Alternate Observation Reflection

Bryttany Carson

CSN Course: EDU 203

Professor: Constantina Pappas M.Ed.,BCBA

Part 1: (Instruction)

Video Selected: Small Group Rotations with Moderate/ Severe Special Education Students

1: Is instruction delivered in small groups, centers, whole groups, individually?

In the video, Instruction is delivered primarily through small groups of about 3 students

per teacher.

2: Describe your the teacher’s teaching style.

The teacher’s teaching style is very interactive and inviting.

3: How does the teacher incorporate the sensory modalities (learning styles)? Give

examples.

A sensory room is located in the classroom for students who need a break for about 15

minutes at a time. It is a part of their rotation every day that actively engages the students.

4: Do the students seem engaged in the lesson(s) presented? Please explain.

Some students are more engaged than others. We see children leaving their seats to

wander around, but the teachers will continue with the lesson with the still engaged students.

5: Are there any students isolated or not present/participating in the class? Explain?

We see a few students who are not actively participating in the lesson and the teacher

describes these children as auditory listeners who may still be listening to the lesson while they

wander off from the table. One teacher tries to regain the student’s focus and attention if they do

not actively participate.

6. Did you see any accommodations or modifications made to the lesson for the student? If

so what were they?

In the classroom, the teacher has the room split down the middle to minimize distractions

and noise.

7: How does the teacher handle transitions from subject to subject or activity to activity?

Are the transitions efficient?

When making transitions, the teacher tells the students what group they will be in for the

next rotation. These transitions seem to be smooth and effective.

8: List ways the teacher uses “attention-getting” commands, word phrases, signals, etc. Are

they effective?

The teacher uses a timer on her cellphone with a chime noise that lets the students know

that it is time to move into the next group. She also uses words like “All Done” to let them know

it is time to move on. This method seems to be effective and the students transition easily.

9: What specific behavior issues does the teacher have to deal with? How does the teacher

handle the behavior issues? Be specific.

We see the teacher with a student that is up from their seat during their group session.

She remains patient and calm with the student while trying to guide them back to their seat and

remains near that particular student.

10: What positive reinforcements were used if any?

The reward system they use is called “First-Then.” In the video, she has students look at a

picture of an item, and once they say what the item is they receive that item.
11: Are there any policies or procedures that help or hinder instructional time? Please

explain them and how they help or hinder instructional time.

I believe that the sensory room helps with instructional time. The use of the sensory room

gives students time to relieve any stress or if they just need a break. Once those 15 minutes are

up, students can return to their work and be better focused.

12. What could the teacher have done better to assist the student(s) with learning the

material?

I saw no issues with how the teacher assisted the students with learning the material. She

was very attentive to each student and made sure they understood the material being presented.

Part 2 (Observing a student):

Video Selected: Correction of Reading Disabilities- Formal Observation

1. What drove you to choose this student?

I chose this student because he seems to have a unique personality and seems like he

would be a joy to have in a classroom.

2. Explain what the student did during the observation.

The student was very engaged in the lesson and enjoyed the lesson being presented. He

actively participated and answered the teacher’s questions when she addressed him.

3. Summarize the lesson given and students' responses to the lesson.

 The students read a story about a baseball player and learned various vocabulary words

from the story. The next segment was on words that end with silent “e’s” and the students

played a game similar to bingo called “Four in A row” where if they read the word

correctly they would mark the word on their paper. The students then had to cut out

pictures from a story and place the parts in the correct order. The student seemed to be

very invested in the lesson and enjoyed the times where they were allowed to get out of

their seats.

4. Make sure to document ALL behavior in relation to what was being presented by

the classroom teacher.

Throughout the video, the student demonstrates decent behavior. There were few

occasions that the teacher asked them to not act inappropriately. He had to be reminded

on several occasions about not speaking inappropriately during class. He was easily

distracted by the fellow student that sat across from him. The teacher said his name

multiple times to try and regain his attention.

5: Please describe what you discovered about the student’s learning styles,

involvement in class, and his/her educational needs.

From this observation, I can tell the student struggles with sitting down for too long. He

often became antsy and would squirm about in his seat. It is also clear that this student

may have trouble staying focused for long periods of time. The student was very involved

with the lesson and paid attention well with the teacher being directly in front of him. As

for his work, this student seems very intelligent and has a wide vocabulary. This student

may benefit from one on one instruction.

6: What positive reinforcements were used successfully? What behavioral

consequences were used?

The teacher would give the students praise for the work they were doing. For completing

the work, she told the students they would receive 5 minutes on the iPad. She encouraged

the students to complete their work so they would be able to do so. I did not observe any

consequences for the students other than being told multiple times to act appropriately.
 These observations taught us a great deal about how special needs classrooms function.

We learned about how certain age groups differ from one another and how they are similar. I

learned that teaching special needs children takes a lot of work and a lot of patience. Every

teacher in these videos seemed to enjoy their jobs and enjoy helping special needs children. The

classroom environments were all structured and had their own ways of attending to the children.

Observing these classrooms has taught me a lot about how these different students

function but also how they are just like any other child who has emotions and needs. These

videos also showed me how rewarding working with special needs children can be. One thing I

noticed is that each of these videos included one of the six methods of Cooperative Learning.

While I was observing “Small Group Rotations with Moderate/ Severe Special Education

Students” the teacher uses the “Station Teaching'' method in her classroom. As a teacher I will

implement positive reinforcements in my classroom as I believe this is a good motivator for all

students.