Field Observation 1

Field Observation

Celeste Carreon-Hall

College of Southern Nevada

EDU. 203: Special Education

Dr. Warby

May 10, 2021

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Assignment #1:

Physical Characteristics: Look at a picture(s) of the school to determine atmosphere, comfort,

and feelings the school creates for the students in the educational setting.

1. Consider the school property: building grounds, fencing, equipment, landscaping, trees,

parking lot, crosswalks, gates, signs and symbols. Describe in detail.

2. The building is one story and is fenced. It is surrounded by trees in the front of the building.

Not big grown out trees but small trees that give it a pop. The parking lot is a good size

enough to fit about 50 vehicles. The playground is around the back and there is enough space

for kids to play. The playground is fenced up. Not very many symbols just the name of the

school in gray letters.

2. Next, (If available) study the interior of the school: halls, floor coverings, lighting, doors,

windows, hall colors, decoration and entrance security. Explain in detail.

I was not able to find a photo of the inside of the school for detail.

3. Explain the Schools mission/vision, statements motto and mascot.

The mission of James I. Gibson is to create a caring community of lifelong learners and leaders

and the mascot is a gold miner.

4. Examine the schools traditions achievements and awards; community recognition or

community partners: extracurricular activities/clubs and athletics. Look for and document

sources of community pride and sense of identity through ceremonies assemblies, trophies and

artifacts. I struggled a bit to find the awards for the school but the school shows achievements by

trophies, certificates and acknowledgment.

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5. Briefly describe three other pieces of information that can be found on your assigned school’s

website.

You can find the programs that school uses, all of the staff and administration and programs for

the parents to use as well. There is also the events listed, how to get involved and links for family

connections.

Culture of Classroom: Each classroom has it’s own culture and way of life.

1. What are the teachers expectations for learning and success? The teachers expectations are

for each of the students to engage and participate in their lessons.

2. Evaluate the learning of students participation in class. Who participates and who does not?

For the most part the majority of the class participates and even if they are unsure they will

still ask for help.

3. Evaluate the interactions between the teachers and students, rapport, cohesiveness,

distribution of power, teacher personality.

The student to teacher interaction is very respectful. The students do respect Ms. Chow and

that she has authority over them. Not one student disrespected her and demanded attention

except for one behavior problem.

4. Observe student-to-student interactions, inside and outside of the class. Are they using any

chat features to communicate with each other? Yes the students can communicate with other

through the google chat program. They can also communicate in their small groups.

Assignment #2:

Question 1: What is your first impressions of the virtual classroom environment? Is it warm,

inviting, organized, etc? Describe the virtual environment in detail.

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The classroom environment is welcoming, kind and seems like an enjoyable place to learn. The

classroom is set up into groups. The teacher is respectful to the students and shows care.

Assignment #3:

Take screenshots of the learning management system used by the teacher. (Canvas, Google

Classroom, Seesaw, etc…)

Google Classrom.
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1. Describe the workflow of the online environment. Is the space and time used efficiently?

The learning management is through google classroom. The workflow is well it works

smooth and is easy for the students to use online. The time is used efficiently when it comes

to the assignments they are timed.

2. In your opinion, how can the arrangement of the room be improved? I do not think there

needs to be improvement using these. They are really organized and easy for kids to learn.

The only problem could be glitches but with technology that will happen.

Assignment #4: Observe any instructional time with your assigned Cooperative Teacher and

record your observations when presented with the questions below.

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

Instruction is in small groups and sometimes individually.

2. Describe your Cooperating Teachers teaching style.

To me Ms. Chow’s teaching style is more authority/ lecture style but also student centered

She does teach Special education students, ELA, so she does have to be more teacher

centered. Although she does involve the students where they are asked questions and they

answer them.

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

She uses small groups and determining on how they are scoring or responding to the lessons

she challenges the students who are more advanced and those who aren’t work on the lesson

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

Yes the students are engaged in their lesson. They have to read different stories or math

problem and then asked questions and have to answer what they understood from them.

5. Are the students isolated or not present/participating in the class? Explain.

The students are not isolated, they are very present and participate in their activates. When

they are being asked questions they answer. If they had questions they would ask.

6. How does the teacher handle absences from the class?

I am not for sure on this but since it is online she used the google classroom before it was in

person again.

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

the transitions efficient?

Ms. Chow handles transitioning very well for the subject she teaches. Yes her transitions are

efficient she lets the students know what is going on and what is next.

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

they effective?

For the most part Ms. Chow did not have to many attention getting commands. If she did she

would call the students by their name and redirect them to the lesson or she will say “Eyes

on me.” and the class usually is redirected to the lesson.

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

handle behavior issue? Be specific.

Ms. Chow did not deal with many behavior problems. If she did she would pull the students
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aside and ask them why are they doing that. Sometimes “runners” those who leave the chat

online. There is not much she could do besides contact the parents.

