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Megan Barton

Dr. Ellis

EDUC 1301.100

5-1-19

Observation Reflection

When I first signed up for this class I was anxious to see that we had to have sixteen

observation hours in a classroom. Me, an already tired and overwhelmed college student who

works everyday, was worried that I wouldn’t be able to complete the necessary hours. I was also

worried that after doing the hours I would not favor profession anymore. However, the goal to

persevere was more important than me being exhausted or scared of a couple second graders. So,

today, I am going to discuss with you where I did my observation hours and my experiences in

the classroom with the teachers and children, then I am going to discuss the environment with

other teachers in the school, and lastly, I am going to talk about how this experience changed me

and ideas I would like to implement in my future classroom.

On the first day of observation hours I was super nervous, I went to this particular

elementary school when I was little and have not been back since. My observation hours were at

Thomas Justiss Elementary School, in Mrs. Bowels 2nd grade classroom. When I walked into

the classroom, the first thing I noticed was all of the bright posters and pictures on the walls. I

have always liked this about younger classrooms because in highschool and college the amount

of decoration and positive productivity slowly dwindles down to nothing. Even though they were

just 2nd graders, Mrs. Bowles treated the children with high accountability and respect. She did

not let children makes excuses for not doing their work, and would listen to their problems and
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questions with an open mind ready to listen, not respond. Overall, I was lucky to have a teacher

that mentored, showed leadership, and has a true passion for this profession.

Elementary teachers have a difficult job. The teachers at Justiss Elementary are all

onboard with the same goals- student success. Even when I was sitting with them during their

lunch period they were discussing ways to make certain lessons easier for students to understand

or discussing future goals for them. The teachers and staff at Justiss Elementary school are

professionals who truly care about the success of their students.

Lastly, I am going to talk about how this experience changed me and what I would like to

implement in my future classroom. This experience changed my views on how elementary

schools are ran. Now, they are much more organized and structured with particular strategies

they need to be successful at before they move on. Teachers are holding young children at a

much higher accountability then I had previously realized. In my future classroom, I would like

to have it ran similar to Mrs. Bowels. She would first teach the lesson like Saxon wanted her too,

then she would reteach it a couple times in a different learning style to help the children. Because

of this, I would say she is mainly student-centered because she goes back and keeps re-teaching

it for the benefit of the children.

Overall, doing these observation hours taught me a lot of things. Seeing how this

school was ran and how the teachers and staff were all about the children really opened my eyes

and showed me ways to be successful in this profession. I’m very thankful to get to experience

this opportunity and plan on being a teacher who not only teaches, but a teacher who experiences

and grows with the students.