Harmony Elementary School Observation

As the second cycle began, the children had completed their clean up routines and were now gathering in a group to participate in their morning circle activities. Mrs. Eady lead the children through the days of the week, the calendar, word wall, reviewing of the classroom rules, music and movement, and a reading of the book, “The Plumply Dumply Pumpkin.” While most of the activities were teacher chosen, the children had an active role in the lessons. Each child had the opportunity to lead part of the lesson, both in reviewing the word wall and the classroom rules. Throughout the activities, children could stand up and move and openly share their thoughts. When children did share their thoughts, the teacher encouraged them to express themselves

The classroom is well organized and orderly. Students have a routine that is followed each morning. John’s morning activities are without disruption, the morning routine works.

Each child will get 60 seconds each to be the leader so that every student would get a chance to be the leader. I will explain that the leader has to move around in different directions and not to perform hard traveling patterns for their partners. For safety persecutions I will make sure that they keep their distance from other groups so that they do not bump into another group. Any student who does not follow the rules would be taken out of the activity immediately and given an alternative assignment. At the end of the lesson I will tell the students that they did a great job and explain the importance of the lesson in a way that they could understand.

Before the children come to school, I will give myself thirty minutes for planning. During my planning time, I will review my day’s plans and ensure I have all necessary materials are available to the children. When the children arrival to school, I will greet them and assist them if need with storing their belonging. Breakfast will be prepared for the children with serving bowls to sever themselves. When the children are finish eating breakfast, the quite centers, such as math and manipulatives and literacy centers, will be available for the children to enter. At nine o’clock I will signal for the children to store their materials away and we will transition to having our group meeting. During our group meeting, we have an open discussion

Since completing the Agency Observation Checklist, I have taken a deeper look into the district I am currently employed in and the inequities that exist in its policies and practices. South Middle School is part of the Wentzville R-IV School District in Wentzville, MO. Wentzville is about 40 miles west of St. Louis and is considered a suburban city. Wentzville has grown significantly since 2010 and is continuing to rapidly grow. Wentzville School District currently serves close to 17,000 students. There are three high schools, three middle, schools, ten elementary schools, and one early childhood center. I work at South Middle School and have focused my observation and analysis on the English Language Learner structures

Dance is a very unique entity to study that comes with many benefits. It is a way of connecting to culture. Dance has a sense of history and community being portrayed throughout the movement. Some of the popular dances from the Caribbean include the Merengue, Rumba, and Cha Cha. Not only are these dances upbeat and fun, but they offer the opportunity to embody the culture instead of just learning about it through a passive manner.

John Kelly Elementary School where I work is located in Thermal. Based on Smart Rating, Smart Class assessed 10,353 schools in California on several factors including college entrance exam scores, state assessment scores, and class size. John Kelley received a rating of 40, which is slightly lower than the average rating of 61 for elementary schools in California.

Journal one of the Westminster College class EDU 562 Field Experience was related to observation and participation with a first grade classroom, on Monday, January 4, 2016. Upon arrival the class teacher provided instructions to assist in the set up of the classroom January calendar, make a graph of the lunch choices, and to pass out morning work for the students to complete as they arrived in the classroom. At 8:30 a.m. the teacher welcomed most of the students with excitement as they entered the room. She informed the students in detail and repeated the routine and morning arrival instructions. Once everyone arrived, the teacher rang a bell which symbolized it

West is next for the 8th graders at Hadley Jr high. With only a month left in the school year 8th graders are getting more and more anxious. Last Friday students went to a dance at Glenbard West. They got to meet the sophomore and students from other schools.

At 9:45 AM, everyone will meet in an opening exercise in the auditorium, including singing, announcements, etc. At that point the kids will be dismissed and they will go to the kid’s area and after a brief character talk (on aspects of character such as courage,

We will have a quick aerobic workout for our warm up, we all will stand in big circle and each child will take turns of suggesting a new move. Then we will start our daily activity, which will be dancing. The students will move to stimuli such as rhythm, beat, music, and words. Different movement patterns that resemble

Starting my opening school experience I was nervous. I could not eat or sleep the day before. I woke up bright and early to arrive at Woodland Middle School by 7:30am only to find out the school did not open up till 8:30am. I was not upset that I got there so early, and in fact, it was a great because I got a chance to get familiar with the school and its principal, Dr. J. Stamper. Woodland Middle school is located behind Camp Creek and is on Stone Rd. Their colors are blue and gold. The mascots of the school are the Wolverines. Woodland’s mission statement: “Woodland Middle School is on the P.R.O.W.L. I am a Problem Solver Recognizing Opportunities, and I am Willing to become a Life Long Learner.” (Woodland, 2015)

I am working in Thatcher Elementary School in the town of Thatcher located in Southeastern Arizona. Historically, the rural community was settled by Mormon pioneers who farmed cotton. Many of the students are still rooted in farming and are descendants of these early settlers. The students who come from these ancestors tend to take leadership roles in the school similar to their parents in the community. In my observation, some students of other religious minorities and those who do not attend an organized church struggle to know where they fit in.

Panther points. I read this chapter with both of my observations in mind. My observation in North Minneapolis with Erik, at the middle school, at first seemed like I wasn’t going to learn anything. However, I think I have seen the example of what NOT to do in a school environment. My co-operating teacher along with all of the teacher’s in the middle school have decided to give Panther points out as a way to positively enforce good behavior. Eric’s yellow and red card system, followed by removal from class was used as the reinforcement of bad behavior. I directly witnessed a kid, let’s call him Marcus. On day one he was helpful in helping other kids with projects and was given a Panther point for his awesome leadership. On day two he even stayed after class to clean up and pushed many chairs in to straighten up. I even commented he was so well behaved when the rest of the students were out of control. On day three I saw a change. Marcus was told by Erik the co-operating teacher, that he should be doing these respectful and nice things without the Panther Points awarded as Erik had given him a lot of points throughout the days. This child turned his attention not in a good way. His behavior went from model student back to disruptive in one twenty-four hour period. Why? Toshalis writes the answer, “….students reach the following conclusions: nothing is worth doing unless it comes with a reward.” (Toshalis. p. 281)

“Rest time!” the reception teacher excitedly called out. I, along with my fellow students raised from our seats, leaving our crayons and our picture behind. The teacher walked to her stereo and turned on music as we all found spots to lie in. We closed our eyes and lay there, resting from the tough day, full of new experiences and learning, as well as unknowingly resting up for the learning years to