Biography

Kathryn Schroeder’s Professional Biography

In 1991, Kathryn Schroeder graduated from St. Norbert College with a major in elementary education and a minor in early childhood/pre-school.  She spent her first three years teaching grades first, second, and fourth in the Elkhorn School District.  In 1994, she accepted a teaching position with the Fox Point-Bayside School District and continues to teach there today.  The majority of her career has been spent teaching first and second grade.  Along with her passion for teaching, Kathryn has always had a passion for learning.  In 1992, she enrolled in graduate school at UW-Milwaukee and graduated in 1995 with a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in reading.  As part of her master’s degree, she researched strong language arts programs and went to Australia to compare their approach to reading instruction with what the research stated.  After receiving her master’s degree, Kathryn continued to take graduate courses that focused on reading instruction.  In 2012-2013, she took a year-long course in early reading empowerment.  As a requirement for the course, she needed to provide reading intervention in a one-on-one setting several times a week.  While providing reading instruction to one of her students, Kathryn realized their half hour together was one of her favorite parts of the day.  This made her want to go back to school in order to become a reading interventionist so she would have more opportunities to help struggling readers reach their full potential.  She enrolled in the reading teacher licensure program at Viterbo University.  In the summer of 2014, she completed the work required to receive a reading teacher license from the state of Wisconsin.  She also looked forward to the start of the 2014-2015 school year so she could begin her new role as full-time reading interventionist. 

EDUC 580 Children and Adolescent Literature

EDUC 580  Children and Adolescent Literature

Reflection and Artifact

My artifacts for EDUC 580 Children and Adolescent Literature are two literature clusters that I created to enrich the literature used during two of my themed units.  The first literature cluster is focused on character education, and the second is focused on the farm.

Character Literature Cluster by kateschroeder

Farm Literature Cluster by kateschroeder

Professional Growth

            In my twenty-two years of teaching, I have read many books on a variety of topics.  I have gathered my favorites that I use every year, and I am constantly looking for new additions.  The literature cluster project helped me to really look at books that I use and to identify genres or levels that could be added to units to make them more inclusive.  I noticed that poetry was often an area that I overlooked.  I have plenty of poetry books in my room, but I was using them more during poetry time rather than integrating them into units. Are you quite polite and Beyond Old McDonald are two additions to my classroom library because of this assignment. The literature cluster assignment also helped me organize books and activities, especially for the character unit.  I have always started the school year using books that have a message about friendship and how to treat others, but I had never made a list of the books and connected them to activities.  By doing this, it helped me to have a more organized library which will allow me to pick the best books to meet the needs for my particular class.  

Student Growth

            Because of the literature cluster assignment, my students have access to a larger variety of books on common themes. Since the books cover a range of genres and levels, the students are more likely to find a book that interests them which has increased student engagement.  I found this particularly true for the farm unit.  I had several students who were really interested in the nonfiction books especially the ones focusing on farm equipment and farm animals.  My students will also benefit from my increased organization between books and appropriate activities.  For example when I have a student who is struggling with anger and impacting others, I will use How I Feel Angry as a bridge to a class discussion.  This book along with a class discussion would help students understand why children sometimes become upset and what they can do to help.

Connection to Standards

Standard #1:  The teacher understands the central concepts, assumptions, debates, processes of inquiry, and ways of knowing are central to the discipline(s) s/he teaches.  One of the goals of this standard is for the teacher to evaluate teaching resources and curriculum materials making sure they are comprehensive.  I met this goal when I looked at my current library in connection to each of the literary clusters.  I was able to identify areas of need and then add books in order to make my collection more comprehensive. 

Standard #5:  The teacher uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.  I met this standard with each of my literature clusters by providing student choice. Each of my clusters provided a variety of genres and levels around a given topic in order to allow students to pick the books that they found most interesting.  When the students interacted with the books, some were drawn to nonfiction while others preferred the picture books.  Because there were a variety of books in each cluster, the children seemed motivated to have a turn looking through them.  My character education book cluster also meets the goals of this standard.  This goal emphasizes the importance of the teacher helping children learn how to work cooperatively and productively.  I used the character books at the beginning of the school year.  After reading each story, we had a class discussion about the author’s purpose and books message.  Once we had read several books and had an understanding about friendship, honesty, and the golden rule, we wrote our social contract.  Our social contract guide our class’s expectations and interactions for the school year.

