1. Hannah Matecko
Brown
ISM Period 5
5 January 2016
Elementary School Teaching: An Annotated Bibliography
Allen, Rick. "Chapter 1. Trends in Elementary Science Education." The Essentials of
Science, Grades K-6 Effective Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. Alexandria,
VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2006. N. pag. Web.
Especially among elementary schools, science has been becoming harder to teach and is among
the least important subjects, because of its complexity and the fact that teachers don’t have as
much time, to which it ends up getting put on the backburner. But now, there is hope, as teachers
are getting trained on how to teach science using an inquiry-based approach. People have started
to recognize how important learning science is in the classroom for things later in life. Teachers
will need to be taught about how to teach this new approach, and how well they can learn and
use it will also depend on the children’s success. National Science Education standard’s goal is
to “create scientifically literate students,” that will again in turn help them in the future as they
can partake in scientific matters in society. The current standards in schools are really not well
thought or written out. People just keep on adding to them, which creates a whole mess of junk
that don’t have clear standards – only 19 states in America do. The state standards also have a
hard time in explaining the difference between doing science and memorizing facts, and saying
that both need to be done. The mental process of learning in science class involves finding out
what students already know, understand the “doing science” aspect, and helping students reflect
on what they’ve learned and/or done. Preconceptions about different matters may also exist
among students, either from what they’ve seen or heard outside of school. Teachers have to
make sure to be ready to address these misconceptions, to ensure that the students will stop
believing in them. When ‘doing science,’ students must make sure that they are able to
understand most concepts and have a good foundation before adding to it. Schools and teachers
have to let students learn and experience the natural world when teaching. Metacognitive
strategies are strategies used to help students’ own thinking. Reflective assessments involve
giving a framework for an inquiry, and help to give students a chance to reflect and rethink about
what they’ve learned. Students can understand scientific inquiry by being able to ask a question,
investigate it, answer it, and present the result. Hands-on experiences help to move the classroom
along from just the use of a textbook. Students are able to learn through their observations and
experiences, which can be much more helpful than memorizing information. Different types of
inquiry depend on how much freedom is given to choose what to do. The implement of the new
strategy should be gradual, making little changes to each assignment that give more freedom for
diverse answers or learning. As of now, inquiry hasn’t been able to be as successful because of
the curriculum that’s being taught as well. Teachers are still learning how to implement it into
their classrooms. Standardized testing for science is also said to not be well measured by
multiple choice questions on a single, timed test. Some have asked for multiple tests to be able to

2. get more accurate results. The state standards, as well as the testing, do help curriculums to focus
students on big ideas.
Learning about inquiry in this source as a trend in elementary school teaching was useful.
Compared to other sources, this one was long and detailed, which helped me to understand more
involving all of the parts of this idea. This information proves to be reliable as it is from a
published book, and useful source. It’s not biased, because it supports every fact given by
evidence. The goal of it was to inform teachers (or people aspiring to be) about how important
science is, and that teaching it in a hands-on and inquiry method will benefit students most in the
future.
It fits into my research perfectly, seeing as that I will have to learn about teaching for core
subjects, and this method seems the most helpful to learning. It helps me to see what happens
when teachers don’t teach science well and when they do, based on the evidence given. I can use
it for research again of science as a core subject for elementary school. It has opened up another
door for me to see a productive way of teaching.
Blair, Nancy. "Technology Integration for the New 21st Century Learner." NAESP.
National Association of Elementary School Principals, 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.
In our new technology-based world, children are learning more and more how to work with cell
phones and ipads more than ever. So in classrooms, having small times cut out for technology
isn’t enough anymore. Classrooms are needing to reevaluate their technology process by using
the “four c’s”, which are critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration.
Technology is able to take school to a whole new level, and all student potential levels rise. They
need to constantly be in front of different types of problem-solving and decision-making, and the
use of technology can create different types of ways to do this. For the teachers, they must be
able to have a new mindset for teaching. They can no longer be the center of attention for kids as
they work with technology, but be more of a catalyst for their learning. Teachers help their
students with their discovery and creation through the process. In discovery, students learn how
to answer the questions that they don’t know the answer to by not just asking a teacher, but
figuring out how to find out the answer, as well as the answer itself. They’re able to explore on
programs that can create a learning environment similar to a professional in the subject they’re
studying. They can include real-world experiences and problem-solving strategies can be
implanted. Students can, through this, own and regulate their own education, and help them to be
more confident. The audience of the teacher as the only person who will see the student’s work
has always been a factor in how well the study may do on the assignment. But when given the
opportunity to use technology in a way that everyone is able to see what a student has written or
created helps them want to work harder, such as in an International Story Contest, where a nine-
year-old won and has decided to be a writer when she grows up. The setback for the
implementation of technology in schools is the costs, because the only way for every student to
get their full potential would be to get a device for each child. But netbooks and tablets have
been becoming more affordable for schools to get for their students, and if students were able to
share about four to one computer, then the total cost could greatly reduce. At a school, the most
effective way to kick-start the whole program is by filling in the administration on what the plan
is, as well as the benefits and the assessment.

