Field Observation Packet

Ana Gonzalez
Education 202

Observation

My first impression of the classroom environment was warm and inviting. Canarelli
Middle school seems to be very organized not only with the students but also with the
staff. On my first day of my field observation, I noticed something very important and
uncommon in schools, as the students are switching classes, all teachers have to stand
up right next to the entrance of their classrooms, and as the students arrive at their next
class they start making a line at the classroom entrance , it is not until the teacher
welcome them and give them the signal to enter into the room, when they actually start
entering.The students finally get into the room and before they go to their desks, they
put their cellulars away, in a this ritual makes a big impact in the students approach to
the classrooms, making them feel welcomed and important, therefore all students feel
comfortable, with confidence and willingness to learn, It seemed like.
The student make-up of the class is definitely multicultural, it was beautiful to see all
these different faces from all different ethnicities interact with each other every day, not
only the students were multicultural but also the staff. Diversity is a great thing so we
can embrace understanding and acceptance, we can learn from each other. I did not
have the opportunity to observe teachers working with special education kids in their
classrooms, I would have loved to see that.
All classrooms have to post the rules that the whole school staff make sure to enforce
for everyone around campus, if a teacher decides to add some other rules for their
class,that would be permitted. Creativity played a big part to make up those rules in the
school. Their mascot is “COLTS” that is why C is for Come prepared each day to learn,
O is for Own your actions- chose to be positive. L is for Listen and follow all directions, T
is for Timelines- be on time. S for Show respect for your school yourself and others.
One of the teachers I worked with had; be courteous, work hard and respect the
classroom rules posted in her classroom. Everyone looked to work hard to comply with
all the rules.
 Instruction

The instructional time in the different classrooms I was observing varied, but I know
for sure that there are 6 periods for each class, except for writing, that teacher is in a
classroom with one group for two hours. All students were working together with the
teacher, they saw a movie called “Up” and teacher was bombarding the students with
questions that made the class very interactive and fun, some times, the teacher would
ask students to pair up with a classmate to make comments about that specific part of
the story, for example that day they were talking about conflicts and the different kinds
of conflicts, so students would talk about where in the story the main character was in
conflict and to specify what kind of conflict he was going through, there was no student
who did not participated in the conversation. It really amazed me that the students were
still engaged and working like if they barely started the class. The hour I spent there felt
like a blink of an eye. Amazing teacher!
In Canarelli Middle School most of the teachers, at least the ones I saw, combine
different styles to promote a better learning experience, they are all student centered,
but they use a lot of technology to incorporate visual, with power points, slideshow and
other more sophisticated visual technology that I didn’t even knew it would existed, the
practice assignments to work by themselves and the activities in the students tablets it
is also incorporated, I can not forget about interaction between students and teachers,
great environment for learning!
It seemed like teachers in that school are very organized, all activities and material to
cover every day was exactly the one they needed for the exact period of time. All
teachers will end up saying “ok class, clear your desks we will continue with…
tomorrow” and the second after the bell was ringing. The kids will wait until the teacher
will dismiss them, to get up out of their seats to start walking towards the door of the
room.
Most of the teachers I observed use a combination of counting down or counting up
and clapping to get the students attention, I saw that it worked very well, every time.
When the students were engaged in an activity and the time was over, teachers will
start counting down, some of the teachers will start from three, others from five, but after
counting down, the teacher will clap and then a completely silenced room follows. I saw
two teachers that use that method not only to get students attention, but also as a signal
for the students to start working in the next activity. I loved this teacher’s technique
when she asked the students how much they have learned the new topic, and the
students had to show their fingers to show the level of understanding for that particular
topic from 0 - 5 where 0 was not understanding at all and 5 was an indicator of very well
understood.
 Maybe that is why I could not figure it out, but I did not see any behavior issues at
the school, teachers are friendly with students but also firm and consistent with their
patterns of enforcing rules and procedures. Students are very familiar with what it is
expected from them to do, so it feels a very healthy and secure environment in the
school.
On my last day of my observation time, I had the opportunity to be in a classroom
with a new teacher, and she shared with me the instructional practice standards and
indicators for that particular school. Even though there is a vast amount of information
given to me, I can practically summarize that by saying, they actually put in practice the
Bloom’s Taxonomy for their students' learning. They also understand that new learning
is connected to prior learning and experience and after that learning there is a task
making the students to get engaged by teacher’s strategies, then students have to be
responsible for their own learning working with activities, before the teacher can
proceed with assessment, to have evidence of all students current learning status.

Culture

Atmosphere in the school feels healthy and secure, all students look very
comfortable with the techniques and procedures, all students follow and understand the
rules. I had the opportunity to participate in a fire and earthquake drill, and it looked like
a huge very organized family, where everyone knew what to do and where to go, there
was no sign from the students to try to be funny by running or doing something silly,
everyone walked slowly and orderly out of the rooms and went to the front of the
school, then to the field, and after, slowly back to their classrooms. No problem at all. I
also witnessed the wonderful environment that the students made at a dance night,
organized by the school to celebrate fall, that actually, it was a custom dance, obviously
with CCSD dress code enforced, the Gym was packed with students, parents helping
with coordination and collaboration along with the school staff. The school also seems
to be very secure physically, the Vice Principal Ms. Nelson is always focused on
students safety.
Describing a little bit the school, it is basically a huge rectangle limited by walls. It is
divided in half along the rectangle where the half to the east is where the cafeteria and a
row of classrooms are. In the other half, on the west, right at the middle, the main office
is at, and more classrooms on the sides of it, even though there is more entrances or
exits around the school, most of them are closed and only the main entrance remains
open, which is the one right next to the office, where every one, specially visitors have,
to use in order to enter into the school. After you enter the main doors of the school,
there is another set of barriers that would stop you from going more into the school,
everyone who enters the school has to go to the office first. It is not a problem because
the school has this policy which says that they do not accept deliveries of any kind to
the students, this policy makes the school kind of like a fort for the students. Then again
for the students safety and to avoid distractions in their learning, so if they forget an
essay or an instrument for the music class, too bad, the student needs to go without that
for the day.
The students gather in the cafeteria during lunch time, they are able to interact with
other friends between periods, but basically all the students are focused on learning and
there is staff in charge of making sure there are no students outside their classrooms in
lecture time. I did not see too much of inclusion for Special Ed. kids, other than lunch
and transitions. Therefore the expectations are high for the students,thus for the
teachers as well. There are not too many differences between classrooms, other than
some are more interactive than others or less fun. But you can smell success in the air.

