Running Head: OBSERVATION Page !

Emily Williams

Dr Dale Warby

October 5, 2018

EDU 2-3 - Observation 


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Assignment #1

I completed my observation hours at Staton Elementary School. My first impression of

the classroom environment was that it was warm and welcoming. The room had a lot of

decoration and color on the walls. Some of it was educational and some of it was seasonal and

festive. The student make up consisted of 10 boys and 9 girls. A lot of the kids were wearing

school pride shirts. There was a healthy mix of races and ethnicities. The classroom rules were

hung on the wall by the teachers desk and were as follows: 1. Listen when someone is talking. 2.

Follow directions the first time they are given. 3. Treat everyone with kindness and respect. 4.

Take care of our school and classroom. 5. Its ok to make mistakes.

Assignment #2

The classroom was small, but efficient. The teacher had a small desk in the middle of the

room on which she had a laptop and a projector. On the North side of the room was a projector

screen and on the South side was the white board. The kids desks were in two rows on the West

and East side of the teachers desk in the middle. I really liked the way it was set up because this

way the teacher can use both the projector screen and the white board and al students could

easily see both.

Assignment #3

Daily schedule. Instruction was done in small groups, individually and as a whole class.

They also worked with other classes on the communal room outside the classroom. The teacher

used a Hybrid style of teaching. Depending on the lesson they were doing she would either stand

in front of the class and lecture most times with an example or two. In other subjects, like math,
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she would do the work step by step with the whole class on the projector.(pg 140, instructional

technology. It was very beneficial

for the children because they would tell her the steps and the answers. So really the students were

doing the teaching and she was the one to execute it. The teacher also used music and songs to

help the children transition to their next activity. The students really seemed to love the songs

and little chants they said. It also got them ready and excited for the next activity. All the students

were eager and engaged throughout the day. Some subjects more than others, but still mostly

engaged. There were no students permanently isolated from the rest of the class. One student

who had behavioral problems would sometimes put himself in isolation and want to be away

from the rest of his peers. But his desk and work space was with the rest of the class. She did

keep his desk close to hers to she could be closer to him if a tantrum or his diabetes meter would

sound an alarm. This seating arrangement is discussed in the book. ( pg 530. ) I found the

instructional time pretty interesting. The teacher only spend about 15-20 on one activity. I though

it was a little strange to be jumping to the next activity after so little time, but she explained that

she would lose their attention and interest if she stayed on one thing for too long. Especially

when the activity required them to sit still and not move or write. After periods of time where

they kids were still we watched and danced along with a short video to get the kids moving and

refocused. Transitioning from one activity to another can be very important. We used a little song

that took about 15 seconds to sing and by the time we were done singing the students were

expected to be where they needed to be. Another fun thing we did was called “attention getters”

This is when the class started to get distracted and talk or do something other than what they
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were supposed to be doing. The teacher would call out “ give me five!” and the students were

expected to raise their hand and look at the teacher. Another one she did was call out “ shark

bait” and the students replied with “ oh ha ha”. I think the kids really liked this one because it

was from a movie, Nemo, that I’m pretty certain that all of them have seen. Being in a second

grade class you see all kinds of personalities and behaviors. Most of the children were pretty

great about keeping things appropriate for the classroom, but there were a few kids that did have

some problems with behavior. In this specific class there were 2 kids with IEP’s. One was for

ADHD, and that student has very active and had to be reminded what he needed to do a lot. He

would often walk away from his desk and go to an area of the room that had something that

peeked his interest. After reminded him what he needs to be doing he would gladly listen and go

back. Another student was Type 1 diabetic and also had some behavior problems. He would often

throw fits when he didn’t get his way or something happened that made him mad he would act

out. I witnessed this child throw himself on the floor and cry, hide under desks, yell, refuse to do

his work and interrupt his classmates. He also continuously interrupted the teacher in the middle

of lessons. The teacher has a hard time dealing with his flat out defiance. His counselors have

advised her to remind him that when he throws there fits that there will be consequences. Some

consequences are having to take the work he did not finish home and having to do it in his free

time. Another consequence is having to send home a letter to his parents to inform them of his

behavior. 11

Assignment #4

The school as a whole has a very fun and inviting atmosphere. It is a newer school with a

huge playground for the kids to play and a big grassy area. The hallways are covered in posters
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and classroom banners. There are windows everywhere that let in a lot of natural light and makes

the hallways bright and cheery. The kids and teachers all seem to be happy and enjoy being there.