10. Are there any policies or procedures that help or hinder instructional time? Please explain

them how they help or hinder instructional time. The procedure that may hinder time is

hindering writing into the tie she has.

Assignment #5: Discretely observe a student in your assigned classroom during a direct

instruction.

1. What drove you to choose this student?

I chose this student, Savannah, because she was engaged in the lessons and always answered

or asked questions for the lesson.

2. Explain what the student did during the observation.

She was locked in and seemed like she really wanted to learn every time she was called on

and asked a question she answered it. If she misunderstood she asked for help.

3. Summarize the lesson given and the students response to the lesson. The lesson that was

being given was about decimals. The students had a chart helping them to find out the

decimals. Her response or answer to the lesson was the wrong answer but when she checked

again she was correct and was not scared in front of the class.

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

classroom teacher. The student teacher relationship was very respectful. She and all of the

students respected Ms. Chow and she respected all of her students.

5. Please describe what you discovered about the students learning styles, involvement in class

and his/her educational needs. The students learning style was visual/auditory. She could
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read and listen and with doing that she seemed to know what she was learning and have well

understanding.

Assignment #6: Cooperating teacher interview:

1. What was the primary reason you became a teacher? Ms. Chow became a teacher because

since she was young she knew she wanted to teach. She had been teaching IT at UNLV for 6

years. While teaching she was studying Special Education and then became a teacher in

grade school.

2. What are the main challenges you face as a teacher? The curriculum doesn’t change and there

is nothing new for the students to learn.

3. What is the best part of being a teacher? For Ms. Chow there is not many surprising moments

as a teacher. It is more of the light bulb moments in the students when they understand

something/lessons.

4. How do you determine where the students sit in the class? She determines how the students

sit in the beginning of year alphabetically. Once she gets to know the students throughout the

year seats change.

5. How do you select members of flexible groups? The groups are determined of off knowing

the students and their progress.

6. How often do you interact with the parents? What are the main reasons for interactions with

parents? To interact with the parents she uses Google classroom and emails/calls to keep up

with them.
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7. How much grading do you complete on a daily/weekly basis? She does not do very much

paper grading because of the online school. Not too much grading on a daily basis, it is more

of making sure the students stay on track. According to last year it was each week she would

grade.

8. How long does it take to prepare lessons for the day or week? Ms. Chow uses the help of

other teachers to setup lessons and it usually up to about 3 hours and the shortest amount of

time about an hour and a half to 2 hours.

9. What procedures or strategies do you use to maximize instructional time? To maximize

instructional time she does frequent checks and understanding of what the students learn.

10. What positive reinforcements have you used successfully? If the kids reach a certain amount

of points on the token board. They get movement breaks and prizes. Also letting the parents

know how well the students are doing.

11. What behavioral consequences seem most effective with this age group? Not very many

times does she have to use this but if she needs to when the kids act up she will pull them

aside and ask them whats going and email/call the parents to let them know whats happened.

12. How are specialist teachers involved in your instructional planning and process? Ms. Chow

will email or meet up with her fellow teachers and ask them to work on the questions for the

plan.

13. How often are you evaluated, and what measurement tool is used by the administration for

determining your teacher performance? She is evaluated formally once a year.

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14. What consequences are there if you are there if your evaluation is not favorable? If you

receive more than 2 that do not meet your evaluation you are on a probation. She is not for

sure on this.

15. What surprises you the most about teaching as a profession? The students surprise her the

most. Because she teaches students and special education students when the do something or

pronounce something it amazes her.

16. What drives their lesson plans? What standards do teachers use during lesson planning?

Common core standards and pacing guides on their state wide test.

17. If they are teaching at a Nevada charter school are their lesson plans prescribed from

common core standards or from other sources? Mrs. Chow is not a charter school.

18. How do you accommodate ELL, GATE, General Ed and Special education students? The

class she has is all special education and so she uses more visuals and many checks for

understanding. Having them say something out loud or write it.

Assignment #7: Thoroughly summarize and reflect on upon your entire 10 hour Field

Observation. What did you observe, learn, realize about teachers, students, instructions, the

school environment? How has this observation better prepared you to understand the

teaching profession? How does the observation relate to the text information and class

activities? What specific ideas on teaching will you remember to include in your classroom?

During the 10 hour field Observation I observed how it is from the perspective f the teacher. Also

how the teachers adjusted to online was impressive and then back to in person. Special

Education students can learn just like regular students will impress you daily. I realized that

teachers are very connected with their students and care about the education. The school
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environment seemed very warm and caring about their students. This observation has better

prepared me to understand the teaching profession on what it is like to teach and the connections

the student and teachers have. The text information or class activities because it is all online now

and we have to adjust to using it this way. The specific ideas I will use in my classroom are

making sure all students participate and help students who need more understanding and and

challenge those who can advanced. I like this method of teaching because all students can work

at a pace that benefit their learning.

Time Log- Next Page.

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