Interview

My cooperating teacher became a teacher because she was inspired by one of her
Teachers when she was little, and she wanted to be like her.
My cooperating teacher’s main challenge is when the students do not understand the
content already taught.
But she says that the best part of being a teacher is looking at the students faces
when they understand the content.
Ms. King normally does not pay attention to the sitting, unless she sees it strictly
necessary, normally she will sit a high performer with a low performer, making some
kind of a team.
The members of the teams are not chosen by her, unless it is necessary. And she
makes groups with the same level of coefficient together.
Regarding assessments, she is based on the scores of the standard tests to know
what type of assessment students need to do. She gives one quizz every four weeks.
Progress reports have to be sent home the fifth week.
Normally there is no interaction with parents in person, unless parents request a
conference, and they basically talk about grades and progress reports.
She completes grading two times a week, and it takes her around two hours to
prepare her lesson plans. But Ms. Adams takes 20-30 mins. Daily to prepare hers.
The strategies she uses to maximize instructional time are “Think pair share, Card,
S6 or personal reflections, this is a collaborative learning program in which students
work together to answer questions or to solve problems related to the topic assigned.
 The positive reinforcement programs she uses are “to be in the wall of fame”, every
time the student is showing good work, teacher puts his/her picture on the wall, and
they can lose their opportunity to be there if they misbehave.The consequences for a
bad behavior are, first offense a verbal warning, written warning for second offense,
third offense, parent contact, student misbehaving for the fourth time gets detention or
behavior action plan, in the extreme case the student is referred to the dean.
The specialist teacher gets involved in the instructional planning process weekly.
The standards for teacher professional responsibilities are based on the
commitment to the school and the community, the reflection on professional growth and
practice, professional obligations, the family engagement and the student perception.
When a teacher does not comply with this measurement about their performance,
administration uses the letters NEPE, meaning efficient performance. My cooperative
teacher does not know what are the consequences in cases where a teacher performs
poorly. But the evaluation would say unsatisfactory, and administration would suggest to
the evaluated teacher to try different classes or tips to perform better.
Canarelli Middle School understands their purpose as school and tries to provide the
best support for teachers, that is why administration offers classes and instructional
preparation for teachers that are interested to become better at their profession,
normally they have seminars every month, some of this seminars are paid, some of
them are left to the teacher’s choice. Administration also provides updated technology
to enhance instructional efficiency, every student is allowed to use a tablet for learning
in each classroom, almost every classroom counts with technology with the purpose to
reach the different types of learning, like digital boards, or modern overheads. The
school District is having financial problems right now, so there is not much as financial
help, nevertheless if a teacher has a new idea to implement in the classrooms, her idea
is given to the authorities to be studied. The school also has a committee formed by the
community with the purpose of the organization of fundraisers to better support
teachers. Obviously teachers are always short on financial support, and that is what my
cooperating teacher surprises her the most about teaching.

Observing a Student

During the whole time I spent in my field observation, I truly did not see students
misbehaving, and I supposed that the continuous changing classrooms did not let me
actually observe closely to a particular student, But there was one time in Science class
where one of the students refused to work, the teacher never noticed him doing nothing,
because every time the teacher would look towards his direction, the student would
pretend to be working. This student was silent, kind of sleepy, not working whatsoever.
But he was the exception, everyone else engaged in learning.

Summary

I learned from my field observation, three very important aspects that make
teaching more efficient.
First, the support that a teacher receives is crucial for the efficient content delivery,
and control of the students, without technology students would not have the
opportunity to practice the topic the teacher is trying to reinforce. Learning nowadays
looks funner because of all the games and activities that technology makes possible for
students to obtain. It is important to recognize that the support teachers get about rules
and regulation help them to keep the control of their students.
Second, it is very important that teachers' creativity goes beyond normal to come up
with ideas and preparation to maintain students engaged in learning. Prepared with
activities, games, speeches and more. And also this creativity has to be able to adjust
the activities or assignments that need to be modified for sudden change of
circumstances, like time and reaction from the students.
Third. It is very important to keep teachers updated and instructed about new
technology, rules and regulations. Things are constantly changing, we need to roll with
them. But with respect, it is very important.
It is important for me to understand that education belongs to every single person,
maybe in different levels but we never stop learning new things, that is why schools are
societies focused on education, it is a community working for better interaction with
each other, a better understanding of our surroundings. It is a family trying to live
together happier.I was delighted observing all these teachers interacting with the
students, and somehow I would like to be like them, to be able to teach the way they
do, to be able to control a class with at least twenty-four students the way they do, but
these teachers have many years of experience, I have the hope that someday I can be
like them.