EDUC 605 Inclusion of Students with Special Needs

Reflection and Artifact

My artifact for EDUC 605 Inclusion of Students with Special Needs is an action plan that I created after considering my current teaching situation while reflecting on the strategies and philosophies shared during the course.  My reflection allowed me to identify the strengths that currently exist in my district’s efforts to meet the needs of all students.  It also allowed me to identify areas for growth. Those reflections are included and elaborated on in my action plan.  

Inclusion Action Plan

Description of current inclusion practices

            I will be describing the current inclusionary practices for four-year-old kindergarten at Stormonth Elementary School. Typically, K4 has four half-day sections, two in the morning and two in the afternoon.  This upcoming school year there will be a fifth half-day section being held in the afternoon.  I will be the teacher instructing the fifth section.  I have spent the past 16 years teaching first and second grade so this will be a bit of an adjustment.  Also, this is the first time there has been a fifth K4 section so that has impacted space, supplies, and use of assistants.  In addition to the above-mentioned changes, we have our largest population of students with disabilities entering K4 this year.  Ten out of the seventy-nine enrolled children have IEPs.  The IEP goals range from speech and language to spectrum concerns to mobility issues to oppositional defiant disorder.  In addition to these ten children, we have a student who is medically fragile.

            Currently, our inclusion practices include SPED assistants and teachers assisting in the classroom along with pull-out services when needed.  In addition to the SPED assistants, there is a K4 assistant in the classroom who is able to work with all students.  There are also weekly collaborative meetings between the classroom teacher and the SPED teachers to share goals and plans for the upcoming week.  There are also monthly collaborative meetings with parents of the neediest children.

            Here are some examples of current inclusionary practices.  During math centers, the speech teacher is working with a small group of children playing a math game.  The speech teacher is targeting the student’s learning goals as she interacts with her peers.  In PE, the OT teacher is adapting the game of tag so the boy with the walker is able to participate in a way that is safe for all.  Another example is the SPED teacher supporting the child who has ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder during circle time.  The child is given breaks when needed including leaving the room to swing as a reward for appropriate behavior.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths:

·         Collaborative approach between classroom teacher and SPED teachers

·         Collaborative approach between K4 teachers in sharing ideas and resources

·         Committed teachers who are willing to go above and beyond to meet students’ needs

·         New principal who has a background in special education and is a proponent of inclusion

·         Knowledge of students-SPED teachers have worked with some of the children in the Birth to 3 Program.

·         K4 assistants who are willing to help all students

·         Access to technology (computers, i-Pads, i-Touches, listening centers, Smart Boards)

·         Parent Involvement-Our district is known for an abundance of parent volunteers.

·         Small class size-15-16 students

Weaknesses:

·         Large number of students with disabilities

·         Range of disabilities

·         Location of the SPED room to the regular education classrooms (SPED room is on the second floor and K4 classrooms are on the first floor.)

·         Small classrooms will make it difficult for students with mobility disabilities.

·         Reduction in K4 assistants-same number of assistants but added a section of K4

·         Layout of building-Large school that requires the use of ramps/elevators and a bit of distance to get from K4 classrooms to specialist rooms and the gym

·         Time for collaboration-K4 has little prep built in during the school day.  Also, the fifth teacher will be a reading interventionist in the morning which means she will have other obligations to fulfill.

·         Sharing of SPED services-leads to difficulty with scheduling

Opportunities

·         Team collaboration-Since there are so many students with disabilities, all three teachers will benefit from working together to adapt curriculum.

·         Teacher Experience-The new teacher joining the K4 team has more teaching experience than current teachers including many years with students with disabilities.

·         New Principal-She was part of the original team that brought inclusion into our district over twenty years ago.  She will be a great resource and advocate for inclusion.

·         SPED teachers-Several of the teachers have worked with the students with disabilities in previous years and will be able to provide valuable insights, especially important at the K4 level where all students are new.

·         Curriculum-Since it is K4, there is more freedom to adapt the curriculum in order to meet students’ needs.

·         Professional Development-With a large range of student needs, there will be more opportunities available.

·         First year with Smart Boards in the K4 classrooms

·         More i-Pads available than previous years

Threats

·         Large numbers of students with disabilities

·         Large range of disabilities

·         Meeting the needs of all students

·         School choice and voucher program may impact school population

·         Not enough assistants/coverage to meet all needs

·         Teacher initiatives-too many demands

·         Staff meetings/obligations-not enough time to collaborate at grade level

·         SPED teachers spread too thin

Inclusion Stakeholders

·         Students with disabilities

·         Parents of students with disabilities

·         Regular education students in the inclusion classes

·         Parents of the regular education students in the inclusion classes

·         K4 teachers and assistants

·         Special education teachers and assistants

·         Specialist teachers

·         Future teachers of the K4 students

·         Director of Special Education

·         Building Principal

·         Director of Curriculum and Instruction

·         Superintendent of the Fox Point-Bayside School District

·         Fox Point-Bayside Community

Inclusion Action Plan Goals

Goal #1: To ensure there is enough coverage in the K4 classrooms to meet all student needs.

