Park Elementary Classroom Observation

Another important benefit of implementing technology in the classroom is it can help teachers create personalize instruction and make it easier to provide accommodations. It can be very difficult and time consuming to differentiate instruction for a classroom of students. The use of technology can make this a much more workable task. By using technology, the teacher can differentiate instruction with just a few swipes per student. It also gives the teacher more options to work with depending on student need. For example, if a student has trouble writing, they can use an iPad with voice adaptive software to answer questions or complete assignments. This eliminates the stress they may feel being forced to write during an assignment or test situation.

1. Describe the organization and physical setting of the classrooms you observed. Pay particular attention to safety and accessibility, the physical arrangement of the room, the classroom environment and appearance (Danielson 2e):

For my observation, I observed a first to third grade special day class at a public Fresno Unified School District classroom in Fresno, California. When I first entered the classroom all the students, approximately 10 students, were sitting down on the rug in front of the class as the teacher was reading a short story to them. When she finished they would go over their reading assignment.

I observed a sixth grade classroom (eleven to twelve years of age) at a middle school in Ringgold, Georgia. The classroom seemed to be fairly even in regards to how many children of each sex were in the classroom. The majority of the students were white with a few african american and hispanic children among the mix. The sixth grade classes did not have enough employees to only teach one subject therefore, the teacher that I observed taught language arts and mathematics. The first thing you notice when you walk into the classroom is the mathematical shapes all along the upper wall like a wallpaper border. These shapes were projects from her students in the years before. The next thing that you’ll notice is the way the desks were set up. They were set up in three separate groups. One group of around twelve desks faced the

The use of technology in the classroom is an important tool to utilize as an educator. Technology allows for educators to have instant access to a plethora of resources that would not be available if technology was not used in the classroom. Teachers have the ability to plan lessons, create presentations, and have interactive games for students to use as a learning tool through the use of different digital devices. Modern day technology is rapidly advancing and providing teacher with many different tools to use in the classroom to enhance the students learning experience.

Park Middle is located in Scotch Plains, New Jersey and is one of two middle schools within the town. On average there are 930 students enrolled at Park over the past three years (See Appendix A, Table A1). Additionally, Scotch Plains’ population consists of 77.4% White citizens, but is also composed of 11.1% of African Americans, 7.7% Asian, and 6.7% Hispanic citizens (see Appendix B, Table B1). The town’s population is largely representative of the school’s demographics (see Appendix C, Graph C1). When referencing the school’s performance on district benchmarks and state testing, Park Middle School has met most of their established targets. However, even with most established targets met, certain subgroups are in need of further attention

Education in classrooms are getting a different twist these days. In order to get kids more engaged at learning, teachers are trying to figure out ways to get then interested. With a handful of technology available that can distract kids from learning, teachers are using that same technology as a tool for learning.

I teach at Marshall Elementary School in Dubuque, IA. Marshall is in a suburban area of our city. The families at Marshall are in a wide range of incomes, but mostly the families are low to middle income level. The school is located in an area around houses, there is train tracks that run behind the school, then behind that is an industrial area. The Mississippi River runs along the industrial area. The families at Marshall are employed in a wide range of places throughout Dubuque. There are quite a few stay at home moms, factory workers, food service employees, office staff, etc.

In this lab experience I was observing eighteen to nineteen first grade students at Jefferson Elementary. Most of the observations take place in the classroom. I observe at different times of the day, so that I can experience different areas of study. I have observed this class with their regular teacher, two substitutes and the reading coach, as well as a portion of the class with two special activity teachers.

Ms. Penn’s Kindergarten class consisted of 9 boys and 7 girls. This was the last hour of the instructional day, and as I walked in I noticed that the students were already working in centers in groups of 3-4. This class was a little noisy and unorganized as compared to other kindergarten classrooms I have observed so far at Krahn elementary. The students seemed to be enjoying their time in centers and were eager to pack-up after cleaning up in the end since it was close to dismissal.

Observations at Columbia High School were collected in the Student Services department for 9th and 10th graders in the Huntsville City Schools (HCS) district. Students enrolled in this self-contained, special needs unit are supported by a curriculum design with prevocational transition targets. These exceptional learners work toward benchmark academic, behavioral, and vocational skills development.

Over October break, I was able to spend six hours observing in my local elementary school. Polk Street Elementary School houses students that range from Pre-Kindergarten to the sixth grade. Out of 697 students, more than seventy-five percent identify as Caucasian, and only three percent of students are “limited in English proficiency”. Polk Street offers free and reduced priced lunches to students who fall below a certain range on the poverty line. 10.2% of students participate in this program. Overall, the school is made up of middle class, white families who live in the area.

From my very first observation I could tell that technology played a huge role in Ms. Felder-Way’s classroom. She found ways to integrate technology into almost every lesson. All of the students were assigned Chromebooks which were purchased by the district. In the classroom there was a SMART Board, two desktop

Ms. Nicole Ince's classroom welcomed me for an observation on Wednesday, July 29th, 2015. Ms. Nicole has recently had a few drops with children preparing for kindergarten so her numbers have changed. There were 21 children when I began my observations but the class roster has dropped down to 18 with the class split nine boys and nine girls. Her classroom is located in the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians Child Care Center which is located in rural Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The school is also a private school that maintains a waitlist. It contains four classrooms; Ms. Nicoles preschool class, two toddler rooms consisting of children 18 to 36 months and an infant room with children birth to 18 months.

This observation lasted about 5 hours at Floyd Elementary School for a 3rd grade class consisting of 9 boys and 10 girls ranging in ages between 8 and 9 years old, plus one female teacher named Mrs.Squarzon.