Fourth Grade Observation 1

Fourth Grade Observation

Ciera Diaz

January 27, 2018

National University
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Fourth Grade CLASSROOM OBSERVATION ASSESSMENT

1. Pre-Observation Data:

 Time in: 0800

 Time out: 1130
 Name of school: Oak Valley
 Name of teacher: Lisa Koontz
 Type of classroom/grade level: 4th
 Number of general education students (non-exceptional): 11
 Number of students with exceptionalities: None
 Number of students who are English learners: 2
 Types of exceptionalities: None
 Demographic of class: The class consisted of 9 boys and 2 girls

Observation

The first thing that I noticed was the students all had the morning procedures

down and came into the classroom orderly and proceeded to get all of their things out

without being told anything. There were very clear expectations for the students as to

what the morning routine was like coming into the classroom with all of your stuff so

that you didn’t need to go back out to get anything else from your bag once you were

in. I really thought this was a good idea so that you can limit distractions as well as

disruptions and also so that you can start the day off right being prepared. Another

idea that I got while observing is that every time you are starting work that has

directions on it is to have all of the students put their finger on the directions and read

them aloud so that they all know what is expected of them. Another really great idea

that I liked seeing was that she greeted all of her students at the door in the morning

but she even took it a little further and tried making a connection while taking roll
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with the kids by some silly comment or mentioning something they liked. Mrs. Kootz

also used the group contingency incentive to try and get the kids to try their hardest

on a test and the reward was for her to do a silly dance in front of their entire school.

This was something that did not monetarily cost her anything but the students seemed

very encouraged just by this simple idea. One of the great things that I observed was

when Mrs. Kootz was trying to pin point why two kids might be struggling she pulled

them up to the group table and read one of the two stories they were being tested on

for comprehension to try and check if they would be able to answer those questions.

She was trying to check if the problem was more the child not being able to read the

story or simply not being able to comprehend.

2. Pre-Observation Data:

 Time in: 1215

 Time out: 3:15
 Name of school: Oak Valley
 Name of teacher: Debbie Almeida
 Type of classroom/grade level: 4th
 Number of general education students (non-exceptional): 18
 Number of students with exceptionalities: None
 Number of students who are English learners: 4
 Types of exceptionalities: None
 Demographic of class: The class consisted of 10 boys and 8 girls

The first management idea that I noticed when watching Mrs. Almeida was that

she had all of the students come to the front of the classroom and find a place to sit so

that they could all see the board clearly for their number talk they were going to have.

The way that the students behaved you could tell that they had done this before
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because they did it quickly and quietly without any disruptions. During the number

talk I noticed another management technique that she was employing. When she

would ask the class a question and to give an answer she would have them all simply

put their thumb up when they thought that they had an answer. This allowed for all of

the kids to have ample time to think without being rushed. Mrs. Almeida used

popsicle sticks to pick a student to give and answer so the students were not waving

their hands and there were not any kids bouncing up and down trying to get chosen.

The third thing that I really thought was a great idea for classroom management was

that when a student needed to go to the restroom, take and AR test, go to the library,

or get a drink they would simply use a sign. I started noticing students making

different signs with their hands very discretely and Mrs. Almeida would simply nod

her head. I asked her about this and she told me she liked to use it so that she knew

where the students were going or why they were getting up but also so that it was a

distraction having to ask all of the time. I think this was a great idea because it

seemed to really eliminate the interruptions you would typically see of a student

asking to go to the bathroom and having to stop the lesson and having to get the entire

class back on track.

Post Observation Reflection

After observing two different teachers which much different styles of classroom management

it is clear to see that you have to do not only what works best for the students but what also

works best for you as the teacher. I think that watching the two different styles really helped me

think that just because you try something with one class one year and it works great that does not
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necessarily mean that it is guaranteed to work the next year. Having different styles of classroom

management is very important for you as teacher because just like the students changing from

class to class every year you must be ready and willing to change and adapt based on the new

students and new class atmosphere that you have. I also think that learning as many ideas and

techniques as you can is crucial in making yourself the most effective classroom manager that

you can be.