Recommended Strategies/Activities	Current %	Goal %	Materials/Resources Needed?  (What?)	Who will Implement?  (Who?)	Target Date for Implementation (When?)	Evaluation (Did it happen?)
Regular education teachers will advocate for full-time K4 assistants in all five classes.  Regular education teachers will collaborate with SPED teachers to create a support schedule in order to ensure that enough coverage is available so that all student needs are met.	There currently are two K4 teaching assistants, another ½ time one is needed.  The coverage schedule has not yet been initiated.	100% K4 teaching assistants available in all K4 classes.  SPED coverage in classroom 100% of time when needed.	Financial resources will be needed to pay a part-time K4 assistant.  Time will also be needed for classroom teachers and SPED teachers to collaborate on coverage schedule.	Principal and K4 teachers will implement the addition of a part-time K4 assistant. K4 teachers and SPED teachers will implement coverage schedule.	Scheduling and hiring completed before the start of school.  Coverage implemented at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year.

Goal #2: To educate students about classmates with disabilities.

Recommended Strategies/Activities	Current %	Goal %	Materials/Resources Needed?  (What?)	Who will Implement?  (Who?)	Target Date for Implementation (When?)	Evaluation (Did it happen?)
Class meetings to share information and role play different scenarios involving students with disabilities. Explore bringing a Kids on the Block performance to our school.	Since the children are entering our school for their first year, they have not been involved in class meetings.	100% of K4 classes have class meetings to educate students about children with disabilities. 100% effort for researching Kids on the Block; chance of implement-ting unknown due to budget con-straints.	Time for class meetings. A budget for bringing in a Kids on the Block presentation.	K4 teachers, assistants, and SPED teachers will facilitate class meetings. The new K4 teacher will research the Kids on the Block presentation.	Initial class meetings complete by the end of September.  Additional class meetings regarding students with disabilities on a as-needed basis. Research on Kids on the Block presentation completed by September 1,  2013.

Goal #3: To implement collaborative meetings between K4 teachers and the SPED team.

Recommended Strategies/Activities	Current %	Goal %	Materials/Resources Needed?  (What?)	Who will Implement?  (Who?)	Target Date for Implementation (When?)	Evaluation (Did it happen?)
Biweekly collaborative meetings between K4 team and SPED teachers working with K4 students.	Currently, there are weekly collabor-ative meetings between the classroom teacher and SPED teachers, but no team-wide collabor-ative meetings with SPED.	Biweekly collabor-ative meetings to occur 100% during the 2013-2014 school year.	Time	The meetings will be implemented by the K4 teachers and the SPED teachers working with the K4 students.	First meeting will occur during the week of in-service leading up to the 2013-2014 school year.

Reflection

            Ensuring that there is sufficient teacher, assistant and special education coverage in the K4 classes will allow all students to have their social, emotional, and academic needs met.  Since this is the students first year at our school and since there is a large population of students with disabilities, it is pertinent that the coverage is appropriate so both the children and their parents have a positive experience.

            In addition to having appropriate coverage for all students, educating the regular education children about children with disabilities will promote class harmony and build an environment of acceptance for all.  Since this is the children’s first of many years together as classmates, the time spent on disability education will be invaluable as they move throughout the years.

            Collaborative meetings between the K4 team and SPED teachers will benefit all K4 students.  In addition, it will allow the K4 teachers to share responsibilities and resources which will lead to working smarter not harder.

Professional Growth

          Now that one school year has passed, I am able to reflect on the implementation of my action plan along with the impact on students.  My first goal was to advocate for student coverage by adding a part-time assistant.  This occurred before the school even began.  In early August, I met with our new principal and shared my concerns for the impact on all students if we did not hire another part-time K4 assistant.  My principal acknowledged that my argument was valid and agreed that we were in need of another assistant.  She took up the cause with our superintendent and received the go-ahead to hire a new assistant.  At the same time, my principal acknowledged the need for a special education space on the first floor.  She made the decision to move our literacy coach to the second floor making room for the special education room on the first floor.