3. This source was useful because I got to understand the background and process of implementing
technology into schools, because it is a big process. Because this source was related to my
product idea, it was comparably more useful than others because it’s one that has a clear purpose
of what will help me. This information is reliable because it is specifically from a website for
principals. It’s not biased because it’s what a principal recommends is a good plan for integration
of technology, but is not biased in its way of explaining. The goal is to help other teachers
understand what the most important points are when trying to shift into more technology in
schools.
This source was helpful, because it stated that technology changes in schools would greatly
benefit children and give them many more opportunities, which is included in my own argument.
I will use this towards my product, by being able to distinguish between helpful and not helpful
in the technology world towards schools. It has opened more doors for things I can research
about.
Buchman, Haley. “Fifth Grade Flag Ceremony.” Blattman Elementary. San Antonio, TX.
12 Nov. 2015.
The fifth grade flag ceremony at Blattman Elementary is a production they put on that is all
about responsibility. At the beginning of it, a girl played a song on her violin while everyone else
behind the curtain was getting set up. Once the curtains opened, a boy announced that they were
going to do the pledge of allegiance and the Texas Pledge, which then the fifth grade Boy Scouts
were called to attention and brought up the U.S. flag, the Texas flag, and the Boy Scouts flag to
the sides of the stage. Everyone stood and said both pledges, and after the fifth graders all sang
the National Anthem. Then, it was time for the “Responsibility Quiz Show,” where one student
was the host and two other students were contestants, and they switched people for a second,
third and fourth round. For the first round, the host gave a scenario – you decide to go to your
friend’s house instead of doing your homework. She proceeded to ask if this was responsible or
not responsible, and one contestant rang the bell and answered not responsible. For the second
round, the host said “let’s watch this scenario,” and two other students walked up and act out a
conversation between a student and a teacher, where the student blamed his forgetfulness of his
homework on his mother. The teacher understood, and they walked away. The contestants and
host came back, and the host asked if this was responsible, or not responsible. While waiting for
an answer, the fifth graders all sang the jeopardy music. Then one contestant would hit a button
on their desk and say “not responsible!” and the announcer would answer “coooooorect!” The
third and fourth rounds were similar, and talked about studying and littering. After the quiz
show, the entire fifth grade class sang God Bless the U.S.A., and “The Responsibility Song,”
which is all about how to be responsible. The message is that there are times when we might be
tempted by friends, even though we would usually do the right thing on our own, to do
something bad to go along with them. It explained the whole point of responsibility, and the
chorus even started with “it’s me, oh me, yes it’s me alone,” talking about who gets the blame
for all their actions. Then the awards that are the end of each flag ceremony, where each teacher
picks a student from their class that displays responsibility, were announced. The flag ceremony
came to a close with the singing of the school song.
The flag ceremony dress rehearsal that I got to attend was a useful and fun participatory source –
especially because I got to be in it when I was in fifth grade, and do similar things that haven’t
changed much, most of which I had forgotten about. Compared with my other sources, this one

4. is incredibly unique and I hadn’t done anything like it yet. The interviews were nice to meet
someone individually and all of my other annotated bibliographies have been on reading/video
sources. But this one was live in action, and I got to enjoy the play that the fifth graders had
worked so hard towards! It can’t really be biased, but I did learn a lot about being responsible.
The goal of this source was to do that exactly – to teach kids and parents all about responsibility,
and showcase how much they had learned about it through quiz shows and songs.
I was incredibly happy to be there to see the kids that I have been hanging out with in Mrs.
Buchman’s class perform on the stage. I had talked to one girl in particular earlier, who was one
of the hosts for the game show. She was really nervous for her part, and she asked if I had ever
talked in front of six hundred people before. I talked to her for a little and got her to be more
confident, and it was awesome seeing her up there being a host and knowing all of her lines.
Things like this help me get a much more personal side to my research, because I can actually be
there and present for what they do, and be more involved.
Clark, Ron. "Chapter 5. Listen." The End of Molasses Classes: Getting Our Kids Unstuck:
101 Extraordinary Solutions for Parents and Teachers. New York: Simon & Schuster,
2011. 25-28. Print.
Everyone wants to tell their side of the story or their view and be heard, especially when it’s a
parent who is talking about their kid. The best thing to do as a teacher is to not interrupt them,
but let the parent, student, or other teacher totally let out what they want to say, while all you do
is listen. They will feel much better if you allow them to vent, and they know you were listening
to them. One of Mr. Clark’s biggest mistake was not being there to listen for one of his students.
Kenneth, who was a new student at the school, seemed lost as Mr. Clark helped him. He saw
something in special in Kenneth, and was determined to teach and mentor him as best as he
could. But Kenneth was having problems at home, and Mr. Clark knew but never mentioned it.
He helped him with funding to go on school trips, sponsored his basketball league, helped fill out
college applications, and continued to be his mentor. Eventually Kenneth came back to the
school and ended up working there with Mr. Clark, to whom he once asked why he had never
asked about it, even though he knew what was going on. He wanted to tell him everything, but
he just wanted his teacher to ask him. Mr. Clark found this extremely difficult to hear, because
he always wanted to be there for his students and he knew he made an awful mistake of not
talking to Kenneth about his home life. Mr. Clark now recognizes how important it is to be there
for all students with anything they bring with them. Kenneth, because of his holding back of
emotions when he was younger, now has a budding career as a musician, writing and performing
songs about his past, and continues to be a growing young man.
This source is one of the most useful ones I’ve been privileged to find and read. While being a
teacher is a lot about being able to pass knowledge on to children and help them grow
academically, a big part of it is being able to help and mentor them with anything they need.
Compared to my other sources, this one is the most useful in the individual and personal lives of
students. It is most definitely reliable, because everyone wants to be heard at some point, or at
least wants someone to be there if they need it. The goal of this chapter was to encourage
teachers to always be there for their students, and make sure to ask if they ever need anything.
I am a person who likes to help people (which is one of the many reasons why I would like to be
an elementary school teacher), and this source was helpful in telling exactly what not and what to

