Assignment #1-Physical Characteristics- Question 1: The playground areas surrounding the building are

filled with colorful pathways and murals. One specific mural includes a painted image of the world’s
continents in the recess space.
Assignment #1-Physical Characteristics- Question 2: It appears that the cafeteria has a checkerboard
patterned pathway on the floor, with colors including blue, red, and orange. The walls appear to have
many handmade posters and learning material.

Assignment #1-Culture of the School- Question 1: It seems that Walter Bracken tries to maximize
opportunities for all students and teachers. They have many programs in place that aid in areas like
proficiency rates. One example is the homework help center they provide students with. The ratio of
students to teachers is also fair, meaning that the teachers do not have more than they can handle.

Assignment #1-Culture of the School- Question 2: The majority of students in the school are from
low-income families and the Hispanic population is the largest. Consequently, this attributes to the
school having more ELL students enrolled.
Assignment #1-Culture of the School- Question 3: The school’s mission statement emphasizes giving
children investigative experiences and preparing them for continued success. The school mascot
capitalizes on this aspect, as Walter Bracken students are known as “investigators.”

Assignment #1-Culture of the School- Question 4: Walter Bracken has an abundance of pride, awards,
and other programs. For example, every month, students are chosen for an awards ceremony for an
array of subject areas. As a school, they pride themselves on achieving five-star status and receiving top
rankings in the National Spelling Bee.

Assignment #1-Culture of the School- Question 5: Three other pieces of information that can be found
on Walter Bracken’s website is that they have spirit weeks, they have a “Bracken day” to display school
pride, and they have on online web store where books and other items can be purchased by parents.

Assignment #1-Culture of the Classroom- Question 1: The teacher’s expectations for learning and
success are that the students can write their full name by the end of the year, that they can effectively
follow instructions, and that students can manage to work independently when directed to do so.
Assignment #1-Culture of the Classroom- Question 2: Most students participate without being asked to.
There are many students who want to answer every question, while others are not as confident in their
answers. Students who show their faces on screen are more likely to participate.

Assignment #1-Culture of the Classroom- Question 3: The teacher uses a very high voice level and
makes sure to address students by their first names if a question needs to be answered. There are many
instances where a student wants to ask a question or comment, and in that case, they raise their hands
or call out to the teacher. The teacher is very direct but always leaves room for students to think
independently. When a student appears to really be struggling or is upset, the teacher makes an effort
to reach out to them privately.
Assignment #1-Culture of the Classroom- Question 4: Inside the class, students work very well together,
especially when coming up with ideas for answers. They usually connect their answers to another
student. In fact, even if a student is humming to themselves, another student is likely to do the same
thing. It is a very friendly environment. As far as communication outside of class, students are able to
communicate through Class Dojo, but this is often utilized by parents, as the kindergarteners cannot
write yet.

Assignment #2- Question 1: The classroom is very cheerful and welcoming. There are many videos from
outside sources included in the lessons that are interactive. Those include dancing and singing activities.
There are many educational pictures and materials that are constantly being displayed for the students
to see, which often contain colors that attract the attention of the students. The teacher’s set up is very
organized and tidy, with many bins and drawers to separate documents and materials. Students are
quite eager to participate in lessons.
Assignment #2- Question 2: The majority of the students in the class appear to be female, and there is a
large group of Hispanic students that appear to be ELL’s. You can hear them speaking Spanish alongside
their parents through the microphone. I observed one student who used headphones throughout each
learning session, which may indicate some hearing difficulties. I also noticed that there is a small number
of students who have trouble keeping up with the lessons and are distracted easily. The teacher tends to
repeat instructions to these students in a very simple and slow manner so that they do not feel
overwhelmed.
Assignment #2- Question 3: The posted class rules or course expectations include: “listen to teacher,”
“hands to self,” “use kind words,” “keep ourself safe,” and “be respectful.”

Assignment #2- Question 4: The teacher does enforce these rules. She often encourages students to
wait their turn when speaking, to help each other out when there is a question someone is struggling
with, and lets students know when they should return their eyes to the screen during instruction. To
enforce these rules, she gives or takes points away in Class Dojo, where students can see their work and
progress.

Assignment #2- Question 5: The posted daily schedule is organized as follows:

8:45-8:50 Morning Ceremony

8:50-9:00 Real Time Classroom Morning Routine
9:00 - 9:10 Haggerty Phonics
9:10 - 9:30 Real Time Whole Group Reading
9:30 – 9:35 Brain Break
9:35 - 9:45 Real Time ELA/Writing Grammar
9:45 - 10:05 Real Time Modeled Writing
10:05 - 10:10 Real Time Brain Break
10:10 - 10:20 Real Time Math Warm-up
10:20 -10:30 Real Time Math
10:30 - 10:40 Snack/Bathroom Break/Well Check
10:40- 11:40 Reading Independent Work/Online Work
10:40 - 11:00 Small Group
11:00 - 11:20 Small Group
11:20 - 11:40 Small Group *Student will be assigned Real time days and times
11:40 - 12:10 LUNCH
12:10 - 12:20 Well Check
12:20- 12:45 Writing Independent Work/Online Work
12:45 - 1:15 Math Independent Work/Online Work
1:15 - 1:25 Bathroom/snack break
1:25 - 1:30 Brain Break/GoNoodle
1:30 - 1:50 Real Time Science/Social Studies/Health
1:50 - 1:55 Transition to Specials Login
1:55 - 2:15 Real Time Specials
2:15-2:45 Specials Independent Work/Small Group Work
2:45 - 3:26 Enrichment and Intervention: Independent Work and Support
3:26 Dismissal

