Rebecca Thompson 3/14/2019 1

Field Observation
Rebecca Thompson
CSN EDU 203
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For my field observation, I was lucky enough to observe the grade level that I want to

teach. My field observation took place at Woolley Elementary School. I was assigned to Ms.

Leann Trousdale’s kindergarten classroom. I was also introduced to other teachers in the

building during breakfast time in the cafeteria. I greatly enjoyed my experience and learned a lot

from this assignment. I really do enjoy working with children, hence why I want to teach

kindergarten. I completed my 10 hours of observation over the course of two weeks. The first

day that I was there was a little hectic. The school had both a fire drill and a practice soft

lockdown. It was interesting watching the way Ms. Trousdale led class activities and her

teaching style. She likes to incorporate the students learning into fun little activities. For

example, they give each other high fives when practicing sounding out the ending of a word.

This makes learning extra fun for them. I did not get to directly interact one on one with the

students in the classroom, but I did get to observe their learning and the daily routine of their

classroom. This assignment gave me a wonderful opportunity because I was able to sit back and

just watch. Leann gave me different resources like the websites that she uses and places you can

go to get donations for your classroom. She also showed me the different centers that she has for

her students and gave me good ideas of what to do for them. I wish I had the chance to spend

more time in the classroom because it was a wonderful environment and I am excited for the day

that I can teach in my own classroom.

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Not a lot of information incorporated in the book can apply to what I learned in my field

study observation since I was in a general program. However, there are ways that I can still

compare the two. Chapter three of the book talks about the cultural and linguistic diversity and

exceptionality. This chapter can relate back to my my field study through the teachers.

“Approximately 83 percent of teachers are white, about 7 percent are African American,

approximately 7 percent are Hispanic, and about 1 percent are Asian” (Gargiulo, 81). During the

fire drill where all of the students and faculty had to leave the building, and in the cafeteria

where I interacted with other teachers, I could definitely tell that what was said in the book is

true. Most of the teachers that I saw were white, few African American and Hispanic teachers,

and I only saw one Asian teacher. There was not much room for diversity with the faculty due to

the amounts from each race being represented in the school. However, the students were much

different with the proportions. “By the year 2020, students of color are projected to make up

almost half of all school-age youth” (Gargiulo, 80). This book was written four years ago, back

in 2015. Even though this was not too long ago, their projections are already coming true. It is

now 2019 and this can be compared to my observation because most of the students that I saw at

this school were either African American or Hispanic. I did see some students who are white but

they were not the majority of the population like the teachers are.
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Chapter five of the book Special education in contemporary society: An introduction to

exceptionality tells us about the types of technology used in the classrooms. It talks about the

different ways both teachers and students can use technology to educate and learn more in a

better way. This chapter also explains the use of assistive technology. However, I was not able to

observe assistive technology being used during my study. “Educational technology is defined

multiple ways, including the study and practice of facilitating learning and improving

performance by creating, using, and managing technological processes and resources” (Gargiulo,

131). There is a software program that Ms. Trousdale uses that sends notifications to the parents.

With this software, she can check students in or out of class, and give or take away individual

points from students based on how they are acting. This is a creative way for parents to stay in

contact with the teachers throughout the day and to see how their child is performing. Another

way that I observed technology being incorporated into her classroom was through the iPads and

computers. During center time, the students were split into groups. Some went to math, reading,

writing, the iPads, or the computers. On the last two, they know that they are supposed to go to a

specific app, I forget the name of it. This app helps train them and tests their knowledge on

reading. It is also fun for them because the students who were at different centers asked Ms.

Trousdale if they could go on that program as well.

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Although I did not observe really anything on special education while doing my field

study, I did notice the same three students being pulled from the class to go with another teacher

everyday that I was there. I did not know much about what was going on until after I finished my

observation and studied chapter 15. This chapter has to do with individuals who are gifted and

talented. “Educators must provide children with numerous quality opportunities to develop these

talents. The need opportunities to work with their teachers and mentors in their talent areas in

addition to opportunities to refine their skills and expand their knowledge” (Gargiulo, 582).

From the field observation packet provided to me, I discovered the pull out program. However, I

did not actually know what it was until I studied this chapter and I ended up looking up what the

definition is. “Gifted pull-outs (also called "send-out" or "resource" programs) are an educational

approach in which gifted students are removed (or "pulled-out") from a heterogeneous (mixed-

ability) classroom to spend a portion of their time with academic peers” (Gifted Pull-Out). These

students that I had seen leave the classroom on a daily basis were part of the gifted program in

the school. It was fun learning about this after I had witnessed it first hand without knowing what

I was seeing. Having that visual representation prior to studying this chapter made it easier and

more fun for me to learn about. There are not many more ways that I can compare the textbook

to my field observation since the majority of the book has to do with special education.
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There aren’t many ways in which my field study was different from that of the textbook.

The main difference was that I was in a general education classroom and the book was written

based on special education. I feel that if I were placed in a special education classroom, I would

have gotten more out of this experience. This is because it is what I am learning about in this

course and I feel that observing this type of classroom could help me understand more about

what I have learned in this course through a visual and hands-on representation. This book also

explains different ways that teachers can educate students with special needs and what they

should do for all of the disabilities that their student can potentially have. I didn’t see that in the

general classroom, even if the student had ADHD or behavioral disorders. However, I wasn’t

there all day everyday. I was there for just a few hours for a few days. This was an extremely

great opportunity
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References
Gargiulo, R. M. (2015). Special education in contemporary society: An introduction to
exceptionality. Los Angeles: Sage.
Gifted pull-out. (2018, June 03). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gifted_pull-out