5. do in situations with students. As a teacher, you can always ask, and if the student doesn’t want
to talk about it then they’ll say no. But to give them an opportunity to may be the biggest
blessing they’ll get, and give you the chance to help them. This chapter helped with the aspect of
personal lives in children and is a big portion of being a good teacher. I can use this in talking
about everything that entails being a teacher while researching.
Clark, Ron. "Part 1, Chapter 2: Not Every Child Deserves a Cookie." The End of Molasses
Classes: Getting Our Kids Unstuck: 101 Extraordinary Solutions for Parents and
Teachers. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011. 7-11. Print.
Many people believe that good grades is equivalent to good teachers. No one should assume this
– some teachers may be giving them just to avoid problems with the child, their parents, or
administration. In some awards ceremonies, there are instances where every child gets an award.
But the question is, are they being challenged, or being praised for perhaps being mediocre? The
student’s parents seem to believe that their child getting an okay education and making A’s is
much better than them getting a wonderful education and making C’s. At the beginning of the
year, Ron Clark gives his students in his fifth grade class an assignment over a book. They focus
on a specific character and make a visual representation, and present it to the class. But Clark,
believing in helping children reach their true potentials, hands out failing grades to multiple
students in the class, and gives them what they really deserve. It’s the beginning of the learning
process he uses, where he applies societal values in the elementary classroom. One specific girl
got a failing grade and was very upset because she had only gotten A’s, but Clark explained to
her and the class what a good project looked like. On their next class project, the same girl tried
harder, and got a 70. At the end of the year, for their final project, Clark assigned a timeline for
the student that had to have at least fifty significant dates. The girl who has been trying harder
and harder had outdone herself with a four-foot pyramid that opened up to reveal carvings of one
hundred and fifty facts, along with carved artifacts and pictures she made. Clark was incredibly
proud of her, and she finally got her A. In this scenario, it was good to show the girl that she was
able to do more than mediocre – she could make something great. If everyone were to follow this
strategy, then they would not be doing a disservice to the children anymore by giving them false
hope. Clark also enjoys baking cookies for some students, and handing them to those who have
exhibited hard work. When some children don’t get one, parents immediately get upset. He
explains to them what happens, and encourages the kids to work hard for the next week’s
cookies. It needs to be taught that not everyone deserves praise for what they do just to make
them feel good, because it ends up setting them up for failure in the long run. To do this as a
teacher, make sure you explain exactly what you’re looking for from your students – hard work,
instructions on a project, etc. Give examples as well, and then decide how it should be graded.
Be clear with every instruction, even to parents, so everyone knows the standard.
This whole book is incredibly useful – this chapter was too, because it explained the moral
dilemma that teachers may have about passing and failing their students. Compared to other
sources, this is a really great one for giving a straightforward point of view whose goal is to help
teachers push their students into doing what they are capable of. This information is reliable
because it is coming straight from this book by an elementary teacher himself.
This source brought attention to the moral standpoint that I hadn’t even thought about yet.
Deciding how to give grades seems pretty difficult if you’re a person who feels bad being mean.
It was helpful for me to understand that it is going to take a lot of thinking about and explaining

6. in everything I want my students to do. I can use this as a whole new chapter in my research
project, because I’ve never thought about it before this book. I look forward to reading and
understanding more of what Ron Clark’s advice entails.
“Elementary School Teacher." Bridges Transitions Inc. XAP Corporation Company, n.d.
Web. 13 Sept. 2015.
Elementary school teachers mostly teach basic skills in academics, along with other formative
skills to children. They have to plan lessons and make objectives for students, teach students
individually and in groups, and make and enforce rules in the classroom for behavior. They help
boost children’s learning and imaginations. There is a lot of walking and standing involved,
along with loud noise levels. Being an elementary school teacher also puts one at risk for
diseases from children. A teacher has to be able to speak and see clearly, and be able to
understand different types of speaking. They are usually social, artistic, and conventional people,
who help, create, and organize efficiently. Work values include achievement and independence,
encouraging them to do their best and be able to make their own decisions on what they are
going to do. A teacher has to have at least a medium level of skills in all school subjects and
teaching. If one is interested in this field, they should take teaching classes in high school and
education and teaching programs after high school. To be a teacher, one must have at least a
Bachelor’s degree, and they must be certified by the state. The average annual wage for being an
elementary school teacher in Texas is $50,290, and nationally is $56,320. The employment
outlook is stable and growing, and there are about 10,430 annual job openings.
This was a very useful source, because it gave an overall idea of what teaching requires and
gives in return. The information is reliable, because it isn’t from any point of view – it is just
stating facts. The goal of this source was to give insight on what being an elementary school
teacher requires in education, social aspects, teaching capabilities, and organizing, and gave all
the possible wages to earn, from entry to experienced. I was able to learn all of this in a non-
biased way, and it was a helpful source.
Seeing that I would like to become an elementary school teacher, this article helped me to see
what I need in life to do so. It helped to give a big overview on what I want to learn this year in
ISM. I can use this source in many ways – from examples of wages to what a person in this
career is responsible for. It hasn’t changed how I think about my topic, but it gives me a good
idea of what all it entails.
Fink, Micah. "New Teacher Survival Guide: Planning." YouTube. YouTube, 6 Sept. 2011.
Web. 07 Oct. 2015.
As a first year English teacher, Ms. Rubinetti is helped along the process of planning a lesson for
a class. Her department chair has been giving her tips throughout. Kids will obviously get bored
at some point or another, so the teacher has to make sure that the way they’re presenting the
matter at hand isn’t causing that. Lesson plans are basically the skills taught in a class and how to
use them, and they create a purpose. One has to be thinking about the whole process of planning
what their teaching, and the end product. The topics must be specific and skill-oriented. Once the
objective of the lesson planned is clearly defined, the teacher then breaks it down into
manageable parts. The “do now” part of the lesson is the introduction to the class, whether it be a
journal prompt or something to get minds moving and students ready to learn. Next is the mini-
lesson, where the teacher is able to have this time to teach their students what they need to know