Assignment #2- Question 6: I do see evidence of the school’s mission/vision statements, as Walter
Bracken emphasizes continued learning. For example, the assigned teacher always reminds students
how important it is to practice spelling at home because it will be an essential tool throughout their
whole life. She also makes sure that students are always pronouncing words or phrases properly so that
they can establish solid diction as their vocabulary expands inside and outside of the classroom.

Assignment #3- Question 1: The class usually goes over a video or book, then the teacher asks questions
for the students to answer. Afterwards, there is usually an activity that allows students to show what
they have learned. For example, in one lesson, students wrote their names on whiteboards and held
them up to the teacher. It all has a very smooth flow, and the majority of the time is used by the teacher
to ask her students questions. This allows her to assess the strengths and difficulties of individual
students and find out who needs extra support, especially considering that many of these students have
IEP’s. It appears to be a very efficient use of time.
Assignment #3- Question 2: In my opinion, the virtual arrangement of the class can be improved by
placing the camera farther back during some parts of a lesson. I believe this to be a good idea because,
not only does it prepare kindergarteners for what they might see in future, in-person classes, but it
allows students to see the teacher as an entire person, not just a small image on the screen. It will
perhaps enable them to relate to the teacher more as a person. Additionally, some lessons implement
dancing, and I think it would be more engaging and fun if students can see the entire body of their
teacher.

Assignment #4- Question 1: Instruction is typically delivered in whole groups, however, before lunch,
small groups are pulled for assessments and more individualized learning. During the particular time I
was observing, a handful of students were testing everyday during small group time.
Assignment #4- Question 2: The teacher uses a lot of noises to attract attention, especially in the form
of a song. She also asks students to repeat after her quite often and is very quick to distinguish how
students are pronouncing letters of words. She is very patient with students, no matter how long a task
takes to get done, and she is very calm around her students.
Assignment #4- Question 3: The teacher incorporates the sensory modalities by using whiteboards
while writing, toys to highlight sight words, GoNoodle to include technology-based learning, many
singing and educational videos, and drawings or pictures to explain concepts.
Assignment #4- Question 4: The students seem very engaged in the lessons being presented to them.
Not only are they excited to give answers, but many students will ask questions and are eager to find out
about what they will be learning next. For example, when a student joins the Google Meet before break
time has ended, they will chat with the teacher and ask about what they will be talking about next or
what they will be doing the following day.
Assignment #4- Question 5: There are some students who do seem to be isolated or not present in the
classroom environment. These students constantly have their microphone and camera turned off even
in discussions. They only include themselves when the teacher directly asks them a question by their
name.
Assignment #4- Question 6: The teacher handles absences from the class in a very patient manner. She
waits to begin lessons before she has seen the majority of students logged in and makes sure to
summarize and revert back to main points each day. I noticed that when a student who is normally
absent does log in, she makes sure to tell them that she appreciates them being in the class. She also
repeats her main points to the child throughout the school day.
Assignment #4- Question 7: The teacher handles transitions from subject to subject or activity to
activity by muting the students to begin her lesson or activity directions. She lets the students know
exactly what they will be learning or doing for that period of the day. After this activity or lesson has
ended, she unmutes the students and asks them what they learned and sums it all up before moving
onto the next session. The transitions are efficient because they help students connect and remember
points that are important to their curriculum. It also allows students, no matter their learning
challenges—whether that be ADHD or being an ELL student—to better understand the material.
Assignment #4- Question 8: The teacher uses many “attention getting commands.” For example, when
she wants students to stop chatting and listen to what she needs to say, she tells them to “put a bubble”
in their mouth. This makes them puff their cheeks full of air and focus on the screen like a game. She
also uses a doorbell ring to call students back after break time. I believe these are effective at grabbing
the attention of students because it gives them a fun learning experience and they do not feel
intimidated or nervous.
Assignment #4- Question 9: Some specific behavior issues that the teacher has to deal with involve
students not answering questions or raising their hands before shouting out. In the case that students
are not responding to questions, she calls on specific people to answer and is very, very patient with
their response, sometimes waiting as long as a minute for the child to answer. If students are not raising
their hands, she compliments and praises students who are raising their hands, which motivates other
students to do the same. Another behavior issue that I did notice was when a couple students would
become upset during a lesson because they just weren’t getting the material. In that scenario, the
teacher would reach out to the students privately by asking them to stay on the call after lessons ended
and contact the students’ parents.
Assignment #4- Question 10: There are actually two policies or procedures that I believe hinder
educational time. The first is the process of turning the microphone on and off. Though this is rather
simple for an older age group, it takes quite a while to get all the kindergartners to turn on or off their
microphones. The seconds procedure that affects learning time is when a student’s screen becomes
frozen. When this occurs, the student must exit the call and log back in, which takes them away from the
class and also becomes a challenge for the children. They often need help from an adult around them.

