Alexus Cornejo

Introduction to Special Education 203

Field Observation

19 December 2021
 In my time observing the class I learned many things about the teaching profession. My

first impression of the classroom is that it was very organized and the students were well

behaved. The classroom was warm and welcoming. The class was very diverse there were about

an even number of boys and girls in the classroom. There were also students with different

ethnicities and races. The room was full of many useful posters to help the students. There were

a lot of posters that listed very important set rules for the class to follow. The teacher that I

observed had excellent advice and systems in place that I can see myself using in my own

classroom. I learned how to set up the classroom space, how to manage instructional time in the

most efficient way, different teaching/learning styles, and ways to run a classroom effectively.

In my experience with the teacher I was assigned, I learned how to set up the classroom

space. Most classes are not spacious so it is key to make use of all the space provided. In the

classroom I observed, the desks were in groups of four with six different groups. The teacher

also found a way to add a round table in the back of the room by staggering the groups of desk to

make more room in the classroom. There were also three different bookshelves which is essential

to have in a classroom to provide reading materials for the children. The teacher had the

bookshelves all near each other and in the corners of the room which maximized space. The

teacher found a way to keep all the key thing needed in a class while making sure there was still

enough spaces to be comfortable in the classroom.

During my time observing I learned new efficient ways to manage instructional time in

the classroom. The teacher had great strategies such as counting down and using positive

reinforcement. With the countdown it gave the students a set amount of time to put everything

away and get prepared for the next assignment. I feel as if this was a great way to keep the

classroom moving smoothly. As for the positive reinforcement it was also very effective. The

teacher would call out certain students that were prepared and compliment them. Which in turn
motivated the other students to also put their things away and get ready for the next lesson. The

teacher I observed had a very strict schedule to follow so these ways of keeping the class on

track were very helpful to ensure the class went along in a smooth and timely manner.

From my time in the classroom, I learn about different teaching and learning styles. The

teacher had a hands-on approach when it came to her style of teaching. She would have many

different groups come to the back of the classroom to help. She separated each group based on

their testing levels which I believe was beneficial for the students. Students that did well on the

test would have certain readings and would answer certain questions at the round table in the

back. For the students that didn’t do as well on the testing, the teacher would give them extra

help to make sure that they understood what they were struggling with. There were also different

kinds of lessons I observed for different kinds of learners. For math lessons, there were

assignments where the students could use physical counter for kinesthetic learners and then an

image on the board for more visual learners. Since I went during the holiday season, I got to see

the students create pipe cleaner tress to see who could build the tallest one. I thought this was a

great lesson because it incorporated so many good lessons. The students had to work in groups

which taught teamwork, it allowed for critical thinking towards how to make the tree the tallest,

and hands on to benefit kinesthetic learners. There were many great lessons I observed during

my time in the classroom.

I learned many ways to run the class during my observation. On days when the students

had testing the teacher had to be a little more strict with the students and then later in the day she

would be more lenient since they had a stressful morning. I also witnessed how many ways the

students can interact with one another. The teacher many times would have the students do an

assignment by themselves and then turn to a partner and talk about it. I learned it all really

depends on what kind of day the teacher had planned on how the class with be run. No day in
teaching will ever be the same so it is important to know how to run a classroom in many

different ways.

Overall, I learned a lot, such as: how to set up the classroom space, how to manage

instructional time in the most efficient way, different teaching/learning styles, and ways to run a

classroom. It was an amazing experience to be able to observe this class. The teacher and

students were all so kind. Doing observations always finds a way to motivate me even more to

wanting to start teaching. I learned many great strategies during my time in the classroom.