            The second goal of my action plan was to educate classmates about students with disabilities.  We were not able to bring in Kids on the Block; however, we were able to create class schedules that allowed time every day for a morning/afternoon meeting.  During the meeting time, we addressed a variety of topics about including everyone, being a friend, and differences we observe.  In addition to the meetings, my assistant and I worked with our students to help them understand that some children need special food or activities to make their bodies healthy or to help them learn.  In addition, I had a parent read a story to the children about a child with Cystic Fibrosis.  After reading the story, we pointed out similarities between the parent’s child and the child in the story.  This gave the children a better understanding of what one of their classmates was experiencing.  The benefit of teaching inclusion to children in K4 is that they are naturally very accepting of each other.

            The third goal of my action plan was to implement collaborative meetings with K4 teachers and the SPED team.  These meetings occurred on a weekly basis and included different teachers on an as-needed basis.  At times, parents were part of these meetings as well.

            The success I had in meeting the goals of my action plan is a reflection of the professional growth that I made based on the knowledge I gained during the course and in the creation of the action plan. 

Student Learning

The implementation of my goals positively impacted student learning.  Because there was an assistant in each K4 classroom, it allowed for more personalized instruction. This personalized instruction allowed students who needed more assistance identifying letters or needed more help cutting out objects to get the one-on-one guidance needed.  The children also gained social skills as they learned to understand individual differences.  Due to a medical condition, one of my students needed to eat chips and cookies at snack time.  Instead of being jealous of the student’s tasty treats, the other children learned to say, “Ava’s body needs it so she gets to eat it and we don’t need it.”  By working collaboratively as a K4 team and with the SPED team, we were able to provide the students the most appropriate curriculum and instruction to meet all their needs.   This curriculum included implementing an adapted version of readers and writers workshops.  By using the workshop model, students were given a lot of choice which promoted student interest for all students.  There also were small group and one-on-one conferences built in to support children who had difficulty with fine motor, staying focused, and self-control.  A listening center was also available for students who needed to listen to stories rather than look at them. In addition to workshop, literacy centers were used.  For some of the children with special needs, their centers were adapted either by having a one-on-one assistant or by using an iPad in place of the regular activity.  By using the workshop model and differentiated centers, we were able to meet the needs of all students in our classrooms.

Connection to Standards

Standard 3: The teacher understands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.  This standard emphasizes the importance of understanding that children learn in different ways.  One example of how we adapted instruction would be the student who practiced the alphabet on the iPad instead of singing and dancing the alphabet with the whole class.  Another example would be the student who listened to a Tumble Book on the computer instead of book browsing in the library center.  The collaboration between the K4 teachers and the SPED team allowed us to share and identify the best activities to meet the needs of all the children including those with special needs.

Standard 10: The teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support students’ learning and well-being.  I met the goals of this standard by working with my principal to gain approval for a teaching assistant.  I also worked with colleagues and parents in order to bring the best practices to my classroom.

EDUC 640 Balanced Literacy

Reflection and Artifact

My artifact for EDUC 640 Balanced Literacy is my philosophy of balanced literacy.  This literacy statement reflects the knowledge that I gained from the course combined with what I have learned during my twenty-two years of teaching young children.

Philosophy of Balanced Literacy

As the name states, balanced literacy would be a balance of the four main areas of literacy instruction: reading, writing, word work, and speaking/listening.  In order for students to become proficient readers and writers, they would need to have quality instruction and practice in all four of those areas.

Reading instruction would incorporate a variety of approaches.  The main approach would be children reading independently.  This may occur during a reading workshop, a book club, or a reading work station.  In order to make independent reading time beneficial, students need to have choice in the books that they read and need to have access to plenty of books at their reading levels.  They also need to have a large, uninterrupted chunk of time in order to build reading stamina.  In addition to independent reading, there would be time for the teacher to read to the students.  These read alouds would be interactive with the teacher modeling fluency and reading strategies.  A third component of the reading instruction would be the teacher reading with students. This might occur in a guided reading group or during a shared reading. When a teacher reads with children, it provides time for the teacher to explicitly teach strategies and coach children as they try the new strategies in their own books.  In order for students to make reading growth, they need explicit instruction, teacher models, a variety of texts at their appropriate levels, and plenty of time to practice.

A second component of the balanced literacy model is writing.  One of the most effective ways that children learn how to write is by being a part of a writers’ workshop.  During a writers’ workshop, the teacher begins the lesson by making a connection.  The connection might be to something the children have previously learned or to an analogy that will set the purpose for the day.  After the connection, the teacher will share the teaching point.  This is followed by the teacher modeling that type of writing.  As the teacher models, the children watch carefully and then they are asked to join in the process. They may share ideas with a partner or with the teacher.  The heart of the writing workshop comes next: time for students to write.  During this time the teacher conferences with children.  The workshop ends with time to share.  The children may share with a partner or a few may share their writing with the whole group.