Assignment #5- Question 1: I was driven to choose this student because she was struggling to put
together words and create a sentence while speaking to the teacher.
Assignment #5- Question 2: During this observation, the student was talking about the United States
and she stated, “Country I live.”
Assignment #5- Question 3: The lesson being given at the time was a part of the Social Studies unit and it
was about the United States. Students were asked to share what they know about the United States.
Assignment #5- Question 4: During this time, the teacher was very patient and wrote down this
student’s answer with a positive attitude. The student was very happy to see her shared answer go onto
the learning board, and the teacher restated the student’s sentence in the proper order back to her. The
student repeated it until it was time for someone else to share.
Assignment #5- Question 5: What I discovered about this child’s learning style is that she needs to hear
words and phrases pronounced very slowly and very clearly. Since they are learning the letters of the
alphabet during this time, it is very important that she can associate letters with their sounds. She learns
very well through the singing exercises implemented by the teacher because the content is more easily
remembered. Though the student often attempts to answer questions despite the language barrier, she
needs a lot of help from her mother during each lesson. She also needs and responds very well to the
positive reinforcement of the teacher, who asks her to repeat things until they are pronounced
correctly.

Assignment #6- Question 1: “I came from a group of teachers in my family, and I have a few family
members with disabilities.”
Assignment #6- Question 2: “Time management. That is always a challenge.”
Assignment #6- Question 3: “The interactions with kids and seeing progress.”
Assignment #6- Question 4: “I sit students in groups of four. I have one low student, two mediums, and
one high. I also look out for language. I actually don’t use traditional desks in my classroom. I use seats
and a couch. We go over the appropriate ways to use seats and we practice and choose seats weekly.
Students get two warnings before students have to use a desk or sit on the floor.”
Assignment #6- Question 5: “I have my lows, my high average, my highest, and my super lows. A
resource teacher will also come in and take in kids to run groups. We also use our Daily 5 menu to
rotate.”
Assignment #6- Question 6: “Everyday I have to call a group of parents for a wellness check. I have to
talk to every parent at least once a week, but it is pretty much everyday.”
Assignment #6- Question 7: “I do one grade a week in core subject areas.”
Assignment #6- Question 8: “It depends on the lesson. It can be a half hour to over an hour. Reading in
the small groups takes the most time because I have to keep the kids engaged.”
Assignment #6- Question 9: “I think that as long as you are learning and paying attention it’s fine.”
Assignment #6- Question 10: “I use Class Dojo points with a virtual rewards system that students can
cash in. I take away a Class Dojo point or talk one on one.”
Assignment #6- Question 11: “They kind of do their own thing but the resource teacher has my lesson
plans and we meet weekly. Specialist teachers have access to Dojo and do pick students for awards.”
Assignment #6- Question 12: “I am evaluated once a year. Last year I had three observations. The PF
protocol is what they use to evaluate.”
Assignment #6- Question 13: “You are evaluated more and you can be assigned a mentor to work in
areas where you need more support. Of course, if things get really, really bad, some teachers are fired,
but that doesn’t happen often.”
Assignment #6- Question 14: “It’s a lot of change. Standards change every year and you’re always
learning new programs.”
Assignment #6- Question 15: “The standards drive the lesson plans. I try to hit every content standard
at least once and I prioritize standards. I use data to drive grouping and obviously my own gut feelings.”
Assignment #6- Question 16: N/A. They are NOT teaching at a Nevada Charter School.
Assignment #6- Question 17: “I work with GATE to differentiate instruction and do pre-assessments and
different programs. And I also use different programs for low-performing students but bring it down to
their standards with consideration of their IEP. ELL is a lot of vocabulary and I use a lot of visuals.”

Assignment #7- Summary: What I observed upon during the ten hour Field Observation was how every
child is truly different in their own character, values, likes, dislikes, and most especially the way they
retain information in the classroom. With that being said, this is why a student’s IEP is crucial to their
education. It is crucial that family members are involved in a child’s lessons, and the student is given
learning materials that will open up opportunities for growth. I realized that the greatest challenge for
teachers is time-management and rolling through an environment with seemingly never-ending
changes, which makes the job tough but exceptionally rewarding. I learned that instruction involves
moving multiple pieces at once, using multiple mediums, and researching many, many techniques to
keep students engaged and really maximize potential. I found that a lot of techniques from my college
textbooks can be found in classrooms just like the one I have observed, such as rotating activities, online
educational reading programs, or even simple tools like a whiteboard. I discovered that, though I can
find this information in my textbooks, they will never prepare future-teachers like me for the extent of
variety I have had the pleasure of observing in Walter Bracken’s kindergarten class. From this
experience, I will remember to practice group activities, brain breaks, fun attention-grabbing commands,
and music related learning ventures to steer a successful educational environment in the future, when I
have a classroom of my own.