7. about the objective. A teacher should make sure that they dictate what their students need to be
doing, whether it’s taking notes or filling in a worksheet. To reinforce the mini-lesson, guided
practice is the next step to take. Usually this involves some sort of group effort or the class
working together with effective examples, as the teacher moves around the classroom to make
sure everyone is participating and is making progress. Then, independent practices and lessons
allow for the students to apply the new concepts and skills they’ve learned and the teacher can
check that they know how to. Finally, the assessment should be given, which will assess student
mastery based on the lesson plan objective. After the unit is over, the teacher should make sure
to reflect about how it went, and see what they can change or keep for the next lesson plans.
Make sure as a teacher to always be flexible to whatever may change along the way. When
making lesson plans, create an objective that is specific, skill-oriented and measureable. Follow
the manageable parts to engage, teach, practice and help students master what the teacher is
teaching.
This video, which is the first time I’ve watched one for an annotated bibliography, was
moderately helpful. It gave an overview of how to make lesson plans while using a real life
example of a first year high school English teacher. It will most likely be different for me, since
my focus is elementary school, but it was a useful source. Compared to other articles I’ve read,
this one was different because it was gave an actual teacher as an example instead of listing out
what to do. The information is reliable because it was from an actual high school and included all
of their methods of teaching. It could be biased for that reason, since it is coming from just one
high school, and they’re saying to use it. The goal is to help teachers understand how to plan
their own lesson plans for their students.
Lesson planning is a big part of teaching – there is no way a teacher could wing their lessons
every day and teach students all they need to know. This source was helpful because it gave a
basic idea of the structure of teaching units and what lesson plans should look like. It helps shape
the argument about teachers still having to work hard to be able to relay information to students
to help them learn. If I were to ever have a time to be able to help teach a class with my mentor, I
might be able to use this source. I can also explain it as one way of lesson planning. Again, this
source hasn’t changed anything I thought about my topic before. It did help me learn more about
it though!
Gutek, Gerald L., Jane McCarthy, Linda F. Quinn, Kenneth R. Howey, and Linda M. Post.
"Elementary Education - Current Trends, Preparation Of Teachers - HISTORY
OF." State University. Education Encyclopedia, 2015. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.
Elementary school across America differs some in its grade levels and which classifies at what
school, but compared to other countries, it has a different background. When European settlers
first came to North America, they set up a two-track school system, which admitted children to
the two levels of school depending on what social/economic class their family belonged to.
When primary schools were set up, they were mostly run by churches – especially in the North.
The Puritans started elementary schools to educate their children right away, their main focus
being reading and religion. The middle colonies were somewhat similar in that most schools
were supported and taught by various churches, but they had a lot of religious and language
diversity. In the southern colonies, most wealthy children had private tutors, while the rest of the
children would work out in fields. When the Northwest Ordinance of 1785 was issued, it
included giving money to regions dedicated to education – although since each state was in

8. charge of their schooling, they had the responsibility. When Thomas Jefferson came along, he
had the current idea of public education for both boys and girls, which was not enacted at the
time. Elementary education began to lean more towards nationalism, creating the ‘American
version’ of elementary education. Many western nations began to take on national school
systems around the 1830s, instead of church-governed schools. Sunday school was established to
continue the education of basic literacy and religion. Monitorialism was a kind of teaching style
that became more prevalent in the nineteenth century. More advanced students would relay the
information they learned from their teacher to a group of students who were less advanced, and
help the teacher with various things, but the practice eventually died out. The common school
movement was the idea that all children, from any class or race, could attend public schools.
Many schools would assimilate immigrant children, emphasizing American nationalism. The
common school movement began to pop up in other countries as well. Massachusetts, in 1826,
required every town to have a school committee elected to provide and make policies for the
local schools. One thing that differed between the common schools in America and elsewhere
was that in America, there were many small one-room schools that were provided by local
teachers and communities. In other countries, many one-room schools had government-mandated
outside teachers who seemed very different. After the Civil War, the Freedman’s Bureau
established elementary schools for children of former slaves. In an effort to assimilate more,
Americans got Native American children to attend boarding schools to force them to learn the
English language and basic curriculum. Nowadays, public schools are the most popular, but
private schools make up a good portion of where students attend. Some of the goals of
elementary school include academic and social skills, along with basic knowledge. Much of
today’s elementary education involves patriotism and the nation’s values by representing “good”
people when showing examples to children in school. In America, because English is our
national language, every elementary school can teach in it, while other countries have a hard
time deciding when there isn’t just one language. Children at a young age learn the basics of
language arts, social studies, science, and math. The way they’re taught has complaints from
others who think it should be a different way, but the subjects are broad and more surface-
leveled, and help to give children a general idea of each, diving into the deeper topics as one gets
older. Standardized testing is also a movement that some people agree with and others don’t, but
can help give an estimate on how children are doing in reading and writing every year.
This was an incredibly useful source, because not only did it go into depth about how each type
of school was started in America, it also included the present-day teaching as well. Compared to
the other sources I’ve found, this one is very unique, because as an elementary teacher, there
isn’t much to do with this information from the past, but as an ISM student researching
elementary education, it helps me to be able to research the trends and why things are the way
there are now. It is reliable because I was able to recognize some of this information from my
United States History class, meaning that it isn’t biased, because it’s simply stating what
happened in the past. The goal of this source is to tell readers how elementary teaching started in
America, and how we got to the point where we are now.
The history of elementary education can be a big part of my research, because I can see where it
all started. This was a helpful source, and not only the history part – it also talked about modern
curriculum and standardized testing, which helped me to compare then to now. The history can
be the start of my research project, because history is how things started in the past. It helps me
to recognize how much happened when colonists first came to America, and how quickly they