Staton Elementary Schools mission statement is: Ethel Winterheimer-Staton Elementary School,

in partnership with the community, is dedicated to creating a challenging and enriched academic

environment that promotes accountability and empowers learning for life. The schools mascot is

the “Pioneers”. When you first walk in the front doors to the main office you are greeted with

two very happy and nice women. They were quick to help me get to where I needed to be. As I

walked down the halls, every person I came across they smiled and said “hello”. I was stopped

by one teacher and she introduced herself and told me if I needed anything that she would be

happy to assist me. The teachers all interacted with one another and seemed polite and genuinely

interesting in each other. The school uses inclusion and pull- out programs for some students.

The class I observed in was a inclusion class. The students didn’t seem know or care that some

students had disabilities. They treated each other equally.

Assignment #5

During this interview I feel like I learned very useful information. My teacher, Mrs.

McCallum, said her reason was because of her 4th grade teacher. Her teacher made a big impact

of her when she was younger and she decided she wanted to do the same for other kids. The

main challenges she struggles with is classroom management ad consistency. Every class is

different from the last and the curriculum is always changing. The best part about being a teacher

for her is the relationships she builds and seeing the kids excited to learn. She determines seating

by placing one strong student with a weaker student and two mediums. That way they can use

each other for help. Flexible groups are determined through formative assessment and places
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kids that need extra help near her. Other assessments she uses are ones that go along with the

curriculum and formative. The requirements for reporting progress to parents are through grades

that parents can access online. Progress reports go home every three weeks. A perk of being with

the younger kids is that most parents pick their kids up at he door so the teacher is able to

communicate on a daily basis, if needed, when there are issues. She can also use an app called “

Bloomz” with is an app where a parent and teacher can communicate through messages. She

spends a lot of time grading. About an hour a day during the work week.

Assignment #6

I observed one individual student during a math activity. She was actively engaged in the

lesson and verbally and voluntarily participated. The student was eager to get the correct answer

and let the teacher know she got it. She was also very happy to help the student next to her.

During transition time though, she would talk to her classmates and I noticed her doing a dance

every time she was standing. As far as lesson planning goes, she said that in the beginning of her

career she spent a lot of tine planning and trying to find interesting ways to make it fun and

interesting for her students. Now that she has been teacher for 16 years she can recycle plans and

just fine tune them every year. She also uses intuitive teaching and sometime the best lessons

come last minute as she is teaching. Strategies she uses for maximizing instruction time is mainly

making sure transitioning is done efficiently and in as little time as possible. She gives out a

reward for timely transitions. If all students get back to their seats in time they earn a “marble”

and when they earn enough marbles they get a prize. She mentioned that the specialists teachers

aren’t really involved in the instructional planning but they try to their outlines meet with the

teachers. Teacher assessments are conducted about every month and she is evaluated with NEPF.
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The support she received financially mostly comes from parents and the PTO contributing

monetarily and the school gives the teachers about $100-$120 a year for supplies. The thing that

was most surprising about being a teacher is how hard it can be. It is a lot of work and takes a lot

of heart and genuine interest in the success of each student.

Assignment #7

Over all, after doing my observation, I learned a lot. My cooperating teacher gave me

many useful tips and ideas. The time I spent in the classroom definitely reassured me that I was

pursuing the correct career and aligned with my passions. I gained experience that I would not be

able to gain as a education major student sitting in a classroom. The hands’ on experience helped

me so much. I found that in respects to the children with IEPs, ( pg. 62) that the information

found in the book were accurate in the real life classroom. The kids in the full inclusion plan (pg.

72) were emerged in the classroom with their peers and treated like the rest of the kids. Aside

from the one student who had diabetes and had to go to the nurses ’office a couple times a day to

have his blood checked, and a few low tech devices ( pg. 141) such as a paper stand to make

writing easier. I know that all the information I learned in this class I will be able to use when I

teach, and be able to be educated well enough to plan with the special educators in resource

programs.
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Works Cited

Gargiulo, R. M., & Bouck, E. C. (2018). Special education in contemporary society: An

introduction to exceptionality. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications.