Classroom Observation Paper

This week I did both an interview and a small observation of my third grade host teacher's classroom. I was first able to interview my host teacher. Miss A does use many of the techniques for teaching words that were listed on my observation form. Specifically she uses crossword puzzles, dramatizing, word sorts, possible sentences and dictionaries. She also uses many techniques that are not listed on the observation sheet as well. She does a lot of repetition with her students. She has them right there words in rainbow colors, in vowels and consonants colors, in alphabetical order and many more that I didn't see. Miss a believes that " they are all useful for different students. Some students feel like crosswords are helpful and others feel like pictures are helpful" () I would completely agree with her statement in this regard. I do think it's good to have many different options for the many different students you have in your class. Miss a believed that there were a lot of benefits to wide reading. She make sure that the children are provided with a variety of texts especially her students who are ELL students. She mention specifically that it "helps build their schema for Content areas such as social studies and science and the vocabulary that goes with that."()

This classroom was very organized and it did have a lot of things labeled. I recognized that the teacher had a lot of things in her classroom labeled. She had words like door on the door in the classroom. She used a lot of bright colors. I also recognized that the teacher did a lot of one-on-one with her students. For example, she did very small group activities and a lot of the activities consist of one-on-one activities. She allowed the children to experiment with the project. She stated that she like to have children to participate in morning discussion. This time allows her to introduce the new letter of the week. She believes that children learn a lot of literacy through song and dancing. The children would sing the songs as they played in the classroom. Some of them would dance to music.

The classroom observed for this assignment was a 4/5 year old (pre-kindergarten/kindergarten) room in a local day care. After researching the correlation between play, development, and diversity, many realizations came to light. First, there are different stages of play and they all correlate with the developmental stages. Then, diversity is found in every classroom, either positively or negatively effecting the room. Educators who are flexible with change and comprehends the levels of development for children are expected to create a positive and effective learning environment filled with play-based activities. Below show three scenarios of classrooms from infants, toddlers, and preschool/kindergarten room.

The following discussions took place over several separate observations; the participants were three paraprofessionals, three special education teachers, and one assistant principal. The discussion centered on the Booktrack website and its usefulness for students receiving special education services. The paraprofessionals, Diamond, Karla, and Cindy, work in the Challenge program at Alameda High School in Jefferson County Colorado. One of the teachers, Dan, is from the same program and is responsible for eleventh and twelfth graders. The other teacher, Amy, works at Hamilton Middle School in Denver. The assistant principal, Deana, works for Dupont Elementary in Adams County 14.

Toni, 6, moved into Sanderling Waldorf School in January of her kindergarten year. During our initial meeting, her mother informed the me that Toni had been diagnosed with ADHD and on Ritalin for a year and would need some special attention. She and her husband, a Pilot, were looking for any suggestions the school could provide. I indicated that I would review Toni's file and asked the mother if she and her husband could come in to meet with me after I had the opportunity to observe Toni while in class.

On Monday morning, I reported to the ENL I class at Central Islip High School as I did many mornings before. I observed the ENL teacher as she taught a class of 20 students who had recently begun studying in the United States and were required to take 2 periods of intense English language learning every day. The classroom was made of students who had immigrated from Central America and the Caribbean, all of the students in the classroom spoke Spanish as their first language. Each student that I observed carries with them a unique story and set of demands and expectations. At the end of my observation, I concluded that the social implications of the current political climate in combination with the ENL curriculum being followed directly impacted the success of the students in their second language acquisition.

Create procedures and expectations at the beginning of the year for hands-on activities and group work

For the past couple of weeks, I have been volunteering in Mrs. Fritz’s first grade classroom at Oak Ridge Elementary. When I get to the classroom around 8:30 A.M., the class is sitting down in three rows on a big rug learning a new lesson from Mrs. Fritz. She is usually teaching them how to spell different words and how to sound them out. If they are not doing something in the language arts department, they are learning new ways of doing math. After they are done with the lesson the children either go into their centers and complete spelling worksheets for about 30 minutes, or they grab a book and read as a class. The first graders have been working on Wonder as well, which is a theme that they focus on for the week. The theme is usually something

For the second observation, Reading, I again chose to go to Durham Public Schools: Forrest View Elementary and observe Ms. Rogers during her designated literacy block. I really enjoyed the diversity and experiences these students have attained as it creates larger funds of knowledge and therefore a better observation experience for this course. From the text we had been reading in EDUC 616, I expected to see several types of reading methods such as: guided reading, independent reading, and closed reading (read aloud). However, in my time observing I saw two of three strategies: closed reading, read aloud, and independent reading. On the day of my observation, Ms. Rogers had chosen to read a book about ants and their habits to successfully

I had hoped to find a group of people to observe under the context of my spring break in Atlanta, Georgia. However, I spent most of the time on my PLIA service trip working with nature, not people. So here I find myself sitting in the middle of the local mall food court at one o’clock in the afternoon, feeling awkwardly conspicuous as I try not to make eye contact with any of the people I spy on. With so many different tables of people around me, I was able to observe a variety of different characteristics of communication styles.

The classroom that I observed had a reverse mainstreaming setting, two developed students were place in a classroom with students who have disabilities. The arrangement of the room was very colorful, and kid friendly. As you entered the classroom it had all the children art work posted on the walls. They had several centers, dramatic play, math, manipulative, blocks, writing, reading, science area, and art center. The visual information present the months, birthday, and the children art. The visual information works efficiently for the classroom setting. The visual presentation was outstanding. They use this program called Star Fall, which where they do circle time. Star presents many programs for the children to engage and participate in.

The kindergarten teacher I observed used many approaches that facilitate the students’ brain development. Her room is a safe environment where children feel comfortable to share their feelings, which supports students’ cognitive, emotional, and social development. The teacher is constantly praising her students while also giving them work that is challenging, but possible to succeed. She often says, “Fair isn't everybody getting the same thing. Fair is everybody getting what they need.” Therefore, she understands and makes sure that her students understand that everybody is different and that their uniqueness requires different tools and different approaches. The teacher seems to have a great understanding of each child’s personality, and she seems to have a special connection to each of them.

Our service learning project, was to conduct surveys for student athletes. The surveys were about the athletes and their tie to the community. Our goal was to get at least 200 surveys completed. Besides getting the surveys completed we also had to get their school Z numbers are proof.

A classroom observation was done during a LA class which time is during 1:45-2:20. The class consisted of 16 students, dividing into two groups. In class, there were one general education teacher and two paraprofessionals who were sitting each group. The lesson was about adding numbers with more than three digits. One of paras was working with Rashad. Rashad sat down by the window. When the observer walked in, the class was correcting Power-up answers, but Rashad was heading down and drawing on the backside of worksheet while the para was sitting near him. After correcting the answers in a large group, the teacher called Rashad and gave him a sheet to record his score. As soon as he received the sheet, the para came and helped him record his

“Hey Nathan, do you have a few minutes to talk?” “Sure” The conversation then continued as I began to explain to my seventh grade English Language Arts, Resource Specialist Program (RSP) Co-teacher, Nathan Poole, the teacher observation and evaluation process assignment. I explained to him that this observation and evaluation would not be part of his formal observation with the principal, but would use the school districts official observation and evaluation forms (Little lake City School District Observation and Evaluation Form). Moreover, I expressed that it would be a wonderful learning opportunity for me to experience as I go through the administrative leadership program. Without hesitation, he agreed and we scheduled dates to meet for