9. were able to bring their old ways with them, but then change them again to and American
version. This source helped my view of my source broaden more, and it’s nice to be able to keep
learning about this subject.
Marfin, Gay and Feldt, Casey. “LessonPlanning Meeting.” Blattman Elementary. San
Antonio, TX. 2 Dec. 2015.
Being present in the lesson planning meeting with Mrs. Marfin and Mrs. Feldt was very eye
opening. When I first got there, they started talking about the Christmas party that each class as
having the Friday before break. They had sheets of coupons that we started cutting out and
making into books, and Mrs. Marfin asked me if I could take the rest home for Mrs. Buchman
and finish them (which I did!). They reviewed an expository non-fiction project in which they
talked about their students presenting a series of factual, logically organized reasons to support
ideas in order to convince the reader to think or do something. Next, we made a key for an
activity that was making a periscope. We figured out (after some difficulty) how to fold pieces of
paper from what the instructions explained. The rest of the meeting mostly consisted of them
preparing for what they needed to review for the upcoming social studies benchmark. They
printed out pictures of history and matching explanations of the pictures, so they could make a
matching activity for their kids to review with. We all sorted them into separate categories, like
Globalization, Civil War Era, etc. based on the TEKS divisions. After about an hour of sorting,
we concluded our meeting.
Going to a lesson planning meeting was such a helpful participatory source, because I really got
to see the behind the scenes look at what they do. I was surprised that it wasn’t like equal time
for each subject or really organized, but more of throwing ideas around for what they should do –
which I thought was really useful to know. The goal of this was for me to understand what it’s
like to plan a lesson, and be able to ask any questions I had about anything they did.
This source was incredibly helpful! I loved being able to just listen to the conversation between
Mrs. Marfin and Mrs. Feldt, because I could understand what it was like. It was awesome to see
how loose the meeting was and how they were able to collaborate on different things. Each fifth
grade teacher is a specific “specialist” for a subject, but it was great seeing that they all helped
each other on whatever subject needed to be reviewed, especially when they had something as
important as a CDB coming up.
Marfin, Gay. “Lesson Planning and Teaching for speech.” Blattman Elementary. San
Antonio, TX. 2 Dec. 2015.
After I attended the lesson planning meeting, I explained to Mrs. Marfin how I had a speech
coming up – the Teach Speech – and explained what it entailed and what I had to do for it. The
idea in my head was to teach how to lesson plan, but Mrs. Marfin had better ideas. We sat down
in her classroom and she pulled out her math book for fifth graders, and flipped through lessons.
We talked about how I could go about it, and ended up decided that I would pretty much do a
math warmup and incorporate all of the lesson planning or explaining of a teacher’s side I would
do. We picked a simple math lesson, and she listed and explained all the steps that a teacher
should go through for a math lesson, especially if they use this certain book. By her writing out
these points and explaining them, I was able to plan out my speech, and got to include
suggestions she said like a “callback” i.e. “clap once if you can hear me” or similar ways to grab
a class’s attention. Mrs. Marfin made copies of about fifteen total pages from the lesson book

10. and website, as well as giving me three students’ actual work, which I got to use in my speech.
We talked for a little while longer about how I could incorporate the lesson planning within until
she found an actual lesson plan for that week for me to look at.
This participatory source was very useful to my research. Compared to other sources, this source
helped me with a specific assignment for our class. Most of what I’ve been doing is general
research for elementary education, but it was nice to have some change and focus on a single
assignment specific to ISM. The information from Mrs. Marfin was just one method of teaching,
but was reliable because that’s the method she’s been using for years. The goal of this
participatory source was to have a one-on-one meeting with Mrs. Marfin about my speech. She
has been teaching for a long time and has some experienced knowledge with the warmups and
lesson plans.
When Mrs. Marfin said she was able to help me, I was overjoyed. It was so helpful, because
usually during mentor meetings I spend time with all of the teachers instead of only Mrs.
Buchman, or I am with her class. So having specific one-on-one time to solely look at writing a
speech was important and helpful. Hopefully I will be able to use my teach speech for something
else (like my final presentation!) or at least certain aspects of it.
Matecko, Hannah. “Interview with Cathie Odanovich.” Personal Interview. 15 Sept. 2015.
Cathie Odanovich, a kindergarten teacher at Blattman Elementary School, is on her eighteenth
year of teaching. She has worked at Blattman since it opened in 2003, and has enjoyed every
second of it! She realized she wanted to be a teacher after she had kids when she decided it
would be a good job because she would get the same holidays as her children (who are all grown
up now). Odanovich attended Southwest Texas College, where she had a dream with her friend
to work in fashion together. After meeting her husband, she stopped college there and raised a
family. She then later went to A&M University to major in teaching elementary, so she could do
what she wanted. Odanovich has loved every year she’s taught and doesn’t have a favorite year
because they’re all so unique to each other. She has a very productive way in disciplining her
students – she always makes sure that the kids understand why what they did was wrong, and to
remind them that they’re still good kids, but they just made a bad choice. It helps their own
confidence and for them to recognize the reasons why they shouldn’t throw rocks or hit
someone. When Odanovich first started teaching, she was surprised at how difficult it was to
manage a class. But over the years she has learned to prepare for each day beforehand, so she
won’t have to search for things and let the class go wild in the few seconds she has her back
turned. She makes sure to introduce new ways of learning to keep the children interested in what
she’s teaching, including teaching the alphabet by associating each letter to a new character who
the class won’t know until they start it – which was something that I got to do when I went to
Blattman! Odanovich’s favorite subject to teach is writing, because she can incorporate her own
life experiences and make up crazy stories to have fun with her students, and she enjoys teaching
them how to let their own imaginations run wild. As a teacher, she makes sure to see that parents
are involved with their kids by conferences and having parents read to their children as
assignments for them to do together. She motivates her own students by singing, dancing, and
most importantly, believing in them every day, and encouraging them that all they have to do is
try. Odanovich’s least favorite part of teaching is all the paper and computer work, but the
rewarding feeling of helping students grow in their knowledge outweighs the cons of teaching
much more to her. All of the kindergarten teachers are able to work together and bounce ideas