Another component of balanced literacy is word work.  During word work, children are working on gaining skills in phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, and spelling.  Word work can take many forms.  Children may be engaged in sorting words, making words, practicing the word wall, or playing a phonics game.  The goals for word work follow a scope and sequence so that the children are always building on what they already know.

A final area of balanced literacy is speaking and listening.  Children need time each day to share information and to engage in active listening with their teacher and peers.  These skills may be practiced when a teacher asks the children to turn and talk with a partner or during a workshop sharing time.  Inquiry studies, presentations, and performing arts (plays, choral readings, etc.) are also times when children gain experience with speaking and listening.

In addition to the four areas, frequent assessment would be an important part of a balanced literacy program.  The assessments would be used to guide the teacher’s instruction making sure that children are being taught at a level that will help move them forward.  Including the four areas of a balanced literacy block along with using assessment to guide best practice will allow a teacher to differentiate instruction in order to meet the needs of all students.

Professional Growth

          The Balanced Literacy course helped me grow as an educator by increasing my knowledge on many current topics in education.  One area would be the importance of oral language acquisition for young children.  Research shared in this course stated that children from high-income families experience about 30 million more words than children from low-income families by the age of four.  The research went on to say that effective responsiveness by teachers and parents can help overcome this socioeconomic gap ensuring children’s growth in receptive and expressive vocabulary.  Knowing about the gap and about the importance of effective instruction in order to narrow the gap is something that I will be an advocate for in my school district.  My district has already established a day at the beginning of the school year for oral language acquisition training for our kindergarten and special education teachers.  My district is also planning to host its first literacy night for parents.  I am on the committee for planning the evening, and I will be sure to incorporate strategies from the training so that parents can also reinforce vocabulary acquisition at home.

            A second topic that I learned about during the course is the importance of multi-sensory learning.  The research shared states that when strategies using movement, singing, and humor are used that it enhances repetition which is needed in order for the brain to remember what has been learned.  This knowledge will impact how I instruct my students.  I will provide time for brain breaks when students have been engaged for long periods of time.  The brain breaks often include singing and dancing which will allow their brains to function in a different way.  This will promote student engagement and time for the brain to process new information.  I will also encourage students to move while working.  Examples might be cheering a word family rather than just chanting it and tracing a letter in the sand.

            Oral language acquisition and multi-sensory learning are two areas that I have gained knowledge in because of this course.  This new information will allow me to better meet the needs of all my students.

Student Learning

          The knowledge that I have gained in this course will positively impact my students’ learning.  When working with struggling readers, I will choose my words wisely and encourage them to interact with new language. This will help increase their vocabulary which in turn will improve their reading.  The students will also benefit at home because their parents will be trained in the same language acquisition strategies that I am using at school.  This will reinforce the students' learning.

            Students will also benefit from multi-sensory learning.  When children cheer word wall words or practice writing letters in the sand, it provides the repetition or meaning needed to begin to move the information into long-term memory. When students are given brain breaks, it provides the brain to process what has just been taught and it energizes the children so they have more energy to learn what is coming next.  When multi-sensory approaches are used, students benefit because they gain information more quickly and are more engaged in their learning which ultimately leads to more learning.

Connection to Standards

Standard #2:  The teacher understands how children learn and develop, and can provide learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social, and personal development.  This standard is apparent in my philosophy of a balanced literacy program.  For both the reading and writing instruction, I support a workshop model which is a gradual release model.  The gradual release model supports students’ development through modeling, guided practice, and supported independent practice.  In addition, the use of brain breaks and a multi-sensory approach will also foster students’ intellectual, social, and personal growth by allowing the students’ brains time to process and reenergize.  The brain breaks and multi-sensory approach will also give students an opportunity to sing and move with their peers which will promote social interaction and personal growth.

Standard #6:  The teacher uses knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communications techniques to foster inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.  For both the reading and writing instruction portion of the balanced literacy block, I support a workshop model which is a gradual release model.  The gradual release model is a supportive interaction because it fosters students’ development through modeling, guided practice, and supported independent practice.  This supported structure provides an opportunity for the teacher to explicitly explain and model a specific strategy.  It also allows students to practice the strategy, often with a peer which would promote collaboration.  There is also time for independent practice which incorporates nonverbal communication.  In addition to the workshop model, incorporating multi-sensory approaches to instruction will foster active inquiry and collaboration.  This is evident when students are asked to identify letters through touch, work with peers to chant word families, or act out a story that they read.