Elementary School Fieldwork

At 1:00 p.m. I entered into Evoline C. West Elementary school on Thursday, July 12 2012 for an interview with Mrs. Yolanda Lawrence. As I entered the classroom, I was greeted by Mrs. Lawrence, the head teacher in this classroom. Mrs. Lawrence has no assistant at this present because of it being in the summer. After I entered into the classroom, the entire class welcomed me with “hello Ms. Flournoy”. It made my day to see all of those smiley faces greeting me. This was a 2nd grade classroom which consisted of 17 students of which 8 were girls and 9 were boys. This interview and observation was a total of 2

TK is a male child 3 years old of average size to the other students in the classroom. He attends the McGill Child Development Center. TK’s hair is brown and is neatly combed to one side of his head. His eyes are of a dark color. TK was participating in circle time with the other children in the classroom. He was taking turns with the other children when asked different questions from the teacher. This show TK’s is social skills are developing nicely as he is able to take directions from his teacher and sit quietly while others talk while sitting in a group. He was able to focus on the activity for about 10 minutes before becoming restless.

In the process of picking a subject, one boy stood out to me the most as all the children sat down and listened to a story being read by one of the teachers. The boy was having a hard time paying attention and keeping calm, which were the things that drove me to observe him. Towards the end of my observation I found out I was observing a four-year-old boy named Brandon.

I set up an interview with his parents to discuss his progress and find out some information about David. A translator will be needed due to his parents not speaking English. I’ve asked the parents how David’s behavior is at home and how his attitude is towards his school work. I also asked his parents how he reacts when asked about his classmates and school in general. Is he excited to go to school? Does he like learning? Does he have any friends he talks to? After this, I discussed how David is in class including his behavior. He tries to participate sometimes in school and just sits quietly at times. I have noticed him trying to work harder and understand certain material. He will try to reply when spoken to in his best ability. When he is in a group whether it’s playing or working on a project he will attempt to converse with the others.

Upon a $28 million renovation project, the State Street Elementary building is currently one of the most state of the art school buildings within Northeastern PA. Ironically, this two-story building stands in the shape of a “W” and houses nearly 1,200 students and houses kindergarten through fifth-grade and is labeled as a large suburban Title I School. Intricately, it provides full-day usage-space to the Luzerne County Head Start Program that offers services to the future students of State Street Elementary, which is a county wide support system for low income children. Although the building has only been around a few short years, it consists of historically underperforming and economically disadvantaged

The date of my observation was April 27th, 2010. It was about 9:30 in the morning when I began my study. I went to Grossmont College’s Child Development Center. The first thing I began looking for was if the child-teacher ratio was correct. The child ratio was 2 teachers to about every 8 children. The ratio was good. As I entered there was one large room that almost looked as if it could be two rooms they way it was set up. One half consisted of a large bookshelf with numerous books on it with a couch in the front of it. The other half of the room was almost like a little kitchen. It had a table with chairs around it with a sink and cabinets behind it. There were “age appropriate” toys as well as books all over the

I observed in the preschool class for two hours, there were a total of 12 children in the class Most of the kids that are in the preschool class were four years old, but there was one five year old. When I first arrived at the preschool, the kids seemed very shy towards me and they did not seem like they were very sociable. I was a stranger to them, and I would have to guess that all of the children were experiencing a little bit of stranger anxiety. I talked to the teacher about how the children reacted to all “strangers” She said that the children often become very uneasy. As I sat down to observe the children, I noticed one thing right away. The boys in the group were very wild and rambunctious, and the girls seemed to be shy and

When I was perhaps seven years old, surely no more than eight, I spent much of my summer at the local daycare; Lakeland's Little Learners was it’s name. I knew a lot of the kids there before I started attending (which I had been doing for a few years at this point) because we had all previously gone to another daycare in town, this one called Little Thinkers. However, due to parents not paying their children’s dues, (I dimly recall a vague understanding of a card checkout system indicating various forms of payment each night, and watching many parents not bother to mark it) it was shut down, and so we were all relocated to Lakeland’s Little Learners. One of the friends I was delighted to become reaquainted with at the new daycare was a boy

On Thursday, June 16th all 4th grade classes from Hanscom Middle School got their Every Kid in the Park passes, learned about the Centennial and met park rangers too boot. A neighbor of Minute Man National Historical Park, Hanscom Middle School is located on the adjacent Hanscom Air Force Base, located in the towns of Bedford, Lincoln and Lexington, Massachusetts. 50 students were awarded their passes as well as peppering rangers with questions about the National Park Service.

The field work that I have done was at the Foundation daycare between 9am and 10:30 am. The daycare is next to the Shaar Hashomayim on Metcalfe and Kensington Avenue in Westmount (o). When I first went to the school I went through the courtyard which had cemented pillars and archways (O) as well as a row of plastic play houses of a variety of colours and sizes (O). The doors are all locked therefore I had to ring the Foundation school doorbell (O). The school has 2 stories (O); the first story is where the daycare (O) is and the second floor is where the elementary school (O) is located. There are 6 classrooms (O) and each classroom has a specific age group (O). While walking to the classroom, there are rows of cubbies and hooks along the walls

While visiting Pleasant Lea Middle School, I have observed that students in 7th and 8th grade classes demonstrate a wide range of intellectual abilities. For example, in 7th grade math class there are students who are above their grade level in math, while there are others who are way below. There was one student who could not recognize that number 2 is smaller than number 10. Most of the students in class are on grade level, but there are a few who are way above. The teacher makes accommodations in class to meet the intellectual abilities of all students. Before the class starts a new unit, all students take a quiz. If they score 4/4 on any section, those students are not required to participate in

The majority of these placements are with play groups and preschools, often run by voluntary groups. The Early Years Foundation Stage education is very much based on learning through play; it is a more informal way of educating young children. The environment is optimistic and enthusiastic with high but achievable expectations of the

In the following report we will examine all of the elements of a Kindergarten classroom that I observed in Miss. Phillips classroom. I will cover over the school, the student’s participation, and the teacher’s overall. I will also include a Building report card. I will discuss how much the experience had an impact on me.

Today was my first time going to Cragmont this year. However, I have been going there for the past two years as well. Last year I was used as an aide so I rotated through classrooms and worked with kids one on one, so most

General Observations: My past field placements have been in much larger schools; therefore, I was excited to have the opportunity to experience a rural setting. St. Rose is a small public school with a unique location. St. Rose is attached to the St. Rose Catholic Church. When I arrived, students were attending religion classes while teachers met in the teacher’s lounge to grade papers, make copies, and prepare for the day. Once religion classes were over, the “school day” started. I immediately obvious the students were very well-behaved; for example, students held the door open for one another and the noise level was appropriate in the hallway and classroom. Coincidentally, I attended a private school K-7th grade; for that reason, the atmosphere and behaviors observed were familiar.