11. off of each other, which is helpful to all of them. She advised me to try to relate to kids as much
as I can in activities I do while studying teaching this year, and to make sure I have a passion and
love for working with kids.
This interview was very eye-opening and useful to my research. I was able to see what being a
kindergarten teacher sounds and feels like. Compared to my interview with Mrs. Buchman in my
other source, this one was a bit shorter so I felt that we didn’t get to talk quite as much. The
information that Mrs. Odanovich told me was very reliable, especially because she has been
teaching kindergarten for eighteen years. The interview isn’t necessarily biased, it’s just a source
from one point of view. The goal of this source was to learn more about elementary school
teaching, and to see if I would enjoy kindergarten out of all the grade levels.
My interview with Mrs. Odanovich was helpful in that it got me to see that maybe I don’t want
to be a kindergarten teacher, but perhaps a few grades older. She didn’t say anything negative
about four and five year olds, but it does seem harder to teach kids who might not know anything
yet. I also mentioned the idea of her being my mentor, but she will be having back surgery and
be out of teaching for six weeks, so unfortunately I don’t think I will be with her. The interview
itself was helpful to get insight on spending each day with little kids, and I will be able to use
some of the information she passed to me for further research.
Matecko, Hannah. “Interview with Haley Buchman.” Personal Interview. 15 Sept. 2015.
Haley Buchman is a fifth grade teacher at Blattman Elementary. She has been a substitute
teacher there since 2008, and finally became a teacher three years ago. She has two kids, Will
and Marybeth, and a husband, Kevin. She first went to Birmingham-Southern College, where she
majored in finance and worked at IBM for a while. After meeting her husband and moving to
San Antonio, she realized finance wasn’t her dream. She ended up going to Trinity University to
get a degree in Elementary Education, and became a pre-school teacher for three years,
eventually coming to Blattman to be a current teacher. Buchman is extremely passionate about
her job and looks forward to every single day, even if there are little frustrations here and there.
She handles all the discipline of her students positively, because she believes that all kids are
good, and some just happen to do bad things once in a while. When she first started to teach,
Buchman was not prepared for how little time she had to grade papers and plan classes – she
would save all of her grading for Sunday night! But now she has a system, and she stays after
school every day until 4-5:00 to finish grading papers from the day and prepare everything for
the next. Her favorite part of the day is math, because she enjoys teaching it and the subject
itself. She motivates her students to behave, listen and learn in different ways, including having a
line watcher each time they go from place to place outside the classroom, who gets to pick the
next line watcher (a student who they thought had the best behavior on the journey). They get a
ticket, which can be saved up with others and spent at her store filled with fun little school
supplies and toys. Buchman likes to change things up on how they learn and how she teaches, so
no one gets bored and everyone still learns well. She motivates the parents by making sure when
she talks to them to focus on the positive things about the student first, so the parent will be more
willing to talk. Some of the pros and cons of being a teacher include the extremely rewarding
aspect of teaching kids and helping them learn and develop as they grow. Buchman loves her
job, but something she doesn’t love is all the papers that come with it – mostly grading. She gets
to work with other fifth grade teachers, and each of them have a specific subject that they plan

12. and give to the other teachers. Buchman looks forward to teaching her fifth grade class every
day, and she wouldn’t change a thing if she could.
This was such a useful source – I loved being able to hear firsthand about all the things that Mrs.
Buchman is doing with her classes, and she kept telling me how great I would be in this
profession, and how it needs people like me (which was awesome!). Compared to my other
interviews, this one was probably the best, because I got more time with her and she seemed
more willing to dive into each question I asked. The information is from her point of view, so
it’s one way that things are done, but I know every teacher has different methods for almost
everything. The goal was to learn more about being a teacher in general, and perhaps look for a
mentor.
This interview with Mrs. Buchman was very helpful to my ISM research. She was able to give
me an inside look on what it’s like to be an elementary school teacher. I can use this source as
my mentor! Because I think I will ask her to be mine. It has, again, only got me more excited for
this year and what is going to happen with everything, and I’m looking forward to everything I
get to do.
Matecko, Hannah. “Interview with Kathleen Welch.” Personal Interview. 22 Sept. 2015.
Kathleen Welch, a former kindergarten and current second grade teacher at Locke Hill
Elementary school, is teaching her thirty-fourth year. She went to college at Southwest Texas
State University, where she got a degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood (teacher
of the Young Child), which was a degree available for a short while that she enjoyed. After
becoming a teacher, she got married and had a daughter, Kasey, who also went through the ISM
program at Clark last year – something that Welch had known much about, and was willing to
help me as much as possible. She had gone through nursing school before getting her degree in
education, where she learned that she was skillful in helping people, which was her first instance
in realizing she wanted to be a teacher. Welch taught kindergarten at Locke Hill for most of her
time there until seven years ago, as she has decided to pass the torch of the babies to someone
younger. Now, as a second grade teacher, Welch finds herself having very useful methods she
has learned throughout the years. In handling discipline, each student in her class gets assigned a
number, and she has each number on a piece of paper on the front white board. There’s a scale of
good to bad that she uses, and depending on how each individual acts that day, they may get
moved up and down – but without humiliating them in front of the rest of the class. Every day,
Welch prepares for class by staying after school (some days, “much too long” she claims) to plan
what she’ll do in class for the next day. Her favorite part of the school day is reading, because
she enjoys getting to spending time with each reading group in the class, and helping kids who
need help or challenging those who soar. She motivates her students by imbedding lots of small,
fun little games throughout the classroom and time for the students to have fun while learning.
Welch also has a homework club, where students get to be in a club that gets special privileges,
such as eating in the classroom, if they complete all their homework, which motivates them as
well. Some of the downsides of being a teacher is how much work it is for such little pay, as well
as the hours to go with it. The paperwork gets her too – being accountable for every student in
programs at the beginning of the year and all the papers and evaluations to be filled are not quite
her thing. The second grade teachers all meet up once a week to plan lessons together, and each
teacher has a subject they provide and distribute for. Overall, Welch enjoys teaching her students
at Locke Hill, and looks forward to the new experiences she gets.

