After watching the Teaching Channel video “Guided Reading with Jenna”, one thing Jenna does for a diverse classroom environment is meeting with small groups that have been determined by reading levels. During this time the teacher is able to meet the needs of individual students in a one on one setting.  Based on the “Five Keys to Good Room Arrangement”, Jenna uses a room environment that is consistent with her instructional goals and activities. For example, she has a “U shaped” desk that she uses for small group. This is effective because all students are able to sit around her and get the personal feedback. She also has a mini session in the mornings where kids are given whole group instruction while sitting on a carpeted area. This is effective because she is sitting in the front with her jumbo notepad allowing all students to view her and listen to instruction. Additionally, Jenna’s classroom is setup to keep high traffic areas congestion free. She does this by having her desk in the back of the room, the carpeted area in the front of the room and the students desks are in the space in between.  This is effective because there is enough space for the students and teacher to move around the classroom freely without knocking materials over or bumping into one another when transitioning between stations. As Jenna states in the video, the hardest part of guided reading with small group is classroom management. In order to ensure she can see all students while working in small group, the location of her desk in the back allows for her to see what the rest of the class is doing during their independent work. Additionally, all bookshelves and other pieces of furniture line the sides of the room ensuring no student can hide behind anything. This is effective because if she wasn’t able to see her students unwanted behavior is more likely to occur and if a situation happened she would know exactly who, what, where, when and why it happened. As far as keeping materials readily accessible, Jenna keeps work station bins on a cart that are ready for her students to use. This is effective because it keeps students organized and prevents interruptions while the teacher is in small group. It also helps prevent wasted time with getting things out and cleaning up. Lastly, in order for all students to view presentations and displays, Jenna has: posters all over her walls, anchor charts and a jumbo pad that is center to when students are on the carpet during instruction.  This is effective because all students are able to receive all information from instruction, modeling examples and etc. when they go to their independent stations. 

Jenna does a great job keeping her class on task.  She had 31 students however she managed to keep everyone moving along. Students knew their  work stations and what skills they needed to work on.  I like the way she intereacted with her students to keep them involved.

I really liked the use of groups, to teach / break down all of the specific skills. However, all of the transitions and behavior control techniques were a lot though... personally, not a huge fan of the rigidity and bells and the focous on college being the end all be all.. 

 I found the video very informative, I liked the way she interacted with the students she was clear direct and precise. the students knew exactly what to do when required. I also liked the way she prompted them thank you for opening your book this is showing me that you are ready to start, this is also reminding other students to do the same if they have not already done so. I can see how it would take a lot of pre-teaching to set up the various stations, so that she could work uninterrupted with one group, but on the positive side this, once taught you could use the skill in other areas.

Very informative and helpful. Jenna did an excellent job of modeling the skill, strategy, or workstations with her students. I liked the fact that she waited to implement guided reading until students were able to work independently and demonstrated an understanding of the entire guided reading process.