LAS

What are some ways you can learn about students? Let's share some ideas!

** Observation: ** A teacher may learn about students by observing them. This can happen under many different circumstances such as observation of behavior and academic progress within group settings, within single settings, on the playground, and even in new environmental settings. By observing students, much can be learned about their academic and behavioral patterns; the teacher will receive clues as to what a student struggles with or how a student interacts with you and their peers. Observations bring attention to the academic and behavioral needs/patterns that should be strengthened and those that should be discouraged. Also, if these observations are noted, a teacher has reference/proof to show parents, other teachers, the principal, etc. if that situation arises.

The Cumulative (CUME) Folder: ** This is the folder which contains all of the student's records, information and scores. A teacher can look here for information regarding each student and to learn more about the students. Cumulative folders are legal and confidential student education records. Cumulative folders and all information contained therein are only allowed by law to be viewed by school officials for whom the viewing of the record is required to fulfill his/her professional responsibility. Parents may request in writing to view their child’s records and students over the age of 18 may request in writing to view their own records. All viewers other than school staff must sign the green inspection log. Despite the fact that they contain a great amount of information on the student, these folders take forever to transfer from school to school which makes them hard to rely on for immediate background on a student.
 * Previous Teachers: ** To discover information about students before the start of the new school year, a teacher may ask the previous teacher(s). This may not be as reliable as observing students first-hand since the previous teacher may have a biased/jaded opinion, but it can be helpful in developing an initial makeup of students. When talking to previous teachers ask them specific questions on how they learn. Each child is different and this teacher may have had a routine or some special way of teaching that helped this particular student.
 * 

The CUME folder contains documents such as:
 * Report Cards
 * Eye Tests
 * Immunization Records
 * IEP
 * 504 Plan (which is similar to IEP. The 504 Plan sre for students that do not formally qualify for an IEP)

**Lessons:**  A teacher can learn more about students by teaching lessons and assessing each student's work and understanding throughout the lesson. It is important for a teacher to change/adjust teaching based on students tests/assessments (assessment drives instruction). If a teacher discovers that their teaching is not effective their students they should make an extra effort to explore new ways of explaining the same content until the student truly understand the material. This goes for the class as a whole as well as on the individual level. There are many different assesments that can be done by teachers depending on the grade level they are teaching. There are also many different assements depending on what you want to asses. If you want to asses their reading progress in the lower grades, here are a few examples: concepts about print, BPST, Yopp-Singer Phonemic Awareness, Sight Word, Words Their way spelling, and Running Record. Lessons can be found all over the place, from fellow teachers, the internet, teacher blogs, and different curriculum. It is important for a teacher to continue to learn and "keep up with the times" as far as educational strategies and teaching methods are concerned. By staying up on the latest research and teaching methods a teacher will understand the dynamic student body that enters the classroom each year.


 * Research: ** If a teacher has a student in his/her class that struggles with a learning disability the teacher should take the time to learn all they can about the condition. Reading medical research and studying books that explain why students who struggle with this disability do what they do can open a lot of doors for the teacher. It is necessary to understand the reasoning behind an action before the teacher can effectively combat a certain behavior in the classroom. Finally there is a ton of research out their that can help teacher's who do not have an experience with this particular disability guiding them toward success for both them and the student in their class. The knowledge is available and only needs to be used and applied in the classroom.

LAS: Learning about the cultural background of your students, especially if they are ELL students is essential for creating a safe classroom environment for the student but also makes the teacher's job much easier. It is the teacher's duty to learn more about the student's language, culture, values, family and home environment. This will also improve the teacher-parent relationship.Not only is it important that teachers learn about the cultural background in terms of parental involvement and a safe classroom but also for the sake of the student. It is important that we teach that each of our cultural backgrounds is important and is something that we should be proud of. By doing this in a classroom, it will help with a student's self esteem due to the fact that they will be proud of their different backgrounds. It is essential that teachers remind the students that each one of them is unique.

__Personal Questioning__ Sometimes the best ways to learn about students is to learn about their life oustide of school. Many activities can be done to help the students express themselves and get to know each other on the first day or week of school. The teacher is not only there to teach academics but to help them feel safe and at ease. The teacher is sometimes a councelor in a sense. I am not saying that a teacher should sit down with a student and discuss all their problems and present feedback. However, if a student is having a bad day the teacher should find out what is going on and if the teacher cna help. If not the teacher could direct the student to someone who is trained to help them with that particular problem.