13. This interview was very useful, because as Mrs. Welch has been an elementary teacher for many
years, she was able to tell me exactly how it is. Also, because of Kasey, she knew all about our
portfolios, and she gave me some useful handouts and lesson plans to include in it. Compared to
my other interviews, this was a nice and productive one, and lies at the same level as the others,
as I got to learn more information about being a teacher and Mrs. Welch herself.
With the papers Mrs. Welch gave me, I will be able to easily fit that into my research project. I
thought it was really funny, when I asked if she would be open about being my mentor, she said
only if everyone else said no. I enjoyed spending time with her, and she helped me get a good
point of view on what her teaching is like. Mrs. Welch made sure to tell me the cons of teaching
too, so it helped open my mind up to that as well. She was a great person to interview, and I was
glad I got the chance to!
Matecko, Hannah. “Interview with Kelly Brown.” Personal Interview. 15 Sept. 2015.
Kelly Brown, on her tenth year of teaching, is currently a kindergarten teacher at Locke Hill
Elementary. She went to Texas State University where she got a Bachelor’s degree in
Interdisciplinary Studies and her Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction. She is now married and
has a two year old son, and loves her job. Brown knew since she was little that she wanted to be
a teacher as she enjoyed pretending. Her favorite year she taught was one year when she taught
second grade, where she got to be with kids who were a few years older than kindergarten, and
she enjoyed teaching them and building on what they already knew. In her classroom, Brown has
what she likes to call a chip system – mainly for discipline, but also for rewards. If a student
exemplifies good behavior or does something bad, then she is able to move their “chip” on a
board up or down, depending on what they’ve done. Of course it’s not the best feeling to be
moved down on the board, so it motivates her students to be on their best behavior. When Brown
first started teaching, she was surprised at how little time she found herself with – which
everyone feels at some point. In her first year she had to figure out how to balance her time with
teaching and grading and planning for her class. Brown’s favorite part of the school day is
reading groups, where each student is placed in a group similar to their reading ability. They
rotate tables to where they get time to be with her every day, and she gets to help every student
within their groups. Brown makes sure to create solid relationships with her students, because
she knows that the better relationship they have, the more the students will listen to and learn
from what she’s saying. Brown also understands how important parents are as stepping stones
and primary care givers in their children’s lives, so she makes sure to try to have assignments
that could involve them and help their child with their understanding of what Brown teaches. The
pros of being a teacher are the rewarding feeling to see kids learn and succeed, and knowing she
helped them. The con is just that there is never enough time! Because she has a young son, she
has to leave right after school to go pick him up from daycare. But once a week her and the other
kindergarten teachers get together and plan their lessons for the next week. The advice Brown
gave me for this year on studying elementary education is to observe classrooms and get a feel
for what it’s like.
This interview was useful, especially because it was my very first one, and I was pretty nervous.
I was able to learn what it was like to conduct an interview, and I knew I had made a few flub-
ups that I would change for the next ones. I got to learn from a teacher that I had no connections
with or had never met, unlike the other three interviews I conducted, so it was interesting to learn
about Mrs. Brown with almost no background knowledge.

14. It was really helpful to learn as much as I can from different viewpoints from real like people
who I can have a conversation with rather than reading from an article. Mrs. Brown had some
very useful tips (I really liked her chip system and I probably didn’t quite do it justice when I
explained it), and I enjoyed talking with her. Conducting this interview gave me more experience
not only for my other interviews, but just talking with other professionals who I had never met.
NASP. "Fair and Effective Discipline for All Students: Best Practice Strategies for
Educators." NASP Center. National Association of School Psychologists, 2002. Web.
20 Sept. 2015.
Teachers often have a hard time finding the right kind of discipline for students. In recent years,
more schools have taken on a zero tolerance policy, meaning that students will get suspended or
expelled from serious behavior issues that can harm themselves or the people around them. But
schools seem to be using it more frequently, and not at a good cost. Zero tolerance policies don’t
increase the school’s safety, and they only cause the student who was suspended/expelled to
possibly get caught up in more trouble. On the other hand, positive discipline strategies create a
much more successful outcome for students. Instead of punishment, they help change the
student’s environment to a more positive one, by ways such as modeling or family support.
Positive discipline strategies can benefit so many, for the relationships it can build, the fairness
and safety it brings, and the overall improvement in behavior and performance. Students with
disabilities are included in this, according to the IDEA, which encourages positive discipline and
proactive behavioral support. For this to be done, support, prevention of problem behaviors, and
the right intensity are needed. For example, violence prevention in schools often has a
curriculum, counselors, family and community involvement there to help them. Early
intervention, in-school suspension, adult mentors and teacher support teams are all there to
provide support and encourage kids, as well as proactively disciplining them when needed.
Students do not benefit from getting taken out of the classroom for punishment, and there are
many more useful ways to help students with their behavioral problems.
This article was useful to me and my research, because I learned more of what to do and what
not to do regarding discipline. Compared to my other two sources, this one was a bit more
obvious, because it never seems right to just expel someone from school – they’d only be prone
to do more bad things at that point. It was still useful to hear the ways to actually implement
positive and proactive discipline. This information is reliable, because the National Association
of School Psychologists wrote it and gave resources as well, and the article was not biased but
based on researched. The goal is to convince teachers and schools to use better discipline for
their students and not punish them in harsh ways.
Discipline is a big part of teaching, just from getting a class under control to a kid throwing rocks
on the playground – it’s obvious that a foot has to be put down somewhere. But this article helps
to encourage the foot to be a nice one, so kids won’t be encouraged to rebel against but will
improve themselves and their behavior. It helps shape the aspect of being an overall good
elementary teacher, and that there’s so much that is included. When I’ve told a few people about
what I’ve decided to study, some of them have responded with “but you’re so smart!” – as if
elementary school teachers aren’t smart. It usually offends me at least a little, but its articles like
these that help me to see that there’s so much to do behind the scenes in being a teacher, and
that’s how I’ll use it in my research. It hasn’t changed my thoughts, only encouraged them.

