heroux,

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