15. Riccomini, Paul J., Stephanie Morano, and Jiwon Hwang. "'Interleaved' Worked
Examples and Math Problems: Embedding Instructional Guidance in Math
Homework and Independent Practice to Improve Student Accuracy and
Outcomes." Educational Research Newsletter and Webinars. Pennsylvania State
University, 16 Mar. 2015. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.
There are many different kinds of students with various learning abilities, and of course not just
one method of teaching will work for all. But the current method of most math classes – where
the teacher may briefly teach something, assign homework for practice, and expect most kids to
learn it – isn’t helping anyone. It only hinders the students’ skill level if they haven’t learned it
right and can create frustration. Yet there is a new approach to helping kids learn better during
homework or practice – the interleaved strategy. Usually in textbooks or on worksheets, teachers
might give a few examples of problems worked out in the beginning, just so students can see
what they are about to do. This is a step in the right direction, but most students will end up
skimming over it because it’s so similar to what they’re about to do. The real solution to helping
students understand what they’re not understanding is to embed worked out or partially worked
out problems among the practice. They will be much more willing to look at the individual
worked out problem rather than all of the examples at once. This method can be used during
class in groups or during homework, and once students are mostly able to get the concept being
taught on their own, it should fade out to only to the first few steps of a problem. Teachers are
encouraged to teach students about this new strategy and find ways to embed solutions into
homework, while encouraging their students to study the solutions. There should be variation –
scattered worked out problems, scattered partially worked out problems, and the rest independent
practice – among assignments. This method will help to give students more support on their own
learning, and help them to perform better.
This was a useful source, because I got to see an effective way of teaching math to all kinds of
kids, slower-learners included. Compared to my first source, which was mainly the job layout,
this one dives deeper into a more narrow area. It’s reliable because it’s talking about the method
of a studied practice of teaching, which the authors have found out works well. The goal of this
source is to help teachers be able to teach their students in a way that most will understand and
be able to perform better.
This article can fit perfectly into my research, because it’s not only about teaching, but is also
about my favorite subject. It was helpful to see another great idea on how to teach math, and it
helps me to recognize all the work that is put into figuring out how to teach so many different
kids. I can use this simply as one method of teaching, as I’m sure I will find many others. It
didn’t change how I see anything, but it did open my eyes a little bit more.
"Vallecito Elementary School in Northern California Brings Standing Desks into the
Classroom." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 12 Oct. 2015. Web. 27 Nov. 2015.
As more and more workplaces are getting rid of the traditional desk and chairs, they are bringing
in the new invention – the standing desk. They have become so popular that elementary schools
have started to take them on as well. Vallecito Elementary School in San Rafael, California, will
be the first elementary school to have standing desks everywhere. Students are excited about it,
because their legs don’t get stiff and they can use the “fidget bar” to press on to burn energy
without wiggling around all day. They plan to have all twenty two of their classrooms stocked
with the standing desks by the end of the year, and already have nineteen converted. Stools are

16. also there and teachers let them sit if they get tired, but especially after a few months most kids
spend the day standing for almost the whole time. Now the kids are more focused and
productive, and after the teachers had to adjust as well, they support it just as much. Apparently
test scores can increase up to 15% and kids can burn 25% more calories throughout the day by
standing. Dr. Steven Mittelman fully supports this movement, because the physical benefits are
immediate and helps things like muscles in legs and circulation and function. The only setback to
all of this is the cost – it can cost up to $6,000 to convert just one classroom. Because of this,
some schools have tried other things like yoga balls instead of chairs or other programs to keep
kids active. Juliet Starrett, who was the one to start the standing movement at Vallecito
Elementary, has the goal of getting every public school to take part within the next ten years. She
started the program StandUpKids to help raise money and get donations for schools to transform,
and for it to be the new norm. It may take a while for the rest of the country to catch on, but the
kids at Vallecito are enjoying their new lifestyles.
This is a very useful source, and compared to all the other videos I’ve watched or passages or
articles I’ve read, this one has to do the most with what my product will most likely be, so it is
very useful to understand everything I can about new technology and innovations in the
classroom. It’s reliable because it’s from CBS and isn’t an opinion, because it’s all facts that
aren’t biased. The goal is to explain the new standing desks and talk about the optimistic goals
for the future of public schools.
This fits into my research perfectly! As a future and technology-based classroom model that will
most likely be my product, this has given me more insight onto how the standing desks started
and how much kids appreciate them. It can cause me to shape my argument in that more physical
activity – even just standing up – is much better for kids. I can use this to copy how the video
showed the standing desks in my model of a classroom for my product.